News GGP Official Response

Depend, will we see the watermelon story in webnovel?

 

i don't think so. Landlord Q must be quite pissed off about this

 

To me whole case seems strange, fishy even....

It feels like not only buying out site that is your rival, but at the same time attempt to get some good PR. One that is still ongoing on top of that... How? I will explain my thinking in a moment.

Lets be honest- if not for some good souls finding documents showing that GT was bought by same entity that owns QIDIAN and asking about that on forums here we would never get to know that it happened. GGP posted explanations later, but to me personally it feels like there is no real "I'm sory for lying there", but more like post full of excuses how whole world is at fault and I had to lie because of that reason, but it's only my personal opinion.

Now starting to explain how QIDIAN is still trying to get good PR by lying- just go to gravity site. Check out frontpage... Do you see any information about how site changed owners? No... There is totally no mention about this "small fact". Instead of that you get to know about bam- "Gravity Tales Qidian Licensing" and "Dual hosting of Qidian International and Gravity Tales Novels". What is more you can find inside these newses even smthg like this
"
I think that a large question on your minds is what Qidian International gets out of this. We want to make it very clear what this deal is and what it is not. Despite the licensing, Gravity Tales will remain completely autonomous. We will continue to be a website by the fans, for the fans.

Qidian, as most of you will know, has received some bad press of late. They haven’t made the greatest decisions and their reception from the community has varied from guarded to outright hostile.

The level of passion from the community over here has been incredible and we’re proud to be a part of this awesome community.

They now see that they can’t just do things their own way and expect no blowback. Readers won’t just follow a story wherever it’s hosted and the community won’t simply come around eventually. They realize they have a lot to learn. While some bridges may have been burned beyond repair, they are trying to build new ones with more reasonable materials.
"
which is blatantly portreting QIDIAN as a site that is trying to amend their past ways. That they care about community. Sadly whole message means totally different thing if you had prior knowledge that GGP is now working under same person that owns whole QIDIAN.

My question is why such important news is still not posted on gravity tales site? I feel like not posting this there is an attempt to continue to lie... Would you really not think about informing all your users in your official web page first and go with it to reddit/NU later, if ever? :s

Why I needed to go to some forum or reddit to learn that now gravity and QIDIAN have same owner? If not for some pure coincidence I would still not know this fact. I am not really checking out reddit, nor frequenting NU forum, heck I even specially made account today just to show my frustration about being lied to...

Do you know how checking gravity tales site made me think? That maybe QIDIAN is not so bad, maybe they are really trying to change their ways, since they made a deal with gravity about licensing, heck they even post eachothers translations now, there is a chance that Wuxiaworld problems with them will be soon solved when both parties talk peacefully about this...I even had a thought that maybe, MAYBE it was not only QIDIAN trying to get monopoly in translations of wuxia/xanxia, but that Wuxiaworld could be at fault as well partially. I mean since they could talk it out with gravity peacefully, why not with Wuxiaworld as well then? Maybe actually QIDIAN was not one at fault?

I had this thoughts only till I learned how GT sold majority shares to owner of QIDIAN.

And I feel like this is the whole reason that while we had response on reddit/NU forum there is still nothing about this on GT page.

Sory for typos/mistakes, english is not really my main language, I just hope that I managed to make it understendable.

 

EDIT: okay, I saw the just statement below....

 

Try to read my whole post and then you will get answer why it is posted on first day since account was made^ I think I explained it there.

In case you have problems in reading lengthy walls of texts here is a fragment I mean
"Why I needed to go to some forum or reddit to learn that now gravity and QIDIAN have same owner? If not for some pure coincidence I would still not know this fact. I am not really checking out reddit, nor frequenting NU forum, heck I even specially made account today just to show my frustration about being lied to..."

 

Like you said, a lot of readers are not aware that GT and QIDIAN have same owner. GT could only loose viewers if they admit it on their site.

Since I don't go to GT anymore, did some of their viewers post this... on their chapter commentary for exemple ? That could be a way to inform some readers of this situation... Or maybe their comments are already deleted/censored/banned by QI-GT ? hahaha

 

Do you really think that someone who is a Good Guy Pretender will post this information on his website. Getting the truth out if him is like pulling teeth and we only got an admittance of the truth because we had physical evidence that was irrefutable. They won't do it as they don't want to loose even more viewers than they have already lost. If they were all about honesty and integrity they wouldn't have blatantly lied and would have already posted on their website like most companies/ websites do when there's a change in ownership but this is Qidian-Gravity 'funky' way of doing business.

They still have totobro linking to his old website which links to GT bypassing the GT filter I have in place.

 

Well most tl stil listed as their old translation name/team/site even when they are posting at a new site. There has been cases where TL still used the old site for announcement which links to the new, reasons being people who only want a single series update, case in point Limitless Sword God link to soaring tl but chapters are at TN.

Although it does felt weird that TL old site got free traffic something thats not there.

 

Why did he lie about something, that any one of the former translators could easily contradict? I honestly do not understand that one.

 

Why would children lie or anyone else for that matter? Because they believe they can get away with it. There's nothing wrong with lying, getting caught lying is the problem.

 

I'm a landlord myself and your comparison is ridiculous. As a landlord you can't advertise your house to rent as "4 bedrooms, 2 living rooms, 2 bathrooms, fully furnished" etc when in reality what you have is two bedroom apartment to rent. To be more specific landlord have obligations under law to inform his tenant about any changes which will affect said tenant. What about that?

Personally I'm not against introducing paid product but against someone without any respect for anyone else i.e. lying doublefaced bastards. As for now there is no any goodwill behind QI actions - what they are doing is fraudulent activity - especially their last "stunt" with GT. Wonder why QI didn't make an annoucenment regarding this but GGP need to do so? Because now all responsibility for this fraudulent activity is on GGP side not on QI - they can defend themselves in court how it's GGP words not theirs, how he signed authorization contract with other publishers without mentioning such important fact and liability for this action is purely on him etc.

If you want to name this actions as a progress (same thing person said in comment you quoted) I guess for you killing someone because he don't want to sell his home and developer want it can be named as progress as well. Why such comparison? Because those calling it progress are mostly freeloaders and leechers. If they would really respect translators they won't be happy about such thing solely because QI are d*ckheads for everyone and are proven to exploit anyone they can. Maybe for someone without moral code or any respect towards others it's a progress but in reality it's destroying community from inside.

People saying "I don't care till I can read for free" for me are similar to those raping others and saying "doesn't matter had sex". Yeah - that's what you literally said - it doesn't matter how they want to achieve their goal because they own rights. It's like saying you can freely rape your girlfriend/wife because you are together. That's what is wrong with such thinking - have some morals people.

PS I just got another 5 books written by Trudi Canavan instead giving money towards people associated with QI. Yeah - it's similar price to this I would normally donate. If you want to start talking purely from business point of view - QI have both rights and obligations under law. As for now they don't give a second though about their obligations so we as a potential customers can simply show them what we think about such actions. By the way - if you want to argue with me do QI actions are legal before you do so please go to talk with lawyers with specialization regarding international market law and customer rights. You would be surprised

 

@Its Michael Didnt read it all but I disagree with you. We dont live in a Utopia and Qidian is a Chinese company expecting upright behaviors is not realistic.
Syosetu does not offer what Qidian offers to authors as far as I know. No matter how evil, they provide a service or rather create a good:income for amateur authors
Microsoft got sued by the government even Google by the EU. This is business as usual. Every company wants the highest market share they can get their grumby hands on.
Talk is cheap, like the YouTubers who created Patreon, those who disagree with Qidian should provide a better alternative. Companies break the law because the advantages are worth more than the fine/disadvantages.
Crap typing on my ancient tablet is annoying

 

@Wujigege it's not like I'm disagreeing with your whole point of view but it's about how you state it. I'm an owner of a business so I know perfectly how it works and how often there is grey area present in any company activity.

Key point is one - QI is providing shitty subpar service (MTL + editing/translations without any quality etc) yet claiming to be "the best platform to read chinese novels worldwide".

I agree to disagree and I agree with many points you made in several threads (thus I "liked" them) but I'm fully against you saying something like "It is like a renter, no a squatter trying to a landlord how to manage his own home". For starters this hmmm service is fully customer oriented thus key point should be having good relation with your own customer base (you can notice it for example with game community like Path of Exile). If QI would really aim for progress and provide very good translations + keep whole issue with WW private believe me - even I wouldn't be so much against them.

One thing is activity in grey area and other is activity in grey area and lying about it + paiting others as a bad ones when you are 1000% worse even if what you said is truth + not caring about anything - stealing translation/keeping deals like buying 90% shares of GT hidden from public opinion and trying to say how QI is changing their ways when in reality they simply gave their own company some perks/employing people being well-know for sending death threats and list goes on. That's why since beginning I have been saying how QI have such shitty PR person not knowing western markets at all. It's QI PR spokeperson which destroyed their own standing - no one else.

In the end as a customer base we can and have right to voice own opinions. Main problem with QI is their lack of comprehension how western customers can chose from so many other publishers and similar types of literature they simply can skip them. We both know their aim is only towards bringing paying customers to their site - nothing else. Ads system won't bring enough profit for QI to cover their loses + expenses + bringing enough profits simply because customer base isn't enough. The way they are going is the worst way possible both for community and for them. Any single one of their actions is focused on spreading their influence instead of improving their quality and fixing their problems. Only an idiot would keep charging when he is simply naked. As for now QI doesn't have any standing any quality and any respect and only thing they are doing is throwing money around. No matter how much money you spend if you don't fix your shortcomings you would be out of market sooner or later.

For me QI as a publisher is done for - and any publisher/author associated with them wouldn't get a single penny from me simply on the grounds of QI activity and their behaviour. I have respect towards others unless they are proven to not be worth any respect at all. My moral standards won't let me support QI - it's like trying to support pedophile after all he done. Maybe for some this whole activity doesn't matter but those kind of people are the reason why world is such a shitty place - not any moral standards and saying how "it's how world works" - no it's how you let it be.QI don't care about anything at all - maybe this behaviour would work in China/if they would have good and solid standing at market but at sole beginning it's simply autodestruction.

PS What you said about lawsuits is right - that's why QI chose to "dual-host" fully knowing in the future they would most likely need to pay Ren for it - simply because any fines etc would be a lot lower than their loses because of such low customer base at their website. What QI didn't take in count is possibility of being banned in UK/USA on grounds of fraudulent activity and trying to monopolize new market using illegal ways. To be more specific there can be even problems arising from selling GT to QI - that's why QI got 90% shares instead buying whole company - but it's topic for another thread.

 

You make a good point but Qidian is not a charity or celebrity or non profit that relies on goodwill. They can be horrible people but if the product is good enough customers will come.
I dont see as bleak a future for Qidian as you do. They can easily buy another site like GT. I was disappointed that they didnt do that at beginning
I would have bought or started multiple fan translator sites and then consolidated them as Qidian International when they became profitable.
The west loves a rag to riches story even if its forced, Google, Amazon etc got millions in fundings and their founders were elites.
We love a little guy even if he is a puppet and will get kicked out of the company he founded like the late Steve Jobs. I dropped Qidian novels immediately as QI launched, dropped ZongHeng novels when Wuxiaworld switched focus to them.
Reality is cruel, it is really just business..
Apple also had and still have quality issues. HP has current stagnating issues. Their best novels will have better quality but I expect improvement but bad quality is just a consequence of their size

 

Right now I'm spending my free time reading all types of books (Sanderson, Bagwell, Weeks and other ). The one that you mentioned are good? What do you recommend to start?

 

I'm not sure why you're bringing in apple as the little guy but you clearly know nothing about Steven jobs if you're using him at your analogy. Quite frankly I question whether you even know a single thing about what you're talking about. But as lot of what you say generally isn't like this I'm going to leave here.

 

Let's be honest - all companies in the world are looking for profits and doing all actions in order to achieve them. What's different in this case is how QI doesn't even doing anything good for their customer base and how they simply thinks our community is full of idiots (you can't explain their actions in other way). Show me any other company acting in western markets in the same way as QI - insulting everyone they work with, lying whole time about things we can easily verify, doesn't care about quality of own product and saying how "quality of chapters translated by wuxiadream will be better after some edtions". If QI really want some profits first thing to do is fire and sue their PR spokeperson - both of them - previous one and new one. Both are source of most problems. Second thing is - stop lying - well it's not like anyone would believe them now even if what they would say is truth but new people will can verify atleast now they are telling the truth.

As you said - it's business and for me it's clear - that's why for me main issue is QI actions and behaviour - not paying for goods. If anyone would want to read MTL + edition they would move to sites dedicated for such translation. As QI have pure business approach towards profits/money they simply can't have fan translation approach towards their "goods". Even their own spokeperson doesn't know anything about business nor how translation works (i.e. QI comments regarding quality etc) - so they simply don't know what they are doing.

What you said about buying sites etc - as it's international and new market trying to purchase all companies/monopolize it is illegal and company would get closed straight away.

From business point of view the best approach for profit would be - cooperating with WW with those 20 authorized products + give way for those titles they want and making it clear there won't be anymore titles authorized for them, trying to cooperate with translators from other sites/lease them for work - not trying to bind them to yourself (why? It's simple - if they would want to work for you they would express their will) and expanding own influence in this way. Why such approach would be the best? No backslash from community so costs would be nonexistent/a lot lower than now - huge boost of profits from ads/not being blacklisted by many companies and translators - now the best translators would be vary towards them and I doubt anyone from western countries would want to work for them - there is many other publishers not only following law but with better terms than that.

Reason why I see QI future in more black color than you is simple - because they are added to blacklist on many groups for big spenders (discord etc) and are being well-know for their subpar quality. Reading community - especially high spenders - talk with themselves and recommend themselves many titles/publishers. Now those doors are closed for them and I doubt QI would do anything to change our opinion regarding them so they lost with their actions a lot more than you think.

@Vultix93 it depends what genre you want to read etc. As it's not a thread for it I would just mention few titles/series (you can see series at the bottom of site) :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Magician_(novel_series)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Painted_Man
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_World

I think those titles/series would be enough for you to read for a while.

 

I have one statement for you
CEO increases drug price
Hahaha
It happens everywhere, companies make stupid decisions but can still survive from it if their pockets are deep enough
The Amazon Phone was crap but Amazon survived
Qidian will survive, I don't see a bleak future for them at all.
White lies are necessary to survive, I dare say that QI needs better liars.

Sure.

 

All that Lies. GT went down hard...

GT Try to blame Wuxiaworld cuz translator move on WW.. Hahaha

 

@Vultix93 Just a fair warning: The Painted Man (aka. the Warded Man) is great (at least until the point I have read it), but I have read some spoilers and I found it too disturbing - maybe @Its Michael can confirm this, or correct me, but I would be careful with that one if you get heavily invested emotionally in the main characters.

Raymond Feist books - and I talk about the stuff that is related to the Riftwar Univese - are great. You get snippets about the life of certain characters, there are some that get married, have kids, you may even see the stories of those kids, and so on... it is quite the experience. The whole stuff consists of about 30 books, so if you get hooked and may not mind some of your favorite characters die - I mean we are talking about several lifetimes, not everyone can stay alive forever - then that's a lot of reading ahead of you.

The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss are also amazing. I think this is a must... I can't wait for the 3rd book.

The Summoner Series by Taran Matharu is pretty decent too, it is a strange mixture of many things and is rather lighthearted compared to the others, so it is kind of a relaxing read.

As for the argument about companies and such with @Wujigege , there is much I could say and have said already and I would take @Its Michael 's side for the most part. Maybe I will come back later to join the fun, but right now I am a bit tired of all the bullshit that was forced down on my throat by the events of the recent days/weeks/months.
In short (okay, after writing all that down not that short): yeah, profit is the main target, some companies think that it pays out (in financial terms as well) to be ethical, though it might only show in the long term. That is not very reassuring, but at least it is something. If we all act like we have no responsibility in anything, we are still just a bunch of monkeys with slightly less hair (at least for some, I've kept most of that on my face - so I couldn't even reach that level). Having values, sticking to certain beliefs that are not the "standard" feels strange nowadays, which shouldn't be the case. Accepting the standard is always a defeat - and trust me, I know what "defeat" means... I know it too well. We should always aim higher and hope it's worth it... pretty often it's not, but if nobody does that, then will we ever be more than just a bunch of hairless monkeys? (In case of Qidian, the answer is quite likely a yes, because the clusterfuck they have managed to achieve is shocking to anyone with half a brain... so for the sake of humanity, I will try to believe that all that is an unfortunate partial-result of the infinite monkey theorem).