Roseami:
When I do read a story and plan to comment right away, I often think of what aspects of the story stood out to me most (and most positively) and then go to the comment section only to find, that someone has already said what I wanted to say. The guidelines on commenting have given me the impression that saying something like "great story and I definitely agree with what Soandso said" would not be desired or even approved. Have I misunderstood something here?
That's a commendable approach to commenting, but it's a shame you feel that any form of repetition of what others have said means there's no point commenting. One way round this, of course, is not to read the other comments until you've made your own.
I think the guidelines on commenting may have been amended, because I can't find that statement about excessively short comments any more.
I don't know what neuroscience has to say about the vanity of authors, but, believe me, it cannot be underestimated! Writing can be a lonely business, so ANY comment, however unoriginal, slakes that craven thirst and encourages us to keep at it. Don't starve the geese who lay the rosy-cheeked eggs.
Roseami:
how appropriate it is for a website that includes lots of stories centering around discipline, punishment and incentivization to have a policy to incentivize whatever behavior they want to in their users. I wonder if this perspective is unique to people who like to imagine themselves in the spankee role or if some who identify more dishing out a spanking still feel this way.
Again, yours is a commendable attitude to the restriction policy. The admins have many a sorry tale to tell about the lengths to which some members will go in order to circumvent the policy and generally piss them off, but perhaps, as you suggest, those are readers of a more dominant disposition, or those with seriously bratty authority issues. As a switch, I believe the policy strikes the right balance between threat and generosity.
In the absence of technology facilitating virtual spankings as a method of incentivisation (or see Rick Marlowe's "An Unappreciative Reader Learns her Lesson"), I guess the current policy will have to do.