One Bombs

[LAHomedog]

My new I/T story landed tonight and on the third vote I was one-bombed. Third vote! I don't believe the story was read. The timing doesn't jive. I think it was story posted and bombs away.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

It happens, it happens frequently amd few escape, especially if they are good. You may have a troll who has become a follower just so they can one-bomb you or you may have fallen prey to a troll who lurks in the New Stories area and one-bombs all new stories indiscriminately, just on principle.

It will generally get dealt with in a routine sweep. If it is too egregious, you can ask for a sweep via the report icon to be found on every story.

I would suggest that you don’t make too big of a deal here, because knowing they caused you annoyance (which is after all their aim) plays into their hands..

Sigh. Ain’t it grand being a Lit writer?

 

[KeithD]

Third vote is quite typical, I think.

 

[LAHomedog]

It happens, it happens frequently amd few escape, especially if they are good. You may have a troll who has become a follower just so they can one-bomb you or you may have fallen prey to a troll who lurks in the New Stories area and one-bombs all new stories indiscriminately, just on principle.

It will generally get dealt with in a routine sweep. If it is too egregious, you can ask for a sweep via the report icon to be found on every story.

I would suggest that you don’t make too big of a deal here, because knowing they caused you annoyance (which is after all their aim) plays into their hands..

Sigh. Ain’t it grand being a Lit writer?

Thank you so much for the kind words. Merely reporting since it has been a topic on here, Seriously, thank you for the kind words. I truly appreciate them.

Sometimes on this site it is easy to feel like an outcast if you are a newby. Not here on AH, but in other places. In life it can be occasionally challenging to meet new folks who have been a group for a long-time. There are threads on here that feel like a fort, only members allowed.

I thank you again for the support and the kind words, and everyone else here in AH. I'm merely trying to make my way and be a member of the community .

 

[lovecraft68]

There are 'category trolls" who go up and down the new list in whatever category they take issue with and hit them all. I/T non con GM and LW are the categories that see the most of that

 

[ElectricBlue]

I thank you again for the support and the kind words, and everyone else here in AH. I'm merely trying to make my way and be a member of the community .

EB looked at LAHomedawg closely. "Your name's not Jack Torrance, is it? Coz I thought you'd been here forever."

Cue the fucking chilling typewriter scene.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Third vote is quite typical, I think.

Yes, or failing that, after a few hours.

Especially if you have a perfect 5 rating. I once had a red H (10 votes) and a 5 for about three hours, before the 1-bombs hit. Then there was clearly a sweep.

It would be interesting to know if a story say with 4.67 and 30 votes represents 20 5s and 10 4s, or 26 5s and 4 1-bombs, but only for stats geek purposes - clearly a bunch of people liked the story and a few were less impressed to some degree.

 

[LAHomedog]

EB looked at LAHomedawg closely. "Your name's not Jack Torrance, is it? Coz I thought you'd been here forever."

Cue the fucking chilling typewriter scene.

I'm not sure what you are talking about, but my name is not Jack Torrance and I have only been writing since last November and an active participant in this forum for maybe 4 months?

As I've mentioned before, this is the only online bulletin board/forum I have ever participated in my life. I rarely do online. I have Facebook, this and that is it. I do not text, much to the younger generations chagrin. I call myself "An analogue man living in a digital world." My son said to me tonight while watching the "Home Run Derby" that I was the only person who actually called him on his cell.

I am a two time cancer survivor who has had a bone marrow transplant for relapsed Lymphoma. At the time, they gave me a 50-50 shot of only two years survival. That was, I'm happy to say, 21 years ago. I was one of the first successful transplants and I am 19 years into the bonus round.

I write for Lit because, as I said, it turns out to be fun, a passion, and something I think I'm good at. I'm here in AH because I crave to be a member of a community with common sensibilities that I share.

Though I may frequently disagree with folks on here -- not always posted -- I admire everyone's smarts and talent. And isn't that refreshing in this day and age?

 

[ElectricBlue]

I'm not sure what you are talking about, but my name is not Jack Torrance and I have only been writing since last November and an active participant in this forum for maybe 4 months?

As I've mentioned before, this is the only online bulletin board/forum I have ever participated in my life. I rarely do online. I have Facebook, this and that is it. I do not text, much to the younger generations chagrin. I call myself "An analogue man living in a digital world." My son said to me tonight while watching the "Home Run Derby" that I was the only person who actually called him on his cell.

I am a two time cancer survivor who has had a bone marrow transplant for relapsed Lymphoma. At the time, they gave me a 50-50 shot of only two years survival. That was, I'm happy to say, 21 years ago. I was one of the first successful transplants and I am 19 years into the bonus round.

I write for Lit because, as I said, it turns out to be fun, a passion, and something I think I'm good at. I'm here in AH because I crave to be a member of a community with common sensibilities that I share.

Though I may frequently disagree with folks on here -- not always posted -- I admire everyone's smarts and talent. And isn't that refreshing in this day and age?

I guess you've not heard of The Shining, then. It was a cultural drive-by reference to one of the greatest horror movies ever made. Jack Torrance (played by Jack Nicholson) was a writer with the worst case of writer's block you've ever seen, who takes the winter caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel. Things do not turn out well.

You have heard of Stanley Kubrick, maybe? He had the sobriquet of "the world's greatest living director" whilst he was alive, and nobody has claimed the mantle since.

 

[LAHomedog]

I guess you've not heard of The Shining, then. It was a cultural drive-by reference to one of the greatest horror movies ever made. Jack Torrance (played by Jack Nicholson) was a writer with the worst case of writer's block you've ever seen, who takes the winter caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel. Things do not turn out well.

You have heard of Stanley Kubrick, maybe? He had the sobriquet of "the world's greatest living director" whilst he was alive, and nobody has claimed the mantle since.

Well, your snipy answer aside, yes, I've heard of Stanley Kubrick since I work in the business and my wife who is a showbiz attorney has done contracts for him. Having said, that, I did not care for "The Shining" and still think it is one of the worst films ever made despite Jack's "Here's Johnny!"

And I do not consider Kubrick the world's greatest director, far from it. If I had to rank them, I'd say Orson Welles was the world's greatest director, but Spielberg and the Ridleys out rank Stanley in my book.

I wil say that Kubrick probably gave us the greatest match dissolve in history at the end of the cold opening in "2001."

Me? I like George Roy Hill, Norman Jewison, but I would argue that Ernest Lubitsch ran circles around Kubrick.

 

[RoperTrace]

My new I/T story landed tonight and on the third vote I was one-bombed. Third vote! I don't believe the story was read. The timing doesn't jive. I think it was story posted and bombs away.

Just let the power of big numbers take care of the votes. I had a person give me one vote on part IV of a now five part story. He/she also took the time to leave a comment saying it was the worst story, they've ever read and would have loved to give me a zero. It took them until part IV to down vote and leave a comment?
I do have a question, you're able to see individual reader's votes? Or you just did the math and figured it had to be a one?

 

[mordbrand]

Sorry about the votes, but now I am curious. If they run this so called sweep and it removes votes made by actual, logged in accounts, why even bother letting people vote?

No one wants to get low votes, but randomly wiping out actual votes seems like a shitty thing to do. Do they only wipe one star votes? Does that mean we should start giving two stars to avoid the curve?

 

[LAHomedog]

Just let the power of big numbers take care of the votes. I had a person give me one vote on part IV of a now five part story. He/she also took the time to leave a comment saying it was the worst story, they've ever read and would have loved to give me a zero. It took them until part IV to down vote and leave a comment?
I do have a question, you're able to see individual reader's votes? Or you just did the math and figured it had to be a one?

Yeah, I just has some guy out-of-the-blue give me a derogatory comment on my April Fool's story complaining about "the homicides." I assume the I/T story brought him to my page and he was attracted to the title.

Yeah! It is a dark story that if it wasn't a fantasy is riddled with chargeable acts. In the immortal words of the one and only Steve Martin, "Excu-u-u-u-se me!"

(I'll admit, taking the story down the path I did was a mistake for the contest, but it was my first, I was a newby, and I didn't understand the readership. I'll admit, I fucked up I fucked up big time and would not have written it that way now.)

 

[PennameWombat]

Sorry about the votes, but now I am curious. If they run this so called sweep and it removes votes made by actual, logged in accounts, why even bother letting people vote?

No one wants to get low votes, but randomly wiping out actual votes seems like a shitty thing to do. Do they only wipe one star votes? Does that mean we should start giving two stars to avoid the curve?

No, sweeps do not remove only ‘one’ votes. I’ve had votes that were ‘fives’ disappear. It might take some searching AH here that I’m not going to do, but I posted at lease one case of that happening and there was a bit of discussion, but it was some time ago. The specific methodology of sweeps is intentionally kept secret to address the issue you imply.

But I can guarantee you, it does not simply remove all of the ‘ones’ or even the ‘twos’ blindly. If it did, some of my stories would have higher ratings. As a rule I don’t track stats too closely, but when I’ve submitted for contests I do so, both to see how my entry is doing but also what effect it’s having on my other stories. So I know that they don’t simply remove ‘ones’ and/or ‘twos’ votes.

 

[PennameWombat]

<snip>
I do have a question, you're able to see individual reader's votes? Or you just did the math and figured it had to be a one?

Not visible to us. The math. If you’re tracking your stats closely enough, and you have ‘2 votes, 5.00 rating’ and suddenly ‘3 votes, 3.67 rating’, well, it’s obvious the third vote was a ‘1’ (2x5=10, 3x3.67=11).

As is obvious, the more votes the less effect each new vote has plus if you don’t see each new vote it becomes harder to prise this out as 5+1 is impossible to separate from 3+3.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Well, your snipy answer aside, yes, I've heard of Stanley Kubrick since I work in the business and my wife who is a showbiz attorney has done contracts for him. Having said, that, I did not care for "The Shining" and still think it is one of the worst films ever made despite Jack's "Here's Johnny!"

And I do not consider Kubrick the world's greatest director, far from it. If I had to rank them, I'd say Orson Welles was the world's greatest director, but Spielberg and the Ridleys out rank Stanley in my book.

I wil say that Kubrick probably gave us the greatest match dissolve in history at the end of the cold opening in "2001."

Me? I like George Roy Hill, Norman Jewison, but I would argue that Ernest Lubitsch ran circles around Kubrick.

I guess it was a snipy answer because I was surprised you didn't spot the reference - it being a fairly often quoted piece of twentieth century culture, and you struck me as knowing your movie references. But you're talking to someone who's seen 2001 on the big screen close on twenty times, and who flew to Melbourne to see Christopher Nolan's 70mm restoration because it only screened in Australiac in two cinemas that still had 70mm projectors. So I'm a little one eyed when it comes to my directors .

 

[Fervid]

Yes, or failing that, after a few hours.

Especially if you have a perfect 5 rating. I once had a red H (10 votes) and a 5 for about three hours, before the 1-bombs hit. Then there was clearly a sweep.

It would be interesting to know if a story say with 4.67 and 30 votes represents 20 5s and 10 4s, or 26 5s and 4 1-bombs, but only for stats geek purposes - clearly a bunch of people liked the story and a few were less impressed to some degree.

You can set up a spreadsheet to track your votes fairly easily, if you start when your story is first posted and check twice a day or so while it goes through the "New" list. (I know, I know . . . ).

My latest is in a category where my better stories always get bombed. It now has 76 5's, 15 4's, a 2 and two 1's. I requested a sweep 5-6weeks ago, and nothing happened. A sweep should turn a 4.72 into a 4.84. I imagine everyone has this problem, though.

 

[Emirus]

I write for Lit because, as I said, it turns out to be fun, a passion, and something I think I'm good at.

I think everyone on here would agree writing is fun (if not why would someone do it?) and for some it is a passion. You’ve already been advised how complaining on here about 1 votes is dangerous and saying “I think I’m good at it” is probably setting yourself as a target as well. That isn’t my personal criticism of your stories, by the way, because I’ve never read any of them.

 

[Emirus]

My latest is in a category where my better stories always get bombed. It now has 76 5's, 15 4's, a 2 and two 1's. I requested a sweep 5-6weeks ago, and nothing happened. A sweep should turn a 4.72 into a 4.84. I imagine everyone has this problem, though.

Don’t rely on a routine sweep and don’t rely on a request for a sweep being acted on. I’ve a story which was on 4.63 after 49 votes. It got hit by three 1’s one morning and went down to 4.42. It was a rare occasion when I checked the score whilst having breakfast and then at lunchtime because I was particularly interested in the story after it was savaged by someone in Story Feedback. The 1’s have never been removed. I suppose I should ask for a sweep but I’ve done it a couple of times before with no success.

 

[SimonDoom]

EB isn't being snipy with you. He's just being a goofball. He's on your side. Just in his own way.

What you encountered with the 1 bomb is, alas, totally normal. We've all encountered that. The way you have described it, there's a good chance it will get swept away before long.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

Hey, at least EB didn't say Uwe Boll or Lars von Trier as best directors.

Although, I'm willing to bet those two names are big with the troll/Pakled crowd.

 

[XerXesXu]

You can set up a spreadsheet to track your votes fairly easily, if you start when your story is first posted and check twice a day or so while it goes through the "New" list. (I know, I know . . . ).

My latest is in a category where my better stories always get bombed. It now has 76 5's, 15 4's, a 2 and two 1's. I requested a sweep 5-6weeks ago, and nothing happened. A sweep should turn a 4.72 into a 4.84. I imagine everyone has this problem, though.

Is there a reason you believe that two people didn’t read your story, and hate it?

I thought sweeps were to remove high and low votes by cheats, voting for themselves, or against perceived rivals. How an algorithm does that, I don’t know; there must be some pattern they detect.

Qualitatively, could you describe the difference between stories with ratings of 4.72 and 4.84?

Maybe one typo, an unfamiliar word, or an oxford comma included/omitted offended a couple of literary perfectionists. For those, who neither know nor care about such things, your story may be in the ball-park, but, hair colour, or breast/cock size, etc, didn't quite accord with one or two persons tastes.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Hey, at least EB didn't say Uwe Boll or Lars von Trier as best directors.

Although, I'm willing to bet those two names are big with the troll/Pakled crowd.

I think I saw a Lars von Trier movie once, but cannot recall its title.

The only movie I walked out of though, was Reservoir Dogs. It would appear I have a major problem with Quentin Tarantino. I don't think I've been impressed with single thing he's made, except the one he did with Rodriguez, Grindhouse.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I thought sweeps were to remove high and low votes by cheats, voting for themselves, or against perceived rivals. How an algorithm does that, I don’t know; there must be some pattern they detect.

You can vote for yourself. But the vote won't stick if you just jump to the end and vote. But that's all I'm going to say about that, because the site obviously doesn't want people to know how the sweeps work.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

We are requested by the site owners to not speculate on the mechanism, algorithms or triggers involved as that could provide clues for the trolls to game the system.

But, yes, it removes 5s as well as 1s and sweeps are both routine and requested (the latter from personal experience). It’s far from a perfect system, but it helps.