On Thu, 20 Feb 1997, Quek, Kwang-Ee wrote:

Can everybody just keep their C&C to the authours themselves and not
send it to the mailing list? I have to delete about 60% of the mail
because of that. of couse I skim through it first but it's more
courtious that way.

    What do you want then, only fanfics and nothing else on this list? If 
you want that, you could just as well go to rec.arts.anime.creative and 
get the same thing instead.

    There are some good reasons people do public C&C rather than private:

	1. The C&C-er isn't necessarily sure whether or not his/her 
assessment of the fic was valid, and would like to see other people 
agree/disagree. Public C&C allows that to be possible. This is why 
Lawson-san sometimes prefers public C&C on his fics. Besides, it's good 
publicity for the author when C&C is done publicly (more on that later). 

	2. On a related note, the fic brings up some good issues that 
make for some interesting discussion on the list. This would not be 
possible without public C&C. Good examples of this, Lawson's 
"Transitions" (of course) and Kun-chan's "Ranma No Hentai!" Heck, even my 
own little fic sparked up a little discussion on the finer points of 
journalistic integrity. Good discussion like this is what the list is all 
about.

	3. The C&C'er feels that the fic is so good or provoking that 
he/she thinks everyone should read it. Sebastian and Travis Butler's 
Mystery Science Theatre-esque C&C are prime examples of this, as well as 
Taleswapper's in-depth reviews. There are some wonderful fics that I 
missed the first time that I only found out about because there was so 
much positive C&C and discussion on them. 

    While there are some types of C&C that _should_ be kept private, 
public C&C definitely has its own place on the list (and it sure as heck 
beats spam and test messages). Eliminating this would simply turn this 
thing into another rec.arts.anime.creative, which does a plenty good 
enough job by itself. While I admit that just about all of my C&C are done 
privately, I would hate to see public C&C go away. It's half the fun of 
the ML. 

---
Raphael See