Critics' Results

[dr_mabeuse]

Here are the results of the voting in the Critics' Recommendation Awards.

On the 1 to 10 scale:
The scores given are the average of 9 ratings (i.e. 9 people rated these stories) unless noted. The average value is shown followed by the rank. (NOTE: Of the 3 voting metyhods tried, I think this was the LEAST satisfactory. However, since it was announced at the outset that this was the system we'd use to decide the winner, these are the official results)

A Perfect Gift NBE 6.38 8
Ball in the Rough - Madame Manga 7.89 1
Dinner and a Movie - Just John 7.50 3
Double the Pleasure - English Lady 6.14 9
For Love of Snow White – By Deliciously Naughty 7.44 4
Fucking Beauty - Svenska Flicka 7.11 7
Kind of Blue- PaulX35 (Monoped Muse) 6.94 6
Lifeless – Wildsweetone 5.71 11
Losing Pieces of you – Killermuffin 7.69 2
Seducing Dawn: New and Improved The Earl 7.17 6
Seduction of A Repairman-WickednErotic 6.67 7
Spiderman Meets J. Jameson – by Master_Vassago 5.88 10
Tell Me About Your Wife – Kristydoll 7.36 5
The Hunt By Medjay 7.44 4
---------------------------------------

Weighted Vote (1, 2, 3 Method):
First number is the sum of the votes, second number the rank

A Perfect Gift NBE 0 7
Ball in the Rough - Madame Manga 10 2
Dinner and a Movie - Just John 4 4
Double the Pleasure - English Lady 4 4 (tie)
For Love of Snow White – By Deliciously Naughty 7 3
Fucking Beauty - Svenska Flicka 2 5
Kind of Blue- PaulX35 (Monoped Muse) 0 7
Lifeless – Wildsweetone 1 6
Losing Pieces of you – Killermuffin 13 1
Seducing Dawn: New and Improved The Earl 2 5 (tie)
Seduction of A Repairman-WickednErotic 0 7
Spiderman Meets J. Jameson – by Master_Vassago 0 7
Tell Me About Your Wife – Kristydoll 4 4
The Hunt By Medjay 1 6


Single Vote: Based on 7 votes cast)

Losing Pieces of You (KM) 3 1
Rall in the Rough (MM) 2 2
Dinnar and a Movie (JJ) 1 3
For Love of Snow White (DN)1 3 (tie)

The tabulated results are done in Excel, and I'm pretty sure I can't post them here, so I don't know how I'll distribute them. If your email accepts Excel spreadsheets, I can email them to you, or maybe I can paste them into word and email the msword documents.

I'm going to post this now bedore everything crashes.

---dr.M.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Some Comments on the Voting

First of all: Earl, I apologize. I know you wanted your story withdrawn, but it seemed to me that withdrawing it at this point might skew the results, so I left it in. I should have noted on the post above that your 1-10 score was based on only 7 votes cast, and it's hard to say how many other votes you lost because of the stated withdrawl. At best, then, I can say that this is only a 'partial' ranking.

Not all voters rated all the stories. The averages are based on the number of votes cast for each story, though, not on the number of voters, so zero values weren't counted.

The 1-10 results were also skewed by voters who simpply ranked the stories instead of rating them. In other words, they rated their favorite story 10, and their least favorite story 1. This was not the idea at all. They were notified of this, but I received no correction, so I had to assume that they meant these values as ratings and average them into the mix. But you can imagine what being rated a '1' when there were only 9 voters can do to an average.

The top stories using this method though are:
Ball in the Rough
Losing Pieces of You
Dinner & a Movie

In terms of unambiguous results, it seems to me that the straight one-vote system is the best. I would think, though, that from a critic's point of view this would also be the least satisfactory. I'd like to hear how you guys felt about the voting systems.

The weighted voting system was also good, although there was an awful lot of confusion, for which I take a lot of the blame. The idea was that your favorite story would get 3 votes, second fave would get 2, third favorite would get 1. But it seems a lot of people confused the order with the vote value, meaning that the story they marked '1' was their First favorite and so on. I'd meantioned this and some people sent in corrections, some people didn't.

There were also a number of people who voted using one system only. Beats me.


The bottom line here is: This is too much work and confusion. I'm going to take a mental vacation from all this for a couple days.

I had one idea though: the author of the top ranked story gets to form the next panel.

---dr.M.

 

[Just_John1]

Thanks Doc!

Sounds like you did an awful lot of work. I appreciate your efforts and the bottom line on all this is that I think we need to simplify simplify simplify. My vote (sorry couldn't avoid the word, now you know what its gotta be like to be a campain manager the day after elections) is on the 3,2,1 method, but to be totally honest with you I think it would be much simpler to simply rank the stories 1,2,3 instead of giving ratings. 1 equals the best, 2 equals the second best and 3 is the story that comes in third. It may remove some of the confusion.

Anyway! Thanks again for all your work. It is very much appreciated.

Happy new yearto all.

JJ1

 

[English Lady]

thanks for all your hard work doctor and you deserve a break now!


I think we need to be alot clearer about how we'll vote on the next round, but to be honest i have no ideas on how we should vote (maths was never my strong point!)

I do think that it is only fair that someone else takes the chair for the next round,or poor Dr M may just keel over from the stress of it!


Once again thanks for all you've done Dr,the jobs a good'un!

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Hold Everything! This Just In!

Now I know what my teachers used to feel like when I'd rush up with my assignment at the last possible second.

A critic (who shall remain nameless) just PM'd me their votes late last night, late but under the wire, and for some reason I wasn't notified of the PM when I opened Literotica this AM. So all these values will have to be recalculated.
The recalculation won't take long, but the posting is a bitch.

I guess you could say I'm tired (I'm now typing lying on the floor and reaching up to the keyboard), but I'll recalculate and post new results. I really don't expect there to be any major changes though.

---dr.M.

And I do think English Lady is right. I deserve some fat, juicy gift for all this work. I didn't get even one measly bribe! Send me to Hawaii. (Or the UK!)

 

[medjay]

Man . . . I would have given up long ago. This was all more complicated than the electrical engineering classes I took in school!

I guess at least I know some people liked my story.

 

[Madame Manga]

Yeah, this was complicated. ;-) I actually read and rated (on the 10 point scale) all the stories that had been nominated up to that point (the first 9 not including mine) in one go. I had a lot of time that day. Then the thread continued, and there were suggestions for other voting methods, and I held on to my votes, because I got confused about the final method.

I checked the thread every couple of days for a while, until the holidays and the in-laws kicked in and I couldn't get online much. Eventually I added a top 3 ranking to my original votes and sent in the whole shebang. But apparently I was also supposed to vote for one overall best story? I missed that, sorry--but my top ranked story would also have been my overall best, so that seemed redundant. I think I also missed some of the later-nominated stories, and I apologize for that.

All I can say is, it was a very good idea to do a dry run. ;-) Here's my personal thoughts for subsequent voting:

I think both individual ratings and relative rankings can have merit; however, I lean towards individual ratings. No, this is not because my story got first place using that method. ;-) I just like the idea of looking at each story as a self-existing entity, and not solely saying, "This is better, this is worse." Frankly, that kind of thing stops me in my tracks a lot of the time. It's very hard to decide between two excellent pieces when they are very different from each other, and I don't like the idea of downranking something wonderful just because it happened to go up against something slightly more wonderful that month.

But I gather that a lot of people like rankings for their unambiguity and simplicity. So a two-part voting system seems fair. Rate the story on its own, then rank your top three choices.

I also liked the suggestion that someone made about submitting a brief descriptive/explanatory paragraph with each rating. I actually wrote those for the 9 stories, but since there was not a mechanism to submit them, I didn't send them in. I think little capsule crits like this can be very helpful to a writer, and to readers looking for something to their taste. A thread posted with the collected comments would be very instructive and informative, IMO.

How about a complete ballot sent out by PM to each voter, with links and rules and deadlines stated?

I do not know diddly about spreadsheets, but I am sure that this has been a BIG job. A hearty round of applause for Dr. Mabeuse!

Uh...so I'm supposed to do the next one? ;-) Eeek. If I am tapped for this, I am going to need major advice, because as I say, I do not have a clue about tabulating results and so on. I don't even do the household bills--that's all up to my husband. Help...

MM

 

[deliciously_naughty]

And a big long sensual kiss

 

[Wicked-N-Erotic]

Thanks Dr.M for all your work. I'm sorry that I didn't get a chance to get back to you with the "correct" voting #'s. Hopefully next round I will be able to be a better "critic".
Now after the new results are up take a long, hot soak in the tub and don't even think about counting the bubbles.
Wicked

 

[TheEarl]

A teacher is invigilating an exam and calls time. "Everybody put your pens down and bring your papers to the front."

Most people do so, but one bloke is still writing furiously away as everyone else leaves. The teacher decides 'Right, as he's not been listening, I'm going to wait until he's finished and then not accept his paper.'

10 minutes later, the student puts down his pen and walks with his paper to the front of the room. The teach looks at him and says "Sorry, I'm not taking that. You should have handed it in 10 minutes ago."

The student looks at him and asks "Do you know who I am?"

"No."

"Do you know who I am?"

The teacher shakes his head. "No."

The student shouts "Do you know who I am?"

"No."

"Good," the student says and put his paper in the middle of the pile.



Sorry, just thought of that from a comment Dr M made.

Dr M: Don't worry about my story. It's actually gone from the site now, so I was worried about screwing the results. That's the only reason I withdrew it.

Well done for sorting that. Congrats.

The Earl

 

[BatsandGlamour]

How-to-stories

Earl,

You and I have the top four stories in the how-to section. But do you think that in terms of voting, these stories don't generally do as well? They never seem to win any "awards." That's not why I write them, my reward is all the feedback, but I'm still curious. Your opinion?

 

[kristydoll]

dr_mabeuse,

I, too, just wanted to say thanks for all the work you did on this trial *smiles*

kristy

 

[TheEarl]

B&G: That's a bit disingenuous: I have 1 story in the top 4, you've got the other three. I think you dominate that section.

I didn't write my How To for the votes. Would have been pretty pointless for that purpose. I wrote it so that I could continue my opinionated pontificating outside of the boards. Just so happened that people liked it.

The Earl

 

[BatsandGlamour]

Point taken, Earl. It's the only thing in my life I've ever had the pleasure of dominating

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Updates (and Final) Critics' Score

Here's the updated and I hope final ratings for the Critics' Recommendation. First number is the numerical average, second number is the ranking


A Perfect Gift NBE 6.33 8
Ball in the Rough - Madame Manga 7.89 1
Dinner and a Movie - Just John 7.56 4
Double the Pleasure - English Lady 6.13 9
For Love of Snow White – By Deliciously Naughty 7.44 5
Fucking Beauty - Svenska Flicka 7.67 3
Kind of Blue- PaulX35 (Monoped Muse) 7.17 6
Lifeless – Wildsweetone 5.50 11
Losing Pieces of you – Killermuffin 7.83 2
Seducing Dawn: New and Improved The Earl 7.17 6
Seduction of A Repairman-WickednErotic 6.70 7
Spiderman Meets J. Jameson – by Master_Vassago 5.88 10
Tell Me About Your Wife – Kristydoll 7.44 5
The Hunt By Medjay 7.44 5

The big change in this list is Svenska's ascension into third place. Surprisingly, this is not a result of the last vote cast rating her very high, but comes from removing a low rating she had given herself. Self-rating was against the rules.


In the 1, 2, 3 rating system, the final results are as below:

SUM Rank
A Perfect Gift NBE 0 8
Ball in the Rough - Madame Manga 10 2
Dinner and a Movie - Just John 5 4
Double the Pleasure - English Lady 4 4
For Love of Snow White – By Deliciously Naughty 7 3
Fucking Beauty - Svenska Flicka 2 6
Kind of Blue- PaulX35 (Monoped Muse) 3 5
Lifeless – Wildsweetone 1 7
Losing Pieces of you – Killermuffin 15 1
Seducing Dawn: New and Improved The Earl 2 6
Seduction of A Repairman-WickednErotic 0 8
Spiderman Meets J. Jameson – by Master_Vassago 0 8
Tell Me About Your Wife – Kristydoll 4 4
The Hunt By Medjay 1 7

In the single votes, we have "Dinner and a Movie" sharing second place with "Ball in the Rough" (each got 2 votes). "Losing pieces of you" is still in first place (3 votes) and "For Love of Snow White in third place (1 vote)

---dr ""stats" Mabeuse

 

[deliciously_naughty]

Dr. M

Thanks again for all the hard work.

I just wanted to also post over here that I'm willing to moderate round two if no one else wants the job.

 

[English Lady]

once again thanks doc! Have a big sloppy for all your efforts!

 

[dr_mabeuse]

DeliciouslyNaughty,

I'll gladly turn the reins over to you, along with the key to the executive washroom, the private jet, etc. etc.

Is this Award What We Want It To Be? I had originally envisioned the award as just being a way to endorse stories that we found worthwhile. It wasn't supposed to be a "best of" at all. In fact, it wasn't supposed to be an "award". We need a way to indicate quality stories more than we need a "best of" award. And we still have no way of doing that.

Voting Method I would leave the voting method up to the chairperson of the commitee.
I would also point out that in our trial run, all of us nominated stories that we thought were pretty good (or at least I assume so). Therefore the fact that all the stories scored within a very tight range on the 1 to 10 scale could actually be an endorsement of this method of voting rather than evidence of its unsuitability.

I also was quite surprised an\t how evenly distributed the scores were. If on eperson thought Story A sucked, there was someone else who thought Stary A was the best. It was both gratifying and disturbing.

Nominating This is the big, big, problem. I don't know other people's reading habits here, but i know that I hardly ever just browse and read. I'll read stories when people request feedback or when people I respect endorse them, but I just wouldn't be able to keep track of new stories and pick some out for nomination. I just can't read that much.

Critics Find out who's interested in serving as a critic for the next round and open it up to new people. Find out who doesn't want to serve and letthem find replacements for themselves.

Automate It would be a lot easier if the voting could be automated or done by form. You'd of course have to watch out for One-bombing and stuffing, but automation would make the whole thing a lot easier.

Personally I think the whole thing was an interesting failure. It still needs a lot of work. But if you enjoyed it, what the hell. It certainly means more than the ranking system we now have.

Love & lust,

---dr.M.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

Re: Updates (and Final) Critics' Score

The big change in this list is Svenska's ascension into third place. Surprisingly, this is not a result of the last vote cast rating her very high, but comes from removing a low rating she had given herself. Self-rating was against the rules.

Oh, I see, said the blind man.

 

[deliciously_naughty]

DeliciouslyNaughty,

I'll gladly turn the reins over to you, along with the key to the executive washroom, the private jet, etc. etc.

LOL...thanks...I've been looking for a new jet

Is this Award What We Want It To Be? I had originally envisioned the award as just being a way to endorse stories that we found worthwhile. It wasn't supposed to be a "best of" at all. In fact, it wasn't supposed to be an "award". We need a way to indicate quality stories more than we need a "best of" award. And we still have no way of doing that.

I both agree with you and disagree with you. We did call it the critics choice award, after all, which intimates that we are making judgement calls one way or another. Perhaps, what we might do is continue the "contest", but award a "C" to stories that rate over a "7" on the 1-10 scale, and some sort of praise to the top three stories in a weighted vote (like Laurel does with the other contests and such). The C therefore denotes best of the best...I don't know what more to suggest. I don't program, so I don't know if there's anyway to create a "critics choice" story category...that would be something to ask Laurel. What do you guys think?

Voting Method I would leave the voting method up to the chairperson of the commitee.
I would also point out that in our trial run, all of us nominated stories that we thought were pretty good (or at least I assume so). Therefore the fact that all the stories scored within a very tight range on the 1 to 10 scale could actually be an endorsement of this method of voting rather than evidence of its unsuitability.

I would agree the 1-10 method was effective, even if does involve a bit of math. However, I'm also a fan of the 3,2,1 weighted voting.

Nominating This is the big, big, problem. I don't know other people's reading habits here, but i know that I hardly ever just browse and read. I'll read stories when people request feedback or when people I respect endorse them, but I just wouldn't be able to keep track of new stories and pick some out for nomination. I just can't read that much.

Which is a good endorsement for asking people to nominate their own stories.

Critics Find out who's interested in serving as a critic for the next round and open it up to new people. Find out who doesn't want to serve and letthem find replacements for themselves.

I think if we cap the number of stories and number of judges, we should have a decent supply.

Automate It would be a lot easier if the voting could be automated or done by form. You'd of course have to watch out for One-bombing and stuffing, but automation would make the whole thing a lot easier.

Wasn't a large part of what brought this contest about all of us bitching about one bombing and such? I think having to pm your scores to a moderator keeps people honest.

I'm also going to start an entirely new thread to discuss round two...I agree with Dr. Mab that we can refine the process, so let's get our heads together!