We need small limits on the rating system for the sake of new stories

[InfantryTerminator]

New stories and authors are often hurt by unfair ratings that either extremely lower their score or inflate it. Negative ones are often left by trolls or readers that give one star because they didn't like the premise, while camaraderie ratings (from those that came just to give a five star) inflates the score and it's a bad way to balance out the bad ones.

I know that stopping both is impossible, but there should be something in place that helps out new stories without taking a tool on the readers. So here is my idea:

Rating should grayed out or hidden (in the search, not story page) until the story gets 10-20 votes. This won't hurt readers as they will know that the story is new and rating might not reflect the quality, while new stories will be given a more fair start.

Increasing minimum amount of read chapters to rate should be enabled only stories with less than 25-50 votes, three chapters at best. It's not much, but it will prevent toxicity from lazy people without hurting readers. I know that many people want that limit at five and more, but it will only hurt readers while the trolls and camaraderie will simply skip through chapters.

 

[SailusGebel]

That said, I wouldn't change it either because there will always be a reason to complain.
So I would rather see 100 other features, instead.

This I agree with.

I mean votings aren't about the quality of the story but whether a reader liked it or not. An overwhelming amount of ratings is five stars from people who enjoyed the story. It doesn't say anything about the actual quality of the novel itself. It says, something liked it and want to support it, so there go the five stars.

Yeah, there are a few people giving 2, 3, or 4 stars but they are the minority. Changing the stars to "up-down" would at least be honest about what the ratings actually mean. And yeah, authors will always complain about bad ratings because they feel unfair. But at least you take the "quality" point out of the discussion...

Welp, that's the crux of the problem here. It's YOUR opinion on what ratings represent. I'm NOT saying you are wrong. Every reader decides what rating means for themselves. Should I post you a link to threads on why people put 5\1 star ratings? Because I can, and you will see that everyone thinks differently about this. Some READERS think of rating as a representation of quality. I can give you a link to the thread where people discuss what kind of rating they consider LOW. Some people here, on this forum, don't bother looking at novels that have low ratings. And by taking away 2,3,4 stars, you make the ratio of 5\1 stars much worse.

And yes, authors will always complain about ratings. And changing the rating system won't change this fact.

 

[LostLibrarian]

Any stories below a certain number of words (10k for example) shouldn't be eligible for a rating. At least then there would be something to rate. Though, I don't think it really matters in the end.

Though the 1 star ratings people complain about often happen, because a story is in the spotlight. So it's mostly novels already trending with an overwhelming amount of new 5 stars and 1 or 2 low ratings to balance it out. Even with new stories, the ratings on the site are overwhelmingly positive because it's often only authors/friends who rate that early or people who just rate for the genre/premise.

I think yaoi would be one of the few genres where early ratings can be unfair due to people rating it just for that.
If we look at the new stories, we have one 3.7 rating for BL, followed by 36 5star ratings, one 4 star rating (actual 4 star) for a rewrite, 7 more 5 stars, a 4.8 for a completed short story, 4 more 5 stars, and a 4.9 for smut (11 5stars, 1 4star).

In the last 100 new releases there was a single 1 star rating (BL) and in the last 200 new novels, there were 2 1 star ratings.
And there we also had the first novels with more than 10k words...

Like it might happen from time to time and BL is really a hard genre to present on a site with (probably) mostly male readership.
But other than that, there isn't really any ratings bombing the authors need protection from.

Welp, that's the crux of the problem here. It's YOUR opinion on what ratings represent.

Of course, everybody will have their own opinion. And there might also be a minority of people, who actually try to be more "objective" and use the full rating spectrum. But I would argue that the overwhelming amount of 5 stars on the site means that the majority of ratings are down more in "liked it/didn't like it"-fashion of some kind.

Though it would be interesting to know whether that is my bubble or repeats itself through the entire site...

 

[SailusGebel]

Of course, everybody will have their own opinion. And there might also be a minority of people, who actually try to be more "objective" and use the full rating spectrum. But I would argue that the overwhelming amount of 5 stars on the site means that the majority of ratings are down more in "liked it/didn't like it"-fashion of some kind.

Though it would be interesting to know whether that is my bubble or repeats itself through the entire site...

Sadly, both of us don't know the truth here. I might be wrong here, you might be wrong, we don't know. And I guess we will never know the real reason why people put 5-stars or 1-stars. Forums don't represent all the readers. While asking readers, who are silent in the majority, is useless as they won't answer.

 

[InfantryTerminator]

Look at this clown... Proper chance? Proper Review? Rating with stars after reading? You openly admit to skip chapters, your view is subjective af, and you don't even give a 1-star.
Yes, I'm a petty fuck.
View attachment 9852

I give the story a proper chance, 75 chapters. I was skipping fillers that appeared later in the story to see if it gets better, but it didn't so I dropped it. Scoreless review is there because I got false flagged as a spam account at that time, which was fixed later on

Did you read that story in first place? It's basically a power fantasy with crap ton of drama, cucking, and rape. The only decent thing about it was grammar and readability, and I've pointed out the obvious. The main character literally thinks "I want them to die" and saves people that he dislike right after, and every character (except for love interest) are always treating him as trash for deranged reasons (even a house seller that doesn't know him at all)

Also, why don't you bring up your own review that was one massive spoiler, and barely touched quality of the story in 100% subjective way?

 

[greyblob]

But other than that, there isn't really any ratings bombing the authors need protection from.

I don't think there should be any kind of protection. Given newer novels are given a chance (with rating limited until X words are reached), readers should be free to voice their opinion.
1 star means someone doesn't like what you did, 5 means the opposite; they're both just as meaningless. It's the opinion of the readers, and I think that's totally fine.

 

[Biggest-Kusa-Out-There]

I give the story a proper chance, 75 chapters. I was skipping fillers that appeared later in the story to see if it gets better, but it didn't so I dropped it. Scoreless review is there because I got false flagged as a spam account at that time, which was fixed later on

Did you read that story in first place? It's basically a power fantasy with crap ton of drama, cucking, and rape. The only decent thing about it was grammar and readability, and I've pointed out the obvious. The main character literally thinks "I want them to die" and saves people that he dislike right after, and every character (except for love interest) are always treating him as trash for deranged reasons (even a house seller that doesn't know him at all)

Also, why don't you bring up your own review that was one massive spoiler, and barely touched quality of the story in 100% subjective way?

My own review? Where I point out the failed suspension of disbelief from an objective view while presenting evidence in regards to the themes while simultaniously providing constructive feedback where the author can improve the detached narrative in the setting if they so wish? The spoiler? You mean the obvious goal the fiction has that you already know from the very sinopsis by the use of pronouns? My review states the fiction has one flaw in the worldbuilding and how the author/reader may overcome it.

I'm not saying my review is better than yours, or that yours is bad. I'm pointing out the fact you shot your own foot with what you bring up. Skipping chapters is the same as not reading the story, because you aren't. It's fine to do so, but don't come here and say people should read a certain amount so they can be given the opportunity to express their opinions when you're not giving the story this 'chance' you speak of. If you're skipping chapters how the hell are you going to see improvements?

If I get 1-stars I'll ask the regular readers that do provide feedback if they've noticed anything I can improve on. 1-stars say something, and we should listen even if to see what other people think. Should we bend over and get gotten by what trolls have to say? No at all, but listening harms nobody.

Then maybe as a "proper review" you should have pointed out the lack of concistency and plausibility of the characters instead of ranting about things potential readers have no idea yet and will probably forget once they start reading. If someone reviews my fictions with "the sex scenes are cringe"... it says more about the reader's taste. However, if someone mentions the portrayal of a woman with a penis during sex lacks plausibility, that'd be more constructive and actually point where the problem is. Does this mean reviews should be an elitist circlejerk? Not at all. Let people express their opinions even if that means a surplus of 1-stars, dislikes, or whatever system is in place.

Again, let's just take the 1-star on the chin and improve our fictions.

 

[InfantryTerminator]

My own review? Where I point out the failed suspension of disbelief from an objective view while presenting evidence in regards to the themes while simultaniously providing constructive feedback where the author can improve the detached narrative in the setting if they so wish? The spoiler? You mean the obvious goal the fiction has that you already know from the very sinopsis by the use of pronouns? My review states the fiction has one flaw in the worldbuilding and how the author/reader may overcome it.

I'm not saying my review is better than yours, or that yours is bad. I'm pointing out the fact you shot your own foot with what you bring up. Skipping chapters is the same as not reading the story, because you aren't. It's fine to do so, but don't come here and say people should read a certain amount so they can be given the opportunity to express their opinions when you're not giving the story this 'chance' you speak of. If you're skipping chapters how the hell are you going to see improvements?

If I get 1-stars I'll ask the regular readers that do provide feedback if they've noticed anything I can improve on. 1-stars say something, and we should listen even if to see what other people think. Should we bend over and get gotten by what trolls have to say? No at all, but listening harms nobody.

Then maybe as a "proper review" you should have pointed out the lack of concistency and plausibility of the characters instead of ranting about things potential readers have no idea yet and will probably forget once they start reading. If someone reviews my fictions with "the sex scenes are cringe"... it says more about the reader's taste. However, if someone mentions the portrayal of a woman with a penis during sex lacks plausibility, that'd be more constructive and actually point where the problem is. Does this mean reviews should be an elitist circlejerk? Not at all. Let people express their opinions even if that means a surplus of 1-stars, dislikes, or whatever system is in place.

Again, let's just take the 1-star on the chin and improve our fictions.

The "proper review" I'm talking about are simply reviews that aren't based on first chapter only. I might not be the best reviewer, but I at least read couple of chapters to give the story a chance.

Are you now digging out dirt because you're out of arguments?

I've read at least 50-60 chapters fully before starting to skip. Story went downhill, but I still wanted to see if it gets better at some point. How does this goes against idea of reviews after first three chapters? I gritted my teeth to give the story extra chance, but don't expect me to read about harem members suddenly getting drugged and raped, while the story constantly goes 180

I've clearly pointed out that the flaws in consistency and characters. Does that give me right to spoil every bit of the whole story for readers that want to try it out? Author could PMed me at any time if he didn't know what I referred to

 

[SailusGebel]

The "proper review" I'm talking about are simply reviews that aren't based on first chapter only. I might not be the best reviewer, but I at least read couple of chapters to give the story a chance.

Are you now digging out dirt because you're out of arguments?

I've read at least 50-60 chapters fully before starting to skip. Story went downhill, but I still wanted to see if it gets better at some point. How does this goes against idea of reviews after first three chapters? I gritted my teeth to give the story extra chance, but don't expect me to read about harem members suddenly getting drugged and raped, while the story constantly goes 180

I've clearly pointed out that the flaws in consistency and characters. Does that give me right to spoil every bit of the whole story for readers that want to try it out? Author could PMed me at any time if he didn't know what I referred to

So, if a reader review story based on two chapters, it becomes proper?

 

[Biggest-Kusa-Out-There]

The "proper review" I'm talking about are simply reviews that aren't based on first chapter only. I might not be the best reviewer, but I at least read couple of chapters to give the story a chance.

Are you now digging out dirt because you're out of arguments?

I've read at least 50-60 chapters fully before starting to skip. Story went downhill, but I still wanted to see if it gets better at some point. How does this goes against idea of reviews after first three chapters? I gritted my teeth to give the story extra chance, but don't expect me to read about harem members suddenly getting drugged and raped, while the story constantly goes 180

I've clearly pointed out that the flaws in consistency and characters. Does that give me right to spoil every bit of the whole story for readers that want to try it out? Author could PMed me at any time if he didn't know what I referred to

I'm using your own narrative to argue. It's good that you see the lack of consistency it has under any degree of scrutiny.

Spoil? The fiction I reviewed is about a trans person without the tragedy tag, obviously the mc will transition eventually. The plot is about the journey and the emotions, not the condition of the events happening or not as stated by the author. It's like mentioning the sex scenes in a smut story. Comes with the themes and genre.

Then again you say skipping chapters have any value whatsoever when it doesn't according to your own discourse. Anyone can skip the first few chapters if they didn't like the first paragraph and rate a story. Happens with a lot of fictions, actually.

So no. Your idea is arbitrary beyond what it's already available and it's full of holes. You're condescending to the readers and authors alike. Your concept of a chapter is so obtuse you fail to consider fictions with 10k words a chapter vs 500 words a chapter. One will have 30k words after the third chapter while the other will have 1500 words. The first one can be reviewed based on first impressions, the second one too.

You can edit your score and review, so the very idea of limiting them is flawed by this simple fact.