Damned Ratings

[dr_mabeuse]

Okay, ratings don't matter. I never look at them. I write for myself. Art isn't a popularity contest. Who cares? Not me. &c. &c.

Now, does anyone know what the average rating is for a story here? What's considered a 'good' rating?

Not that I care, of course.

---dr.M.

 

[KillerMuffin]

I have absolutely no idea. It looks like a 4.15 is about median just skimming the archives. Depends on the category.

Usually, if it's over 4.00 I'm happy with it.

 

[Whispersecret]

When I vote, I vote a three if it's an average run-of-the-mill story. So, I suppose anything over 4.0 is good.

However, I've read that many people won't vote if they don't like it, which bugs me. I used to not pay attention to lower scores because I figured, why get upset? But now I don't even know how much stock to put into higher scores (if I get 'em.)

 

[deliciously_naughty]

4.5 and better is considered HOT and has an H next to it

Average is 4.0 or so.

 

[Chicklet]

actually if I see a story with a rating under 4 I usually don't read it - I expect a story under 4.20 to be "so-so" and not that exciting.

Chicklet

 

[Angeline]

Damn Ratings!

I've got to the point where I refuse to even look at them because--well, maybe it's different with poems--but I have got crap ratings on some of what I think are my best efforts and 5's (or close) on mediocre stuff.

Theoretically though I think anything averaging 4.3 + should be pretty good.

For stories, I'm more inclined to browse the new list or the categories that appeal and just read.

 

[wildsweetone]

'Lifeless' is the best thing i've written, in my opinion that is. because it's not a total jack-off piece it's scoring a very pathetic 2.5.

if i look at the votes i have overall, add them together, divide them by 22 (the number of stories), i get 4.21 as my average.

if i take off 'Lifeless', i get 4.29 as my average. oh, and that's including everything i've written, there are a few that don't have 10 votes as yet.

however to work out the median from all my stories with over 10 votes, i get 4.33.

much of a muchness i reckon

 

[Guest]

Never thought of doing that before.....

Went back and added mine up.........72 stories, average was 4.485

I won't even mention the average on my poems....LOL.

I remain,

 

[Quasimodem]

Dear Dr.

The concept of an 'Average Vote' is fallacious.

An average rating is dependant upon the average reader voting. Since we know that this does not happen, the ‘Average Vote' is in reality the votes, averaged out, between those readers who were so impressed, so pissed off, so alienated by one element, or so prejudiced either for or against the writer, or so competitive that they must do their best to affect the vote negatively, no matter their opinion.

In the face of this, you would have to be crazed, to worry about your story's rating.

If someone takes the time to respond to your story, either positively, or negatively, that should be considered more important.

Lowest ranked, and least considered are the "You stink!" variety.

Rated slightly higher, is the "You stink, because . . . " And then gives you story-specific reasons for their attitude.

Next is the "It was fantastic!" type of feedback.

Then, the "It was fantastic, because . . . " And then gives you story-specific reasons for their attitude.

At the highest level, there is the "I liked this, because . . . ;" "This could have been better, if . . . ;" and "Don't you think the story would be improved if . . . ."

Not only will that give you a truer impression about how people rate your writing, but also, if you are lucky enough to attract literate readers, give you insight into how your writing might be improved.

 

[KillerMuffin]

My lowest score is one of my--in my estimation--better stories. But the mind control fans get pissed off when you turn their heroes into serial killers. That's not the point of mind control. You can never tell why a story has a low grade. Take anything written by Deborah. She pissed off a lot of people on the board and they took it out on her stories.

 

[Angeline]

Another Point

We all know people who post and ask all their "pals" to vote. These dear friends of course would offer nothing less than a 5, which the piece, of course, may or may not deserve. As others here have pointed out, there are various reasons why high marks are given and "He's such a great guy," is often the reason. Conversely as KM pointed out, low marks are given for other totally silly reasons like "That's not the way _____________ is supposed to work," "She flirted with my online lover, " etc.

I agree with Quasimodem--feedback is the best indication of how others perceive your writing, and the best feedback of all is specific and constructive. I actually get those sometimes. And I won't give feedback unless I can say something specific and/or constructive.

 

[HomerPindar]

Re: Damn Ratings!

I've got to the point where I refuse to even look at them because--well, maybe it's different with poems--but I have got crap ratings on some of what I think are my best efforts and 5's (or close) on mediocre stuff.

They vote on poems...?


HomerPindar

 

[Quasimodem]

They vote on poems...?

Yeah, but the vote is more Erratic,
Than Erotic.

 

[Angeline]

Poems

HomerPindar said

They vote on poems...?

Hey, I've voted on yours. That was me, that vote.

 

[HomerPindar]

Re: Poems

HomerPindar said

They vote on poems...?

Hey, I've voted on yours. That was me, that vote.

WOOHOO! woohoo, I got a vote! that's like...395 to one ratio of reads to votes now!

Thanks Ang!

Although, I am reminded of the begining of Dead Poets Society, where they read the introduction to the text book about scaling poetry. Robin Williams' has them tear those pages out of the book... that's my anology to votes.

Then again, I'm an american...what do I know about voting?

(thanks again Ang, YOU ROCK!)

HomerPindar

 

[crbrianb]

I've found that lack of sex in a story drops the score and the more sex the higher the score. Wich is kind of disapointing since a lot of the stories I right are about what turns me on and hard core sex in a story can bore me if nothing leads up to it.

 

[TaffyJ]

My personal rule

If I read a story and know it's got a 4.3 score, and I want to vote 3 or 4, I don't vote. I'll only vote if my vote will improve somebody's score. Kind of like if I can't say something nice, I won't say anything at all. I know it hurts to see your score fall with one vote, so I try not to do that to people.

From this thread, I get that you would all be happier if voters like me went ahead and voted on everything whether we love it, or think it's crap? I can happily do that, but it would take me a while to get used to the guilt. I'm so horribly Catholic!

 

[Eldridge]

Personally I feel that the Literotica scoring system would benefit more from being on a scale of 1-10 as opposed to 1 to 5.

If I enjoyed a story (be it erotically or just because it was a good story), I give it a 4 or a 5. In deciding this, I take into account the section it was posted in. A Group Sex story with a rather large orgy will score better in my opinion than a group sex story with two guys and one girl, who don't even have a threesome..

A 5 in my opinion has to be a perfect stor, I have to enjoy it from the moment I start reading it, it can never irritate me, or bore me, and the sex has to be stellar. (amazingly, there are quite a few stories that achieve this rather absurd list I just posted)

That means that if the story does not merit a 5 in my mind, but I still felt it was a good story, it automatically means it gets a 4. And there have been some VERY big differences in quality between stories that I have given a 4 to...

This irks me.

Would I have the opportunity to rate from a 7-10 for a "good" story, I would also give more consideration to the actual vote. While this is ofcourse mere speculation on my part, it might be that the reason so many people don't vote is because they don't like the limited choices? 1-5 is a nasty voting system


When a story doesn't interest me, I give it a 3 if it was still written well, a 2 if it wasn't, and I give a story a 1 if it appears to be written by some uneducated 14 year old who didn't even bother to turn on spell checking.


The only times when I don't vote, is rather particular. I will mention, as an example, the Island Paradise series by HighlanderJM. (Group Sex category).
First off all, this is an excellent story, well deserving of his many many "H" ratings.
However, ALL his chapters are posted in the Group Sex category, even when many chapters really should be in Erotic Couplings, and some in Lesbian.
(How he managed to get this done is beyond me, most other multiple chapter stories are all over the site?)

Now, he also has some chapters in there in which absolutely no sex at all occurs, and really he is only talking about the problems / relationships between his characters. While these chapters are still very appealing to read, I find I cannot vote on them.

They are posted in the Group Sex category, but there's no sex. They are posted on Literotica, but these chapters are, in themselves, not erotic. In fact, some of these chapters do really well in turning you off.
If I had to be honest, based on the category he's in, I couldn't really give him higher than a 2 or a 3 for those chapters.

Rather than ruin his track record of great votes with a lower score than he really deserves, I find I simply prefer not to vote.

Eldridge.