Another poll that's related to what someone suggested (this time our member MewMan) but not actually the poll they suggested. Any opinions on the surge of translated web novels?

You can submit poll ideas here (and try to keep them manga/anime-related)
http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=3903

Previous Poll Results:
Question: Do you listen to J-pop?
Choices:
All the time! - votes: 1061 (11.5%)
Sometimes... - votes: 2213 (24.1%)
Just the anime songs - votes: 2758 (30%)
Used to, but not anymore - votes: 1004 (10.9%)
Tried it, didn't like it - votes: 934 (10.2%)
Never tried it - votes: 1229 (13.4%)
There were 9199 total votes.
The poll ended: October 24th 2015

More people do than not... Interesting. Wasn't actually expecting that.

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What's with the "maybe"?

Used to read a lot, it's gone down to two novels now but that's more because I've finished a lot already (or dropped them...) and some aren't being actively translated anymore.

Maybe a couple is technically right as i for example read a bit of the (decent) Ninja Slayer "novels" after i started the anime to compare and these were originally posted via twitter.
I remember when authors used to complain about the Reader’s Digest form but writing via twitter is the certainly the worst way possible.

I am not even that big a fan of the LN format (these are even more simplified youth novels after all) but good ones exist of course. The vast majority of our web novels though are the height of illiteracy in my eyes as they are written by no-names, have highly questionably translations and basically none target adults. I didn't become a librarian to sink to that level my friends. Moving on...

(I never understood why the word novel is used to describe these as LN´s are usually novella and web novels are basically fictitious blogs.)

Last edited by residentgrigo at 3:02 am, Oct 26 2015

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Definitely the fourth option for me. The writing's amateurish, the translations are dodgy, and even the titles are off-putting. They're like very poor excuses for light novels; and why should I read poor excuses when I can have the real thing? (Though LN's don't get translated anywhere near as much as they should, imo.)

Lots of them, if you consider 20 or so to be lots.
I started reading them from about 2½ years ago. First I started with the ones related to existing Manga/Manhua/Manhwa and Now I also read the ones I feel interesting.
I would say that I'm quite hooked to couple of them now.

I have been reading novels from way past before I started reading Manga/Manhwa/Manhua (about 12+ years ago).

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Lots!

I wish there were real novels in the line of some of those web novels (either in German or English).
I really like overpowered characters that are just going sightseeing and are pretty easygoing with lots of funny antics, while somewhat trying to hide their strength... basically Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyusoukyoku (Novel) is the perfect example of this... and I prefer the web novel beginning of it to the light novel.

i currently am reading two and finished one. I started reading LN's a few month ago. It's difficult to pin a category to teh LN, for me it's not a novel but it's not either a novella, before starting reading i never thought i was going to read a LN as i like a lot to read books i have the same thought of Calstine, then i started reading The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor
and Mushoku Tensei and i couldn't stop reading them

"Maybe a couple" meaning "Just a few", which isn't "Lots"

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A just ruler amongst tyrants

I read quite a number of novels. But not so much anymore, I wish I had more time to read, I have more than 30 novels on my wish list.

P.S. 2 of the novels are actually sitting in my wish list since I registered on the manga updates. I want to read them but they are long and not the type I want to get stalled in the middle of reading...

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Translations a bit too dodgy for me to ever read the web novels listed on MU. If any of them ever get truly translated, maybe, but they're still not really my cup of tea.

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Well really they're serial novels, but those basically aren't a thing these days.

Read a few on Baka-Tsuki, but only bothered to finish even less than that.


This... Of the few I checked out outside of Baka-Tsuki, pretty much all seemed to be unedited/proofread. At least Baka-Tsuki had some editing to make it more readable (especially for the bigger projects), but the rest seem like an ESL student doing translation homework by trying to spruce up google translate.

I don't read web novels. I'm not into reading novels electronically. I prefer having the weight of book in my hands so that just means getting my ass to learn another language. In that regard, I have some qualities of a luddite. Also with issues of back translations and the reliance on words to really activate my imagination, I'd rather not deal with the errs. Of course the same can be said about graphic novels but the pictures are somewhat of insurance to make the translations remain in context.

about your last statement; you're saying you've been reading web novels for over a decade? Just to clarify....Sorry if it's a stupid question.