OMG One Bombs!

[MillieDynamite]

Yeah, it’s absolutely not a score to complain about. Should have given the context that the current highest-scoring story in the category for the last 30 days is 4.85, so seeing my score briefly hit 4.86 before tumbling down again was a rollercoaster.

Are you obsessed with having the highest score? Even in contests, which I never expect to win, I don't obsess about my score if it is above a 4.3 or so. Yes, I'd like them to be above the 4.5, but it isn't important what the score is in the long run. It's how much fun I had writing it and how much fun those who like my work have reading it. The one bomb, or even a low score, doesn't mean the work isn't good or enjoyable. It means some don't like the category, are uncomfortable with the subject matter, or, god forbid, like to be hurtful.

 

[NotWise]

20 one votes are going to take you a hell of a lot lower than 4.79. You'll find it hard to get sympathy for being reduced to a 4.79 to begin with.

Yeah, this is a perfect example of what I complained about early in the thread. It seems like some authors really want to think they're being persecuted, and that trolls lurk behind every computer screen.

EarlyMorningLight's story had a score of 4.86 with 115 votes and dropped to 4.79 at 135 votes. That's twenty votes with an average score of 4.4. The votes have not "pretty much all been ones." There couldn't have been more than three 1* votes, and most of the possible combinations of twenty votes that will average 4.4 have no 1* votes at all.

 

[Bubo_bubo]

People are overall a. bad at probabilities and b. good at seeing patterns and meaning even if there are none.

 

[MelissaBaby]

20 one votes are going to take you a hell of a lot lower than 4.79. You'll find it hard to get sympathy for being reduced to a 4.79 to begin with.

In some categories, a story with a 4.86 rating has a shot at winning an award, and thus attracting more readers. A 4.79 story in probably out of contention. It's a valid concern.

 

[EarlyMorningLight]

Are you obsessed with having the highest score? Even in contests, which I never expect to win,

I hadn’t given it much thought until it happened (however briefly). I won’t pretend to be so aloof that it didn’t give me a nice little rush.

 

[jsmiam]

I’ve acknowledged that I care about scores before, and In light of the flurry of proclamations by many that they don’t care, I’ll say two things:

a. It’s ok to care,

2. I have some doubts that people don’t care as much as they say they don’t care, specially in light of the existence of searches here or via google,

iii. When people watch their own stories closely (and that’s ok too!), particularly during contests, they will likely witness first hand one-bombs that appear then disappear during sweeps. So in a given time span, let’s say a story (making numbers up) goes from 100 to 120 votes in a week, that doesn’t mean there weren’t perhaps a total of 30 votes over that time, with 10 being swept.

1.4 it’s important to be consistent when numbering paragraphs.

 

[Bubo_bubo]

<snip>

1.4 it’s important to be consistent when numbering paragraphs.

https://c.tenor.com/yljUqzXwOPYAAAAM/cringe-danny.gif

 

[KeithD]

I’ve acknowledged that I care about scores before, and In light of the flurry of proclamations by many that they don’t care, I’ll say two things:

There's caring and there's whining about it on the discussion board (especially about stories still rating above 4.5). They aren't the same level of "care."

 

[Duleigh]

I’ve acknowledged that I care about scores before, and In light of the flurry of proclamations by many that they don’t care, I’ll say two things:

a. It’s ok to care,

2. I have some doubts that people don’t care as much as they say they don’t care, specially in light of the existence of searches here or via google,

iii. When people watch their own stories closely (and that’s ok too!), particularly during contests, they will likely witness first hand one-bombs that appear then disappear during sweeps. So in a given time span, let’s say a story (making numbers up) goes from 100 to 120 votes in a week, that doesn’t mean there weren’t perhaps a total of 30 votes over that time, with 10 being swept.

1.4 it’s important to be consistent when numbering paragraphs.

Fan of Car Talk?

I see that you use the Tom and Ray Magliozzi school of numbering.

 

[jsmiam]

I forgot they did that! But yes, definitely.

As a sidenote, there is a website that lives on. It stays a bit more on topic than the brothers ever did, but it’s nice that something continues to exist to remember them by.

(To those wondering what the hell we’re talking about, Car Talk was a weekly radio call in show on national public radio, two brothers, who typically solved caller’s car problems while joking around the entire time. One brother passed away several years back. Cartalk.com)

Edit: for replays of the radio show itself start here. (The rest of the website is actual car information.). https://www.cartalk.com/radio/our-show

Fan of Car Talk?

I see that you use the Tom and Ray Magliozzi school of numbering.

 

[Duleigh]

I forgot they did that! But yes, definitely.

As a sidenote, there is a website that lives on. It stays a bit more on topic than the brothers ever did, but it’s nice that something continues to exist to remember them by.

(To those wondering what the hell we’re talking about, Car Talk was a weekly radio call in show on national public radio, two brothers, who typically solved caller’s car problems while joking around the entire time. One brother passed away several years back. Cartalk.com)

Edit: for replays of the radio show itself start here. (The rest of the website is actual car information.). https://www.cartalk.com/radio/our-show

... And don't drive like my brother.

I loved those guys, you could always tell when they were stumped by a question because they would ask what color the car was. My dad was a mechanic for 40 years and he did the same thing.

 

[FifthEstate]

What makes you think they were 1-bombs? You can't really tell unless you're actually back-calculating the votes, and a lot of people seem to think that any down vote is a 1-bomb. With a high score and low vote total, anything below a 5* vote is damaging.

This is 100% true and doesn’t necessarily reflect a 1-bomb. If after 10 votes, a story has a 4.9 score and then the 11th vote is a 4, the cumulative drops to 4.81 and if the 12th vote is a 4, it drops to 4.75. 1-bombs in the same scenario would have dropped it to 4.54 and 4.25 respectively. Sorry…couldn’t help giving a math lesson this morning

 

[MillieDynamite]

This is 100% true and doesn’t necessarily reflect a 1-bomb. If after 10 votes, a story has a 4.9 score and then the 11th vote is a 4, the cumulative drops to 4.81 and if the 12th vote is a 4, it drops to 4.75. 1-bombs in the same scenario would have dropped it to 4.54 and 4.25 respectively. Sorry…couldn’t help giving a math lesson this morning

I love the smell of math in the morning. I have a sudden urge to go surfing.

 

[Trionyx]

If you look at total number of stars, a few average scores can look like a one-bomb.
Let's say you looked at your score after 5 more votes came in. Your maximum number of stars would be 25 (five votes with five stars each.)
But you note you only got 21 stars total. Four votes of five stars and one vote of one star gives you the 21 total stars so you were one-bombed, right?
No. Two votes of five stars, two votes of four stars and one vote of three stars will give you a total of 21 stars. No, you weren't necessarily one bombed at all. You got four respectable scores and one mediocre score.
The only way to know for sure you were one bombed is to check the voting every few seconds and see what happens vote by vote. If you have such free time, go for it.

 

[Emotional]

I honestly think there are authors out there who are jealous and bomb stories that are trending above them.

 

[Lifestyle66]

I

I honestly think there are authors out there who are jealous and bomb stories that are trending above them.

I have one story posted over eight months ago (Lifestyle Ch. 10 - House Party Cont.) which had 20 votes and at just below 4.5. Two weeks ago, another rating of 5 came in and pushed it over for a Red-H! That lasted two days, then someone 1-bombed it. None of my other stories were 1-bombed, and that one wasn't even the latest in the series.

Go figure.

I routinely check my story lists to see rating changes, mainly to see that there ARE 5's and people do enjoy them. Otherwise, the ratings aren't worth losing any sleep over. There are haters, and they will hate that which they are incapable of understanding or appreciating.

 

[mirafrida]

The only way to know for sure you were one bombed is to check the voting every few seconds and see what happens vote by vote. If you have such free time, go for it.

Aha, receipts! I had a story claw its way up to 4.51 with 47 votes, and by 50 votes it was 4.3. Three one's in a row.
Oh well, I'll always have the memory of that "H". And, hey, if the next 21 straight votes are "5" I'll be right back in it ...

 

[SiteNonSite]

I’m late to the party, but no one should have to apologize for being upset - those who think this is crying poor or a humble brag are missing the crucial difference between a 4.9 and a 4.85 - a score of 4.9 or over will put your story on a “Hall of Fame” list and makes your story eligible to win a monthly contest- if that seems like small beer consider, that’s the best way to get your story read by a wider audience, to connect with people who are looking for the kinds of thing you’re writing. The huge majority of us aren’t being paid to be here, we’re here to reach readers, connect with people who like what we like. Otherwise the most traffic a story is likely to get is when it’s “New” and most vulnerable to a one-bomb.

I have buried the lead, there is something you can do: “use the Report This Story feature (select “Other” as the reason for the report and then enter “Check Voting” in the “Additional Details” field) to bring it to our attention. We will run extra manual checks on the voting (in addition to the ongoing automated checks).”

Just like you can vote for your own story, you can report your own story. And as authors we are best positioned to spot and report suspicious voting.

My stories have been under attack from the beginning. For a long time I just absorbed the disappointment, but this fall I was researching how to take down ALL my stories when I stumbled on the FAQ about reporting suspicious voting. It’s not perfect, but it works.

Good luck, and don’t let the bastards grind you down.

 

[Djmac1031]

4.7 - 4.8 sounds pretty respectable to me.

My suggestion: stop calling attention to it.

There are trolls that will go out of their way to troll you harder if you publicly complain about them.

Ignore, be happy with your still high ratings, and carry on doing what you do.

 

[SiteNonSite]

4.7 - 4.8 sounds pretty respectable to me.

My suggestion: stop calling attention to it.

There are trolls that will go out of their way to troll you harder if you publicly complain about them.

Ignore, be happy with your still high ratings, and carry on doing what you do.

I understand the danger, and I hope you understand why I risked saying something. I didn’t read the whole thread, but most of it seems to be on the subject of maths or about keeping your head don’t and stop whining about how good you’ve got it. Because I had information to share (how to report suspicious score activity) that I wish someone had shared with me two years ago, I thought it was worth speaking up.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I don't think there is an author here that didn't get targeted by some undeserved 1*. It is common in many categories and there are trolls who do that, yet there are those who do it with a clear purpose - as a way of gaining spots in the Hall of Fame. It happened to many authors, it happened to me, and it will keep happening as long as the current voting system stands. We have been discussing it here in so many threads and debating solutions, but bottom line is you should stop caring about scores as they really aren't a good way to measure one's skill and you most certainly can't stop people from doing it, especially if they are being smart about it, by giving 2* and 3* instead, a rating that can still pull you down considerably if you are in 4.8+ range.

As I said, it has been discussed to no end and the discussion doesn't really lead anywhere. Here is the most recent thread, if I remember correctly

https://forum.literotica.com/threads/two-hot-stories-have-disappeared.1580996/

 

[TarnishedPenny]

4.7 - 4.8 sounds pretty respectable to me.

My suggestion: stop calling attention to it.

There are trolls that will go out of their way to troll you harder if you publicly complain about them.

Ignore, be happy with your still high ratings, and carry on doing what you do.

Yup

 

[MillieDynamite]

This discussion is always a thorny path to tread. We can't prevent tampering, it isn't in our power. The cost of prevention might be unreasonable to put it in place for the site owners. And there is always a way to game a system. I won't say voting isn't important to me, but I have learned not to worry about the scores.