is rgjohn a CHEAT????

[I alone]

I've been coming to this site for ages and one of the first places I go is to the top list to se what story the reading audience out there likes best. Well I must say that I've noticed a disturbing trend.

the author by the name of rgjohn ALWAYS seems to be there - no matter who's story he is competition with. Now this author is a good writer. I've read his work and like it. But there CERTAINLY have been others that are as good if not better -- that merit the high numbers as much if not more than this one author does.

Watching this over a period of time has led me to the conclusion that there MAY be some cheating going on. I hope I'm wrong, but all a selfish author would have to do is own his own server or something and vote for himself over and over again, while voting down his competition in the same manner.

I'm just a little confused about this and would appreciate any comments anybody else has on this matter. If true, this person is doing a disservice to the entire site

 

[MaxSebastian]

I really don't think anyone would bother cheating like that - I mean, he's not really gaining anything financially by being there at the top. And he can't feel happy about gaining so many good votes if he's doing them himself.

No, I think the truth of the matter is that a lot of people only go to the top lists to find stories, so once a story gets there, it'll automatically get more votes than it would otherwise have done. People who just go to the top lists then recognise certain author names who have appeared there, so new stories by that author will get more votes and unless the author disappoints, his/her reputation will just build and build with those type of people that almost every new submission will guarantee a certain number of votes. A lot of readers also only check out the 'new' list, which is why generally a story will get so many votes when it is first posted and then they'll trickle away as the story goes to its category. Unless there's a way to entice people into the categories more, this whole situation will never change.

No conspiracy, though, I think!

 

[KillerMuffin]

It happens. They recently purged the BDSM lists because someone had tampered with all the stories. The bad thing is that voting fraud occurs. The worst thing is that there isn't anything that can be done to prevent it. Why do people do it? It's addicting to see yourself as the best of the best. There's around 14,000 stories on this site and it's a heady sensation to be at the top of the heap. People do it think that they aren't hurting anyone so why not?

There are scripts in place that monitor for a pattern of voter fraud to stop it. The webmasters also do a regular and random check.

They're highly busy right now, but they will look into it.

However, an accusation like voter fraud is one of the worst things to post here. Probably half of everyone who reads this will pick up with the righteous indignation and then go vote this guy down. It appears that there is wrong-doing, but that doesn't mean it's so.

So, everyone, before you run over to vote the guy down, please give Laurel a chance to look into the problem. He may be perfectly innocent. How would you feel if someone accused you of cheating and a slew of people voted you down, but you were innocent? It will be taken care of. It will just take some time.

 

[I alone]

Whoa -- My intention was NOT a call for action. I'd feel awful if the guy is innocent and is voted down on my account. I was just noticing a trend.

 

[KillerMuffin]

I know. Don't worry too much about it, though. I'm hoping that sane heads will prevail this time. Everyonce in a while we get the voter fraud thing brought up. Usually it's just coincidence. Sometimes it's not so you've got a very valid concern. The problem is that there are other idiots in this place who think the slightest whiff of cheating gives them the go-ahead to go and vote the guy down. I did it once myself. After I'd already done it, I felt horrible about it. I felt like an ass and I quit voting unless I give the story a 4 or a 5. After that, my motives are too suspect.

Anyway.

 

[RussH]

Having read all of rgjohns works, and voted them the max, I think he deserves to be in the top list.

I don't have the honor of "knwing" rgjohn, but I have conversed with him on several occasions about his stories, etc. I certainly would not think he would do what he seems to be accused of. Didn't strike me as that kind of person at all.

I know this seems like a rush to his defense, but maybe it was a rush to accuse him. I'm sure Laurel will investigate and clear up any concerns.

Please be very careful before bringing a charge like this to any author. It could be very devastating to someone whocares about their work.

Thank you

Russ

 

[MysteryWriter]

MW to the defense (damn)

I have been one of the most vocal critics of the voting system.. I do know one thing if you get a large number of high votes before you get to the fairy who drops the one on you then it doesnt hurt so much... if you get there with only a couple of votes it kills a story.

I have also tried retribution on those who i thought killed a story of mine but then hell I probably did it to the wrong people and it didn't matter anyway. So like Killer says, not a lot we can do but try to build a following. In my case I write in a category that I know is not going to make the board. Stay off the board and keep it straight. Stay out of sight and the one drop fairy will not find me, i think.

That is not an option for most people. I admit that I feel fortunate to have made the board at all. Hell, I was number one for about a day. For me it was a miracle. I just got greedy and wanted to stay there. It was more than a little foolish of me. I would like to think I work on a higher plane. LoL, what crap of course i was pissed. I shouted bloody murder. The problem is some people write better than I do. I had to remember why I write. Killer Muffin helped me to remember. So did a couple of others without even knowing it.

To be a little less personal, it seems to work like this. If you can hit the board on day one with 50 votes which they somehow do, then you are pretty much indestructable. How they get so many votes so fast I have no idea but i am sure it is fans from europe who look for thier stories to hit the new list. So that is pretty much what happens the killing of the story with ten votes is probably a teenager feeling powerful.

 

[KillerMuffin]

I know I have a small following of people who automatically click my stories the open and vote a 5 no matter how horrible it is. I do have some crap up there. I also have a slightly larger following of people who automatically click open whatever I write and vote a 1 not matter how good it is. I do have some redeeming smut in these parts.

Some people are good with advertising. If I had half a brain I'd start emailing all the people who ever wrote to me with a "hey, new story is up!" thing. But I feel that it's so intrusive to do so, I can't bring myself to do it. Others, however, have no such qualms and it's a tactic that is successful.

 

[christo]

rgjohn also posts his stories on eroticstories.com, and they score very highly there as well. And with far fewer votes--so it isn't like he has a way of voting for himself 500 times, because it doesn't happen on both sites.

As KM says, authors can develop a readership, and those loyal readers can help get your story high on the lists. And then, if you've written a good story, you'll get more people to read it, and more good votes, and the cycle goes on and on.

 

[MysteryWriter]

ah muffie

You dont have to email people Muffin. It is quality not quantity that really counts in the end. Everyone here respects your abilities and knows you write class stuff.

 

[Frederick Carol]

Position on the new list makes a hell of a diference. With my latest tale, I'll Just Borrow Matt, Sweetheart, I was lucky enough to hit the new list in second place on the page. I got more votes and feedback in those first thirty-six hours than ever before. Nice while it lasted!

FC

 

[jewelbox]

a question for frederick

you didnt happen to get a vote of one while you were on the list did you? If not you were lucky, if so welcome to the club. Not sure exactly why that happens but it seems to a lot. you make the list at one or two and somebody hands you a one to make sure you dont stay up there.
probably some kid with a power fixatiion.. can't do it ,but I can fuck over those of you who can, kind of thing.

 

[Frederick Carol]

jewelbox,

I honestly don't know if I got a one or not. The story was posted on Feb 16. I try not to get paranoid about votes, but when a new 'baby' of mine is posted I watch it carefully for a week or so to make sure it doesn't trip. I have a note that I checked on Feb 16, probably to see if the story had been posted, and it was already showing an average of 4.57 from 155 votes on 2314 reads, which I think is an absolutely wonderful ratio compared to some I've read. Any one votes probably got lost in the crowd. I just checked out of curiosity and it's on 4.56 from 484 votes and 27774 reads, so someone likes it. I have to say that it got almost 20000 reads in the first three days, before getting pushed down the new stories list by, well, new stories!

I have been one'd before. The first time it hurt, but now I take it as part of the experience which is Literotica, long may it continue.

FC

 

[CarolineOh]

After I posted my first story in Interracial Love, I got a letter from someone who said that he automatically votes a 1 to all stories in that category. So there are a lot of factors that will affect your score.

 

[apple3141]

You can leave it to us

I know I have a small following of people who automatically click my stories the open and vote a 5 no matter how horrible it is......
If I had half a brain I'd start emailing all the people who ever wrote to me with a "hey, new story is up!" thing. But I feel that it's so intrusive to do so, I can't bring myself to do it.

Here's one of the small following that open and vote you 5. The fact that you don't rate all your own stories the same, I don't rate them the same either, but the quality is always there, it is the themes that are more or less likeable. Because of the quality they get the vote. Also they get the vote as a (probably not very effective) prophylactic against the fiends who are fucking with the voting system.

If you could be bothered, advance notice via email of a new story by you would be very welcome. Those of us sitting in our lonely bed-sitters in the old-age home (NOT) don't get the number of PMs and emails you do, and anything from you would be more than welcome.

 

[Chantal Marchon]

If you are just reading the ratings on the top list you might also want to check out the post dates. Some of the ones that rate very high have been around for a long time. The ratings accumulate over months or in some cases a year or two.

Others just have a very good following. Being realitively new, I have not received very many votes on my stories yet. ( I only have two available right now-- my new one is pending)-- But I doubt I will ever rate super high because I tend to write in fantasy/scifi or some other off beat genre

 

[VeraGem]

Just going with the flow

I don't vote a one very much; it's kind of a catch 22 thing - If I find a story to be so horrible I can't finish reading it I don't feel I have the right to vote. If I like it enough to stick with it to the end I never vote lower than three.

I must admit though that I'm baffled at times by some of the reactions. Some of my stuff that's gone over well seems, to me, to be amateurish. Even crappy. Other stories that seem to me my best work get blasted. Oh well - I'd be arrogant to say that the readers don't know what they're talking about; they do, after all, know what they like.

I'll just be happy with the good feedback and, as far as the low votes go, be glad I at least moved someone to vote at all.

(My newest story is almost done - I've a feeling it's going to get bashed. The title alone made my Beta Reader go: "What the fuck?" Oh Joy!)

 

[KillerMuffin]

I don't get it either. It's taken me two years to figure out that the best way to deal with it is to just let it go and do my own thing. Lit is a wonderfully eclectic sex story site. There's room for my brand of stuff as well as everyone else's.

Geo is my Ramses. I love that.

 

[Couture]

At first I felt the same way KM does about e-mailing people. However, after getting so many requests from fans asking me to keep them updated, I decided to start sending out updates.

Well, I've changed my opinion, and I think it's a cool thing to do now. No complaints yet, and I get to tell things that I wouldn't post with the story.

 

[MaxSebastian]

Like KM, I don't really worry about votes much any more - it's very nice to be voted on, of course, and it's very nice to have a few stories on the top lists, but the bottom line is I don't sit there and attempt to wrestle with the stats to find out if anyone has had the cheek to hand me a 'one' vote. If you don't waste time worrying and instead use it to write more stories, you'll be a happier bunny, I'm sure.

Actually I had a system whereby I could email a number of my wonderful motley crew of readers who wanted me to with an update, but the system screwed up. Right now, I have a webpage which readers can get to via my Literotica memberpage, and on that website I have a little section which tells anyone who's interested just which stories I'm working on and how well they're going. Then they know when a new story is going up, and I don't clutter up their inbox. Hooray!

I still have to say though, that I really can't say I believe in vote-rigging. I just don't believe it happens. Sure, some people get ones awarded to them by nutters now and then, but honestly, when I read a story on Literotica that has a high score, I can always see why it has a high score when I read it. If there was really cheating going on, you'd find some really, really bad stories lurking at the top of the top lists, and I haven't found any yet. After all, it would be the really, really bad stories that would need authors to cheat to get them up there, wouldn't it?

 

[rgjohn]

Is rgjohn a cheat.

I am the author rgjohn (Gary Johns). This is the first time that I have checked this board as I don't have a lot of time to read postings. However, I was surprised that someone is saying that I may be a cheat. First of all, I wouldn't even know how to do it. Second, I don't have time to waste trying to rig voting. I posted on storiesonline.net before they limited voting to once per story and I saw what unlimited voting can do. It was a free for all of cheating that I did not participate in. I watched several of my stories get trashed by other authors (I knew that as someone had e-mailed me with the facts--somehow they knew what was happening).

The truth is that I have no idea why my stories get so many votes or are rated so high. Either there is a vast conspiracy out there to give my stories high ratings or people like them. I hope people like them.

However, I think posts like this one suggesting that I might be a cheat have had a back lash on my stories. The other day (probably after this post) I watched all of my highest rated stories (all!!) drop by several average points. Several of the stories have been on the site for months with over 700 votes and suddenly it drops from the top ten. Every story (6) dropped from 4.72 or 4.73 to 4.69. I literally had 6 stories drop to 4.69 over night which I believe that statistically, under normal circumstances, is impossible. One story (That Summer) had been rated over 4.7 for 8 months and dropped along with the rest of the stories. It is strange when a story stays at a certain rating for a 1000 votes then starts to drop and does so every day. Maybe there is a conspiracy to give me 1's now. I can honestly say that I have never given anyone a 1 because I know how hard it is to write stories.

Whether I like it or not, votes are important to me. They tell me if it is worth continuing a multi part story or to write similar stories. If I see votes dropping on a story then I will end a multi part story. The bottom line is that writing stories is too much work to have them trashed by people that are jealous or just mean spirited. I have never claimed to be a great or even a good writer. I write because I hope I give people a little pleasure since there is far too much pain in this world.

 

[Chantal Marchon]

Voting a story down is just plain mean and nasty behavior. I have read some of rgjohn's stories and I think that they are pretty good. The person that started this thread must have no idea that votes are CULUMATIVE. Votes accumulate over the space of many, many months not just one month. and every time an author puts out a new story or gets linked to another web site more people vote on his/her story and usually, if they like the story they will read and vote on others.

Most of the stories at the top of the tops list have been around for quite a while and many people have had the chance to read them and vote on them for many months.