I knew it was too good to last

[Dirty Kitten]

Out of curiosity, how do you deal with the occasional person that gives your story a "1" without telling you why?

I ask because this has happened on every story I've posted in the last month. I was doing okay blowing it off, but it's started to wear on me... especially when the scoring has been high enough that I'm patting myself on the back for feeling like I'm getting it right (and learning).

Do you resign yourself or turn off voting or pitch a fit? lol

 

[Lauren Hynde]

I personally like to go on a killing spree. I'm on my way to Walmart right now, actually.

What about those occasional persons that give your story a "5" without telling you why? Grrr. I could really go medieval on them, let me tell you.


Seriously, though: do you prefer to feel like you're getting it right and learning, or to get it right and learn?

 

[S-Des]

Out of curiosity, how do you deal with the occasional person that gives your story a "1" without telling you why?

I ask because this has happened on every story I've posted in the last month. I was doing okay blowing it off, but it's started to wear on me... especially when the scoring has been high enough that I'm patting myself on the back for feeling like I'm getting it right (and learning).

Do you resign yourself or turn off voting or pitch a fit? lol

There is one of these threads every few weeks, so don't feel like you're on an island. We all get those kinds of votes, no matter how high the score of the story, or how much time and effort we put into getting it right. There is no requirement for anyone to vote, other than putting in the effort to look at your story (they don't even have to read it...some people delight in voting down high scoring stories, then leaving a comment that indicates they never actually read it in the first place). Since anyone can vote for any reason they see fit (even if they don't like your style, the subject you chose, or perhaps your username ), just write something that you believe is good, pay attention to the comments you receive, and seek out opinions (there is a story discussion section of the BB if you want to have others look at your story).

No one can tell you what to do, but if bad comments or votes bother you, you can turn them off. I'd advise against it, because feedback is what most of us desire for our writing. If you hang out here long enough, you'll find a lot of advice about writing and what makes stories successful (both in terms of views and votes).

BTW, Lit sweeps 1s (and often 2s) as well as votes that appear suspicious (positive and negative). It sometimes takes a while, but those votes will go away and your story will settle back to where it was. Then you'll be starting one of these when Lit sweeps a couple of 5s from you.

 

[Weird Harold]

BTW, Lit sweeps 1s (and often 2s) as well as votes that appear suspicious (positive and negative). It sometimes takes a while, but those votes will go away and your story will settle back to where it was. Then you'll be starting one of these when Lit sweeps a couple of 5s from you.

Des, Lit does NOT removes "1's," they remove fraudulent votes. since the majority of fraudulent votes most of us see are low votes, it seems like they're sweeping for "1 votes" but they ALWAYS sweep for fraudulent score boosting as well as score killing votes.

DK, almost every story that emerges from the ten votes minimum onto the top of any of the top lists will gain a one or two vote within an hour or two. Some people are just offended by a perfect score and others are just disapponed that the story didn't fit their idea of a "perfect story" but one type or the other will make sure that ther are no perfect scores on the top story lists.

 

[S-Des]

Des, Lit does NOT removes "1's," they remove fraudulent votes. since the majority of fraudulent votes most of us see are low votes, it seems like they're sweeping for "1 votes" but they ALWAYS sweep for fraudulent score boosting as well as score killing votes.

DK, almost every story that emerges from the ten votes minimum onto the top of any of the top lists will gain a one or two vote within an hour or two. Some people are just offended by a perfect score and others are just disapponed that the story didn't fit their idea of a "perfect story" but one type or the other will make sure that ther are no perfect scores on the top story lists.

That's funny because I've had them remove 3s that I voted, and I'm pretty sure I read the crappy stories I voted on.

 

[starrkers]

Ah, but you hadn't prayed to the leprechauns before you voted

 

[S-Des]

Ah, but you hadn't prayed to the leprechauns before you voted

Damnit...nobody ever warns me about the special rules beforehand.

 

[Dirty Kitten]

Thanks

Lauren, a killing spree would do nicely, but I think I'll get a taser instead. Slow and painful torture sounds better

I usually forgive the people that give 5's with no feedback because if they really think the story is a 5, I'm hoping they are busy elsewhere and don't want to get their keyboard all sticky.

You are right. I prefer to get it right and learn.

S-Des and Harold, thanks. I hate feeling like I'm on an island so it helps to know that there really are those random 1ers out there. LOL, I think I was just really upset because I was jumping up and down for breaking the top ten, and in the next second not jumping up and down and just praying I could hold onto my little "H"! I had expected it to naturally go down over time (that little sweeper does that), just not so darn soon.

I wanted five more minutes *whine*

But okay. I'll live.

 

[Saiyaman]

I am no native speaker but I know when I'm offended. Last month I had somebody telling me that my adult Daria stories were "gay" so I asked the person what made him think so because there isn't any homosexual content in them. He then said that that wasn't what he meant, so then I asked if he meant that he thought my stories were fun. I got a really surprised "What do you mean with that?" And I recalled te Flintstones' opening tune which says "We'll have a gay ol' time" He looked at me and said "Do you even know what the word 'Gay' means?" I replied that it means homosexuality and that it means "merry", "Fun", "Cheerful"

He then looked really guilty and admitted that he was using the word "Gay" to tell me that my work sucked. Ever since then, I am utterly repulsed to see people using the word "Gay" in a negative context.

 

[scheherazade_79]

Out of curiosity, how do you deal with the occasional person that gives your story a "1" without telling you why?

I ask because this has happened on every story I've posted in the last month. I was doing okay blowing it off, but it's started to wear on me... especially when the scoring has been high enough that I'm patting myself on the back for feeling like I'm getting it right (and learning).

Do you resign yourself or turn off voting or pitch a fit? lol

I consult the Oracle each time I'm about to bring out a new story. She tells me exactly who's going to 1-Bomb me, and I send a virus to their computers, which messes up the electrics and gives them a deadly electric shock as soon as they click on 1.

2-Bombers are more of a pain in the arse, because they're less likely to be removed. I disembowel 2-Bombers.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

A long term study by the RAND Corporation discovered that most Trolls suffer from serious mental problem due to Testicalectomies, or so I'm told

 

[JamesSD]

I never take it personally, and just assume it's a blanket 1-bomb. There is at least one if not a couple people that seem to have no life and just rate every new story with a 1. As others have said, those votes always get swept, although it may take a week or two.

Don't even treat a story's score as remotely final until after the first week it's been posted and the first vote sweep has occurred.

 

[PAUL C]

expecting a 1 vote any minute.

somebody has discovered my stories and suddenly 4 of them have perfect scores, (I can remember atime when 35 of the top 75 were mine but i think there was only two others posting stories at that time) I digress.

i expect that by the time i have completed this they will have been hit with a 1 vote each. I wouldn't mind that if I knew that the person had at least read them and honestly didn't like them.

it does seem a shame as one of the stories took six years to get ten votes. but hey ho. more stories in the pipe-line.

 

[gauchecritic]

I am no native speaker but I know when I'm offended. Last month I had somebody telling me that my adult Daria stories were "gay" so I asked the person what made him think so because there isn't any homosexual content in them. He then said that that wasn't what he meant, so then I asked if he meant that he thought my stories were fun. I got a really surprised "What do you mean with that?" And I recalled te Flintstones' opening tune which says "We'll have a gay ol' time" He looked at me and said "Do you even know what the word 'Gay' means?" I replied that it means homosexuality and that it means "merry", "Fun", "Cheerful"

He then looked really guilty and admitted that he was using the word "Gay" to tell me that my work sucked. Ever since then, I am utterly repulsed to see people using the word "Gay" in a negative context.

Was he English? I don't think I've heard americans use the term derisively in that way. A few years ago it was a fad over here to use the word instead of minor expletives like 'get' (sometimes git) or 'dick'.
It's actually a complex term (in the contexts I know of) to express unhappiness with something or someone and not necessarily a definitive such as rubbish or crap. For example. When playing Mariokart I shelled the driver in front and his reaction was "Aw, you gay."

 

[Weird Harold]

That's funny because I've had them remove 3s that I voted, and I'm pretty sure I read the crappy stories I voted on.

How do you know i was YOUR three vote that was removed?

Laurel never would tell me just how they determine a vote's "fraudulent" status beyond a few obvious examples: Duplicate Votes. "Malicious" votes, as in all stories in a group (author, category, contest, etc) being down-voted by the same voter. "Booster" Voting, especially of contest stories.

I do know that except for malicious votes and booster votes, the numeric value of the vote is NOT part of the determination.

 

[wehstar]

I am no native speaker but I know when I'm offended. Last month I had somebody telling me that my adult Daria stories were "gay" so I asked the person what made him think so because there isn't any homosexual content in them. He then said that that wasn't what he meant, so then I asked if he meant that he thought my stories were fun. I got a really surprised "What do you mean with that?" And I recalled te Flintstones' opening tune which says "We'll have a gay ol' time" He looked at me and said "Do you even know what the word 'Gay' means?" I replied that it means homosexuality and that it means "merry", "Fun", "Cheerful"

He then looked really guilty and admitted that he was using the word "Gay" to tell me that my work sucked. Ever since then, I am utterly repulsed to see people using the word "Gay" in a negative context.

Yes. I remember that in school. Anything not considered "cool" would be considered "gay". Somehow my wife managed to keep hold of the terminology, and yes, it really winds me up!

 

[wehstar]

I consult the Oracle each time I'm about to bring out a new story. She tells me exactly who's going to 1-Bomb me, and I send a virus to their computers, which messes up the electrics and gives them a deadly electric shock as soon as they click on 1.

2-Bombers are more of a pain in the arse, because they're less likely to be removed. I disembowel 2-Bombers.

Oh right. So you saw the matrix too.

 

[wehstar]

Out of curiosity, how do you deal with the occasional person that gives your story a "1" without telling you why?

I ask because this has happened on every story I've posted in the last month. I was doing okay blowing it off, but it's started to wear on me... especially when the scoring has been high enough that I'm patting myself on the back for feeling like I'm getting it right (and learning).

Do you resign yourself or turn off voting or pitch a fit? lol

Am I missing something. Where can you tell how your score is derived? I even went to the submissions page to double check. It gives you the total number of votes, and the average score. I don't see any breakdown of how many 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 votes it got?

 

[Trombonus]

Don't feel bad DK. Like many people have said, it happens to all of us. The worst is when someone singles you out and takes the time to vote ones on every one of your stories, just because they can. I recently had to endure that, but they went away soon enough. Just be patient and all will be put right.

As for judging your score and what votes you recently got, it's just a simple math thing. If you know what your score was before it changed, multiply that by the number of votes you had, add the score you think you got and then divide it by the new number of votes. That gives you the new average. Of course, most of us don't remember our old scores, I know I don't remember them all, but it's easier if you only have a few stories. It's also fairly obvious when you only have a few votes. Just the other day I had a 5.00 with 12 votes, and now that story is at 4.69 with 13 votes. Kinda obvious what happened.

Anyways, when it does happen, and it will many more times, I just shrug it off and have faith in the system that it'll be taken away. I don't know about comments. I've never received a negative comment on one of my stories. I generally don't get many comments or votes since I'm fairly new anyway. All I can say is read the comment, register it and learn from it if you can. Critique is the only thing that helps us to get better after all.

 

[cloudy]

Am I missing something. Where can you tell how your score is derived? I even went to the submissions page to double check. It gives you the total number of votes, and the average score. I don't see any breakdown of how many 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 votes it got?

If you track your scores closely enough, you can tell.

For instance, if your story has 10 votes and your score is 5.00, then obviously you've received 10 votes at "5" each.

If you receive an 11th vote, and your score goes down to 4.82, then that 11th vote must be a "3."

5.00 X 10 = 50.00

4.82 X 11 = 53.00, so that last vote had to be a "3."

It only works if you watch your scores constantly. Frankly, they're not that important to me.

 

[Nasha]

I don't think I've heard americans use the term derisively in that way.

In the States I'm afraid it's been common for years to put something down as being crap with "That's so gay."

 

[Darkniciad]

In the States I'm afraid it's been common for years to put something down as being crap with "That's so gay."

There's a strong trend toward modifying the pronunciation/spelling to "ghey" in the last couple of years, from what I've seen.

====

The sweeper does usually remove those bogus 1s eventually when the stealthier trolls finally make a mistake that establishes a pattern for them. As to what's considered a legitimate vote during sweeps, I have a lot less faith in that. I've got one story with more PCs than surviving votes, and numerous emails/PMs in addition - almost all of which are signed. Hard to call those illegitimate votes, but they're gone with the wind.

The part that's really irritating is that that one has hit the magical 10 vote mark four times now. I swear the Lit Hoover hates that story. The rest in the series has 27 or 26 votes, exactly what this one once had *laugh*

 

[Boota]

I ignore 1 votes unless they come with some kind of scathing or threatening comment. It's usually mispelled and loaded with horrid grammar, and that makes my day.

DK, you can't live and die by your scores on here. It's the work, not the score. Take what you can learn from, discard the rest.

 

[JPMMURPHY]

So call me stupid. But how does everyone see individual votes? I don't get it, or haven't found it. All I see is some average and total number of votes. I know I have less comments than votes.

Duh??????

 

[Weird Harold]

So call me stupid. But how does everyone see individual votes? I don't get it, or haven't found it. All I see is some average and total number of votes. I know I have less comments than votes.

Duh??????

From three posts above your question (and one below Trombonus' explantion):

If you track your scores closely enough, you can tell.

For instance, if your story has 10 votes and your score is 5.00, then obviously you've received 10 votes at "5" each.

If you receive an 11th vote, and your score goes down to 4.82, then that 11th vote must be a "3."

5.00 X 10 = 50.00

4.82 X 11 = 53.00, so that last vote had to be a "3."

It only works if you watch your scores constantly. Frankly, they're not that important to me.