No one can keep up that kind of reading pace. Real life returned, but this time in a distinctly Xenite form. I even wrote a Xena screenplay and a nine chapter alternative story myself, neither of which are available online - I am still too shy. At one point I was reading four serialized Uber-novels at once. The sudden influx of high quality alternative stories posted on-line from private circulation did not happen this past spring and summer of 1998 as it did in 1997.
Some readers admit to sticking with well-established bards.
It surely must be more difficult for new bards to make a name for themselves. I still sample new authors quite frequently, but I am often disappointed in what I read. Perhaps we just took it for granted. That is why in this article I want to examine current trends in the evolution of fan fiction, in order to discover if the well is starting to go dry, or if the Xenaverse will be generating quality alternative fan fiction for some time to come.