Annoying reviews.

Basiun

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Hey! For some reason, I just got annoyed enough by "Awful reviews" to make a comment about them.
What is an annoying review? It's a review that should've been a silent "rating" at most. New novels on their 10th chapter with 5-6 reviews rating them as "5-star, best I've read" explaining how different it is from others and how great of a read they are.

They're just empty in meaning. I understand when someone reads for 5 chapters, becomes bothered enough by the awful grammar or straight-up bad writing to write a "warning review" explaining why not to read - But the other way around? 10 Chapters is quite frankly not even close to enough to substantiate a review. There's no potential for a proper story, and the majority of the characters are unlikely to be uncovered as of that point. You have no idea beyond "grammar" and "initial impression" for how the story will turn out, and recommending it beyond just adding your own rating is just pointless and misleading.

Now - There are of course a ton of other "bad reviews" out there. Examples would be reviews like "Doesn't have what I want" (10chapter),"It wasn't what I thought"(50 chapter), "Why did my favorite character die?"(X chapter) etc.
They're simply not what reviews are supposed to be. They're comments and ratings. Reviews are supposed to inform others of why they should/shouldn't read the novel.

What do you guys think? Any examples of bad reviews or am I just dumb for posting?
 

Cossimeri

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TBH...I never read reviews (except for the ones posted on my own work, and only because SH gives you a notification that you got a review). Like I read a fair amount of stories on this site, and I don’t think I’ve ever even looked at their reviews.

I can see why you have an issue with reviews that seem to not provide any detailed insight. Though for the ones that are positive I‘d say they are made in an attempt to invigorate the author and keep them writing. So many fledgeling authors abandon projects early on, and those reviews are maybe a coded way of saying “I love this, please don’t abandon it”.

I do dislike idea of reviews that reveal spoilers openly. Like character deaths or whatnot. But again... I don’t personally read them, so it isn’t as if I’ve come across any like that.
 

DubstheDuke

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Yeah in my experience a lot of bad reviews are really just people reading the first few chapters, not seeing what they want, and complaining about it. The other way around? Mmm I guess that could be the case but I haven't seen as many good reviews which have no substance.
 

K5Rakitan

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So many fledgeling authors abandon projects early on, and those reviews are maybe a coded way of saying “I love this, please don’t abandon it”.
Exactly! Some reviews are for readers, and some are for authors. On writing.com, readers don't get to read the reviews on works they did not write because the site is geared towards helping writers improve.
 

Ai-chan

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Exactly! Some reviews are for readers, and some are for authors. On writing.com, readers don't get to read the reviews on works they did not write because the site is geared towards helping writers improve.
Okay, you should probably stop trolling for people to go to writing.com. Ai-chan has been on writing.com. Nobody reviews anything. Pretty much most of the site updates involve the admins saying "we got a great deal, pay us money". Yet they don't even allow multi-chapter stories, unless you actually pay for premium.
 
D

Deleted member 45782

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Exactly! Some reviews are for readers, and some are for authors. On writing.com, readers don't get to read the reviews on works they did not write because the site is geared towards helping writers improve.
Okay, you should probably stop trolling for people to go to writing.com. Ai-chan has been on writing.com. Nobody reviews anything. Pretty much most of the site updates involve the admins saying "we got a great deal, pay us money". Yet they don't even allow multi-chapter stories, unless you actually pay for premium.
I have heard writing.com had some paywalls and stuff but I don't know much about it else. What I did know from a quick search was that writing.com save their passwords in plaintext (reddit post mentioned it) and got security breach about a year or so ago. Being that I stopped posting and using Wattpad (unless to transfer out my stories) because of a security breach last year, I would be hesitant to use a writing.com site that doesn't seem secure.

Yes, I know that you can take all kinds of cyber security measures to make it safe and still get hacked/breached, and that most companies will put up measures afterward to make it more secure and stronger, however...I'm would not lie and say I'm not hesitant and completely comfortable using it after hearing something like that..
 

AKnightWithaKnife

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Hey! For some reason, I just got annoyed enough by "Awful reviews" to make a comment about them.
What is an annoying review? It's a review that should've been a silent "rating" at most. New novels on their 10th chapter with 5-6 reviews rating them as "5-star, best I've read" explaining how different it is from others and how great of a read they are.

They're just empty in meaning. I understand when someone reads for 5 chapters, becomes bothered enough by the awful grammar or straight-up bad writing to write a "warning review" explaining why not to read - But the other way around? 10 Chapters is quite frankly not even close to enough to substantiate a review. There's no potential for a proper story, and the majority of the characters are unlikely to be uncovered as of that point. You have no idea beyond "grammar" and "initial impression" for how the story will turn out, and recommending it beyond just adding your own rating is just pointless and misleading.

Now - There are of course a ton of other "bad reviews" out there. Examples would be reviews like "Doesn't have what I want" (10chapter),"It wasn't what I thought"(50 chapter), "Why did my favorite character die?"(X chapter) etc.
They're simply not what reviews are supposed to be. They're comments and ratings. Reviews are supposed to inform others of why they should/shouldn't read the novel.

What do you guys think? Any examples of bad reviews or am I just dumb for posting?
In 10 chapters you can see if a story is gonna be shit( pacing problems most likely) or if it’s a romance novel all you need is one
 

Basiun

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In 10 chapters you can see if a story is gonna be shit( pacing problems most likely) or if it’s a romance novel all you need is one
Yeah, that's the type of review I'm totally on-board with, and makes total sense: "This novel starts out badly, has bad grammar blabla don't read"

What I hate is when the reviews are made for the exact opposite reason. "This novel is soo unique, it does everything right and all the characters are totally believable" - 10 chapter review. Those types are just so misleading. You can't judge the "good quality" of something that quickly. Every start of anything is honestly quite easy.

Point is: You can buy a 5$ keyboard, hearing it creak and break every time you type on it from day 1, but a 100$ keyboard might be equally awful, but you won't notice it until it starts double-clicking 2-3 months in. It would thus become seriously misleading for anyone to give a reason as to how amazing a product is after using it for a scant few days before the flaws actually appear.
 

K5Rakitan

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Okay, you should probably stop trolling for people to go to writing.com. Ai-chan has been on writing.com. Nobody reviews anything. Pretty much most of the site updates involve the admins saying "we got a great deal, pay us money". Yet they don't even allow multi-chapter stories, unless you actually pay for premium.

I have heard writing.com had some paywalls and stuff but I don't know much about it else. What I did know from a quick search was that writing.com save their passwords in plaintext (reddit post mentioned it) and got security breach about a year or so ago. Being that I stopped posting and using Wattpad (unless to transfer out my stories) because of a security breach last year, I would be hesitant to use a writing.com site that doesn't seem secure.

Yes, I know that you can take all kinds of cyber security measures to make it safe and still get hacked/breached, and that most companies will put up measures afterward to make it more secure and stronger, however...I'm would not lie and say I'm not hesitant and completely comfortable using it after hearing something like that..
There are no paywalls. All you have to do is to review others to earn points, and then you use those points to request reviews from others. You just have to give something to get something. I give a few reviews every day, and that's how I keep my upgraded membership. I like to focus on reviewing the new authors because you always get free points for reviewing someone you have not reviewed before.

Post a few "Static Items" and eventually you'll get a message saying that an anonymous user has gifted you with an upgraded membership. Just stay active on the site from there, and all is good!
 

TunTun

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Don't go to writing.com, the website is nasty and like Ai chan said, no one will review your work there.
 
D

Deleted member 45782

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There are no paywalls. All you have to do is to review others to earn points, and then you use those points to request reviews from others. You just have to give something to get something. I give a few reviews every day, and that's how I keep my upgraded membership. I like to focus on reviewing the new authors because you always get free points for reviewing someone you have not reviewed before.

Post a few "Static Items" and eventually you'll get a message saying that an anonymous user has gifted you with an upgraded membership. Just stay active on the site from there, and all is good!
What I worried is not about the paywalls. It seems like they got a security breach not too long ago because they didn't take time to update their systems for better security and a bunch of emails..... Even if they fix it now, I'll still be hesitant to try the site...
 

Ral

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Well, take it or leave it. That is just how it goes.

It just shows you how pointless any form of criticism in SH are.

Just don't bother with them. Most are just from yes men who says yes to everything.
 

K5Rakitan

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What I worried is not about the paywalls. It seems like they got a security breach not too long ago because they didn't take time to update their systems for better security and a bunch of emails..... Even if they fix it now, I'll still be hesitant to try the site...
I see. I don't worry about the security breach personally because I don't pay them, and I don't use my legal name anyway.
 
D

Deleted member 45782

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I see. I don't worry about the security breach personally because I don't pay them, and I don't use my legal name anyway.
When things like that get breached, its not just the name. It could range from things like ip address, location, email, bday, gender, etc., anything you put there. And even if it didn't and they got your fake email, it'd still be worrisome with all those other things you signed with an alt email right? Not everyone puts fake stuff, and not everything they put out there is fake, probably bc verification or something. You see a lot of these sensitive information talk whenever a company states they got a security breach in the news.

Now for writing.com, it also seemed like from a brief search those ones got some of their info leaked too and that's how they got hit with some suspicious email emailing them for bitcoin.

And this info on writing.com was from a quick google search.

Before you recommend writing.com again, please make sure you're actually recommending sites that are safe to use. Research and look it up. Otherwise, it can potentially hurt others.

Even if the site update their stuff now, it still seems very hesitant to use...nevermind the paywall some have mentioned but you already brushed that aside. What matters to some, is the security on that site...
 

TheTrinary

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I expect a lot of those reviews are fraudulent.

I'll open up a new story with two or three chapters and there's a handful of positive comments by some barely used account with the default picture. Always look who's giving the review and see what kind of other engagement they have on their account.

With all that said, people do tend to be overly positive when reviewing. We like to encourage people and make them feel good. Yeah, you keep writing. Most people don't see ratings as a way to discern what's worth reading and what's not.
 
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