#42445 - 09/24/09 12:47 PM
Re: some of the reader votes.
[Re: cumgirl]
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Hunterguy
member
Registered: 01/21/09
Posts: 166
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And now I'm going to be controversial.
I think that nearly all the Author's scores are too high (and yes, I am happy to include myself in that).
Furthermore, the introduction of the 'Reader Profiles' has caused the average vote to rise by about a point on average (ie. stories that were scoring in the low 8's are now scoring in the low 9's.
Nowadays average stories are scoring consistently above 9.
Personally, I would like to see the readers being more demanding and critical.
... guess, I'd better not publish anything for a while cause its gonna get slated.
Any thoughts?
Cumgirl,
I do not disagree entirely with your assertion, I too have thought that the voting is too high. However, it is a site for ameteur writers/authors after all, and therefore many of us are a little ruff around the edges, when it comes to proper grammar, spelling, sentence structure and plot development, etc. Just the same I really thrive on the higher votes... lol
Minus the phantom/troll votes we really have a voting range of 5 - 10. As you said, due to the the required commenting, few will ever cast a vote in that low end of the range. Whether we accept it or not, the reality is, that 10's are doled out for pretty good stories. Where as, the range may have been originally set from 1 - 10, with the intent that 10 would be cast for perfectly wrote, publishing qulaity works.
With this in mind I feel that high average voting is of little consequence over all. To be heavily criticized would simply discourage individuals from posting their work.
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That all said, it seems that a growing number of serious, aspiring, authors are being attracted to this site. Perhaps Art could set up a section, specifically, for honest critiquing. A clever name might be "The Critic's Cavern". Participating in that category could have prerequisites similar to those used on other sites. My idea would be that the voting on the stories posted in that section would not contribute to an Author's over all standings. If the author subsequently chose to move the story to the relevant category, then the general audience can have a go at it.
Perhaps that would dampen the phantoms' enthusiasm, towards low balling, high scoring stories. Who knows, maybe it would simply intensify it?
Just a few of my thoughts, FWTW.
Cheers,
HG 34
Edited by Huntergirl (09/24/09 12:47 PM)
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#42449 - 09/24/09 02:55 PM
Re: some of the reader votes.
[Re: cumgirl]
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Girlie1980
veteran
Registered: 09/23/09
Posts: 1321
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And now I'm going to be controversial.
I think that nearly all the Author's scores are too high (and yes, I am happy to include myself in that).
Furthermore, the introduction of the 'Reader Profiles' has caused the average vote to rise by about a point on average (ie. stories that were scoring in the low 8's are now scoring in the low 9's.
Nowadays average stories are scoring consistently above 9.
Personally, I would like to see the readers being more demanding and critical.
... guess, I'd better not publish anything for a while cause its gonna get slated.
Any thoughts?
As a reader, I agree. A story has to be extremely awesome for me to give it a 10. But with so many average scores over 9, that means a lot of people give 10s very freely.
It feels very strange for me when I give a story a 9, which I think is a very high score, yet I know I am pulling down the average score. It feels like I am hurting the author.
Also, with everyone voting 10 all the time, when I read a really great story and want to give it a 10, a 10 doesn't seem like anywhere near enough. I've sent messages to authors saying that I wish I had been able to vote 20.
I don't generally give low scores. If I didn't like a story and others did, I assume that I just didn't get it and shouldn't vote. So you'd never see me voting a 1 or 4 on a story with an average around 9.
My vote is never affected by typos or bad spelling or grammar.
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Huntergirl, I know the authors here are supposed to be amateurs, but the writing here is really spectacular! If I give everyone a 10, that doesn't seem fair to those whose stories are truly masterpieces. How can I lump them together with the just-ok stories?
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#42451 - 09/24/09 04:39 PM
Re: some of the reader votes.
[Re: Girlie1980]
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Hunterguy
member
Registered: 01/21/09
Posts: 166
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As a reader, I agree. A story has to be extremely awesome for me to give it a 10. But with so many average scores over 9, that means a lot of people give 10s very freely.
It feels very strange for me when I give a story a 9, which I think is a very high score, yet I know I am pulling down the average score. It feels like I am hurting the author.
Also, with everyone voting 10 all the time, when I read a really great story and want to give it a 10, a 10 doesn't seem like anywhere near enough. I've sent messages to authors saying that I wish I had been able to vote 20.
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Huntergirl, I know the authors here are supposed to be amateurs, but the writing here is really spectacular! If I give everyone a 10, that doesn't seem fair to those whose stories are truly masterpieces. How can I lump them together with the just-ok stories?
Girlie1980,
My apologies if I made it sound that there are no really spectacular authors here. Not at all the point that I was trying to make. My comments were more directed to how the audience seems to "in general" assess stories. While you may not be able to lump those types of stories together by casting an equal vote, the reality is, that a large portion of the audience does.
I am of the same opinion as to the quality of writing here, agreeing that this site has an abundance of excellent, well written stories, as well as a lot of really good stories. Regardless of the quality, the majority of authors are ameteurs. My remark about heavily criticizing stories, relates to newbies, and or those who are simply writing for the enjoyment of sharing their experience. They may not care if their story is properly structured, highly ranked or even if it could be polished into a literary masterpiece. My point being, if one such story attracts readers that are willign to rank it a 9.40, who is it hurting?
Like you I too agree that 10's are given to freely, but what has evolved, and it is only theory, is that the majority of the audience seems to dole out 10's as freely for pretty good stories as one might expect for truly excellent stories. Like I said, whether or not you accept it, that seems to be the reality.
My point about aspiring authors, is that, some have gone as far as establishing their own websites to sell their stories, other have sold a story(ies) as a novel, and yet others are invloved with sites like Fish Tank, to lend a hand, to those who are seriously looking for one. I have engaged many an author myself, both to solicit critique on my work, and to pay it forward by offering a critique to some one who has a truly good story that could benefit from some tweaking. For the benefit of individuals who aspire to selling their work, perhaps the "Critic's Cavern" idea would be of some benefit to all parites, the author, the audience, and to ES.
Now I step down from my soap box and carry on.
Cheers,
HG 34
Edited by Huntergirl (09/24/09 05:37 PM)
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