Do you ever read stories with low ratings?

[WeShallUnclench]

... And what are your experiences, with that?

For me, it is kinda frustrating, because yeah, in categories I'm interested in I go to "H" stories by default, then stories that got at minimum 4. But that is far from a guarantee I'll actually like them.
I go to under-4 stories, if they have a title and description that sounds promising, and more often than not they are very clunky up to and including bad grammar (though a H rating or over 4 doesn't protect you from that, either). But then I find under 4 stories that are actually well written and fun, but it's something like 2 in 10...

 

[StillStunned]

But then I find under 4 stories that are actually well written and fun, but it's something like 2 in 10...

I find it's pretty much the same ratio with stories that do have a red H.

I don't read much here anymore, but when I did, I chose stories for their title and description. I didn't even know what the H meant - I thought it meant lots of people were reading it that day or week.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I find it's pretty much the same ratio with stories that do have a red H.

I don't read much here anymore, but when I did, I chose stories for their title and description. I didn't even know what the H meant - I thought it meant lots of people were reading it that day or week.

I don't read much here, but I find there is generally a correlation between the score and the overall quality of the writing - as I define quality. I know this is anathema to many people, but I figure all those people who bother to score have a some sort of collective criteria that means something. They can't all be wrong.

I rarely ever read anything less than a 4.00. If the score is less than that, there's usually a good reason. The Red H though, is a bit artificial, but there's no doubt it pulls in the readers. So I'd rather have a story score higher than 4.50 than not.

 

[MiaBabe23]

I do, absolutely
I’ve found that there are occasional stories rated H that in my personal view, just aren’t that great - you get a bandwagon effect with ratings just as you do with comments
So just as it can happen that someone will automatically click five for something rated as ‘the best’, some might be warier of rating something high, or at all, if it’s got a low rating
I find that themes, summaries, titles and most importantly, the opening couple of lines are more reliable indicators than the ratings
But unless it’s something niche, I suspect we’re in the minority

 

[UsuallyPresent]

I think some portion of the sub-3 crowd could get to a red H with a good editor. Others have interesting ideas, plot bunnies, characters, or other neatness mired in a bog of crap. Still others are pure crap. Trying to find ‘the good ones’ in the slush pile is simply a matter of wading thru a lot of crap looking for the occasional neat bit or diamond in the rough. Not something I’m guaranteed to be up for, but on occasion it’s been rewarding.

 

[StillStunned]

I don't read much here, but I find there is generally a correlation between the score and the overall quality of the writing - as I define quality. I know this is anathema to many people, but I figure all those people who bother to score have a some sort of collective criteria that means something. They can't all be wrong.

I used to read predominantly SF&F, which is dominated by endlessly chaptered stories that have a dedicated following. The quality was always disappointing to me as a casual reader.

But even without those, I'm picky and I find that many stories with high scores don't work for me, either for their content or for their writing.

 

[WeShallUnclench]

But even without those, I'm picky and I find that many stories with high scores don't work for me, either for their content or for their writing.

I know of at least one story that got very high ratings and was written very well, but kinda just bored me to tears, and I quickly gave up. So it's not entirely true that the highest scores on Lit come from unthinking horny people clicking on whatever pushes their buttons. My suspicion is that in this case, the ratings represented respect, for the legitimacy and craftmanship of something that looked very much like it could be (part of) a mainstream published novel. Not a coincidence, because the author had actually published books, I believe.
Only a totally shameless baboon could find something like that and give it a low rating.

 

[MaturemanAJ]

I honestly don't look at ratings before reading stories. I am an end cap type guy. In other words the title or light description draws me in.
I have at times read every story an author wrote because of the first story.
Sometimes I look at titles and go nah I am moving on.

 

[MiaBabe23]

I know of at least one story that got very high ratings and was written very well, but kinda just bored me to tears, and I quickly gave up. So it's not entirely true that the highest scores on Lit come from unthinking horny people clicking on whatever pushes their buttons. My suspicion is that in this case, the ratings represented respect, for the legitimacy and craftmanship of something that looked very much like it could be (part of) a mainstream published novel. Not a coincidence, because the author had actually published books, I believe.
Only a totally shameless baboon could find something like that and give it a low rating.

I’m not sure I agree with all of this
One of the most notable examples - again, just my view - are the significant number rated H that have one dimensional, poorly written female characters who are just there to perform the fantasy that the writer wants them to do
I’m not talking about submissives - I personally enjoy that kink - I mean cardboard, plasticy ciphers who just react in the way that’s convenient for what the writer wants to hurry and get to
Obviously we’re not expecting or needing Shakespearean levels of character development; but when all the characters are essentially a function of expedience for the writer’s fantasy, that’s not good writing
It might be very arousing to some, but the H is representing that arousal, not the writing

 

[iwatchus]

I started reading for a long time (almost 25 years) before writing

Like OP, I found that sub 4 rated stories were too often just terribly written. If I liked a story by an author, I would often go look at the author page and, if they had mostly H's, I would start reading more of theirs. @StillStunned was the last author I favorited from that approach before starting to write on my own. It took me a while to connect the wisecracker with the yellow face here with the one writing some beautiful erotica.

When I started writing 6 months ago, I almost completely stopped reading for a while -- there are only so many hours in a day and I was writing a lot. I started reading to try to see what I should be doing better, trying to focus exclusively on highly rated stories. I am still working through the list of self recommended best stories from @EmilyMiller thread of self nominated best stories. I have yet to be disappointed by a single story in that list.

 

[Djmac1031]

There's been endless debates on the LE rating system and the only thing we all agree on is that there's room for improvement.

There are plenty of Red H stories that don't deserve them, and plenty of lower rated stories that are still worth reading.

That said - in general, if a story or author is consistently getting low ratings, there is probably a reason for that.

And by low ratings I mean anything under 4. I know many authors are disappointed by anything less than a 4.5 but I personally feel anything above a 4 is something to be happy about. People LIKED your story. Maybe not LOVED it but that's okay.

I'm still willing to give a low rated story a chance but almost every time I find the rating deserving; the writing badly edited and laden with multiple errors, filled with the worst of the worst tropes and stereotypical behavior, etc.

 

[9to5]

I look at the new stories almost every morning, mostly the BDSM and any that catch my eye in the description. I don't look at the ratings at all. I do vote for the ones I find exciting and puts the picture in my mind thinking it would be me in the story

 

[MiaBabe23]

There's been endless debates on the LE rating system and the only thing we all agree on is that there's room for improvement.

There are plenty of Red H stories that don't deserve them, and plenty of lower rated stories that are still worth reading.

That said - in general, if a story or author is consistently getting low ratings, there is probably a reason for that.

And by low ratings I mean anything under 4. I know many authors are disappointed by anything less than a 4.5 but I personally feel anything above a 4 is something to be happy about. People LIKED your story. Maybe not LOVED it but that's okay.

I'm still willing to give a low rated story a chance but almost every time I find the rating deserving; the writing badly edited and laden with multiple errors, filled with the worst of the worst tropes and stereotypical behavior, etc.

I agree with much of what you say, but speaking as someone with a 3.5 for my only story so far, (which is not an unfair rating, considering the feedback) - the rating was absolutely not due to poor editing, grammar or reliance on stereotypical behavior
Nor do I consider 3.5 to be a criticism, I viewed it as encouragement to go further

 

[Djmac1031]

I agree with much of what you say, but speaking as someone with a 3.5 for my only story so far, (which is not an unfair rating, considering the feedback) - the rating was absolutely not due to poor editing, grammar or reliance on stereotypical behavior
Nor do I consider 3.5 to be a criticism, I viewed it as encouragement to go further

As I said there are always exceptions, which is why we can agree the rating system is flawed.

Without knowing anything about your story, the other issue that draws low ratings is writing in the more controversial categories and angering readers there who have certain expectations.

And of course there are plenty of trolls who One Bomb a story simply because they hate the subject matter and / or have a beef with the author.

 

[big_cane_sugar]

I also consider if a story has a lot of hearts. Low-rated stories with lots of hearts are probably interesting.

 

[MiaBabe23]

As I said there are always exceptions, which is why we can agree the rating system is flawed.

Without knowing anything about your story, the other issue that draws low ratings is writing in the more controversial categories and angering readers there who have certain expectations.

And of course there are plenty of trolls who One Bomb a story simply because they hate the subject matter and / or have a beef with the author.

You did, I’m sorry, just reread and seen that
And fwiw, it wasn’t either of those reasons; probably just not enough hot sex lol
Next story may have too much

 

[AwkwardMD]

I tend to only read what gets put in front of us. Ratings aren't a part of it.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

Oh man let me tell you about one of the weirdest experiences of my writing career.

defiant_1 has some of the hottest stories I've ever read. I've been re-reading them for literally decades at this point. They just work for me.

I started writing because defiant_1 stopped. If you look at my first story, it's very similar to his work. I got tired of waiting for him to publish and decided to take matters into my own hands.

Here's where it gets weird: most of his stories don't have a red H. And it's not a matter of how niche the audience is. I write mostly the same stuff and score way higher. The audience is clearly there. They just don't appreciate his genius for some reason. The wisdom of the crowds is stochastic.

 

[SimonDoom]

I'll begin to read a story with a score under 4 if the title and tagline promise an erotic concept that appeals to me, and usually I can tell within three paragraphs if the writing style is good enough to hold me. I will mentally adjust story scores based on the category, or if it has an oddball premise. For instance, knowing a Loving Wives story has a score under 4 tells me that the subject matter probably has drawn attacks rather than that the writing quality is poor.

 

[Bamagan]

I mostly ignore the ratings here. My personal tastes for interesting erotica don't correlate well with the scores, so they are not a useful guide for me. I mostly pick things to read by tags and the blurbs.

 

[ICantLeafYou]

The vast majority of what I read isn't on Literotica, it's on a website that doesn't have a ratings system.

When I do read things on Lit, I don't think I've ever looked at the rating of a story before reading it. Rating doesn't matter at all to me--if it's subject matter I want to read, then I'll read it. A number won't change that.

 

[StillStunned]

@StillStunned was the last author I favorited from that approach before starting to write on my own. It took me a while to connect the wisecracker with the yellow face here with the one writing some beautiful erotica.

Like onions and ogres, I have layers.

 

[iwatchus]

Like onions and ogres, I have layers.

And some of them are stinky. And some of them are wonderful.

 

[Lifestyle66]

I find it interesting that people here will say "I only read stories with an average rating above a 4.0 or with a Red-H."

Then they go on to admit "The rating system is flawed."

So, they knowingly allow a flawed rating system to direct or limit their reading choices?

 

[iwatchus]

I think the system is definitely flawed, but the whole concept is somewhat flawed. That said, I might enjoy 70% of the stories in a category that score 4.5 and only 30% that score a 3.5. I am not going to read every story on here, so I have to have some way of filtering them. It is wholly unfair to that 30% that I would have enjoyed, but it is better for me, purely selfishly, that ignoring the ratings.

I use the ratings much like I would IMDB ratings for a movie. If I want to read it anyway (because of the author or scenario or a recommendation) I ignore the ratings. If I am at all iffy on it, the ratings serve as guidance for me. There are so many authors on here, I can't possibly know all of them to know which stories I am more likely to like.

The more unique your tastes are, the less useful the ratings are. If a particular kink is what you are looking for, the tags are much more valuable. I like the comment about favorites. That is a good way to find stories that have a niche taste. I have fairly vanilla interests, but poorly written drives me crazy, so it works well for me. I lose some I would like, but I save myself lots of time.