Assassination through Voting?

[Wltdnfaded]

Hey All,

I'm not sure if anyone's ever discussed this here, but has anyone's story ever been "assassinated" through voting? Because it seems mine has.

My story was at the top of the Celebs List for a couple weeks, which made me very happy. Well, I guess it didn't make someone else happy, because it suddenly plummeted from #2 to #187. I would just chalk it up to someone who just didn't like it until I noted that 3 stories that were trailing mine by a few pegs, all from the same author, suddenly appeared in the top 5 once mine was gone.

I can't accuse, I can only suspect. But I've seen this type of thing on other sites. Does Literotica have a policy about this sort of thing? Or do I just have to "suck it up" and get 50 of my friends (I gotta make 50 friends real fast) to vote me back in?

(That was meant as a joke, BTW).

I know it's a cruel world, but I miss the days of honesty and good sportmanship. It just sucks that people have to resort to something like this.

Ivy

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Sorry, Ivy. It happens all the time. As soon as your story hits the top list the Trolls will crawl out from under their maggot infested rocks to vote your story down.

 

[sr71plt]

Hey All,

I'm not sure if anyone's ever discussed this here, but has anyone's story ever been "assassinated" through voting? Because it seems mine has.

My story was at the top of the Celebs List for a couple weeks, which made me very happy. Well, I guess it didn't make someone else happy, because it suddenly plummeted from #2 to #187. I would just chalk it up to someone who just didn't like it until I noted that 3 stories that were trailing mine by a few pegs, all from the same author, suddenly appeared in the top 5 once mine was gone.

I can't accuse, I can only suspect. But I've seen this type of thing on other sites. Does Literotica have a policy about this sort of thing? Or do I just have to "suck it up" and get 50 of my friends (I gotta make 50 friends real fast) to vote me back in?

(That was meant as a joke, BTW).

I know it's a cruel world, but I miss the days of honesty and good sportmanship. It just sucks that people have to resort to something like this.

Ivy

Yes, this is periodically discussed here and, yes, story assassination is constant here--usually for three reasons: (1) because the author has gotten into some sort of tiff on the forum, so her/his story(ies) is/are savaged briefly for reasons totally unrelated to the quality of the story; (2)--what has apparently happened to you--because the story has hit the top of one of the lists, which makes it a ripe target for assassination voting; and/or (3) the story or author is of a "fringe" element that biggots feel divinely called/required/justified to crucify. My stories get hit for all three reasons. It has nothing to do with the quality of your story, and voting is generally high here even with assassination voting taken into account. So, it's best to grin and bear it--and rise above it and not be tempted to engage in it yourself.

 

[Guest]

Hey All,

I'm not sure if anyone's ever discussed this here, but has anyone's story ever been "assassinated" through voting? Because it seems mine has.

My story was at the top of the Celebs List for a couple weeks, which made me very happy. Well, I guess it didn't make someone else happy, because it suddenly plummeted from #2 to #187. I would just chalk it up to someone who just didn't like it until I noted that 3 stories that were trailing mine by a few pegs, all from the same author, suddenly appeared in the top 5 once mine was gone.

I can't accuse, I can only suspect. But I've seen this type of thing on other sites. Does Literotica have a policy about this sort of thing? Or do I just have to "suck it up" and get 50 of my friends (I gotta make 50 friends real fast) to vote me back in?

(That was meant as a joke, BTW).

I know it's a cruel world, but I miss the days of honesty and good sportmanship. It just sucks that people have to resort to something like this.

Ivy

Hey Ivy. I never even look at those lists anymore. I rate my success here on the comments I get and the fan base I've made. Those lists are so easy to corrupt. You're on top one minute and then bam, someone sees you've knocked their story down to fourth and they go and give your story a bad vote. It's not worth the headache to look at "lists". Check out your comments, see how your readers are enjoying what you're doing and go with those. No one can contaminate how you feel about you or your work unless you let them.

Good luck!

 

[starrkers]

I have noticed this in Celebrities quite often. There is one particular author (or one of his fans, to be fair) who votes 1 on any story above his so that his climb the Top List.
Because that category gets so few votes, it's pretty easy to manipulate.
The best stories in Celebrities are generally on the last page of the top list or just off it

 

[Wltdnfaded]

Thanks for your support, you guys. It's really sad when people think they have to resort to this. If he'd just well enough alone, we could have shared the top votes. But no, someone had to be a little cheating prick.

I know it's a dumb little thing, and God knows I have a WHOLE lot of other stuff to be mad about in this world. But being way up there on the list made a little warm fuzzy in my tummy, since I don't get a lot of feedback on my stories. I write Star Wars erotic fan fic, which is a pretty narrow category. Only SW fans tend to review, and there ain't a whole lot of those on the board.

OK, I have a confession. I was hoping to get enough votes and ratings to qualify for next year's "Best Of" contest. I did a couple years ago with one of my fanfics. I didn't win, but it just felt GREAT to be nominated!

I'm FINALLY making the transition from fanfic to original works, hoping to post my latest fairly soon. I think I'm ready to cast my work out into a broader audience.

Again, thanks a lot for your kind words and support. You guys are great!

Ivy

 

[ninefe2dg]

Thanks for your support, you guys. It's really sad when people think they have to resort to this. If he'd just well enough alone, we could have shared the top votes. But no, someone had to be a little cheating prick.

I know it's a dumb little thing, and God knows I have a WHOLE lot of other stuff to be mad about in this world. But being way up there on the list made a little warm fuzzy in my tummy, since I don't get a lot of feedback on my stories. I write Star Wars erotic fan fic, which is a pretty narrow category. Only SW fans tend to review, and there ain't a whole lot of those on the board.

OK, I have a confession. I was hoping to get enough votes and ratings to qualify for next year's "Best Of" contest. I did a couple years ago with one of my fanfics. I didn't win, but it just felt GREAT to be nominated!

I'm FINALLY making the transition from fanfic to original works, hoping to post my latest fairly soon. I think I'm ready to cast my work out into a broader audience.

Again, thanks a lot for your kind words and support. You guys are great!

Ivy

Once you go Wookie you never go back!

While I like to see good ratings, I think three of my best stories are actually rated the lowest. I know they're good, got good feedback and insight on this board, and the rewrites made them much improved. When I was done with the rewrites, i was satisfied I had good stories. That's what matters to me.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

OK, I have a confession. I was hoping to get enough votes and ratings to qualify for next year's "Best Of" contest. I did a couple years ago with one of my fanfics. I didn't win, but it just felt GREAT to be nominated!

Ivy

Hi Ivy

If you mean the annual Lit awards as the "Best of" contest then you don't have to worry. There is no 'qualification'. In the new year Laurel asks for nominations and seconders for each category and the most popular 5 in each category get voted on in a poll.

Having read your story, I would certainly nominate you for the Celeb cat in the year-end awards. Cos I'm inefficient, remind me with a PM in January.

Elle

Edited to add: You seem to be back up to 18 on the toplist so there must have been a troll sweep.

 

[SamFrench]

it happened to me on two different stories for 2 different reasons, neither related to the quality of the story.

 

[Wltdnfaded]

Hi Ivy

If you mean the annual Lit awards as the "Best of" contest then you don't have to worry. There is no 'qualification'. In the new year Laurel asks for nominations and seconders for each category and the most popular 5 in each category get voted on in a poll.

Having read your story, I would certainly nominate you for the Celeb cat in the year-end awards. Cos I'm inefficient, remind me with a PM in January.

Elle

Edited to add: You seem to be back up to 18 on the toplist so there must have been a troll sweep.

Oh, really??? Oh, ok then, I don't feel so bad then! As you can see from my number of posts, I'm not a real reg here, and I didn't know how the system works. Cool, thank you!

And thank you for the kind review, that means so much to me! I'm glad you enjoyed it, since I worked very hard on it and am very proud

And yes, I WAS at 18 a couple hours ago, but my little pencil-dicked friend decided to slam me again, so I'm back down to 205. And yes, I know who it is. I think most authors on the Celeb board know who it is.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Send Laurel a PM. If someone is seriously screwing up the system she can exclude an IP if appropriate.

Serious, I mean to propose you for the celebs 'Best of 2007'.

Keep writing and keep promoting your stuff here.

 

[Worker11811]

I second most of the sentiment expressed here.

I've seen some of my stories get slammed by people only one or two places down on the list from me. I've also had trolls who fly by and hit me when my stories get near the top of the list. I also like to write stories about fur so I'll get an occasional hit from some PeTA freak who can't get it through his thick skull that it's just a fantasy.

There are several subjects/genres that I find disgusting too but I just go by the old addage: "If you don't like the subject of a story, DON'T READ IT!"

The best advice I can offer is not to worry. Once you get a couple dozen votes the law of averages starts to kick in and it will be harder for one dickhead to come along and slam you. It's your score over the long haul that really counts, not the short-term vote.

Once your story hits a score of 4.5 it'll automatically be marked with a red "H" for "hot".
As long as you have 20-30 votes and a red "H", you'll be OK.

But, if I was going to make changes to the system, I'd change things to that users simply give an "UP" or "DOWN" vote then post the percentage and the total number of votes. If each IP/user was only allowed to vote once, it'd make it harder for one user to slam another's story.

 

[starrkers]

The best advice I can offer is not to worry. Once you get a couple dozen votes the law of averages starts to kick in and it will be harder for one dickhead to come along and slam you. It's your score over the long haul that really counts, not the short-term vote.

True enough, except in the Celebrities category it can take years to get a couple of dozen votes.

And yes, I WAS at 18 a couple hours ago, but my little pencil-dicked friend decided to slam me again, so I'm back down to 205. And yes, I know who it is. I think most authors on the Celeb board know who it is.

He must be slipping. He's only got one in the top 10 right now. Once he had all ten.

 

[Guest]

Once your story hits a score of 4.5 it'll automatically be marked with a red "H" for "hot".
As long as you have 20-30 votes and a red "H", you'll be OK.

Not necessarily.

If a few folks are determined to tank your story they can still do it, no matter how many votes you've accrued.

Frustrating, I know. Just hope that the troll sweeps that happen every so often remove the obvious malicious votes.

Wlt, best of luck.

 

[Wltdnfaded]

OK, I give up.

Okie dokie, so I wrote Laurel, who then wrote me back and suggested I use the Report Story option. So I did, explaining that someone was assassinating me on the top list board. And you know what happened? ALL MY VOTES WERE TAKEN AWAY. I had 56 votes-- now I have 9.

Fine, OK, I can't win, I give up. I just hope maybe someone someday will get to read my work.

 

[Worker11811]

Fine, OK, I can't win, I give up

Wadddaya mean? Now you've got a clean slate! Start fresh and rebuild your score!

I agree that having 20+ votes doesn't guarantee immunity. I should have said it more clearly. It HELPS. The more votes you have, the less one negative vote will affect you. That's what I was trying to say.

I stopped relying on the voting score long ago. I just look at it as a fun thing, not a real indicator.

I look at the total number of reads my stories get. Even that's not a true indicator but if you look at the day-to-day fluctuations you can get a decent picture of how well your story is doing.

P.S.: IF you have friends on other forums or through e-mail, be sure to invite them to read your stories! Don't be afraid to ASK for votes, either! Fresh perspectives from outside the circle of Literotica membership are invaluable, both in terms of feedback and in terms of votes and the number of readers.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Okie dokie, so I wrote Laurel, who then wrote me back and suggested I use the Report Story option. So I did, explaining that someone was assassinating me on the top list board. And you know what happened? ALL MY VOTES WERE TAKEN AWAY. I had 56 votes-- now I have 9.

Fine, OK, I can't win, I give up. I just hope maybe someone someday will get to read my work.

Looks like there's been a complete sweep of all the Celeb toplist.

Anyway you're on 10 votes now and up at 22. Hope you don't suffer from verigo.

 

[Wltdnfaded]

I did ask people on one of my message boards to help me out. I got quite the respone, which I wasn't expecting at all! But, you know, it's really OK, really. It's a dumb thing to get upset about. It just felt really good to be recognized like that...and it felt really bad to be attacked. I see a lot of "grow a thick skin" advice. But that's hard for me.

Don't get me wrong-- "bad" reviews I can take, because I know my work is good and I just touched some sort of weird nerve. But this is just...god, I don't even know...sad. That's it, this is just a sad little person who craves attention. If he is so insecure and so competitive that he needs to do this, I just pity him.

So anyhoo...thank you, all. I will take your advice and kindness to heart. Good luck on your work!

Ivy



P.S.: IF you have friends on other forums or through e-mail, be sure to invite them to read your stories! Don't be afraid to ASK for votes, either! Fresh perspectives from outside the circle of Literotica membership are invaluable, both in terms of feedback and in terms of votes and the number of readers.[/QUOTE]

 

[starrkers]

Looks like there's been a complete sweep of all the Celeb toplist.

Anyway you're on 10 votes now and up at 22. Hope you don't suffer from verigo.

I don't think so. It looks pretty similar to the last time I looked.

 

[GratefulFred]

The suspense is killing me. Up! Down! Sideways!

A true blow by blow!

 

[Wltdnfaded]

Well, looks like I've been completely voted off the chart. 13 votes for 4.50. Wow, I pissed somebody off, didn't I?

 

[Guest]

Well, looks like I've been completely voted off the chart. 13 votes for 4.50. Wow, I pissed somebody off, didn't I?

It sucks interminably. I know. I've been there.

Your stories will recover in time.

 

[Wltdnfaded]

Eh, whatever, I disabled voting. If this is the only way some little pissant can play the game, I don't want to play, period.

Of course, now I have an enemy. It only took 3 years. Huh, must be getting rusty in my old age-- usually people hate me instantly

 

[Guest]

Eh, whatever, I disabled voting. If this is the only way some little pissant can play the game, I don't want to play, period.

Of course, now I have an enemy. It only took 3 years. Huh, must be getting rusty in my old age-- usually people hate me instantly

Aw, damn. Sorry that it came to this.

 

[Worker11811]

How many readers have you had?

How does that compare to yesterday, last week or last month? (If your story has been available for that long.)

Sure, when your story is new it'll get lots of new reads. But, once it gets to be a few days old readership will start to fall off. By the time it gets a few weeks or a month old you should see the number of readers you have taper off.

This is where you can really judge your work. 90% of the people who read your story just don't vote. But correct me if I'm wrong, I believe a story doesn't get counted as a "read" until a visitor gets all the way to the last page. Thus, if people like your story well enough to read it all the way through, your numbers will go up. If not, they will taper off.

You can use similar stories in the same (or similarly traveled) categories to compare. If you have one story that gets 100 reads per day but another one that only gets 50, assuming they are in same/similar categories you can guess that the 100-read story is the better one.

If you really want to be the geek you could make a spreadsheet and record your storie's progress at the same time every day. (About 12:30 AM, E.S.T. each day.)

Nothing is fool proof. But, IMHO, tracking the number of reads gives you a better picture of a story than the voting does.