I have published fiction before but never in truly competitive venues. Last year I sent pieces of my novel to various toney reviews. I have received several standard rejections, and now also this:
Dear Mictlantecuhtli,
Thank you for letting us see “[story manuscript].” We very much enjoyed reading it. Despite its many fine qualities, in the end we felt that the piece was not right for [our fancy journal].
The reasons for this are always varied. The editors may have disagreed or may have concluded that the story didn’t work for them in its present form. We hope this encourages you to keep writing and submitting, as we’d be interested in seeing more of your fiction in the future.
Sincerely,
The Editors
Am I reaching or is this actually as positive as it sounds to me?
Axé.
coldhearted scientist وداد 
It’s still a form letter, simply a step up from one that gives no encouragement at all. A really encouraging response would have some language in it that showed someone had read your particular piece of work. It is a sign you should try this journal again in hopes of getting a more personal response. At least their rejections are nice.
I know nothing about writing, but I read Making Light. Their genre probably isn’t yours (indeed it’s not mine), but in keeping with the spirit of their genre, they speak plainly and at length. Look for “rejection” there and see what you find. One deep posting is TNH’s Slushkiller, which approaches the question from the opposite end. My take (consider again the caveats above) is that it’s positive but noncommittal.
@J – yes, I’d be curious to know whether this journal has a less kind form letter they also send out, or whether they are just really nice.
@V – thanks for hilarious links! How this rejection made me feel: fantastic. OMG how exciting, thought I, they didn’t think it totally sucked!
I have heard that if they give you a semi-personalized rejection letter that is good news. So congratulations. The next level up is when they tell you *what* they do not like. Or so I have been told.
Hi redactora! That’s what my creative writing friend says. I could ask my other creative writing friend who is a professor. Or someone in our very own English dept., hey. It is so hard to publish creative work that I think they don’t give even a hint of encouragement if they don’t mean it. So I’ve taken it as encouragement…