nominations

[Guest]

what's the point of having a last minute vote on stories? Why not use the votes from the whole year and it would be more accurate? I read all the stories and always vote but this seems stupid to me to do it at the last minute and just have a few people vote. Wouldn't have been better to have started the forum at the beginning of the year?

 

[KillerMuffin]

It's not a vote sweetie. It's nominations. From what's assumable, the voting comes later. When the year is over. Email HSWriter if you have questions, on any of his posts at the bottom is a mail icon, click it and send your email. You can do so anonymously.

 

[Guest]

Oh I didn't know. thank you Killer Muffin. I guess I better register. Thank you again, I don't post normally and could not in the nomination forum

 

[KillerMuffin]

I wonder why not...

Probably to stop one person from continuously nominating the same story over and over as different people.

 

[Deborah]

Hey Fred, you don't really believe that the voting on the stories here is totally legit do you? This isn't Florida. Now why, in view of the plagiarism, multiple identities and terrible trolling that has gone on, might anyone even speculate that some sick fuck might be diabolically devious with regard to the voting?

Why just yesterday I had a story that was number one on the Top List with a "perfect" score of 5.00. Today it has a score of 3.28 and isn't even close to being in the top 500. LMFAO! I predicted to several prominent members of this board that what did happen is exactly what would happen. I shoulda bet you money, honey! I also alluded to the little game on the "I WANT YOUR TONGUE ..." thread over on the Authors Hangout forum. Not the first time that troll has shown uncommon interest in my writing ability, or lack thereof.

Of course the point could be made, as my favorite troll has frequently done, that my stories just plain suck. So I tested that theory. Took my story with the lowest score, also the most votes incidentally, and submitted it to another site. It got the White Shadow star for merit, over 30,000 hits in a couple days, and soon will be near the top of the most popular list where some of my other stories are. Same story that has been nominated for Best Incest Story over there on the Nominations board. Just changed the title to something a little more provocative.

Someone please say that you can't vote more than once so I can LMFAO again. Real easy for some to get access to multiple IP's and multiple computers. For example, most universities provide easy access to hundreds of computers. And when somebody says "Well, just check the IP's" as a defense to possible shenanigans, there's your first red flag that someone knows how to play this game.

I find this situation quite amusing. Trying to understand how evil minds work is fascinating.

 

[WriterDom]

Might be more fair to throw out the top and bottom 15% of the votes and just count the middle 70. But it's just a popularity contest not the Olympics.

 

[SimplySouthern]

without major technical jargon....can someone tell me exactly what this IP thing is...and how it tells you who is who? Just so I feel like I am "in the know"

Thanks!

 

[Deborah]

Hey WriterDom, just sent you an e-mail. I think you're a little confused on this Dom business. Not to worry, I'll straighten you out, boy.

SS, if none of our so-called "experts" explain this issue, I'll give you the straight skinny. I've heard a lot of crap expounded before on this board regarding the matter.

 

[Guest]

Hey, less of the "prominent member", Debz!

I've had corrective surgery to have that thing reduced.

But, it's true, though. There does appear to be a little guerrilla hurling spanners into the inner workings of the Literotica voting system. Not a lot that can be done to stop it (outside of abolishing college campuses and other multiple-computer-flaunting establishments). Quite intriguing, none-the-less.

 

[Deborah]

The plot thickens

Hey Roger, if Gingersnap doesn't turn you back into Rachel soon I'm going to take over myself. If you want a job (SRS-Sexual Reassignment Surgery) done right, do it yourself. Have you read my story "Revenge of the Coeds" all about what you can do with a chainsaw?

WriterDom and I had a little chat yesterday. "He" will now be known as WriterSub. I think it was the buzzing that finally convinced "him."

Now down to the serious business. After WriterDom and I dispensed with "his" sexual identity crisis, we discussed the apparent incongruities in the voting on stories.

On 12/28 the top 2 stories were my "Time Out" and WriterDom's "A Trail of Roses." I already said what happened to my story, which incidentally received an "E" for editor's choice or whatever it means. WriterDom's story received two additional votes, both a 1, the lowest possible score. So his story, with all 5 scores previously, got two 1 votes which sent it down, down, down. LOL! Not nearly as far down as mine, though. So quit bitching, bitch!

I wasn't paying real close attention to other stories at that point, but I do notice now that several other stories near the top took a big nosedive, including Dixon Carter Lee's "Teaching Patty Ch. 7" which was #8 on that day. It is now #415. You do the math and figure out how it got that way. I'd guess four additional votes of 1,1,4,4 or 1,1,3,5. AnonSky's "First Night Ch. 1" was #3 and has dropped to #318. You do the math and figure out how it got that way. I'd guess four additional votes of 1,1,3,4 or something like that. I wasn't tracking day-by-day just yet but I suspect the 1 votes came on the first day, just like with WriterDom and me. By the way, this very same story of AnonSky's has won two awards, for Best Incest Story and Best Erotic Series.

Doh! Anybody starting to get the picture yet? No? OK, I'll keep hitting you on the head with Purple Haze's two-by-four.

Now yesterday, WriterDom had another story which was at the top, "A Master's Pet" which was #1 with a "perfect" score. He got trashed with 1's again. Just ask him. So did, obviously, #2, "Carla's Got a New Boyfriend" by Brodosis,"#3 "Jennifer Ch. 14" by Mark Singer and #4, "A Friendly Game of Cards Ch. 2" by English Bob. All dropped off the top 500 list except "Carla ..." which only dropped to #214, because it is a "new" story and received more "legitimate" votes.

The authors I've mentioned thus far are names I recognize as being some of the best on Literotica. I have heard these people being praised frequently for their writing in one way or another. No doubt this "trashing" has happened to other excellent authors who probably said "WTF?" like I did and wonder why they were getting some really low votes, despite all other evidence to the contrary regarding the quality of their stories.

Not convinced yet? Anybody ever hear of Whispersecret and "Hostile Takeover" by chance? "Hostile Takeover Ch. 10" was #16 yesterday. It received two additional votes, both 1's, the lowest possible score, and likewise fell into the bottomless pit. It's still higher than my story, though, as are all the rest of those I mentioned.

Now what do you suppose might be the motivation of the person(s) who are engaging in the "trashing" of the top stories?

Of course I could be hallucinating again or obsessed with another of my conspiracy theories as some of you seem to think.

I'll close with Happy Fucking New Year to those who engage in this sort of behavior, and plagarism, and terrible trolling. Hope the new year brings you everything you deserve, like a STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease).

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

I have to admit I think she's right.

Without seeing this thread, and quite coincidentally, I happened up the whole new list of voting tallies the other day. I didn't realize that you could actually see the number of votes each story got. I was just lookign around the site, and ahppened upon it.

I checked out a few of my stories (what author doesn't?) and found that for the first time in nearly two years "Teaching Patti" was way down there. And this occured in just a matter of days.

Hmm.

 

[Nobody Special]

You Know this is the Exact reason as to why I refuse to vote for any of the stories or Pictures on any sites.. WHO THE FUCK CARES if it is voted the best story or not as long as it gets read and some one likes it.. I have my faves and I have my least faves but to rate them I just can't do.. I like most of the stories here and I do enjoy them. all I ask is to say fuck the Voting, it doesn't matter. I just say read the stories and if you like them, then pass them to others who you think may like it as well. If you don't like the story then put it back on the shelf for some one else to find.

But as far a a best sellers go, most of them I am not interested in and the ones that say that they are best sellers but I haven't seen on the lists seem to alot better then the ones that I have seen on the lists.. so Go figure, read what you like and spead it around and put back the ones you don't like and don't say another word about them. And as far a s the Voting goes.. FUCK IT!!!!!!!!! IT DOESN'T MATTER.. all that matters is what you think of the stories you read and nothing else..

If I have to vote, then I vote that we take off the mandatory Voting for the rating of the stories and Pics.. it is unfare to all who participate in the writting and sendings of pics wich is not what was intended from this site..

This is my Oppinion and I stand By it 210%
Fuck the Voting, It doesn't matter, and Deborah has actually made the most sence and in part made the basis in this argument of mine.. Thank You Deborah

( I remembered to give credit where credit was due, arn't you proud of me )

E

P.S. Now if I could just get this spelling thing down UMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Nah. The voting is fine. There are thousands of stories on this site, and a new perosn coming in appreciate knowing where to start. A nicely rated story or two shows the newbie that there are quality stories to be found here, and they stick around. That's only good for the site.

Later, once you've been here a few months, you could ignore the voting and go onto the categories and hunt and peck through the titles to find what you like. but for new people wondeirng whether or not to stick with Literotica, rated stories are a great way to wade in.

And, if I want to read something quickly, and I don't feel like hunting and pecking, I go to the top lists. It's a convenient and (fairly) trustworthy way to find a good story fast. I like the Top Lists for that reason, and I think nearly almost everyone else does, too.

 

[WriterDom]

I'd like to see more readers at the poetry section. Right now there are only 3 poets who have accumulated enough votes for the top lists. It's not a very friendly place though. I think 10 out of 11 votes I've gotten after my appearance there have been ones.

 

[Guest]

didn't think this was such a problem. I use the voting as a guide to what other readers liked. Would it not be better to have a pen name when writing, and a different name for your post here? It seems a writers interactions on the forum affect the score they get in the story area. Like if some one gets mad at your posts here do they go and vote low on your story for revenge. Deb seems to have proved that true.

Would it be better then for an author to not interact on the forums with the readers? I noticed Tawny T does not post on the general area.

 

[CreamyLady]

My own stories don't do well in the voting, but those who do read them seem to like them a lot.

I also spend time on the boards here, and it hasn't markedly increased my literary popularity.

I can't see the correlation myself.

 

[WriterDom]

There will always be vote inflation when a small circle of people are voting on your writings. And when that puts you at the top of the list, you stay there for 24 hours till the next update. I don't think it had much to do with deb's charming personality. Just that it was her turn to get knocked off the mountain.

 

[Madame Pandora]

Observation

Okay, I'm new here, but I'm pretty sure I know what you mean.

Because I hadn't done this before (posting one of my stories in a public forum), I kept a close eye on my first story, Uncle Beau, when it first got posted - you know, kinda jazzed about seeing what strangers thought about it.

I was shocked when it got really good ratings. It had a 5.0 the first day (like 12 votes) and a 4.8 the second day (about 21 votes). It flirted up near the top for a couple days, then all of a sudden it got a lot of hits all at once and they were all scores lowering it. I figured maybe it was a coincidence - that it had appealed to the right people at first, but turned off the next batch or whatever. It has since kinda drifted somewhere down between the 30s and 50s where it's been steady for about a month. So...apparently, the results coming in now are pretty balanced and I gathered that the snert who plugged it full of 1s had shot their load.

It is unfortunate that anyone would be motivated into such silly behavior. But, whenever you have a contest of even the most minimal sort, you have little egos bent upon being king (or queen) of the hill. I'm guilty of minor huberis as much as anyone. I still check the status of my story (now stories...woo hoo) whenever I read new submissions.

Still, to my way of thinking, one person can't alter things all that significantly. When I accidentally went to vote on Violet's "All Hallow's Eve" a second time (couldn't remember if I'd voted on it or not when I first read it - I didn't vote on things when I first found the site) I got a message telling me that I'd already cast a "5." So, in theory, your little troll would have to use several different computers or have a gathering of minions under his control to do some real damage. Although, in a competitive category, all it takes is a couple to plummet you down. If the little miscreant has nothing better to do with his time but jump from computer to computer and employ his friends to thwart you - think about what a compliment that is! Watch out, or he (or she) might be taking pop shots at the president to get your attention ;-).

All kidding aside, you're never going to best people like this. They are willing to put time into their little loser games and the rest of us are aware that life is simply too short. I knew it's frustrating, but you are the real victor in this. They're not fooling anyone, and deep down they know their measly talents need the extra help because they can't stand on their own merits. They don't feel satisfaction or pride...they are too panniced about trying to maintain the facade.

I have since contented myself with feedback from actual readers. I was surprised just how much I got and how positive it was. Screw the numbers, I'd rather get a letter than a rating anyway.

However, I do think that this is why the nomination process is a positive idea. It is nice to recognize people for their contributions, and you HAVE TO register to do so. People are less likely to show their ass sometimes if they have to sign their name (or at least their alias) to their actions.

So, hon, don't take any of it to heart. I think your stories are well written, and you can't worry about what trolls think or do. Underhanded snakes will always crawl on their bellies and because their little minds are so focused on one thing, they ususally succeed (at least in the short run). You've proved to yourself that the laugh is on them.

If you let 'em ruin your enjoyment of the writing or the reading of our naughty little pleasures then they are winning something much more important than a numbers game. Don't give it to them.

Remember...joke 'em if they can't take a fuck

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{ }}}}}}}}}}}}}

MP

(sorry this was so long)

 

[Whispersecret]

Deb, my story is so far into the pit, I can’t find it. I wish there was a way to do a search on the Top List.

And, you know what? I care about the voting. I put a hell of a lot of work into all ten chapters of “Hostile Takeover”, and like Dixon said, people look to those top lists to help them decide what to read. I want people to read my stories. I want them to enjoy them, and I want to KNOW if they enjoy them. The voting is one way to find out if I’m being read AT ALL, and what people think of my writing. I don’t think that makes me an ego-maniac. I think it’s human nature to crave acceptance and recognition.

The fact that someone feels a perverse need to manipulate votes is sad, but that’s life. I don’t see any way of preventing that sort of maliciousness. I have to trust that what goes around comes around. People who do things like that are living a horrible life anyway, because unless they’re sociopaths, they KNOW that what they’re doing is wrong, and they know that they are low-lifes. (Or is it low-lives?)

Fred H. has a point too. I think that the only reason for “Teaching Patti” to have gone south like that in a matter of days is personal vendetta. If a story like that stays at the top for TWO FUCKING YEARS, how likely is it that a few people would read it in a couple of days, and not like it enough to vote 1? Come on. You have to really dislike a story to give it that low of a rating. If a story doesn’t appeal to you, you might vote two, but to vote 1, you have to really hate it or it has to be just plain bad.

What I’m wondering is…if this concentrated “attack” is related to Dixon’s plagiarism issue. I publicly stated that I sent email to the Diary site, complaining against the thief. I also posted directly on her diary page that I thought what she did was despicable. Perhaps there’s a correlation between those whose stories took a nosedive and those who acted on Dixon’s behalf. (Not that I’m blaming Dixon in any way for this. I’d stand up for his rights as a writer any day of the week.)

Deb, are you up to some more detective work?

 

[chatbug]

One of the main reasons I was drawn to post my stories on this site was the rating / scoring. I'd been posting on Usenet, alt.sex.stories, for about three years, but except for the occasional e-mail, I had no idea whether anyone was reading my stories or not. Over the last year, alt.sex.stories has been so flooded with the same stories being posted over and over that I hadn't wanted to post anything new. I was afraid it would get lost in the flood.

I picked two of my best stories, and submitted them. One got a pretty good rating, not top 500 but above a 4, but the other story got a 2.17. I was a little upset, but I finally figured, ok, they just didn't like the way I wrote the story, or something. It took me a month before I got the courage to submit four more of my stories.

I care about the voting as well. The only stories I'd give a 1 or 2 to are those with so many spelling or grammar mistakes that I can't enjoy the story.

Part of the problem is that there's so much erotic writing out on Usenet now. If you do a deja news search on almost any topic, you should be able to find at least a dozen stories. Anyone who wants to could get a story from deja, then post it here as his own.

 

[Guest]

Something similiar to what is being described here happened to me. Didn't think all that much about it at the time. Now it's starting to make some sense.

I'd prefer not to say who I am. I don't post on the board. Mostly I just peruse the threads that pertain to writing. Seems as though the outspoken ones here take a lot of heat. Not my thing. And some of the things you people argue over, oh my.

I have four stories posted. The first three were posted in April, June and August. Got 5-10 e-mails on each as I recall. My newest story was posted two weeks ago. Got about the same number of e-mails. A few asked if I had any other stories. That happened on all my stories. I don't think people know about the Author Index or are too lazy to look.

The number of votes on my new story was around 125 the last time I checked and the score was a little under 4.00. My older stories were starting to get some votes, rather high. My guess is that those people who liked my new story went and read my older stories, and some voted.

So last week one of my old stories reaches the 10 votes necessary to make the top list and does, right there on the first page. Next day I had two 1 votes added and it dropped way down. I also have noticed the same thing happening lately to the stories that make the top of the top list. Next day you can barely find them. It does make one wonder.

 

[Whispersecret]

So, the question is, whose story remains at the top consistently?

 

[Madame Pandora]

Just a thought...

You know....

This controversy (if it qualifies as such) might have a pretty tame solution.

If we agree under the assumption that any given snert can only alter a vote by say....5 or 10 votes at the max of their influence...what if the "top lists" page didn't kick in until you had 60 or so votes? That would maybe balance the effect. Or possibly have a seperate top list for stories with less than 50 or so? I don't have any idea what would be involved, so I'm just thinking aloud here (and I'm medicated, so I only assume I'm making sense at that...lol).

When a story only has 10 or so, it's not really a good sampling anyway, which is why a single vote or two can really have an effect.

And hey...does anyone know if there is a calculated ratio of hits to votes? I mean, we can see how many people vote, but we don't know how many people hit each site. Might be nice to know if three-quarters, or half, or one-quarter of all visits votes. Didn't know if anyone had tested that yet.

And, while I'm ranting...does anyone know what the "Member" thingy is under "top lists?" Whenever you click on it, it says none yet. Porque?

MP

 

[Weird Harold]

Re: Just a thought...

And, while I'm ranting...does anyone know what the "Member" thingy is under "top lists?" Whenever you click on it, it says none yet. Porque?

The Member's top stories are supposed to be rated based only on votes by members of the board. It isn't working right, and Laurel has been notified.

When it's fixed, all of the stories will have two ratings. One that includes every vote, and one that only includes votes by members who were logged in when they voted.

The separation is intended to allow Laurel and Manu to base any awards on only those votes from people commited enough to register.

 

[Whispersecret]

Having the top lists not kick in until a larger number of votes? I think that's a capital idea, but I'm not a math genius. I'm not even a math smarty pants. Would that work? The authors would still get their individual information on how people are voting, via their profile. So there's no problem there.