News SRH moving & future of Qidian novels on volare

Post by Craxuan: Star Rank Hunter moving out of volare

Hello everyone, this is a lengthy but important announcement. As some of you might know, SRH is published by a certain publisher who shall not be named. This automatically makes it into a time bomb, waiting to explode. After a lot of pondering, we found a less than ideal solution, but one nonetheless. We will move out of Volare by the end of this month and moving onto a combination reddit and google docs. We will have the chapters’ announcements on reddit, and they will contain a link to the google doc of the chapter. The subreddit we will be using is aptly named /r/starrankhunter/ (https://www.reddit.com/r/starrankhunter/). This way, SRH is no longer monetized, hence it will just become a passion project.

We know this whole thing sounds a little grim, but believe it when we say that it's not as bad as it sounds. It takes a load of deadly worry off our shoulders, and if you're a veteran Reddit user it's not even inconvenient (probably)! Anyway, SRH ISN'T DEAD, IT JUST MOVED TO A SAFER PLACE is what we're trying to say. The rest - schedule, uniform upvotes, procrastination etc - will all remain unchanged. So uh, cause for celebration? Yay!

-Craxuan and darklord5555

_____________________

Note from etvo

Hey guys, etvo here.

I wanted to tag along to Craxuan's announcement because the circumstances regarding this one are a bit different from last May. When the entire brouhaha erupted last year, individual translators decided to drop their Qidian novels for various reasons. Whether it was out of disapproval of corporate actions, speaking out for their beliefs, or that the novel also happened to be really long, the events of last May were the catalyst for us dropping our novels. This was a wholly voluntary action that wasn't due to an official takedown request.

Over the course of the last year, we divested two thirds of our Qidian novels. The bulk of those novels were the entirety of our most popular novels. What we had left were frankly, the short or less popular novels that I thought we could keep around until the situation changed, or Qidian might be willing to work with other sites again. They were just a handful of views, surely those would be fine.

Now, that situation remains the same, but it's come to my attention for a while now that various accusations and/or falsehoods have been created regarding volare and the remaining Qidian novels on the site. To which I say, "Enough". I will not allow immaturity and negativity to touch my folks. I have asked our remaining Qidian novels to leave, and there are various plans to either move or halt translations upon reaching certain milestones. It's sad that things have come to this state, given that we're all here to enjoy these wonderful stories. But that's what we're here for, and not this other nonsense. So thank you for your understanding and please support the translators when they transition to the new novels. Please direct all questions/comments to me. Please don't be annoyed at the translators, as I asked them to do this.

-etvolare

Original post here: http://volarenovels.com/star-rank-hunter-chapter-229-part-1/

 

game companies lootbox debacle and QI hypocracy....a favorite past-time of 2018

 

Although I don't read that novel, i wish u luck with ur migration. I hope things work out on ur end

 

I remember days where volare was the place to go for me. Great TL, good commenting system and all. But ever since volare got into this habit of dropping/moving novels, I have stopped going there. I felt that my investment into the novels, reading hundreds of chaprers, can't be just moved off in a single day. I still stand by it. I am not currently reading anything on volare, fearing that it might be dropped on any random day. Unfortunately, today is just like that day.
While I personally don't like the way volare has been handling this, and I honestly cannot come up with any alternatives, I do wish you the best for the better of the community. A big and og group like you should be around, sticking above the rest.
Wishes for good luck from a former fan,
Peace and Mangoes

 

+1 for the appropriate metaphor. A "bomb waiting to explode" is the perfect way to explain it.

 

A passion project, does that mean fapping is involved?

 

They truly are the gift that keeps on giving. Good luck, hope it all works out for you guys.

 

Ah I was surprised that novel was still on volare because of QI
But I'm glad that you guys are still continuing it

 

I don't read those novel but yeah you should get rid of qidian novel as soon as possible look at wuxiaworld it a mess i mean just look at novelupdate hjc page it bleed my eye so cluster fuck chapter are all tangle up it pure mess

 

I didn’t even realise it was a Qidian novel. Oh well~ I’ve put it on hold for now anyways

 

And before anyone points out, I know that the investment of the TL is even more. Which is why it is even more unfortunate.

 

+1

 

Hey Mango, I believe I remember seeing you around GDK and RTW. They were Qidian novels. Most of the novels we dropped last year were Qidian novels, with the exception of one novel whose author didn't seem interested in authorization. I've wanted to make sure that my folks are protected, given the amount of work they put into translations, which is why for active novels, I'm keeping only authorized novels on the site.

It's definitely frustrating seeing a novel dropped, and most of ours were actually picked right back up by Qidian. We've been working hard to put ourselves in a position where we're not vulnerable to the nonsense drama going on, precisely so we can avoid dropping novels in the future. I'm happy that volare translators can translate without keeping one leery eye peeled to the back, just waiting for the knife to descend, which is what I feel I have to do with SOTR.

 

I understand that perfectly, and I feel that was the right move. But when 4 of the 6 novels that I was reading on volare suddenly up and disappeared, I was truly disappointed. For some time, I lost faith. It brought me back to the old days where we got one chapter per month if we are lucky, and all.
Then again, it was simply an emotional decision of mine to distance e myself from volare. Still respect it, still would love to recommend the novels to others, but just not read them myself. Maybe one day, if they are completely finished, I might read them. Your Highness and the other completdcseries are a fine read.

 

Did you check the raws publishers of the novels that volare dropped? Around 90% of them hail from one company---the same one that's been pressuring all other translation groups to join them or face DMCA. volare has working contracts with other publishers like 17k, iReader and Zongheng, whose series are still going strong.

This latest drop notice is along the same vein---moving/getting rid of that raw publisher's novels before they come to get you. I mean, if you know your new neighbor next door is building up a bazooka army and aiming it at anyone who tries to claim a piece of their turf, are you really going to wait and bet on the chance they won't shoot you some day? Or just hand over the turf and save you both some trouble?

Heck, I'm betting that even if volare didn't drop these projects, they'd be forced to stop or have the TLers assimilated into the mega webnovel site to continue the translations there. The only reason it looks like the site is dropping all these novels is, well, because they all come from that one certain trigger-happy company. =.=

 

wait till them stabilize later

 

Well with the way QI has been doing things i'm glad volare is doing this to ensure a secure future. Best of luck and hoping for more novels to read on your site.

 

Shame QIs situation never worked out and you have to boot those novels... look forward to your releases

 

Of course @MangoGuy, I completely understand. I hope that we win your trust back one day. When you do feel like reading something, Doomed to be Cannon Fodder is completed on the site. It's going through the publication process and I feel like the comment section is even better than the novel sometimes. They sure had a party. (Love to all Bushiis reading this!)

Other options include The Godking's Legacy, our first original and published novel launching tomorrow! The staff is dying with laughter from it, I honestly think it'll be folks' new favorite read.

We've been watching and waiting for a while now, and I'd still hoped for a chance to work with them. My folks know that I've said a few times, "Hmm.. Qidian's not that bad...?" and then something happens the next day to make me eat mega crow. Sometimes life just has to move on to happier, less tainted pursuits.