How is this possible?

[trace_ekies]

I posted a story that through 25 votes or so was bouncing up or down within a few hundreths of 4.50. Last night, (CST), it had 26 votes and a score of 4.54. This morning, (again CDT), at 28 votes, it is 4.36. Is there a bug in the scoring system? This doesn't even seem possible!

BTW - The story is "Brad's Sister Pt. 04"

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I posted a story that through 25 votes or so was bouncing up or down within a few hundreths of 4.50. Last night, (CST), it had 26 votes and a score of 4.54. This morning, (again CDT), at 28 votes, it is 4.36. Is there a bug in the scoring system? This doesn't even seem possible!

Trolls. Its a common problem until you get more fans than trolls.

 

[RejectReality]

It could actually be worse. If both of those new votes had been 1s, your score would have been around 4.29

The good news is that a lot of low votes get swept away eventually. The bad news is that they're an inevitable part of posting on Lit ( or anywhere on the internet that has scoring, really )

Keep writing, build a fanbase, and eventually those individual bombs don't have as much impact.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

^^^^^ He's right.

Its a disadvantage in the short term but does force the writer to improve, and the incremental improvement attracts fans.

 

[trace_ekies]

Trolls. Its a common problem until you get more fans than trolls.

Trolls? Fans?

I've been posting for almost nine years now and never seen anything like this. I have fifteen postings and only one with a score below 4.36.

Have I done something wrong?

 

[RejectReality]

All it really takes ( especially at low vote totals ) is a single low vote to tank your score.

Keep in mind that if your score is above 4.0, any vote except a 5 reduces your score.

As to why someone would do it... It could be anything from pure asshattery that has nothing at all to do with you to a regular reader so offended by something that happened to a favorite character in the story that they feel you've ruined it for them.

 

[trace_ekies]

It could actually be worse. If both of those new votes had been 1s, your score would have been around 4.29 ...

I haven't done the math. Is that really possible?

.. low votes get swept away eventually...

Really? How does this happen?

... build a fanbase...

I have over forty 'Favorite Author' or 'Favorite Story' in the last two weeks. How high do these have to be before I am considered to have a 'fanbase'?

BTW: Thank you for the time you took to reply. I hope you can shed some light on the above. Thanks in advance for doing so!

 

[StrangeLife]

Some readers will use the score to "punish you" if they don't like the way you're taking the plot or if a character they don't like isn't suitably punished or something like that.

So you will get a few 1-stars almost regardless of how good your story is.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Go read MISERY by Stephen King.

 

[trace_ekies]

Some readers will use the score to "punish you" if they don't like the way you're taking the plot or if a character they don't like isn't suitably punished or something like that.

So you will get a few 1-stars almost regardless of how good your story is.

Thanks. I've done the math now and a couple of two's would have done it. I guess I should consider myself lucky they weren't 1's.

 

[StrangeLife]

Thanks. I've done the math now and a couple of two's would have done it. I guess I should consider myself lucky they weren't 1's.

If you ever want to see 1-bombing in action, try writing a cuckold-story - preferably involving a black man with an over-sized anatomy and a consenting husband - and post it in Loving Wives. The comment section is fascinating to behold... like watching the raging ocean during a storm...

 

[trace_ekies]

... try writing a cuckold-story ... and post it in Loving Wives ... comment section ... like watching the raging ocean during a storm...

Yeah, I did post a story a few years back in 'Loving Wives' although I wouldn't call it a true 'cuckold' story. The comments were definitely all over the board. I still think it is one of my best stories but it's score is nearly my worst. Guess I'm lucky it didn't get bombed any worse than it did.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Yeah, I did post a story a few years back in 'Loving Wives' although I wouldn't call it a true 'cuckold' story. The comments were definitely all over the board. I still think it is one of my best stories but it's score is nearly my worst. Guess I'm lucky it didn't get bombed any worse than it did.

Eventually, those that like that kind of story will find it and give it a score they deem appropriate. Those that hate that kind of story rarely look for them after they have fallen off the "New" page and their low score will mean less and less as time wears on.

 

[trace_ekies]

... Those that hate that kind of story rarely look for them after they have fallen off the "New" page ...

When I first read this, I became convinced that it was just a random bomber, but now I'm more convinced that something really is wrong.

The first 25 votes were all 4's and 5's, (maybe one or two 3's in there), and the average was 4.54.

Now, three votes later, at 28 votes, it's only 4.31. That's a couple of 2's and a 3. That's three bombers in a row after twenty-five strong votes. And it hasn't even been on the front page since the 28th of November.

I have trouble believing that's three different people. Something's wrong here.

 

[A_Little_Show]

[deleted]

 

[soflabbwlvr]

It could have been 2 2s and a 3, or 2 3s and a 1. I think the latter is more likely. The 3s are disappointing, but they do not reflect a bombing pattern. Some readers are just harsh scorers who give a 3 for an average story and withhold the 4s and 5s for pieces that they consider superlative.

The 1 would definitely be a bomber. At this point there is no telling who you offended or why, but in that category I would consider it more likely that only one person went negative on you.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

It could have been 2 2s and a 3, or 2 3s and a 1. I think the latter is more likely. The 3s are disappointing, but they do not reflect a bombing pattern. Some readers are just harsh scorers who give a 3 for an average story and withhold the 4s and 5s for pieces that they consider superlative.

The 1 would definitely be a bomber. At this point there is no telling who you offended or why, but in that category I would consider it more likely that only one person went negative on you.

As the scoring is from 1 to 5, readers who deem the story fair to good would most likely score a 2 or a 3. And as a 3 is above the average of 2.5 in a 1 - 5 scoring system, it's not really all that bad, except when you are used to generous readers giving you 4's and 5's.

 

[trace_ekies]

Thanks to All

Okay, I'm convinced - let the chips fall where they may.

Thanks to everyone for their comments.

 

[trace_ekies]

There is a bug!

I have just dicovered that some browsers do not display the voting stars. If you click on the voting area anyway, it generates a random vote and then there is no pattern of stars to show you what your vote was.

I have just discovered this on Firefox 25.0.1 for Ubuntu. (That is what I am using right now.) However, I also have some version of Chrome running on the same OS and that seems okay. Also I have a Firefox Beta running on an ASUS tablet and that seems okay.

My guess is that some member(s) got into my stories, (it began happening with all of the new votes on any story), with a browser that is not rendering the voting widget correctly and generated some unintended votes. (If you click near the center of the voting area with an errant browser, you will get a 2, 3 or 4 in most cases. To get a 1 or a 5, you have to be to the left or right a ways.)

I have submitted a bug report!

I wonder if there is any way to get rid of the unintended votes.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Sure there is...

All those who didn't see the stars raise your hands.

 

[patientlee]

Xxx

The score looks like it's consistent with the other scores in the series. As much as we like to deny it, not every story appeals to everyone. Maybe a reader or two genuinely didn't care for it. (I'm not a fan of incest stories. I neither read it nor voted on it.)

Love your user name, BTW.

 

[trace_ekies]

So what category then?

... not every story appeals to everyone. Maybe a reader or two genuinely didn't care for it...

Could very well be a contributing factor. Maybe the series is posted in the wrong category.

I have included a warning at the front of each part, letting the reader know that it does contain sexual situations that are are non-monogamous, (between singles only), and between siblings. The first three parts however, have no physical contact between the siblings. The fourth includes a kiss and the fifth oral sex.

Although nothing happens in the story that meets the legal definition of incest, that is splitting hairs and not everyone will see it that way. Maybe I should have posted in 'Incest/Taboo' but if I had there would have been a lot of disappointed readers who would have been expecting actual incest.

Question 1: Where is the line between a brother and sister engaging in normal male/female teasing and engaging in something that might actually be considered incest?

Question 2: Can and should the individual parts of a multi-part story be posted in separate categories?

BTW: My name is probably misleading. Most of my stories, if made into movies, could qualify for an 'R' rating, an 'X' once in a while, but probably never 'XXX'.

 

[sr71plt]

I think the barrier you need to break through here is in spending less concern with the details of who is going to vote up or down what and just write what you like to write and post it.

 

[trace_ekies]

I think the barrier you need to break through here is in spending less concern with the details of who is going to vote up or down what and just write what you like to write and post it.

I'm sure you're correct. I keep telling myself that I write for my own satisfaction, not for the score. I guess that's only true if I like the score.

 

[sr71plt]

I'm sure you're correct. I keep telling myself that I write for my own satisfaction, not for the score. I guess that's only true if I like the score.

I think you'll find that the more you fuss about your scores on the Lit. forum, the more trolls in depth that you'll attract.