Maybe if the jannies weren't such vindictive cunts, the site would actually be worth something again. But that's just wishful thinking.
This a thousand times, a million times.
I've heard some say here or on other sites that TV Tropes was a mistake, and that the site shouldn't exist. That's certainly an opinion, but the truth is that a site like TV Tropes was
always inevitable. Media nerds and geeks have been discussing the details of story crafting ever since humans came up with the idea of making fictional stories to begin with. Why, I wouldn't be surprised if C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien themselves had a friendly but excessively nerdy discussion between themselves about fantasy writing; they certainly took two different approaches. TV Tropes merely takes those nerdy ramblings and crystalize them into a semi-permanent form. It was always going to happen
So yes, while there are some who misuse the site as a writing crutch instead of just a fun way to categorize how stories can be told and look up other stories told similarly, it's less the site itself that's the problem and more both how the site is run and who uses it. The site always had a left-of-center vibe, but it has gotten worse over the years. The site used to have "we're just doing this for fun, please don't take this so seriously" as a rule to now you need a fucking vetting process before you can even dream of making a new page on anything, lest you get accused or rogue posting. Rogue posting! Don't get me started on the autism of the forums, where simply making a new thread in the wrong forum is considered a social faux pas instead of an innocent mistake.
Honestly, the site has had an administration problem since day one. Some of you know that the guy who created the site to begin with (I think his name is Speedy Eddie? I've tried to look it up but I'm not getting any results) left the site. What you might not know is that for
years, he had this absolute asinine rule that no trope page could use a screenshot from an anime or manga as the page image. Even if it was an image that helped illustrate the trope the best. Even if the trope was found
only in Japanese media and was never used in Western media, and therefore
had no Western source to get an image!
There is still some value to the site. Looking up a trope you like can help you find other media you would enjoy. Their "You Know That Show..." section has helped me find media that I only half-remembered and never got to finish. But beyond that, I find myself using the site less and less over time and it has everything to do with the user base and even more with who runs the site.
TLDR: TV Tropes always had a jannie and userbase problem but it's gotten worse over the years.
