Minimum story rating ?

[Ezrollin]

Up until now I wouldn't read a story rated under four, then I read a story with a four.seven score that had numerous grammatical errors and no build up for sex at the end. I ask how this story got its four seven rating and decided to check the comments. There were only two comments which is unusual for a high rated story. I assume these two were the only ones that rated it, there are usually more comments on a highly rated story. So, was I amiss by not reading stories rated under four? Clearly ratings can be misleading when it only gets a few votes / comments.

 

[SamScribble]

Alas, as has been said on many, many occasions, star ratings are sometimes an indicator of quality writing and quality story-telling, and sometimes not. It depends on who read the stories; who voted on the stories; and how they voted. Buyer beware!

 

[Voboy]

Up until now I wouldn't read a story rated under four, then I read a story with a four.seven score that had numerous grammatical errors and no build up for sex at the end. I ask how this story got its four seven rating and decided to check the comments. There were only two comments which is unusual for a high rated story. I assume these two were the only ones that rated it, there are usually more comments on a highly rated story. So, was I amiss by not reading stories rated under four? Clearly ratings can be misleading when it only gets a few votes / comments.

No.

I never get extensive comments on many of my stories, largely (I think) because I don't ask for them explicitly. I've never noticed a correlation between number of comments and amount of rating. I think the people who vote and the people who take the time to comment are often two separate pools of people.

Granted, I've got no real evidence for that. But neither do you.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I think the people who vote and the people who take the time to comment are often two separate pools of people.

I tend to agree, although there can be some correlation if a story takes off unexpectedly - comments usually follow something that's a little unusual, I've found.

 

[KeithD]

there are usually more comments on a highly rated story.

That premise is category specific. In GM, for instance, the stories with a lot of comments tend to be the strokers making little literary attempt. The comments are usually of the "me too" or "I wish" type. Very few of them are about the literary value of the story. Ratings can run anywhere from 2 to that 4.7 on the same story. Readers have their own, personal rating systems. And the stories here run from "I need therapy" to sadism.

 

[KeithD]

No.

I I think the people who vote and the people who take the time to comment are often two separate pools of people.

True. I think a lot of readers are thinking "one or the other, not both." I frequently catch a very nice comment drop but there's been no vote.

 

[PeytonMirabelle]

Yes, ratings can be very deceptive. Some of the top-followed authors on this site have many, many stories that aren't "Hot," for a variety of reasons ... but when they have thousands of followers, they are appealing to someone, right?

I think a better approach is to cast a wide net in the categories you like and read a bunch of stories. You may find authors who average lower than four stars but have a style or writes plot arcs that personally appeal to you. Once you have authors, you can follow them and see what else they have.

 

[TxRad]

Did you check and see if you could vote on the story?

Some people lock their stories after a few votes even if they give themselves the votes so they show high scores and red H's.

 

[NotWise]

True. I think a lot of readers are thinking "one or the other, not both." I frequently catch a very nice comment drop but there's been no vote.

There is overlap between those groups, otherwise we wouldn't get comments telling us what they voted.

 

[KeithD]

There is overlap between those groups, otherwise we wouldn't get comments telling us what they voted.

Who said there weren't overlaps? (Although, for the record, my commenters don't often say how they voted--and, also, for the record, sometimes they say they voted when no vote was recorded.)

 

[RejectReality]

Score can be a filtering tool, but only once you have an idea of how it varies by category. A 4.7 in Group Sex is vastly different from a 4.7 in Sci-Fi&Fantasy. A 4.anything in LW is practically a miracle.

Check the number of favorites. It's right there at the top of every story. Favorites represent a fraction of the number of votes a story gets, so seeing a fair number of favorites ( in addition to being its own indicator ) tells you something about the number of votes it has.

In the end, you're better off looking for interesting titles and descriptions in categories where you usually find things you enjoy. You'll probably know within a handful of paragraphs whether you're going to enjoy the story, so you won't waste a ton of time. Going by any numerical indicator is going to result in missing stories that you'll be sorry you missed, and lead you to drek that you're sorry you opened.

 

[MrPixel]

Also bear in mind that folks who take the time to rate a story have differing motivations for doing so. Some are interested in the story for the story being told, some focus on the expectation of explicit sex scenes.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Until you have about 50 votes, the score means little. But in many categories it can take months to get 10 votes if you're not a known author. So no red H, which makes sense, but also means one vote can send the score swinging wildly.

f you have 10 votes and a score of 4.5, if the next is a 5 you get 4.54, if it's a 1 it plummets to 4.18... Add the odd sweep, wiping a vote, and a story could bounce between a H and a 3.x for a while - a couple of mine have, when readers either love or hate them.

Contest readers seem to value story and storytelling; later readers finding the same story by category and keyword are more likely to want straightforward stories that meet their sexual interests and will downvote stories that cover more areas.

Some categories vote and comment more than others.

 

[Lifestyle66]

Up until now I wouldn't read a story rated under four, then I read a story with a four.seven score that had numerous grammatical errors and no build up for sex at the end. I ask how this story got its four seven rating and decided to check the comments. There were only two comments which is unusual for a high rated story. I assume these two were the only ones that rated it, there are usually more comments on a highly rated story. So, was I amiss by not reading stories rated under four? Clearly ratings can be misleading when it only gets a few votes / comments.

You can vote on your own story. And as TxRad said, some authors can lock the votes to maintain a high rating.

It's my guess there are also authors who vote anonymously multiple times on their own stories, because (as you noticed) I've also found a few Red-H stories so poorly written I didn't think they deserved a 3. Surely some other honest authors and readers read them and downvoted them. So, how could they maintain such a high rating?

 

[Comshaw]

You can vote on your own story. And as TxRad said, some authors can lock the votes to maintain a high rating.

It's my guess there are also authors who vote anonymously multiple times on their own stories, because (as you noticed) I've also found a few Red-H stories so poorly written I didn't think they deserved a 3. Surely some other honest authors and readers read them and downvoted them. So, how could they maintain such a high rating?

Yeah, that's total bullshit. It seems to me that if you choose to turn off voting that any prior votes should be deleted or at a minimum hidden. It's just one of those little anomalies that some have discovered to cheat the system. I fail to understand how a fake pat on the back, like the above situation, can make a person feel good about what they accomplished. I've seen similar things in other situations at other times, and I still don't understand what kind of satisfaction someone can get from it.

Comshaw

 

[SimonDoom]

Yeah, that's total bullshit. It seems to me that if you choose to turn off voting that any prior votes should be deleted or at a minimum hidden. It's just one of those little anomalies that some have discovered to cheat the system. I fail to understand how a fake pat on the back, like the above situation, can make a person feel good about what they accomplished. I've seen similar things in other situations at other times, and I still don't understand what kind of satisfaction someone can get from it.

Comshaw

It seems to me that if you turn off voting, your story should appear as having no score, and your story should not appear on any score-based toplists. You can't have it both ways. And allowing authors to do this undercuts the primary rationale of scoring, which is to convey information to readers.

 

[Ezrollin]

Yes, ratings can be very deceptive. Some of the top-followed authors on this site have many, many stories that aren't "Hot," for a variety of reasons ... but when they have thousands of followers, they are appealing to someone, right?

I think a better approach is to cast a wide net in the categories you like and read a bunch of stories. You may find authors who average lower than four stars but have a style or writes plot arcs that personally appeal to you. Once you have authors, you can follow them and see what else they have.

That's good advice, it would narrow down the mass of stories you'd need to read to fine the kind you prefer.

 

[Lifestyle66]

... I fail to understand how a fake pat on the back, like the above situation, can make a person feel good about what they accomplished. I've seen similar things in other situations at other times, and I still don't understand what kind of satisfaction someone can get from it.

Comshaw

"Everybody deserves a trophy."

It's that mentality which produced some people who MUST HAVE their fake award.

 

[Ezrollin]

Did you check and see if you could vote on the story?

Some people lock their stories after a few votes even if they give themselves the votes so they show high scores and red H's.

What kind of a writer would do that...Personally I think constructive comments and honest ratings are helpful. From now on if I can finish a story I will comment and give it a rating.

 

[Ezrollin]

Yeah, that's total bullshit. It seems to me that if you choose to turn off voting that any prior votes should be deleted or at a minimum hidden. It's just one of those little anomalies that some have discovered to cheat the system. I fail to understand how a fake pat on the back, like the above situation, can make a person feel good about what they accomplished. I've seen similar things in other situations at other times, and I still don't understand what kind of satisfaction someone can get from it.

Comshaw

It has to be a very shallow, narcissistic individual.

 

[Ezrollin]

It seems to me that if you turn off voting, your story should appear as having no score, and your story should not appear on any score-based toplists. You can't have it both ways. And allowing authors to do this undercuts the primary rationale of scoring, which is to convey information to readers.

I agree, do you think if we voiced this to management it would be considered?

 

[Bazzle]

Majority of my stories don't have enough votes to reach H. They are too long and boring for readers to get to the end to either vote or comment

 

[KeithD]

It seems to me that if you turn off voting, your story should appear as having no score, and your story should not appear on any score-based toplists. You can't have it both ways. And allowing authors to do this undercuts the primary rationale of scoring, which is to convey information to readers.

Isn't this the way it is already?

 

[MillieDynamite]

Isn't this the way it is already?

NO, it isn't. I read several stories this weekend with red-Hs, and several had the voting turned off.

 

[Lifestyle66]

Isn't this the way it is already?

That's the way it is for the monthly contest with cash prizes:

Rule 11. "Literotica reserves the right to disqualify without notice or explanation any story in which any kind of cheating or vote-tampering is suspected. Turning off voting on a story at any point - for any reason - disqualifies a submission from any and all contests winnings. ... "