If you turn off scores...

[MillieDynamite]

SOL has a play wall where only authors with enough points can read, and those who pay a monthly charge can do so. But most people don't belong to it. Writers often have dozens of free accounts to vote on their own work, which is just so fucking wrong.

It happens everywhere that is free. That's what happens when anyone can join, vote, etc. If for the sake of argument Lit, or SOL decided to become a paid member site. Example $5.99 you can read unlimited stories, comment, vote, use the forums, etc.. that would cause a big drop in numbers, but also eradicate a lot of this BS with nasty comments, trolling, sniping, etc.

Would come down to you want to live in the ghetto and deal with any dreg who comes your way, or live in a nice secure neighborhood? I imagine most here are so caught up in the number of votes and comments they'd say to stay with let anyone in, but continue to whine over the bad element.

BTW in my hypothetical situation the authors don't pay for member ship because we provide content.

The scoring is weighted to an average point of around 5.5... It is almost impossible to get over a 7.something for great writers and the ones that are higher than that, I haven't a clue how that is possible.

Yep. You can only get a small sample if you don't sign up for at least a free account.

I'm sure they try, but the voodoo math SOL does to your score probably makes it all but pointless. One of my recent ones there got two 1s straight out of the gate, which I know because it had registered two votes with a score of 1, and it's scoring pretty much the same as everything else despite that. That being said, the score displayed has almost nothing to do with the value of the votes cast. LOL It's designed to artificially spread the scores out to make them more "useful" for reader selection.

Score is all but irrelevant there anyway, because it only matters during the first week or so. If you get 50 votes with sufficient score to make the top 50 toplist, you get read more. ( or download list ) Otherwise, everyone selects by tags there. That and making the all-time toplists, which is a rarity.

If you're not on the toplist, it doesn't make a lick of difference whether your score is 5.0, or 7.0, or 9.5 with 49 votes.

 

[RejectReality]

Laurel told me that's the goal, and I saw some of the work in progress before it went live. She authorized me to pass on information about it, which I have many times. Such as the position on the toplist will be determined by the highest score in the series. Not ideal in my opinion, as I would suggest an average, but having only 1 entry instead of 50 is more important to me than where that 1 falls in the list. People are going to grumble no matter how it's determined, because that's what people do, so I'm not going to quibble.

I'm no official spokesman, but that is the stated goal, as is allowing only complete stories to compete in the monthlies/annual awards with the publishing of the final chapter determining date of eligibility. What's being rolled out is in furtherance of that goal. The toplists have had problems in the past which caused much consternation, so they're putting as much broad user testing of the elements of it into place as possible before making the change.

 

[RejectReality]

The scoring is weighted to an average point of around 5.5... It is almost impossible to get over a 7.something for great writers and the ones that are higher than that, I haven't a clue how that is possible.

Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Western, or part of a popular, established Universe. Preferably really long, but with an actual ending, and published reliably on a schedule. That's the key to breaking the 8s.

I've got a few, but none more recently than 2010. Everything else has edged up to the line in the 7.8s but never broken through.

Otherwise, longish incest stories can get you close. That's as close as I get in this pen name, which as very little in the way of chapters. I've got a couple of 7.8s for Incest there.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Laurel told me that's the goal, and I saw some of the work in progress before it went live. She authorized me to pass on information about it, which I have many times.

Okay, fair enough. I wouldn't want to be put in that position but okay, each to his own.
To be honest, I am still going to dispute that feature happening in the foreseeable future, not because I doubt your words but because of the overall experience I've had on Lit. This place doesn't seem to change in any meaningful way.

Thanks for clarifying your position though.

 

[Diamondknight87]

It seems a bit vindictive of anyone to do such a thing. More than that, obsessive is the right word. They are making sure it doesn't get swept away. Who did you piss off that badly to make them want to hurt your work like that?

Absolutely nothing. I've written two posts here on the boards before this thread, and have pretty much only left favorable comments on other peoples' stories.

That said, my story in question would've been top list. Shortly before it hit 100 ratings it was in line to hit top ten in the category with a 4.94. That may have gotten me on someone's 'watch list.' It making the Hall of Fame again a few weeks ago could have pissed someone off that simps for the person who has pretty much has a stranglehold on the Hall of Fame.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I write mostly short stories, which I prefer to write as stand-alone stories. However, I have a few series. Everything goes up for sale first (with a few exceptions) and then migrates into the free zones. I don't worry much about scores. The best score for me is the ability to pay Donnie's preschool tuition every month and still earn income from my stories. The pay for ghostwork is also a bonus. I contribute to my family, not as much as when I worked as a PI, but enough to feel good about what I do.

Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Western, or part of a popular, established Universe. Preferably really long, but with an actual ending, and published reliably on a schedule. That's the key to breaking the 8s.

I've got a few, but none more recently than 2010. Everything else has edged up to the line in the 7.8s but never broken through.

Otherwise, longish incest stories can get you close. That's as close as I get in this pen name, which as very little in the way of chapters. I've got a couple of 7.8s for Incest there.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I've never even checked, and won't, to see if I have a story in a top list. It's something that just isn't that important to me. I get it if it is important to you.

Absolutely nothing. I've written two posts here, and have pretty much only left favorable comments.

That said, my story in question would've been top list. Shortly before it hit 100 ratings it was in line to hit top ten in the category with a 4.94. That may have gotten me on someone's 'watch list.' It making the Hall of Fame again a few weeks ago could have pissed someone off that simps for the person who has pretty much has a stranglehold on the Hall of Fame.

 

[Diamondknight87]

Please forgive my lack of knowledge, but what's SOL that you guys keep referring to?

 

[RejectReality]

I write mostly short stories, which I prefer to write as stand-alone stories. However, I have a few series. Everything goes up for sale first (with a few exceptions) and then migrates into the free zones. I don't worry much about scores. The best score for me is the ability to pay Donnie's preschool tuition every month and still earn income from my stories. The pay for ghostwork is also a bonus. I contribute to my family, not as much as when I worked as a PI, but enough to feel good about what I do.

I'm mostly one-shot these days as well. My longer stories take literally years to come to fruition. My lack of production ( also a factor ) is part of why I can't break the 8s any more. I don't have enough new followers coming in regularly to replace those who fall by the wayside.

 

[RejectReality]

Please forgive my lack of knowledge, but what's SOL that you guys keep referring to?

Just another erotica site with different rules and readerships. In my opinion, it's good to cultivate multiple venues. Not only do you get some additional feedback, but you can typically have a home for whatever you dream up, without being hogtied by the content rules or tribal readers of one particular site.

 

[Diamondknight87]

I came from fanfiction where I wrote an 8 part series that was very well received. In total it was about 200k words, though I have one more part I'm going to write eventually.

That said, my story that keeps being downvoted is around 27k words, where parts one and two are around 39k and 32k respectively. I'm writing part 4 and 5 will be the end of it.

 

[Diamondknight87]

Just another erotica site with different rules and readerships. In my opinion, it's good to cultivate multiple venues. Not only do you get some additional feedback, but you can typically have a home for whatever you dream up, without being hogtied by the content rules or tribal readers of one particular site.

What's it actually called so I can look it up?

 

[MillieDynamite]

We shouldn't put the full website up, and you don't have messaging active, or I'd send it to you.

Please forgive my lack of knowledge, but what's SOL that you guys keep referring to?

 

[Diamondknight87]

I sent you a message that you hopefully can reply to.

I've had a bit to drink tonight, so my ability to look things up myself is a little... impaired.

 

[RejectReality]

If you're writing something that can make the toplists, no matter how briefly, you're on the right track. Every time it's up there ( which can happen multiple times when bombs are removed by sweeps ) you're attracting new readers and building a cushion against those bombs.

Trolls get diminishing returns for their efforts so long as you don't let them discourage you.

 

[alohadave]

What's it actually called so I can look it up?

Storiesonline

 

[Diamondknight87]

If you're writing something that can make the toplists, no matter how briefly, you're on the right track. Every time it's up there ( which can happen multiple times when bombs are removed by sweeps ) you're attracting new readers and building a cushion against those bombs.

Trolls get diminishing returns for their efforts so long as you don't let them discourage you.

Fair enough. That said, if this bot (or troll with way too much time on their hands) doesn't stop, any suggestions on how to go doing something about it?

I'm willing to tank a couple bad scores from a troll, but I'm not willing to watch it dwindle down to 2.5 because of some dick.

 

[RejectReality]

Fair enough. That said, if this bot (or troll with way too much time on their hands) doesn't stop, any suggestions on how to go doing something about it?

I'm willing to tank a couple bad scores from a troll, but I'm not willing to watch it dwindle down to 2.5 because of some dick.

First, don't talk about it. Some of them lurk around here waiting to see the effects of what they've done. You're encouraging them to keep it up if you acknowledge it's bothering you.

You can use the "report this" button on whichever story is getting beaten up, and then use the "reason" text box to request a sweep and explain why. If it pops back into the toplist as a result, you're very likely to get bombed right back down again. It's just the way it is. Eventually, you'll pick up enough new readers and regular votes to make it much harder to smack you down.

The best thing you can do is just keep writing. Keep delivering the best tales you can. Outlast them.

Most of these trolls ( even personal ones who have a specific hate-on for you ) are going to get bored/fade away eventually, decide someone else is a bigger threat, or somebody else is going to piss them off and they'll direct their ire at them.

 

[Diamondknight87]

Ok. thanks for the advice and info. There was another downvote this morning in the same pattern. I've got a plan in mind that will hopefully work in the long run. I'm not go into detail here in case whomever's doing it is lurking.

I'm really pretty slow to publish, but I'm still working on it!

also thanks to @StillStunned for the encouraging words. It honestly helped a lot.