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Do you rate other authors?
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Active Ink Slinger
I had the very bad to score a story a 1. I found it unbearable to read. I thought it to be quite deserving... in hindsight, it probably deserved a 2, because at least grammar was top-notch and it was intelligible. But it was annoying. Guess what happened? The author was pissed, and for an old man, he was quite juvenile and vengeful, and scored a 1 on my story, just to get back at me (and in his own words, to give me a taste of my own medicine, aka to teach me a lesson... arrogant and patronizing prick). I did learn a lesson. Don't be honest with egomaniacs.
Active Ink Slinger
Sometimes Yes..Sometimes no. Yes when im in the mood. No means im tired or i forgot to rate.
Active Ink Slinger
I'm rather surprised that so many folks use a similar rating scheme as I do. I give 5's only to stories that are well written AND are creatively unique in some significant way AND get me emotionally or erotically involved. If a story is missing even one of those points, it gets a 4. I do not rate stories I don't finish. I don't finish stories that are predictable or that bore me. And I rarely read stories outside of my favorite categories. I made this one exception some time back, on impulse, and like the experience Dancing_Doll related, I got my ankle chewed up. Such is life!
You've been a bad girl! Now take your pajamas off and go to my room!
Quote by Dancing_DollThis is very true. But I wonder if it's because so many authors are not used to getting balance feedback? And maybe They don't get it because some people don't know how to give feedback so you the get the many often repeated phrases we all know?
Recently (on another site), I had a writer contact me saying that since he "respected me as an author" would I please read his story (it was the first he had posted) and give him some feedback. I read it, and gave him some private feedback, stating what he did well and just made the suggestion of needing to separate dialogue into new paragraphs. I guess he didn't appreciate anything negative or constructive, as he promptly went and bombed one of my stories. Sooo... I've realized that writers can be rather overly sensitive, and just because they say they want feedback, it usually means that they only want glowing praise. In this case, I didn't even vote on the story, I just gave him feedback, and it still backfired on me. It tends to make me shy away from saying anything constructive to writers, other than ladling on the praise and the perfect scores if/when I see fit. Sad, I know for the mature authors that genuinely welcome feedback, but sometimes it's hard to know.
I had one my rare pieces of constructed feedback and I wanted to kiss the guy. I nearly fell out of my chair but appreciated his honesty so much.
I think it was the WAY he said that made me not be defensive. He came off as supportive rather than grumpy lol.
Check out my tumblr and follow me: indecentespresso
Here's what I don't like about people rating/critiquing something I've written. For the most past the comments are fine...most a very good BUT....there are some that post a comment and say negative thing, and they have never written anything themselves. Case in post...I posted a story not long ago, that got great reviews until one day I saw a comments that was really negative. Now I don't mind negative commetns as long as they are done in such a way as to point out a mistake, or offer something to make me a better writer that's fine...I welcome those comments. So out of curiosity I looked the person up that had made the negative comment and what I found made me laugh. Here's someone bashing my story, and they've been a member here for TWO YEARS, and yet they NEVER posted a story.....NEVER. If you're going to berate, or make comment on a story, at least have posted something yourself...otherwise keep your mouth shut.
Advanced Wordsmith
I do rate most stories that I read, and if the story is less good, then I give a lower vote. Personally, I don't like to rate a 4 or a 5 if the story isn't worth more than 1-3...
Something I really miss on this site is honest votes and constructive criticism. As I am a writer myself, it is kind of disappointing to see every story being "really hot" or "totally amazing" as I know that's not the case. This includes my own stories.
Now, most writers here might be thrilled over the positive feedback they get, but I'm not one of them. All good reviews leaves me wondering if this site is just full of suck-ups.
Something I really miss on this site is honest votes and constructive criticism. As I am a writer myself, it is kind of disappointing to see every story being "really hot" or "totally amazing" as I know that's not the case. This includes my own stories.
Now, most writers here might be thrilled over the positive feedback they get, but I'm not one of them. All good reviews leaves me wondering if this site is just full of suck-ups.
~~ Memories Will Never Die ~~
Active Ink Slinger
Quote by Chibi
I do rate most stories that I read, and if the story is less good, then I give a lower vote. Personally, I don't like to rate a 4 or a 5 if the story isn't worth more than 1-3...
Something I really miss on this site is honest votes and constructive criticism. As I am a writer myself, it is kind of disappointing to see every story being "really hot" or "totally amazing" as I know that's not the case. This includes my own stories.
Now, most writers here might be thrilled over the positive feedback they get, but I'm not one of them. All good reviews leaves me wondering if this site is just full of suck-ups.
It is full of suck-ups. Just look at the amount of horny guys giving great (as in positive, not honest or even constructive) comments to female authors. I've once received a private message from a guy congratulating an unnamed collaborator, because he thought she had written some parts of one of my story. He was actually sucking up to her through me. That's very sad.
If the mods wanted to improve the site, they should make commenting mandatory on every vote, even the 4s and 5s, and authors should be asked to flag comments when they aren't constructive criticism. Voting on stories, as it is, is a joke.
Active Ink Slinger
Or... last idea: make the author of the story anonymous, until it has been voted and commented on.
Active Ink Slinger
Quote by rudyP34Quote by Chibi
I do rate most stories that I read, and if the story is less good, then I give a lower vote. Personally, I don't like to rate a 4 or a 5 if the story isn't worth more than 1-3...
Something I really miss on this site is honest votes and constructive criticism. As I am a writer myself, it is kind of disappointing to see every story being "really hot" or "totally amazing" as I know that's not the case. This includes my own stories.
Now, most writers here might be thrilled over the positive feedback they get, but I'm not one of them. All good reviews leaves me wondering if this site is just full of suck-ups.
It is full of suck-ups. Just look at the amount of horny guys giving great (as in positive, not honest or even constructive) comments to female authors. I've once received a private message from a guy congratulating an unnamed collaborator, because he thought she had written some parts of one of my story. He was actually sucking up to her through me. That's very sad.
If the mods wanted to improve the site, they should make commenting mandatory on every vote, even the 4s and 5s, and authors should be asked to flag comments when they aren't constructive criticism. Voting on stories, as it is, is a joke.
As it is, your very right. But you also have to look at where your at right now. Lush is filled with lustful and horny people. Male and female alike. When they introduced the site as an "Erotic stories and Adult social network" site, they invited all the people who couldnt give two shits about any story so long as it had sex. Ive seen stories posted on here with bad grammar, no plots, and from start to finish, nothing but sex. So its actually in high hopes of which will never be given to think that you would get any useful criticism from anyone on this site.
As for me, no, i dont rate, nor do i comment on other stories often due to the fact it means diddly squat on here.
I go to other sites for constructive criticism and useful voteings. Active Ink Slinger
Quote by DdbillQuote by rudyP34Quote by Chibi
I do rate most stories that I read, and if the story is less good, then I give a lower vote. Personally, I don't like to rate a 4 or a 5 if the story isn't worth more than 1-3...
Something I really miss on this site is honest votes and constructive criticism. As I am a writer myself, it is kind of disappointing to see every story being "really hot" or "totally amazing" as I know that's not the case. This includes my own stories.
Now, most writers here might be thrilled over the positive feedback they get, but I'm not one of them. All good reviews leaves me wondering if this site is just full of suck-ups.
It is full of suck-ups. Just look at the amount of horny guys giving great (as in positive, not honest or even constructive) comments to female authors. I've once received a private message from a guy congratulating an unnamed collaborator, because he thought she had written some parts of one of my story. He was actually sucking up to her through me. That's very sad.
If the mods wanted to improve the site, they should make commenting mandatory on every vote, even the 4s and 5s, and authors should be asked to flag comments when they aren't constructive criticism. Voting on stories, as it is, is a joke.
As it is, your very right. But you also have to look at where your at right now. Lush is filled with lustful and horny people. Male and female alike. When they introduced the site as an "Erotic stories and Adult social network" site, they invited all the people who couldnt give two shits about any story so long as it had sex. Ive seen stories posted on here with bad grammar, no plots, and from start to finish, nothing but sex. So its actually in high hopes of which will never be given to think that you would get any useful criticism from anyone on this site.
As for me, no, i dont rate, nor do i comment on other stories often due to the fact it means diddly squat on here.
I'd agree, if it weren't for the fact that some people take it seriously, when your comment is even only slightly negative. Either you care or you don't. If you care, the voting process should represent more. If you don't care, then why have a voting system at all? I don't see how literary integrity and social networking can't coexist. Give more credibility to the stories, give more credibility to the members, and this site reaches a whole new level. Of course, that's probably not in anyone's plan. All that matters is getting hits, not delivering a good reading product.
I rate everything I read. After all, it's just one click to do so.
As for the peope who rate every story a 5, or rate based on whom the author is, that's a pretty sticky problem (no pun intended) and I don't see how it could really be changed. RudyP34's idea sounds interesting, though it would then put the temptation to misuse the system in the author's lap.
I'm going to be starting a discussion forum site myself very soon (nothing to do with sex or writing per se), and having had a lot of experience with them, I've come up with a simple solution to this kind of thing, though it won't be popular with those who are overly attached to the idea of democracy. I'm just going to personally de-register anyone who proves to be detracting from the quality of the site, without warning or explanation. That will sound fascistic to some, but I honestly don't see any other way to maintain a forum's integrity.
As for the peope who rate every story a 5, or rate based on whom the author is, that's a pretty sticky problem (no pun intended) and I don't see how it could really be changed. RudyP34's idea sounds interesting, though it would then put the temptation to misuse the system in the author's lap.
I'm going to be starting a discussion forum site myself very soon (nothing to do with sex or writing per se), and having had a lot of experience with them, I've come up with a simple solution to this kind of thing, though it won't be popular with those who are overly attached to the idea of democracy. I'm just going to personally de-register anyone who proves to be detracting from the quality of the site, without warning or explanation. That will sound fascistic to some, but I honestly don't see any other way to maintain a forum's integrity.
Active Ink Slinger
Thanks to everybody for all your very insightful replies!
Now that I have a bit more experience, I'm seeing many of the issues debated here. I must say I am a bit of a sensitive bunny, and therefore it takes me great amounts of patience not to lash out at the injustices of the publishing controls and voting system, and to just 'suck up' the fact that there are some people more interested in popularity than providing quality content. Having said that, I also think that there are only a limited number of ways in which to manipluate the 'system' (no I didn't try :-)).
I'm hoping that in the end, mass popularity wins over individual bickering, infighting, and rallying "friends".
Emily.
Now that I have a bit more experience, I'm seeing many of the issues debated here. I must say I am a bit of a sensitive bunny, and therefore it takes me great amounts of patience not to lash out at the injustices of the publishing controls and voting system, and to just 'suck up' the fact that there are some people more interested in popularity than providing quality content. Having said that, I also think that there are only a limited number of ways in which to manipluate the 'system' (no I didn't try :-)).
I'm hoping that in the end, mass popularity wins over individual bickering, infighting, and rallying "friends".
Emily.
If I read a story I will rate it. There are authors that have some great stories and not so great stories, like myself. If it is a first time writer i will rate the story no less than 3, mostly 4's, because he took the time to write it and put it out there. I will send a private message to them hoping to help them. It is all in the way you put it.
Your story is SHIT! or I liked the premise of your story but maybe..... then thank them for writing. As writers we live and die by scores and comments. You can tell a constructive comment from just meanness. I am not here to be critical but to enjoy the stories and talents of any one who gives it a shot.
Let me give an example: I wrote a second part to a story, I thought it was good, it stayed on lush for 4 days. In that 4 days 127 people looked at it, but not one comment and not one score. I finally took it off to work on it, it would have been nice if someone would have said something so I would know how to correct it. Next time I will ask a friend to read it and give me an honest opinion.
Your story is SHIT! or I liked the premise of your story but maybe..... then thank them for writing. As writers we live and die by scores and comments. You can tell a constructive comment from just meanness. I am not here to be critical but to enjoy the stories and talents of any one who gives it a shot.
Let me give an example: I wrote a second part to a story, I thought it was good, it stayed on lush for 4 days. In that 4 days 127 people looked at it, but not one comment and not one score. I finally took it off to work on it, it would have been nice if someone would have said something so I would know how to correct it. Next time I will ask a friend to read it and give me an honest opinion.
Clumeleon
Quote by hwillnow
Your story is SHIT! or I liked the premise of your story but maybe..... then thank them for writing. As writers we live and die by scores and comments. You can tell a constructive comment from just meanness. I am not here to be critical but to enjoy the stories and talents of any one who gives it a shot.
I love when people give comments on my stories, positive or negative, but I do wish some of them were a little bit more constructive. One time someone simply commented, "Stupid". I sent them a message to ask if they could possibly elaborate so that I may be able to improve but I never received a response. Everyone is entitled to an opinion but that was just downright rude.
I have been known to leave some pretty generic positive comments - credit where credit is due without nitpicking on minor imperfections. If ever I am critical, I try to say something that I hope will be of some use to them.
In response to the original question: I am both a writer and a reader on this site and so I feel free to rate any story. If anything, having other writers rate your stories can sometimes (not always) be better because they may be able to pass on some handy tips.
A restaurant-goer may know the soup is not good but may not be able to tell the chef how it could be improved.
Active Ink Slinger
Quote by clum
A restaurant-goer may know the soup is not good but may not be able to tell the chef how it could be improved.
I find in cases like that, where I know something is wrong but I can't tell you what it is, it's best to point it out anyways with a statement like 'something about this didn't feel right'. It's left up to the author to find out why - maybe it will trigger something and they'll notice something about that particular place in the writing that isn't quite working.
I really wish people would give me constructive comments on my stories. I promise I won't blow up. ;) Hell, any constructive criticism is better than my own inner critic. What I honestly want is to give people what they want to read, and I can't do that if they don't tell me what they want to read.
Matriarch
Quote by rudyP34
If the mods wanted to improve the site, they should make commenting mandatory on every vote, even the 4s and 5s, and authors should be asked to flag comments when they aren't constructive criticism. Voting on stories, as it is, is a joke.
I own this site, and rather take offence at your tone.
You obviously have no clue whatsoever how a site like this works.
It is hard enough getting people to vote, let alone leave a comment on a story.
We tried forcing people to give reasons for their score. You know what happened? The number of votes on stories decreased.
I am going to do away with the requirement to leave a comment for scores of 3 and under. It's a joke. People who may have given a story a 3, see they are being forced to give a reason, and then either don't bother, or they give the story a 4. It artificially creates higher ratings for mediocre stories, the way it is set up.
Matriarch
Quote by rudyP34
I'd agree, if it weren't for the fact that some people take it seriously, when your comment is even only slightly negative. Either you care or you don't. If you care, the voting process should represent more. If you don't care, then why have a voting system at all? I don't see how literary integrity and social networking can't coexist. Give more credibility to the stories, give more credibility to the members, and this site reaches a whole new level. Of course, that's probably not in anyone's plan. All that matters is getting hits, not delivering a good reading product.
We take the whole voting / commenting / quality standards on here very seriously. It has been discussed to death, as to how best to set it up.
Every story is read by an experienced moderator before hitting the site. Stories which would warrant a 1, have practically disappeared. We toss dozens of stories back to authors on a daily basis, suggesting improvements.
"Give more credibility to the stories, give more credibility to the members" - I don't get what you mean. How would you go about it, force people to comment on every vote they give? Each story would end up with a couple of votes.
If you have some constructive comments to make, I'd be delighted to read them and take them on board.
Matriarch
Quote by Ddbill
As for me, no, i dont rate, nor do i comment on other stories often due to the fact it means diddly squat on here.
You do? Where?
You are criticising this site, yet you can't even string a coherent sentence together in the forums here.
Clumeleon
You tell 'em, Nicola.
Active Ink Slinger
I'd like more feedback on my stories. I try to vote / comment on everything I read as I feel that authors do appreciate the comments and encouragement made. Sometime I PM someone with particualr suggested improvements, however.
I do feel somewhat disappointed by the lack of response from my readers. For instance I've had 5000+ people viewing a story (good); 20 voting and 3 comments.
If you equate that to a concert with an audience of 5000 then
- some of them will have given up halfway through (as they got bored; frustrated with the grammar; found that the subject matter wasn't to their liking) but at least they took a look at who was performing
- of the (say) 2000 people left (i.e. those who finished the story); 20 people are clapping / stamping their feet / showing some reaction
- BUT only 3 are shouting 'Encore' or booing i.e. voicing a reaction to the performance. I realise that only members are allowed to post comments, so that cuts down the likelihood of comments being made.
I've had one quote "Gave it a 3: avg". What does that mean? I discovered, he was a newcomer and had never publlished anything on Lush.
So I'm afraid that without forcing people to vote we're stuck with the current system BUT it is a good outlet for all the budding authors and gives everyone the opportunity to read a whole variety of styles, genres and writing qualities. Perhaps some, like me, are then encouraged to give it a go and write something themselves.
I do agree, however, that forcing a comment on a '3' rated story is unnecessary.
I do feel somewhat disappointed by the lack of response from my readers. For instance I've had 5000+ people viewing a story (good); 20 voting and 3 comments.
If you equate that to a concert with an audience of 5000 then
- some of them will have given up halfway through (as they got bored; frustrated with the grammar; found that the subject matter wasn't to their liking) but at least they took a look at who was performing
- of the (say) 2000 people left (i.e. those who finished the story); 20 people are clapping / stamping their feet / showing some reaction
- BUT only 3 are shouting 'Encore' or booing i.e. voicing a reaction to the performance. I realise that only members are allowed to post comments, so that cuts down the likelihood of comments being made.
I've had one quote "Gave it a 3: avg". What does that mean? I discovered, he was a newcomer and had never publlished anything on Lush.
So I'm afraid that without forcing people to vote we're stuck with the current system BUT it is a good outlet for all the budding authors and gives everyone the opportunity to read a whole variety of styles, genres and writing qualities. Perhaps some, like me, are then encouraged to give it a go and write something themselves.
I do agree, however, that forcing a comment on a '3' rated story is unnecessary.
Active Ink Slinger
I have to say, I never rate anything under a 4 because people who write mediocre (or downright bad) stories tend to take offense at criticism (in general). I would be worried about getting endless negative messages or retaliatory bad ratings on my stories. So, I end up only voting on stories I like.
I think making the voting (even 3's) anonymous would be great. At least one would get more honest ratings, if lower ones all around.
I think making the voting (even 3's) anonymous would be great. At least one would get more honest ratings, if lower ones all around.
An old favorite story of mine: The Chaise Lounge
Active Ink Slinger
Well anyone who has done very much in the area of consumer surveys will know how hard it is to get people to offer feedback without offering them an incentive to do so. This is simply a fact of life. It is disheartening for many authors to not get much feedback, but it is also unrealistic to expect more than we currently have on Lush. For myself I tend to only comment on stories I have really enjoyed with a view to encouraging the authors I really like. Usually I know fairly quickly if a story has not grabbed my attention and I move on without any vote or comment. I have made friends with some of the other authors I enjoy which is also nice. I do send a personal message when I feel a story is exceptional, again because I know how hard they have worked on it and want to acknowledge their hard work. "Forcing" people to do anything on the internet or in life will not work as they will just leave and ignore the story or the site.
Active Ink Slinger
While I haven't been on this site for long, it is obvious that the people, members or otherwise, who regularly visit are on this site for different reasons. Thus, it would be expected, since the rating system has few parameters, that the ratings and comments from readers would reflect what the particular reader got out of the story, often regardless of what the author hoped they would beacuse, similarly, the various authors write what they submit for different reasons. I write first for myself, then for the readers kind enough to read and express an interest in whatever they just read. The rest takes care of itself.
Writing quality explicit material for over eight one-hundredths of a century.
"If, after hearing my songs, just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend, or perhaps to strike a loved one, it will all have been worth the while." - Tom Lehrer
"There is no such thing as good luck or bad luck; only adequate or inadequate preparation for a statistical universe." - Robert Heinlein
"If, after hearing my songs, just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend, or perhaps to strike a loved one, it will all have been worth the while." - Tom Lehrer
"There is no such thing as good luck or bad luck; only adequate or inadequate preparation for a statistical universe." - Robert Heinlein
I vote on almost every story I read because I want people to do the same for my stories. However, since I tend to be selective in the stories I do read I rarely rate anything under a 4. Before I read a story I look at someone's profile and try to judge how creative and smart they are. This is guesswork of course but I have gotten pretty good at it.
As for comments I rarely do that. If I have something to say about the author's style good or bad I will usually message them.
As for comments I rarely do that. If I have something to say about the author's style good or bad I will usually message them.
Active Ink Slinger
I love getting comments from other authors. I rate (almost) every story and comment on some of them. I tend to rate 4 or 5 or not at all. That's changing since I published my first story. There's a little too much work and emotion that's put in the crafting of a good story not to give good honest feedback. I've gotten a few PM from authors with excellent sugestions. I definently appreiciate those.
Active Ink Slinger
I am not going to insult someone else's story or writing nor give them a cheap bad score. If I comment and vote I like the story, if not I move on to another one.
You are invited to read Passionate Danger, Part II, a story collaboration by Kim and ArtMan.
http://www.lushstories.com/stories/straight-sex/passionate-danger-part-ii.aspx
http://www.lushstories.com/stories/straight-sex/passionate-danger-part-ii.aspx
Active Ink Slinger
Quote by nicolaQuote by rudyP34
I'd agree, if it weren't for the fact that some people take it seriously, when your comment is even only slightly negative. Either you care or you don't. If you care, the voting process should represent more. If you don't care, then why have a voting system at all? I don't see how literary integrity and social networking can't coexist. Give more credibility to the stories, give more credibility to the members, and this site reaches a whole new level. Of course, that's probably not in anyone's plan. All that matters is getting hits, not delivering a good reading product.
We take the whole voting / commenting / quality standards on here very seriously. It has been discussed to death, as to how best to set it up.
Every story is read by an experienced moderator before hitting the site. Stories which would warrant a 1, have practically disappeared. We toss dozens of stories back to authors on a daily basis, suggesting improvements.
"Give more credibility to the stories, give more credibility to the members" - I don't get what you mean. How would you go about it, force people to comment on every vote they give? Each story would end up with a couple of votes.
If you have some constructive comments to make, I'd be delighted to read them and take them on board.
I'm sorry about my comments, I realize it didn't take into account the hard work of the few on here that make the site work for a lot of people. I'm fully aware of what it takes to run a site like this, especially with the volume of stories being submitted and published every day. I understand that my opinion on the voting system was rather insensitive and rude.
Let me just say this, then: the ratings are merely an ego boost. They don't represent a whole lot. There are stories with good scores that are clearly worse than some of the gems that can be found on here. I would eliminate the votes and comments, and just leave a box that says "Leave a comment to the author". A private message, in essence. Not something left to the public eye. Something private. You want constructive criticism? There. People would probably be more open to discuss a story's weaknesses if they didn't read all the other comments saying "Amazing story! Super hawt! I'm so hard right now! More more more!". These pointless comments are the standard, and people rarely deviate from that. It's sad, but even on the internet people are victims to peer pressure.
I don't mean to be negative and arrogant. I came off as such, because... well, I don't know... maybe I am arrogant at times, not that I should be. I re-read my stories the other day, and they shouldn't even be published. So, maybe I'm more humble right now. But really, I didn't mean to berate the work you guys put in this site. I hope you can see the constructive side to what I'm trying to say. If not, then blame english as a second language for the gaps in communication. ;)
I had given all this ratings a deep thought. There are so many factors, reasons and judgement of different readers. Points system are always subjected to abuse. Not everyone is a responsible voter. And the standard of every voter is different.
Would prefer if the score are based on total score rather than average score. Coz average score will always pull your score down the moment someone hit you down.
An example: [Not referring to this site]: There were cases like the readers commented: I hate gay story or I dislike mature story, therefore score you a 1pts!
Can you imagine how unfair it was. And he went on to give the same score to lots of stories in those gene, even the best written ones! That shows how he gave pts... sad
May I just propose this system:
There will be four choices. Favourite, Like, neutral, no comments
Favourite: 2pts
Like: 1pts
Neutral: 0pts
No comments: minus 0.5pts
The pts will be added together. So whoever get the most pts will be top. The more readers voted on your story, the higher chance of your story scoring higher unless your story was so poor that everyone gave you a 'no comments' score. If your story is good and interesting, it tends to gather more voters. But if is not well written, chances are most ppl will skip and not finish reading it and hence, did not vote or gave u a 'no comments' score.
Some readers would like to vote and give you a 'neutral' score as he may feel your story is only passable but at the same time, it did not pull down or add on anything to your present score.
Note that I put "no comments" rather than "dislike" as the later words may be too strong or offending to some authors.
Feel this way is better than based on average score. As sometimes when you are getting many perfect score of 5 and one person came around and give u a '4' and down you go drastically. Not that he does not like your story. He does! In fact, some even put in the comments: Fantastic story, love it and follow but gave u only a four? Coz he or she may be new and does not know much about it or some will never gave a 5 no matter what.
My 2cents worth........
Would prefer if the score are based on total score rather than average score. Coz average score will always pull your score down the moment someone hit you down.
An example: [Not referring to this site]: There were cases like the readers commented: I hate gay story or I dislike mature story, therefore score you a 1pts!
Can you imagine how unfair it was. And he went on to give the same score to lots of stories in those gene, even the best written ones! That shows how he gave pts... sad
May I just propose this system:
There will be four choices. Favourite, Like, neutral, no comments
Favourite: 2pts
Like: 1pts
Neutral: 0pts
No comments: minus 0.5pts
The pts will be added together. So whoever get the most pts will be top. The more readers voted on your story, the higher chance of your story scoring higher unless your story was so poor that everyone gave you a 'no comments' score. If your story is good and interesting, it tends to gather more voters. But if is not well written, chances are most ppl will skip and not finish reading it and hence, did not vote or gave u a 'no comments' score.
Some readers would like to vote and give you a 'neutral' score as he may feel your story is only passable but at the same time, it did not pull down or add on anything to your present score.
Note that I put "no comments" rather than "dislike" as the later words may be too strong or offending to some authors.
Feel this way is better than based on average score. As sometimes when you are getting many perfect score of 5 and one person came around and give u a '4' and down you go drastically. Not that he does not like your story. He does! In fact, some even put in the comments: Fantastic story, love it and follow but gave u only a four? Coz he or she may be new and does not know much about it or some will never gave a 5 no matter what.
My 2cents worth........