...because I personally think they're a bunch of entitled morons who use the veneer of "community service" to take down anything that doesn't exactly meet the criteria of FF.net.

Case in point: Has anyone here read the script-fic "William Shakespeare's Borderlands 2", a parodic retelling of the video game 'Borderlands 2' in the style of William Shakespeare?

Well, according to the author (who I know IRL, and who's a much, much better author than me), someone claiming to be from CU PM'd him to inform him that the fic he was writing violated the guidelines of the site. Now, while this is true, the fact that it violated the guidelines doesn't mean it's immediately bad. I was a avid follower of the story, and when my friend proceeded to tell me that three weeks later, FF.net sent him a takedown notice by email, noting 'user complaints about violations of our guidelines'- that is, three weeks after he had been notified by Critics United- I was enraged.

It's good to stick to the rules. It's not good to be so frakking pedantic about said rules that you take down a excellent story that was written by someone who is currently getting a book published through Random House, and not one of the assortment of badfic writers and other people who Critics United purport to 'Bring Down the Quality of FF.net'.

I am perfectly aware that people could accuse the PPC of being 'bullies' or of being 'elitist gatekeepers'. But there is a massive difference between writing humorous and lighthearted critiques of fanfiction, and actively spamming the admins to get a fic taken down. There is a massive difference between simply mocking badly written stories, and doing so without malice, than taking down any fic that violates the guidelines of the site, without regard for quality or decency.

...I am almost certain someone here is going to be a part of that group, and I'm sure that they're going to take issue with this. So let me make it clear that- as with any group- there are those who do it for the right reasons, and those who do the job in a moral fashion, and those who just do it because they're assholes. It'd be wrong of me to lump all of the members of CU together, but in all honesty, the group's whole purpose is unnecessary, and also detrimental to the whole idea of creativity.