Free scripting dead?

General
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Whoa - to be clear, I’m not asking for, nor would I ever want, anyone to jump ship – that is absolutely NOT the intention in any way, shape or form.

VFS is more like a safe harbor. You click enough gumroad, patreon, etc. links that lead to a “this account has been banned” message and I just thought there has to be a better way to do this. Not being able to find one, I decided to do it myself, “be the change” or whatever.

ES is an incredible community and I would never want to change that. If I said something that implied otherwise I sincerely apologize.

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A huge downside of bounties is that these in many cases actualy attract inferior work, because speed usualy matters more than quality. Unless the bounty gets handed out with a delay to enable competition, rather than making the first one win.

The problem is that a quick, but decent script can be produced in a day if people are dedicated (and if money is involved, these inevitably show up). Especialy if the videos are short. But lets say we go for medium length at least (7+minutes). A high quality script can take a few weeks by someone that cannot rush these due to limited time on a day. It can become very hard to compete for these people.

The simple reason is that its practicly impossible to make a good script for a longer video in a day, unless you cut corners somewhere, as it does require several test runs. Even if the movement seems to match, the only way to know if it works is to use your dick. And you cannot go for too many sessions in a row to realy know what works and what doesnt. Even if you split that up, how can you be sure its a consistent intensity, or a good build up?

All you can do is some accuracy base measure in that day. But this is relatively close to an AI generated script. At which point: why not create a system that can let an AI generate such script, and make each run cost a little? Accuracy doesnt always perform intention well, and this is very much noticed when device limits are reached, as then you have to work around such limitations. The solution is scaling the intensity down, or just picking videos that do not run in this issue. A relatively easy search or adjustment.

And this is where the real problem starts: AI slop. People are definitely going to let AI’s generate most of the script and then just tweak it a little, and fill in gaps. The only real effort is those gaps, yet its very hard to measure in a scale of quality. And you can be sure that people wont tell it was AI generated, as doing so actually risks making you lose some money. Detection might be easy because AIs are always precise. but that is easily obfuscated by making a script that just rounds 98% of the actions to a multiple of 10. As AIs arent always perfect, some misalignments wont be a problem either, and also cannot be used for detection.

The only thing bounties do is help at is providing more content, for videos that at least desire some of it. Luckily its a lot less likely that its going to be causing many <2min videos, as most requests generaly go about longer videos, and for 2min videos, the competition with a free script is going to be huge. At least this is a huge factor to fight against AI slop. Because even if its AI, long videos rarely are generated perfect and do need a human pass. And as long as its done decently, its going to be decent enough to make some people happy. But the problem is that the price is rarely going to match.
Good luck for an excelent script maker to prove that his script is worth more for selling. He is going to be forced to price the script at AI slop levels. And this is what i dislike about bounties. As it punishes those dedicated ones that know how to make quality.

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These are really thoughtful points and honestly a lot of this is exactly the kind of feedback that helps shapes VFS, butI do want to clarify how the bounty system works because it actually addresses several of the concerns you raised as its not a first-to-finish system.

Multiple creators can claim and submit to the same bounty. The person who posted the bounty gets to review each submission and can accept or reject with a reason.

So it’s not a race and a creator who takes two weeks to deliver something excellent can absolutely win over someone who rushed something out in a day. The poster chooses the script they’re happiest with.

There is a rejection limit and dispute system. If a poster rejects 3 submissions, the bounty automatically escalates to admin review, so posters can’t just endlessly reject work to be difficult.

And creators can dispute a rejection if they feel it was unfair. Admins can force-accept, side with the poster, or refund everyone.

On the AI concern, you’re absolutely right that this is something the whole community is going to have to navigate, and not just with bounties. It affects regular script sales, free releases, everything.

We don’t have automated AI detection built in (and as you pointed out, it’s trivially easy to obfuscate), but the review step gives posters the ability to test a script and reject it if the quality isn’t there.

At the end of the day, the person requesting the script gets to decide if the work meets their expectations before any payout happens.

Your broader point about quality scripters being undervalued is a real one though. The bounty system is just one piece as creators can also sell scripts individually at whatever price they set, receive tips, and build a following through their profile.

The idea is that dedicated creators who consistently put out quality work can build a reputation and charge accordingly, rather than having to compete purely on speed or price.

That said, VFS is still very early and if there are features that would better protect and reward quality work I’m genuinely open to ideas.

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My experience from stack overflow is, people are very tempted to pick the first answer as the real answer. Its almost mandatory to put a delay on a bounty in this case. This otherwise rewards rushing.

By setting a minimum delay on it, you at least will always give people time to create something good, and maybe, the delay could be based on the requested video lenght as well. (5mins getting a week, 10mins getting 2 week, capping at 20min videos with 4 weeks).

Its not going to be perfect, but it doesnt have to be, most scripters arent perfect either. Its just making AI slop less rewarding that im trying to achieve

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I love this and I think its fucking brilliant. I’m going to build this in over the weekend.

Currently the bounty system is set at 60 days and bounties not claimed after that time are removed and refunded. (Users can also only have a maximum of 3 bounties open at a time to prevent spam).

60 days probably seems like a long time, and to be fair, it is, but it was done out of necessity at this point given the very young nature of the platform. Over time, I can absolutely see that coming down and even transitioning to a video-length based system like what you laid out.

That said, a part of me thinks the time delay should go all the way to the end of the bounty so theres no guesswork involved and I think it would also go a long way to ensuring that the highest quality script is consistently able to claim the bounty - and not necessarily the “highest quality of those submitted quickly”. So, as an example:

If a creator sees theres 2 days left on a bounty and 4 others working on it already, they know its probably in their best interest to skip it.

Conversely, if a creator sees theres 52 days left on a bounty and 0 others working on it already - but they’re not super interested in scripting it, they can wait to see if others pick it up.

And lastly, if a creator sees theres 52 days left on a bounty and 0 others working on it already - and they are super interested in scripting it, they can make a claim and script something fantastic.

Thoughts?

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a man in a black shirt is making a funny face while sitting at a table .

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Thanks for the reply and, upon rereading my post, I wish I had put more thought into that addition.

It should have read something more along the lines of:
I am weary of signing up for yet another thing. I am truly hopeful, that there is an direct integration of your marketplace into Eroscripts. My hope is that there is one definitive location for funscripts (community, forum, marketplace, DIY, tutorials, ect) and that we won’t need to bounce around different platforms for disparate aspects of the same thing. I genuinely want your efforts to work at cracking this impasse.

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I appreciate the feedback and the discourse, this is how things get made better. :slight_smile:

I’ve spoken with Vlad a few times (and Vlad, if you see this, hand to god I’m going to check your DM soon - want to make sure I have actual time to go through it) and I’m not going to speak for him or speculate on what the future holds, but I agree with you that in an ideal world, a single “Valve” type platform would be the best.

That said, nothing ever starts off perfect, its always an iterative process done over time. To me, VFS is, if nothing else, another step in that direction.

I hope this doesn’t come off as “tacky self-promo” or anything, but I have tried to make it as simple as I can with the opt-in system ( VFS Store — Share Your Free Scripts ) which stemmed out of conversations I had with @umumum and I can completely understand and can relate to the weariness of having to sign up for thing after thing.

<3

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I haven’t been on this site long.
But i still want to let you know that i appreciate what you and every other script creator is doing.
People like you keep this forum alive. Even if it’s just a little.
Idk where i’d get my scripts if it wasn’t for this site. So i appreciate your work :+1:

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@keijuno If you scripted a flic I like I will tell you how it is. Have some perfct sripts on my belt. PM me with a list. Should not be hard to help your coming out lol. I can tell you so much, if the script is in sync to the frame you can very likely release it and people will like it.

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Its the only scripts you can judge an I do. Just did a minute ago. The paid scripts are paywalled and quite protected as its quite a nono to destroy someones business.

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Yes and paid scripts should stay. I think the first motivator however is to have you favorite movies scripted. That is why most people start scripting. Damn there is no script for this one. I will have to do it myself. Well, or request it and hope for the best paid or free. Then you release it as it was so much work and as you do download free scripts also. The next step is, as we found in this thread, is the missing reward. Good free scripts are getting less and less. Then comes the paywall. Oh there is a script for a movie I like but it is paywalled. How can it paywalled for me if I constantly provide free high quality scripts?

At this point I have to say again, its not the money, 5 bucks for a 40 minute script is fair, it is the full name tracable transaction to random people I dislike.

Yes I agree and make quality scripting time a currency equal to money.

I dont test my scripts I dont think good scripters do. I did when I started scripting. For an event, as the judges are anal about details, I do a testrun maybe but I dont find much to perfect. There is level 70 Battlemage in scripting also. You also learn to read scripts in OFS without looking at the video. You see bad scripting right away hopping though a couple of frames.

Rarely, I just fully rescripted Safira Yakkuza Rich Women another script I will not publish. AI just failed 90% of the time. Only thing it is good at is simple up and down. But even there it has problems with the height. AI is still a less than mediocre scripter at best. No full immersion. Erratic motion at double movement and certain depth aspects, motion where there is none also depth overlap problem and no motion where there should be. There is not much inverted movement though.

Next rescript I will not publish is Sia Siberia Tips Dont Grow On Trees also an unusable AI script.

People are definitely going to let AI’s generate most of the script and then just tweak it a little, and fill in gaps.

Sure everything that helps saving time. I already run every possible bit in MTFG then scripts a bit, use @quickfix continue min max and move the points. Much better to move the points some frames than set each. The result is the same. This is why unsynced scripts are a full rescripts the work is the same as MTFG+manual to perfect.

It all comes down to testing quality. Its the first missing link. There are crystal clear rules for a good script. For now a script is a script even if it would just have a single up and down in 10 minutes lol.

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Thanks for trying to find a solution.

Just want to chime in on what many past free scripters already wrote.

My motivation for scripting and sharing used to be to give back to a community that gave me great content for free. It still does but the motivation to script is just not there anymore when so much of it being paid. Many paid scripts are also low quality which demotivates even more.

Compensation is fair but I don’t want to share my name and credit card in this context. And I feel I already paid so much of my free time scripting accurate scripts. The original system of “trading” free scripts no strings attached was awesome and encouraged more discussion+interaction than financial transactions.

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Exactly my thoughts, this is what I am trying to explain. Thank you.

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I’ll just leave a comment here

Hello, I’m a scripter who has been creating scripts for over 4 years.

I do make some paid scripts, but those are simply a small token of appreciation for the people who support me. Aside from that, most of my scripts are released for free, and I don’t take commissions.

To be honest, I know I could earn much more if I started taking commissions or focused more on paid scripts. However, since I already have another job, money isn’t my main concern. At my core, I just want others to experience what I felt when I first discovered script. That’s why I continue to share most of my work for free.

Because I want to give people the best possible “script experience,” I’m always trying to improve and refine my work. I guess that’s made me a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to scripting, lol

I’ve read everything in this post, and I just want to echo what others have said:
Please leave comments and reactions on scripts.

Even just a few likes or simple feedback like “I enjoyed your script” really motivates me and helps me keep going. I believe it’s the same for many other creators as well.

Some people say, “Is free scripting dead?”, but I don’t think so. I still see some people creating free scripts for others. It just feels harder to find them now because there are more posts, so things get pushed down more quickly than before.

Likes and feedback truly mean a lot.

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I can’t really offer much more than Shbek.

It’s all the more complicated when you have some mental health issues, are a bit of a “victim of your own success,” and ultimately, taking orders and even providing a decent service to your own community takes time.
Personally, it’s my full-time job. I don’t have the words to express how grateful I am to have crossed paths with Eroscripts and to realize that I could contribute something worthwhile to the community.
If I weren’t, it’s simple: I don’t think I’d still be alive… Or at least not in this way.
International and national politics have had a very strong impact on me and have offered me opportunities, and today, I can at least keep my head above water and connect with those who see fit to support me. I don’t take anyone for granted, and I’m actually trying to diversify a bit more these days, freeing up more time to create more substantial public scripts, or even more events like the one I offered a free script every day, and continuing the themed events like Halloween and Christmas, which I think are really great.

In short, nothing particularly original… I’m doing all this so the community can thrive, and as far as I’m concerned, I’ve always offered the same amount of free content. It certainly represents about 20% of my work, but I’m also taking note of everything that’s been announced to help the eroscripts community progress.

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Aside from what I’m already planning, I just had an idea that could help with this specifically.

If anyone here has used the nexus for mods in games, you’re most likely familiar with the notification nag to remind you to rate and like the mod.
I’m going to also investigate if I can build something similar to that by detecting downloads of .funscript files

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That would be nice, I often forget to endorse and track mods I use and that nexus pop up is a good reminder. It does get a little out of control if you decide to use wabbajack/collections, but I don’t see that being an issue with eroscripts lmao.

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I think my biggest takeaway here is to comment more on free scripts. I pay like $50+ per month to different scripters and I’m still sad at the decline in quality free scripts to the point where I’ve even started picking up scripting myself to compensate.

The amount of AI assisted tags in both free and paid scripts recently is disheartening a bit as well.

If there was a subscription service to eroscripts that could distribute funds to different scripters based on downloads or something like what spotify does for music (but with better spreads for artists) I’d pay that $50/mo easy but I do agree compared to even 6 months ago the scripts section looks bleak. All the best to those making a living off of scripting and again I pay for a good amount of them so I think I should have a little bit of an opinion but a good free script gets me going way more for some reason.

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Been meaning to post this somewhere on the site, but haven’t found a spot to do it yet - I’m brand new to scripts and this community, and it has been really awesome seeing what people contribute here on the regular. Thanks to everyone who has been friendly and welcoming in my first few days/weeks on the site :slight_smile:

I’ve picked up a few free scripts and paid for a few, but I do hope that free scripting will continue to be a part of the future here on Eroscripts. It seems to be such a cool part of creating something just to give back to the community.

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