I have a suggestion to bring in more income to the site. Create a Friend Of Lush badge you get for gifting a gold or higher membership.
KISS. Keep it simple stupid. Read what you want to read and not pontificate. It's Nicola's site, and she has 11 more category's. If you want to bellyache, called a preacher, but he will ask you why you read the other category's. No one is saying that YOU are forced to read . KISS. It ain't that difficult.
One has to be very careful, walking on the edge of razor. I'm not for it or against it. BUT, once open, it may be hard to put the Devil back into the bottle.
I was a mod on , when it was it taken down due to the age restrictions. Its very difficult to keep underage out. SO, I would place the porn pics and some debatable category's in the vault. The vault may help this entire debate. Bring on the vault and the locks.
Thanks for adding "Watersports" as a category. When I get back from my holiday, my little family of pee-play stories will have a new home!
Why not join my popular Lush Group One Tit Out Group | Lush Stories? For all those who enjoy pictures of women showing just one boob. Lots of cheeky flashes and accidental slips. Come on, you know you want to! Annie xxx
I thought if a category was blocked you would not receive notice of it. On my newsfeed there was notifications of stories. Is it or isnt it gonna be blocked?
I’ve been following this thread and I know it is a very controversial issue for many people. Speaking for myself, I guess I’d have to say that I’m sitting on the fence. I’ve never been involved in an situation, and have no intention of ever being involved nor do I personally know of any one that is. I’ll say this that I think it is wrong, however, because of not having any personal experience, I don’t have the strong emotional feelings against this category appearing that others may have. I understand their reasons and respect their thoughts.
I feel sorry for Nicola, because she has found herself in a terrible situation. A couple of years or so ago, she made what she felt was a sound decision at that time to drop what was a very popular story category. Because of that decision, she faced tremendous resistance from some members, some of whom threatened to leave Lushstories. For what she thought was good business, and perhaps personal reasons, she stood her ground. Not having a magical crystal ball, she couldn’t see into the future, a future that unfortunately proved that her decision wasn’t as good as it seemed at that time. Now, faced with the hard financial facts of reality, she has had to admit she was wrong and reverse herself.
You’re probably like me and every other member, you come in every day, read and answer any email, perhaps spend some time in a chat room or forum visiting with friends, then read and comment on a story or two. Maybe at that time, you have a story ready for submission so you send it in, then leave and go back to your daily life, never giving much or any thought to what it takes to keep a wonderful site like this up and running. For us, it’s all fun and games with no thought or worries about how to pay the bills. It’s probably safe to say that none of us even considered the idea that the website might be experiencing financial difficulties. Nicola does not have that luxury, because she is facing having to make one of two choices, either somehow pay the bills or shut the place down. There are no other options. I certainly do not want to see this place shut down.
It’s been suggested by a few people that if she raised the price of membership, that would solve her financial dilemma, but I put it to you that that strategy will not work. I know of no business, either in the service industry or in retail that survives strictly on money raised by membership fees. The only way she could do that would be to charge such an exorbitant amount that none of us could afford to maintain a membership. As membership numbers dropped, that would mean advertisers would be less willing to spend their advertising dollars here, further decreasing the site’s revenue, which would only compound her dilemma. It’s a no-win situation.
For any of you that are entertaining the idea of leaving, before you take that drastic step and request that Nicola close your account, you ask yourself this question. If you know of a better site than this one, then why are you still here? I’d have thought you would have left long ago. Consider also any friends you have, and how do you think they will feel when they lose that friendship through no fault of theirs. The talented fingers and sharp mind of Gav have provided you with an easy way to block all mention of this category, so why not use it? Get more involved with the sections of this fabulous site you do enjoy, and soon you will forget this one area is even there. I know that I have no intention of leaving and I’m hoping none of my friends do either.
If you're feeling bored during this Covid-19 epidemic I’d like to suggest
you take a peek at a story I collaborated with SueBrasil, a brilliant author.
It's about a mistake in judgment a lady makes concerning a friend, based
on the hurtful words of someone that only thinks of himself. Will that
conniving person succeed in ruining a beautiful friendship, or will she see
through his lies? It's gradually creeping up towards the 30,000 mark
and we’d love any votes or hearing whatever comments you may wish
to make. It is listed in my profile under ‘FAVOURITES’ as Apologize.
www.lushstories.com/stories/first-time/apologize.aspx I am truly saddened by this thread. In my mind the inclusion of such an unsavoury if not downright sick category indicates a lowering of standards which sadly mirrors the whole of the western world.
I have clearly stated on my Bio page that this subject sickens me and I want no part of it.
I am now torn as to whether my contributing to the site somehow condones that category and wonder if I too should withdraw.
I don't want to but I do feel very strongly about this.
In communities where is rife, it has been proven that there is a considerably higher incidence of birth defects caused by such inter-breeding.
I once posted a story here which was rejected because the sole character was accidentally killed after experiencing a violent orgasm. It was clearly not murder or suicide but a very tragic accident.
If that is unsuitable but sex between family members is not then where next? fantasies?
I'm sorry but it is wrong. Very wrong.
Having said that, I would add that I do admire Nicola and do not hold her or anyone else in contempt and also understand the reasons for her decision.
A couple of thoughts about the reinstatement of the category. I understand not permitting the discussion of this subject anywhere on the site, but you might consider one possible exception. When people are co-authoring a story, oftentimes they like to discuss it in real time in a chat window, or perhaps a locked room. It could be emailed back and forth, though I am not sure if Lush rules allow even that, but that is not in real time. Many people do not like to go off site, so the restriction does pose some difficulties.
My second thought is about the Omnium badge and the category. When I was working toward the badge and the category was still here, it was the one category I knew I would have a hard time writing about as it is something I am dead set against. And I was thrilled when it was removed. In view of the amount of discord for this particular subject, more so than any other, could Lush consider making this a "voluntary" category in earning the Omnium Badge? If every other category is represented, the badge would still be awarded.
One other thing about the badge. The few people that have earned it, worked very hard to get that badge, and it seems rather unfair to take it away without warning just because the site decided to add new categories. Possibly giving some sort of a time frame to add a story new categories (the time frame being proportionate to the number of additional categories) might have been a bit more fair.
Like some other members here on Lush, I too experienced parental as a young boy. I eventually made peace with what happened to me and have refused to let it affect the rest of my life. The topic itself is polarizing philosophically, personally, and emotionally, as are many other topics to different individuals. Sex is a developed taste. Acceptance of desires is controlled by your social convictions, your faith teachings, family traditions, courage and any number of other outside influences.
That being said, a number of us came to Lush in order to have a safe place to express ourselves and share ideas. Others came to “hook-up” and others came just to enjoy their guilty pleasure and read. I came to Lush in 2009. There are a number of excellent authors here who express themselves sensually and sexually with elegance. There are others who cram “Suck”, “Fuck” and “Cum” in a paragraph as often as they can. The difference between erotica and porn I suppose.
I don’t condone and have no intention of writing about it or reading it. On the other hand, I don’t censor it or deny someone else’s right to express themselves either. Many members have threatened or thought about leaving Lush in protest. I would hope that those members would take a step back and reconsider their options. Nicola has provided a safe place and it would be sad if she lost members for doing such.
On Lush, is merely another genre. Don’t give it more importance than it deserves.
Putting the category in the vault would defeat the purpose of reinstating it in the first place.
It's going to take a long time for the traffic to recover, even with the category reinstated. That's especially true since it's not being promoted in any way. Many of those who left won't return just because the category is back. They were here when the forum was a drunken orgy of celebration and sneering because the category was axed without warning, so they have no reason to think it would ever come back. Even if they do find out it's been reinstated, many of them are going to have a bad taste in their mouth from the way they were treated and not return.
The traffic is going to come from those readers who haven't found a home, or are dissatisfied with the quality of the stories they're reading elsewhere. If you hide those stories in the vault like a dog with chronic flatulence when company is coming, the recovery will be even slower, if it happens at all. You're depending upon those who do pay for a membership and find stories to their liking there to be the sole means of people discovering them. Then the people who do hear good things have to be willing to fork over the cash without seeing for themselves what is available.
Out in the open ( even if ignored like the homeless guy who lives in the alley and smells like he's drenched in cat piss ) people can at least discover them, link to them, and bring in others to recover the traffic lost — eventually.
to piggyback off of adele's suggestion of a "voluntary category" for the omnium badge, i'd like to see it extended to any one category that an author feels that they are unable to write in. while some may view as just another genre, they may have strong objections to water sports, reluctance, monsters, etc. with lush now offering fifty-one categories, it seems more than plausible/doable. (plus my minor ocd just loves a number ending in zero)
I've just noticed that everyone that had the omnium badge has now lost it - the badge stats are empty!
What a shame - I struggled for ages to get that. I know, I'm only 12 more categories away but there's one category that will stop me now.
Never mind - I had it and I'm grateful for that. Just wish I took a picture of it - lol.
I used to be a pervert. In here, I'm normal!
Watch this space...She is really - cumming soon!
=d>
