Issue with ratings.

[Azrie]

So this is a small rant, but ever since I came back to the site from hiatus, which would be Jan 1-2nd. I noticed an ever-increasing amount of 1-star ratings, simply dropped randomly for no peculiar reason, and the ones I did find out the reason for, it's rather dumb. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but why are people like this? I am trying so hard to understand what I am doing so wrong in my novel to basically get one-star ratings almost as a daily occurrence. I've asked for feedback, reviewed things, what comes up? Nothing.

People are simply mean, they are always super biased. "Oh, this story is a bit too dark." Instant 1-star. The author wrote something I didn't like? Also one star. This kind of feels like some kind of joke at this point. People just throw 1 star left and right without explanation. It's frustrating, for me - as someone that wants to surpass their previous work in terms of quality. It's horrible. It basically has the same rating, and yet people tell me it's better. Is it because people are now more prone to troll? Because otherwise how come the novels have the same rating and yet one of them is marginally better than the other... I don't comprehend, I don't understand.

Frankly, it's insanely discouraging, why do I even bother to post 1 to 2 chapters a day. It just feels insulting. Ratings feel like a total joke at least to me. And yet, I know they are, but I can't help but care about them... It's frustrating. Sorry for the petty rant, but I had to say it somewhere.

 

[AliceShiki]

Well, not much I can say other than to not take them to heart. Ratings are usually just a like/dislike button, so you should just think of low ratings as people that don't like the way you write... Which is fine, you don't need to please everyone after all~

 

[binarysoap]

I noticed an ever-increasing amount of 1-star ratings, simply dropped randomly for no peculiar reason

I don't really think it has been increasing, this has been a problem since forever. But yes, getting random 1 stars can be disheartening. Don't let it get to you! Look at the 41 other ratings that are 5 stars and think about them.

 

[Ram5]

So this is a small rant, but ever since I came back to the site from hiatus, which would be Jan 1-2nd. I noticed an ever-increasing amount of 1-star ratings, simply dropped randomly for no peculiar reason, and the ones I did find out the reason for, it's rather dumb. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but why are people like this? I am trying so hard to understand what I am doing so wrong in my novel to basically get one-star ratings almost as a daily occurrence. I've asked for feedback, reviewed things, what comes up? Nothing.

People are simply mean, they are always super biased. "Oh, this story is a bit too dark." Instant 1-star. The author wrote something I didn't like? Also one star. This kind of feels like some kind of joke at this point. People just throw 1 star left and right without explanation. It's frustrating, for me - as someone that wants to surpass their previous work in terms of quality. It's horrible. It basically has the same rating, and yet people tell me it's better. Is it because people are now more prone to troll? Because otherwise how come the novels have the same rating and yet one of them is marginally better than the other... I don't comprehend, I don't understand.

Frankly, it's insanely discouraging, why do I even bother to post 1 to 2 chapters a day. It just feels insulting. Ratings feel like a total joke at least to me. And yet, I know they are, but I can't help but care about them... It's frustrating. Sorry for the petty rant, but I had to say it somewhere.

Yeah, I got that kind of feeling too, the problem about a rating that didn't follow with a review was pretty confusing, it's like we were forced to assume what these people didn't like about the story, so my advice was don't think too much about it, post your story in the feedback or author section, even in later chapter discussion, I believe someone will kind enough to help you improve.

 

[AweksLear]

Your stories aren't for everyone so don't sweat it. My guess is that the people who rated your story one star found the protag infuriating.

 

[Azrie]

Your stories aren't for everyone so don't sweat it. My guess is that the people who rated your story one star found the protag infuriating.

Tsk, tsk, tsk. I suppose, I mean, I can see my brick head of a protag being super annoying - everyone thinks she is (Old novel). But my new protagonist? I mean, I suppose she can be annoying, but I suppose humanity is annoying for people looking specifically for escapism wish-fulfillment. I am not super worried about ratings at this point because it simply happens. But it can be quite discouraging when you put so much effort into something. So yeah, you are right. Thanks.

 

[gaylolis]

as someone who really take things to heart, it's one of the reason why I stopped posting my stories on this site.

I'd rather post where no rating system exists, rather than not being able to do my best, 'cuz I know someone can just spite me by dropping a 1 star out of nowhere and get away with it.

 

[yansusustories]

I've simply stopped caring about ratings altogether since they tell you nothing at all. The only thing that would be interesting would be reviews but not many people seem to like writing them on here. Like, I have 2 reviews on a story if I'm lucky, 1 on average, and 0 if I'm unlucky

 

[Paril]

Even heroes will be hated by someone at some point in their lifetime. Though it's interesting to wonder what motivates these type of people and to such behavior.

 

[LostinMovement]

I know how you feel. I wish people who would rate your story so low would leave a comment or review instead of radio silence. At least, then you would know what you are doing wrong if you are doing smthg wrong. Better than a virtual slap out of nowhere and without any explanation.

 

[Jamminrabbit]

This is a funny post for me, because i tend to get bothered by blind 5-star ratings for the same reason.

I don't know what I'm doing right, but you liked it so...

As disheartening as a 1-star rating seem, just remind yourself to take a look at the overall score. Clearly you're doing something right. There will always be people who downvote reddit posts, people who dislike youtube videos, and people who give min/max ratings. Like another poster said, some people may just not be into the story. And that's okay, too.

 

[Kldran]

I generally ignore 1 star ratings and would advise others to do the same. 1 stars generally don't have anything to do with story quality, and are simply a matter of personal preference. Same with 5 stars, except it's usually more important to pay attention to people who like your work than those who don't, as the ones who like it are your audience. Though I see a 5 star rating as not much different from a favorite. It just means someone liked it enough to hit the button.

 

[CautiousTitan]

Ratings are usually a personal preference. Remember that every book has a niche that they appeal to.
For example, I may not read the newest LOTR or Harry Potter books but there are plenty of readers who do. It's a matter of finding your audience and interacting with them. They are the ones who matter the most.

 

[Elateam]

I've got no clue what you guys are talking about because—get this—I've got five stars on my webnovel!!! Watch me get spammed with one star ratings.

Jokes aside, the ratings I've recieved feel pretty forced. It's like people gave me a five star rating because of something unrelated to my actual writing, which is pretty hit and miss. RoyalRoad seems like the better place for reviews, since my novel there gets the rating it deserves (zero btw, it's like a badge of honor).

I see the rating system currently as one that gives an overall average that reflects the appetite for the novel, and even then it's subjected to limitations already discussed is previous posts. The big lie with this system is that the reader is a rational individual who is unbiased, but judging by the quality of each democratic election conducted in this century you can get a clear picture that it isn't so.

And there is no way to fix this system, no matter how much we remove random spam ratings, it becomes more corrupted as others inflate the ratings because it just ends up misleading potential readers, which is not desireable for either them or the writer. This is true for every place I've ever seen where the rating system is prevalent, like movie critic sites, IGN, Steam and the local grocery store—Like hell, what's an avocado? They gave it a 3/3 and yet I still don't know how it works!

There should be a general rethink and a mindset regarding the rating system (which I've seen people generally keeping to on this forum) and either we stick to it and deal with it's problems or move to a new system which is just as more prone to errors.

Thank you for listening to my Ted Talk. And I apologize for the bad jokes.

 

[Kldran]

I'd agree that the star rating system is broken, and probably not fixable. Personally I think it's better to have it than to not have it, but it's important to recognize how little it really matters. Personally, I consider the favorites, reader count, comments, and the rare written review, to be far more useful as actual feedback.

 

[NiQuinn]

I'd rather have ratings unlocked when a story is completed and the site can somehow detect the person has read through all the chapters. Sort of like this:

Then, once a person has read all of it, only then can they leave a rank. If someone has the gumption to actually scroll through all the chapters without reading it just to leave a low rank, I wouldn't find it offensive. I'd probably be amused.

 

[binarysoap]

I'd rather have ratings unlocked when a story is completed and the site can somehow detect the person has read through all the chapters. Sort of like this:

Then, once a person has read all of it, only then can they leave a rank. If someone has the gumption to actually scroll through all the chapters without reading it just to leave a low rank, I wouldn't find it offensive. I'd probably be amused.

This is terrible for the main reason that if it really is bad enough that it deserves a one or two star, the reader would have dropped it LONG before they even got halfway. The only people who would actually bother to read it to completion are people who like the novel, otherwise why bother.

 

[XianPiete]

It still makes me shake my head that people go through the effort to make extra accounts just to drop the ratings of another author's work out of jealousy. It's not like any of us are making our living off these stories. The ratings just take something that should be fun and positive and make it not worth the effort.

 

[BenJepheneT]

Think about it. You've made a story that reached a point where it made someone go through the trouble of creating an account, finding your story, and dropping one star on it. Your story is so unique it managed to fuel someone's intent to do so.

Your story made its impact, one way or another.

 

[Ral]

People are making a lot of assumptions here.