"Could it be?" & "Why not...!"

Could it be?

That the explanation for one of the more common gripes; that most stories suffer an initial spate of extremely low scores, is not trolls but Puritanical Zealotry, people who have come to the conclusion that their most effective means to protest against this godless and forsaken site is to patrol new stories and give them low scores.




Why not! The solution is simple!

If anyone clicks on one or two stars, it activates a pop up screen:

You have chosen to give this story a low score. Please enter the appropriate information in the fields below:
(Information marked with an asterisk * must be entered)

* Reason for low score (minimum 100 words. We use a spellchecker to confirm that the words entered are valid and correctly spelled.)
* I am a (boxes “Man” / “Woman”)
* Your Age (boxes “Below 18” / “18 – 25” etc)
* Your Location (list of countries)
* Enter a valid eMail address
* Enter the Captcha Code
(Vote)

Once all the correct boxes have been ticked and the (Vote)-button has been clicked, it activates a new pop-up:

Thank you for your vote! We have sent an eMail with an activation code to the eMail address you provided. In order to validate the score you have given, please enter the security code we have provided in the field below, then click the (Confirm) button

(Confirm)

I think it's more the case of having jack shit going on in their lives.

LadyVer said:

I think it's more the case of having jack shit going on in their lives.

Click to expand...

In that case, why not fill their empty days with useful and satisfying activities! Let's up the requirement from a minimum of 100 to 1,000 words!

One should always spare a thought for those less fortunate than oneself and attempt to ease their burden, that's what I was taught when I was young.

LIT is about as tame as LADY VER. LIT is more like a church picnic.

Low scores? Assheads obsessed with remaining at the top of the score pile. And many hate my guts, and use scores to pound me. But I don't care much because LIT scores are about as thrilling as a Hillary kiss.

I think the zealots are a faction in Incest/non con and Gay male those three categories are more 'sinful' than the others to those bible freaks.

I think in retaliation we should go to their churches and heckle their ministers

lovecraft68 said:

I think the zealots are a faction in Incest/non con and Gay male those three categories are more 'sinful' than the others to those bible freaks.

I think in retaliation we should go to their churches and heckle their ministers

Click to expand...

I noticed this with my most recent story. It had a score in the low 3's a matter of hours after it was first published. 24 hours later, it was above the red 'H' threshold. I wonder if there's an automatic sweep of I/T stories a day or so after they get posted to account for new story trolling?

NicoleZ said:

Why not! The solution is simple!

If anyone clicks on one or two stars, it activates a pop up screen:

You have chosen to give this story a low score. Please enter the appropriate information in the fields below:
(Information marked with an asterisk * must be entered)

* Reason for low score (minimum 100 words. We use a spellchecker to confirm that the words entered are valid and correctly spelled.)
* I am a (boxes “Man” / “Woman”)
* Your Age (boxes “Below 18” / “18 – 25” etc)
* Your Location (list of countries)
* Enter a valid eMail address
* Enter the Captcha Code
(Vote)

Once all the correct boxes have been ticked and the (Vote)-button has been clicked, it activates a new pop-up:

Thank you for your vote! We have sent an eMail with an activation code to the eMail address you provided. In order to validate the score you have given, please enter the security code we have provided in the field below, then click the (Confirm) button

(Confirm)

Click to expand...

Not the e-mail address, unless it is for a Very Good Reason.
I do not see the information as important.

I normally start with ONE STAR and the score drifts up to 4.00 over time. Its the price I pay for my AH posts. People here are assholes, they know it, I know it.

Handley_Page said:

Not the e-mail address, unless it is for a Very Good Reason.
I do not see the information as important.

Click to expand...

It's not important It takes time that a troll doesn't want to expend and it double checks the e-mail address as real.

NicoleZ said:

Why not! The solution is simple!

If anyone clicks on one or two stars, it activates a pop up screen:

You have chosen to give this story a low score. Please enter the appropriate information in the fields below:
(Information marked with an asterisk * must be entered)

* Reason for low score (minimum 100 words. We use a spellchecker to confirm that the words entered are valid and correctly spelled.)
* I am a (boxes “Man” / “Woman”)
* Your Age (boxes “Below 18” / “18 – 25” etc)
* Your Location (list of countries)
* Enter a valid eMail address
* Enter the Captcha Code
(Vote)

Click to expand...

I understand frustration at bombers, but I trust this is tongue-in-cheek? It's far less effort to paste 100 words from some random website (or the story itself) than it is to pad out a bona fide bad review to 100 words. It's also not hard to get a throwaway email address.

I don't doubt that there are trolls and/or puritans targeting some stories, especially in LW. But I think authors are sometimes too eager to write off any low votes as malicious instead of accepting the possibility that maybe somebody genuinely didn't enjoy their story.

For what it's worth, I track my story stats pretty closely after posting, and ratings definitely do creep upwards over time. But for me, at least, I see no evidence of early trolling; I don't get many 1s or 2s at any stage. I think it has more to do with how people discover stories.

When I read the New Stories section, I'm mostly reading unfamiliar authors, and a lot of them aren't to my taste. (Recent Story Feedback example - I get turned off by character descriptions that focus on cup size etc., I will probably give those a lower rating.)

But when I find an author I do like, I check out their other work, stuff they might have written months ago. I might check out their faves, too. I also find stories through category toplists, or review blogs, or even the "readers who liked this story also liked..." link.

When I do that, I'm much more likely to find stories that I like, because my search strategy has already filtered out most of the other stuff. I may also be biased by other people's perceptions; if I like your work and you've favourited something, that may lead me to give it a slightly better rating.

If other readers are doing similar things, that would explain why my ratings creep up, with no need to invoke trolling: the people who rate my stories when they're new are a mix of tastes, the ones who seek them out six months later have been filtered down to the people who like the sort of thing I write.

(Like I said - not discounting other people's experiences of trolling, but it's not the only reason scores move over time.)

NOIRTRASH said:

I normally start with ONE STAR and the score drifts up to 4.00 over time. Its the price I pay for my AH posts. People here are assholes, they know it, I know it.

Click to expand...

Just because you keep saying this over and over again doesn't make it true. There is no way you can know who votes or even what they vote.

If the truth were known, most if not all the people in the AH could care less about your stories. This is an erotic site and most of what you describe in your "Hey, look at me" threads, is a far cry from erotica. The score probably reflects what and where you write more so than anything else.

TxRad said:

It's not important It takes time that a troll doesn't want to expend and it double checks the e-mail address as real.

Click to expand...

"Put 100 words in this review field" will be more effective at discouraging good-faith voters than trolls.

lovecraft68 said:

I think in retaliation we should go to their churches and heckle their ministers

Click to expand...

Now that is an idea, and a very good one at that! Why not write stories about how the Second Coming turns out to be a She and that She is a lesbian and that from then on being straight is a mortal sin and... :caning:

TxRad said:

It's not important It takes time that a troll doesn't want to expend and it double checks the e-mail address as real.

Click to expand...

This!

NOIRTRASH said:

I normally start with ONE STAR and the score drifts up to 4.00 over time. Its the price I pay for my AH posts. People here are assholes, they know it, I know it.

Click to expand...

Awwww...

Look>> * * * * *

Bramblethorn said:

"Put 100 words in this review field" will be more effective at discouraging good-faith voters than trolls.

Click to expand...

This is true, but then again 100+ words telling me why my story isn't to their liking is probably going to be far more useful to me as a writer than the difference between, say, 4.45 and 4.42 - if it indeed is a case of good-faith voters like you claim.

I personally doubt that the trolls are motivated by their religious beliefs -- in fact, it seems that Incest stories are the most popular and highly rated. I think it's more a case of the story wasn't what the reader expected and they are left frustrated; and they lash out. The contest trolls are different -- motivated by other reasons (as are the Loving Wives trolls).

It would be nice if there was an Amazon-like review\rating system where you are required to register to rate or comment. That way, trolls couldn't hide behind their complete anonymity, and their rating history would be transparent, as would their (supposed) rational behind their rating. But let's face it, the technology used by this site is woefully outdated (ten years or more), so that's not likely to ever happen, at least not any anytime soon.

I'd offer a competing proposal: Sometimes, a reader just plain doesn't like your story. This is a natural and inevitable outcome of reaching an audience of any size. Rather than cast suspicious eyes at it, we should rather be confused if this DIDN'T turn out to be the case. And since we can't police other people's tastes (thankfully), the only "solution" necessary is to accept it, move on, and maybe channel some of this energy into our writing instead.

Just a thought.

TamLin01 said:

I'd offer a competing proposal: Sometimes, a reader just plain doesn't like your story. This is a natural and inevitable outcome of reaching an audience of any size. Rather than cast suspicious eyes at it, we should rather be confused if this DIDN'T turn out to be the case. And since we can't police other people's tastes (thankfully), the only "solution" necessary is to accept it, move on, and maybe channel some of this energy into our writing instead.

Just a thought.

Click to expand...

Which is what I personally do. It is only that it is such a recurring gripe that I thought the gripe itself ought to be addressed. If it really is a problem, there are effective ways to deal with it.

I trick them all. I have voting turned off.

Dream_Operator said:

I personally doubt that the trolls are motivated by their religious beliefs -- in fact, it seems that Incest stories are the most popular and highly rated. I think it's more a case of the story wasn't what the reader expected and they are left frustrated; and they lash out. The contest trolls are different -- motivated by other reasons (as are the Loving Wives trolls).

Click to expand...

This!
I was telling my friend I can never win a contest here because I can't compete with the incest stories.

Seems to me like they might get some 1* votes, but those get wiped away eventually.

I am still pretty new, so I could be completely wrong, but that's what I've seen so far.

TxRad said:

Just because you keep saying this over and over again doesn't make it true. There is no way you can know who votes or even what they vote.

If the truth were known, most if not all the people in the AH could care less about your stories. This is an erotic site and most of what you describe in your "Hey, look at me" threads, is a far cry from erotica. The score probably reflects what and where you write more so than anything else.

Click to expand...

The correct expression is COULDNT CARE LESS.

CoffeeWithMonkeys said:

This!
I was telling my friend I can never win a contest here because I can't compete with the incest stories.

Seems to me like they might get some 1* votes, but those get wiped away eventually.

I am still pretty new, so I could be completely wrong, but that's what I've seen so far.

Click to expand...

Hi, CoffeeWithMonkeys, just write what you want and learn from what you write to become a better writter

BTW, I was curious if my story was the one that you felt was too similar to yours -- I didn't think it was. Setup, yeah maybe, but our characters, plots and outcomes were completely different.

Zeb_Carter said:

I trick them all. I have voting turned off.

Click to expand...

You get my vote, Mr Carter! No wait, I can't can I...

Dream_Operator said:

Hi, CoffeeWithMonkeys, just write what you want and learn from what you write to become a better writter

BTW, I was curious if my story was the one that you felt was too similar to yours -- I didn't think it was. Setup, yeah maybe, but our characters, plots and outcomes were completely different.

Click to expand...

Yes it was yours.

Just a lot of the beginning was so similar, so I didn't read the rest of yours so I wouldn't be influenced. I want to go read the rest now to see how yours ended.