But it goes to eleven...

[intim8]

The issue of ratings inflation is not the hill I want to die on, so I generally just go with the tide and drop a 5 on a story I think is genuinely good, worth reading, and should have an "H", even if it is not one of the greats. In that context, a 4 would feel like a ding against it, and a 3, well, that would mean it wasn't even worth the time to read, let alone vote on.

In a better world, a three would indicate a perfectly servicable story, worth reading if you have the time, even if it isn't remarkable or a must read. But it isn't that world, and it leaves no room to take it up a notch, to go to eleven, to acknowledge those stories that really stand out as something special even among the greats here. Some days, I genuinely wish six stars were possible.

Maybe we could create an incentive. When you've read 20 stories through to the end, you get one six star rating to bank until you really need it. Maybe one for each story you post that gets some minimum rating. Then, once in a blue moon, when it really means something, you can drop that six on somebody deserving.

 

[samhasstories]

In reality what you’re describing should be the 5, which of course already exists. That’s supposed to be the “wow,” the exceptional review, the rare gold star.

But we writers are spoiled and want only 5s. If we don’t get that 4.5 red H we think we either did something wrong or we were wronged by our readers.

If six stars were possible we’d be unsatisfied with 5.4s. Instead of moving the goalposts we just need to learn to be happy with positive reviews.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I think the eleven mark is when someone leaves a comment. It happens so infrequently compared to total views, it feels like that sort of award to me.

 

[intim8]

In reality what you’re describing should be the 5, which of course already exists. That’s supposed to be the “wow,” the exceptional review, the rare gold star.

Yeah, that's what I was referring to as not the hill I want to die on.

f six stars were possible we’d be unsatisfied with 5.4s.

That's why my suggestion to limit how often you can give it, so it doesn't contribute to the ratings inflation. Most would be lucky to get one 6 ever. Anybody getting a 5+ avg rating on any story, even once, would be a god.

 

[samhasstories]

That's why my suggestion to limit how often you can give it, so it doesn't contribute to the ratings inflation. Most would be lucky to get one 6 ever. Anybody getting a 5+ avg rating on any story, even once, would be a god.

Fair enough, maybe my example shouldn’t have been so high as a 5.4. But the point remains, we’re an entitled lot. Give us another inch, and we’re just gonna want more. An occasional 6 will just make us less satisfied with all the 4s (and, subsequently, 5s) we’re already getting.

 

[EmilyMiller]

But it goes to eleven...​

6️ = leave a comment
7️ = PM the author
8️ = reference the story in one of the few “I like other people’s work” threads
9️ = start a thread saying how good it is
10️ = propose marriage

 

[Rob_Royale]

6️ = leave a comment
7️ = PM the author
8️ = reference the story in one of the few “I like other people’s work” threads
9️ = start a thread saying how good it is
10️ = propose marriage

Well then I'm pretty happy having gotten eight stars.

 

[intim8]

10️ = propose marriage

In my case, they'd rather take the three.

 

[samhasstories]

6️ = leave a comment
7️ = PM the author
8️ = reference the story in one of the few “I like other people’s work” threads
9️ = start a thread saying how good it is
10️ = propose marriage

Goin out on a limb here, I’m guessing you have more 10s than I have 7s*.

*(Maybe even 6s)

 

[EmilyMiller]

Goin out on a limb here, I’m guessing you have more 10s than I have 7s*.

*(Maybe even 6s)

If you replace marriage with another word, then yeah

 

[Rob_Royale]

Goin out on a limb here, I’m guessing you have more 10s than I have 7s*.

*(Maybe even 6s)

Yeah, because tentacle porn makes a woman total wife material.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Goin out on a limb here, I’m guessing you have more 10s than I have 7s*.

*(Maybe even 6s)

Actually on reflection:

10️ = say “you’re boyfriend is a lucky guy” - that never gets old

 

[samhasstories]

If you replace marriage with another word, then yeah

Totally counts.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Yeah, because tentacle porn makes a woman total wife material.

You haven’t read to the end of Ep. 3 Caputpedes, have you ?

Emily

 

[Rob_Royale]

You haven’t read to the end of Ep. 3 Caputpedes, have you ?

Emily

Admittedly. No. I am behind on my reading lately. I read the first and I think the second.

But I'm no one to talk. I included it in my own sci-fi story recently.

 

[NotWise]

The issue of ratings inflation is not the hill I want to die on, so I generally just go with the tide and drop a 5 on a story I think is genuinely good, worth reading, and should have an "H", even if it is not one of the greats. In that context, a 4 would feel like a ding against it, and a 3, well, that would mean it wasn't even worth the time to read, let alone vote on.

In a better world, a three would indicate a perfectly servicable story, worth reading if you have the time, even if it isn't remarkable or a must read. But it isn't that world, and it leaves no room to take it up a notch, to go to eleven, to acknowledge those stories that really stand out as something special even among the greats here. Some days, I genuinely wish six stars were possible.

Maybe we could create an incentive. When you've read 20 stories through to the end, you get one six star rating to bank until you really need it. Maybe one for each story you post that gets some minimum rating. Then, once in a blue moon, when it really means something, you can drop that six on somebody deserving.

One kinda not-very-flattering thing to keep in mind is that only about 1% of the people who view a story actually vote on it. I suspect (without proof) that the 1% does not represent the average opinion. Most people appreciate the free entertainment and won't vote below three unless they're somehow offended by the material.

As a result, we get a median score not much below 4.5.

 

[HectorBidon]

The other thing you can do is favorite the story. Then it will appear on your list of favorite stories, which people who like your way of thinking may check out. Putting it in your favorite list will also increase the chance that it may show up in "Similar Stories" lists, which will also serve to let people know about it.

 

[RejectReality]

Or just get rid of the cursed H that makes people feel guilty for voting 4.

 

[VallesMarineris]

If I were running the place I'd change the discreet stars to a slider. Then a reader who really liked a story but thought it wasn't perfect could give it a 4.8 or whatever. They could actually give a story a 4.5 if they thought it was hot!

Another advantage would be that then the site could upgrade from using the mean as the score to using the median. You may be familiar with this from real estate. They always give the median price of a home in an area, not the average. That's so the one mansion that sells for $5M doesn't skew the housing price when all the other houses are going for $500K. This would defuse the 1-bombs.

DM me if you want to show your appreciation by sending me money and/or a proposal of marriage.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I'm surprised no one linked to the scene. Almost as good as the Stonehenge bit.

 

[THBGato]

6️ = leave a comment
7️ = PM the author
8️ = reference the story in one of the few “I like other people’s work” threads
9️ = start a thread saying how good it is
10️ = propose marriage

In that case, I've left about fifty 6s, three 7s, about two dozen 8s and two 9s.

10 is off the table for me. My SO is very supportive but not that supportive! ;-)

Maybe referencing other stories in your own stories can be an alternative 10?

 

[Cagivagurl]

The issue of ratings inflation is not the hill I want to die on, so I generally just go with the tide and drop a 5 on a story I think is genuinely good, worth reading, and should have an "H", even if it is not one of the greats. In that context, a 4 would feel like a ding against it, and a 3, well, that would mean it wasn't even worth the time to read, let alone vote on.

In a better world, a three would indicate a perfectly servicable story, worth reading if you have the time, even if it isn't remarkable or a must read. But it isn't that world, and it leaves no room to take it up a notch, to go to eleven, to acknowledge those stories that really stand out as something special even among the greats here. Some days, I genuinely wish six stars were possible.

Maybe we could create an incentive. When you've read 20 stories through to the end, you get one six star rating to bank until you really need it. Maybe one for each story you post that gets some minimum rating. Then, once in a blue moon, when it really means something, you can drop that six on somebody deserving.

When I read a story, and it holds my attention until the end. I give it a 5...
If it doesn't it get's a one.
I don't feel guilty voting the one. I realise it will get swept away at the next Lit clean up.
I'm no literaray expert. I wouldn't know if the grammar was good or bad. All I look for is entertainment.
I like a good story with lots of dialogue and a plot that holds me to the end... Voting less than 5 feels like I'm down voting the writer....
I don't pay attention to scores, I think it's corrupt anyway. When I look through some of the HOF, read the story. I think no way...
So, in my opinion I believe there is an element of corruption, so ignore it.
You are a winner if you enjoyed writing it.
If there are encouraging comments, or the story has been favourited...
The score in my opinion is totally irrelevant.

Cagivagurl

 

[ElectricBlue]

The score in my opinion is totally irrelevant.

If that's the case, why do you vote at all? Especially if you only vote fives or ones. That's pretty hostile towards authors, dismissing their story with a one, just because you don't finish it. That's a reflection on you, not the story.

 

[Comshaw]

In reality what you’re describing should be the 5, which of course already exists. That’s supposed to be the “wow,” the exceptional review, the rare gold star.

But we writers are spoiled and want only 5s. If we don’t get that 4.5 red H we think we either did something wrong or we were wronged by our readers.

If six stars were possible we’d be unsatisfied with 5.4s. Instead of moving the goalposts we just need to learn to be happy with positive reviews.

And why shouldn't we want all 5s? Wanting and getting are 2 different things and I think most authors here understand the difference. So no "we" writers aren't spoiled. If the majority are anything like me, I post a story, cross my fingers and hope to hell it scores high. I never expect it to, I only hope so. There are oodles and gobs of stories on this site that are well below that red H threshold. And authors who have never scored a red H, which attests to the fickle nature of readers and the fact that it is possible to get low scores.

That said the subject of score inflation always comes up and is always accompanied by the comment of, "Well this or that story has a red H and I read it and it is crap!" It's crap in the estimation of the person commenting, but apparently not in the opinion of the readers. Why? Are the readers a bunch of troglodytes that have no clue what a good story is? Is the commenter that much of an expert on the art of story telling that they can comfortably make such a comment?

The thing is that writing has hard and fast rules, punctuation, sentence, paragraph and volume structure, word usage, ECT. Any written work can be subjected to an objective set of standards to measure how good it is.

But then you have the other half of the equation: storytelling. That's an art. It can't be subjected to the same standards or measurements that writing can because it is an art. It doesn't follow rules, it comes from the author, a painting in words that transforms mere writing into a story, a tale that grabs the reader and refuses to let go until the end.

That is why some stories here are judged to be crap by a few even though they have high scores. Like Cagivagurl the readers are grabbed, pulled in, emersed in the tale all the way through. There may be writing mistakes, maybe some serious ones. But the readers don't see those because in their minds-eye they are where the story is, not just reading words on a page so they are blind to those mistakes.

The very best of the best combines accurate writing with a tale that sucks in the reader. Those are the gems. Something I strive for and will
some day attain.

Comshaw

 

[samhasstories]

And why shouldn't we want all 5s? Wanting and getting are 2 different things and I think most authors here understand the difference. So no "we" writers aren't spoiled. If the majority are anything like me, I post a story, cross my fingers and hope to hell it scores high. I never expect it to, I only hope so. There are oodles and gobs of stories on this site that are well below that red H threshold. And authors who have never scored a red H, which attests to the fickle nature of readers and the fact that it is possible to get low scores.

My point isn't that we shouldn't all want 5s - I of course want 5s. My point is that 4s aren't a low score, and a 4.4 or 4.2, despite not garnering that coveted H, means most readers liked the story quite a bit. It means quite a few even loved it.

Perfect is the enemy of the good, and I think instead of trying to find ways to "fix" or rationalize our less-than-earthshattering numbers we should work on being satisfied with good.