scrape_r_rational/data/cache/2ozucp.md

Fanfiction Recommender using Collaborative Filtering

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• u/alexanderwales:

  I've often wondered why ff.net doesn't do this themselves. They already make the list of favorite stories public for every user, so it doesn't seem like too much work to code something up that would do a better job at recommendation than what's available on the site now (which is basically crap at finding good stuff).
  
  I'll be interested to see what the author recommender turns up.
  

  • u/Empiricist_or_not:

    This strikes me as computationally expensive.
    

    • u/alexanderwales:

      Netflix and Goodreads both do it. It should be far simpler for ff.net because it's just a simple "favorite" binary instead of seven choices like Netflix, or six like Goodreads (though Goodreads has a multilevel system that's a bit more complex). I closely followed a lot of the discussion that surrounded the Netflix Prize, and it really isn't *that* expensive depending on which methods you use (and there are a ton of ways to get around any expensive parts).
      

      • u/FaceDeer:

        For that matter, I think I should mention that Goodreads does allow fanfiction to be listed. The only conditions are:
        
        * Must be complete
        * Should be "book length"
        * Can't use a screenshot from the source material as a cover image
        
        Those rules are kinda flexible, too, I suspect they're only there so that they can clean up stuff at their discretion. [Methods of Rationality](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10016013-harry-potter-and-the-methods-of-rationality) has an extensive entry despite still being in progress, for example.
        
        I'm actually a Librarian over there, so if anyone has favourite fanfics they'd like to see listed or that have incomplete listings, let me know and I'll do what I can to fill them out nicely. :)
        

  • u/eaglejarl:

    As far as I can tell, FFN wrote a system 10ish (?) years ago that satisfied its needs and hasn't really kept up since then.  There are a lot of very obvious features missing -- one simple example is that there is a Document Manager where I upload and possibly edit chapters, and then there is a Manage Stories where I post / update story chapters.  Wouldn't it make sense it, when I edit a document and then save it, the chapter automatically updates to use the new content?  Or, at least, if there were a 'Save and Update' button that would do that.
    

    • u/None:

      Right?! Man, that site sucks. We're stuck in some dumb coordination game where everyone has to use ffn because everyone uses ffn.
      
      WE MUST ALL ACT AS ONE, MEMBERS OF /R/RATIONAL!
      

      • u/eaglejarl:

        Ok, here is a feature I would like FFN to add:  the ability to link to a specific review.
        
        And here's a a feature I would **REALLY** like FFN to add:  the ability to block particular users from leaving reviews or PMing me.    (Yes, I realize it wouldn't be a perfect solution as they could leave the reviews anonymously.)
        
        I've had one guy who didn't pay attention / frequently misunderstood what he was reading, then left foul-mouthed trollish comments telling me all the ways he felt that I'd screwed up.  That was annoying, but manageable.
        
        I now have a guy posting reviews who, after several exchanges via PM, I honestly believe is out of touch with reality.  He does not curse, but his comments are starting to make me uncomfortable; for example, the one that is currently [first on this page](https://www.fanfiction.net/r/9669819/0/1/) which starts with "So close and yet so far,"   He's commenting on [this chapter](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9669819/53/The-Two-Year-Emperor) in which the characters are making sacrifices and [the ](#s "alignment of the person making the sacrifice") determines the color of the resulting flames.  The reviewer is proceeding to tell me that I got it wrong and what the colors should mean.  Here's a couple of excerpts:
        
        > The color of Morality which you mistakenly call Lawful Good is NOT gold, it's goldEN. It's specifically the color of the SUN, not the color of filthy metal.
        
        >Red is the color of human blood. The blood of life, the blood flowing in your veins, the blood you shed for humanity. NOT the color of purity.
        
        Personally, I find this creepifying.
        

      • u/Rhamni:

        I would, but all I've got on there are shitty Ranma 1/2 fanfics from half a decade ago, and I'll die before I show them to /r/rational.
        

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