Spite Ratings?

[smutpen]

So.

My stories just got bombed by someone. The anonymous comment left on part 1, short though it was, reminded me in tone and phrasing of someone I've disagreed with here, though I have no real evidence of this, and could be completely wrong.

Despite hating part 1 so much, this person then went on to (presumably) read, and then rate part 2 -- again with a 1 score.

Part 2 had a 4.78 with 81 votes before this attack, putting it in the top 5 or so for the category.

I know I shouldn't be overly concerned with rates and rankings, but I'll admit I'm pleased by how well the stories were received, and excited that Part 2 is at least a contender for the top story in the category for May.

Does the site review apparent abuses of the rating system, and is any action taken against spite raters?

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Strange as it seems, it's a good thing that this troll went on to vote both stories with a 1. It means the chances of those votes being considered illegal and removed by Laurel have increased exponentially. She usually only cleans them up right before the monthly contest winners are announced, so don't panic yet.

As for repercussions for the offender, it is said that Literotica will keep them under very close scrutiny in the future, and there is a possibility that persisting in this will result in a ban.

 

[Blarneystoned]

Stop with the conspiracy theory

For what its worth I havent read, nor did I vote on your story..

Blarneystoned

 

[smutpen]

Thank you, Lauren.



BS, I was careful not to accuse you, and to admit my suspicions might be baseless.

But the fact is that you've acted like a troll -- a remarkably consistent and predictable set of behaviors, so my suspicion had a better foundation than most conspiracy theories.

I accept your statement, however, and withdraw any implied accusation.

 

[Blarneystoned]

Politics tends to do that

I should have left the thread alone.....I was just defending my views...I went a bit extreme..but so did some of the rest of them..I was the only one defending against a dozen in the debate....at first it was fun...but then...

Blarneystoned

 

[hiddenself]

"ah, quit yar whining"

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

Eh, spite ratings happen a lot for various reasons. As soon as my anal story hit the top of the charts, I instantly received a one bomb to knock it down. My most controversial essay received nearly an equal spattering of ones and fives (the pure polarization was amazing). Assholes just exist and if your work is doing well, it seems like someone not doing well or doing well below you will punish you for it.

It's life at Literotica. I haven't yet had a troll come from the forum to punish me (that I know of) and I hope none do that. An anonymous asshole from the toplists is one thing, but a political opponent taking anger out on nonpolitical innocent stories is just sick. Anyone who stoops to that is unworthy of membership in this community.

Blarney, we believe you. You don't seem the type to punish someone outside the forums. Amicus, though... he would have been that type.

 

[Guest]

So.

My stories just got bombed by someone. The anonymous comment left on part 1, short though it was, reminded me in tone and phrasing of someone I've disagreed with here, though I have no real evidence of this, and could be completely wrong.

Despite hating part 1 so much, this person then went on to (presumably) read, and then rate part 2 -- again with a 1 score.

Part 2 had a 4.78 with 81 votes before this attack, putting it in the top 5 or so for the category.

I know I shouldn't be overly concerned with rates and rankings, but I'll admit I'm pleased by how well the stories were received, and excited that Part 2 is at least a contender for the top story in the category for May.

Does the site review apparent abuses of the rating system, and is any action taken against spite raters?

Laurel takes care of writers.

Excellent stories, by the way! I voted on part 1 when it posted but I left comments on it today.

I voted on part 2 today. It is very erotic, very well done, and a terrific use of the part 2 of a series.

You know, in part 1 you already introduced the characters, set up the theme, worked through the obstacles - so in part 2 they could have lots and lots of terrific sex!

(certainly worked for me!)

 

[cloudy]

Unfortunately, votes-for-spite happen once in awhile. Several of us here were recently bombed a little while back for the sole reason that we disagreed rather heatedly with a shall-be-unnamed troll.

It happens.

Like Lauren said, it's a good thing that both stories were done that way, because Laurel is more likely to spot it and take care of it.

 

[R. Richard]

The idea of a 1 vote for a good story touched a nerve with me.

If someone is going to post a 1 vote for a story it seems to me to be a matter of ethics to also tell the writer why the 1 vote was thought to be deserved in an identified response/e-mail. It is maddening to see a good story rating clobbered by one or more 1 votes with no indication as to why.

I would like to see a REQUIREMENT for an identified notification to the author for either a 1 or 2 vote. The idea here being for the author to either be able to obtain feedback or to make a request of Laurel to remove the unexplained low vote.

Just my opinion. Sorry for the rant.
R. Richard

 

[Guest]

The idea of a 1 vote for a good story touched a nerve with me.

If someone is going to post a 1 vote for a story it seems to me to be a matter of ethics to also tell the writer why the 1 vote was thought to be deserved in an identified response/e-mail. It is maddening to see a good story rating clobbered by one or more 1 votes with no indication as to why.

I would like to see a REQUIREMENT for an identified notification to the author for either a 1 or 2 vote. The idea here being for the author to either be able to obtain feedback or to make a request of Laurel to remove the unexplained low vote.

Just my opinion. Sorry for the rant.
R. Richard

No apology needed; you haven't ranted.

That subject has come up before and it is a terrific suggestion!

 

[Match Made In Heaven]

Spite ratings do happen, especially when posting a controversial point of view. But it's good to remember, that many people could be reading your thread/s who never post at all, so it's quite possible that your stories wheren't downvoted by someone you 'know' from the boards, but a faceless lurker who didn't like something you had to say. NOt much comfort, I'll admit, but slightly better than having to be suspicious of those we know. Not that it *couldn't* be them, of course but just the possiblity that it could *not* be them, sets my own mind a little bit at ease.

 

[gauchecritic]

I would like to see a REQUIREMENT for an identified notification to the author for either a 1 or 2 vote. R. Richard

Except that occasionally the 1 voter really does feel that, compared to other stories, this deserves a 1 in their opinion. And that's the operative word.

I can think of a great many AH regulars who could take 99% of the stories on Lit and rip them to shreds (literarywise) and then say the other 1% wasn't to their liking either, and thereby give a deserved 1 or 2 to every story posted.

Gauche

 

[R. Richard]

Except that occasionally the 1 voter really does feel that, compared to other stories, this deserves a 1 in their opinion. And that's the operative word.

I can think of a great many AH regulars who could take 99% of the stories on Lit and rip them to shreds (literarywise) and then say the other 1% wasn't to their liking either, and thereby give a deserved 1 or 2 to every story posted.

Gauche

I think that everyone is entitled to THEIR opinion. However, THEIR opinion needs to be identified as to exactly to whom said opinion belongs. I that way, an author can gain usefull feedback and the person who voted their opinion can defend/expand the reasons behind their opinion.

I have read stories in Literotica that contain misspells in significant numbers. Similarly, I have read stories in Literotica that contain improper usage (confusion of there/their and/or to/two/too and misuse of lay/lie) to the point it was difficult to understand what the author meant. Stories containing significant numbers of instances of really bad spelling/grammer, in my opinion, deserve a 1 vote.

I have read stories in Literotica where the 'plot' seems to basically consist of two or more people in a room (car, field or onstage) having sex. If the sex is REALLY hardcore and graphic, I might even give such a story a 2 vote. However, I do prefer some sort of plot to the stories I read. JMHO.

While I do think that each person is entitled to their opinion, feedback such as: "You really don't know how to write!" is useless and aggravating. Feedback such as "Wow! Great story." Is also useless, if quite a bit more pleasing. What I am looking for is a specific character(s) and/or a specific theme/scene that captured that reader's attention. My current sequence, 'Hired Gun' is finally bringing me that kind of feedback.

The only 'pay' for a Literotica writer, aside from the chance to see their stories in print is the votes of the readers. This last may seem petty, but I am attempting to sell stories to 'for pay' magazines. I use the number of hits and cumulative ratings as a selling point. If I get 'shorted on my pay,' it makes my sales job that much more difficult.

What my complaint is really based on is the rendering of a low vote with no useful feedback. (I include in the 'no useful feedback' category, feedback that tells me that 'thuis kind of sex is perverted.' This last would not be so bad, except that it often refers to incest in the Incest thread or group sex in the Group thread.) Also, I have my own personal albatross hanging about my author throat. I have a (thankfully) small group of individuals who read every one of my stories and respond with a 1 vote. (This last is something of an assumption, however, I always get several one votes in sequence at some point in time. I am a mthematician by training and I know what I am talking about here.) If people do not like my stories, fine. They have a right to their opinion. However, why do they find it necessary to punish me by continuing to read stories they do not like?

"The food was totally inedible and the portions were way too small!"

 

[gauchecritic]

I think it's possible that you're expecting a bit too much from the Lit. readership. My writing of late has become 'literary' in the acceptable sense but my feedback has trickled off almost entirely, whilst the scores have remained pretty constant.

Consequently my 'storytelling' has suffered because of my 'developed' writing. These days I'm into imagery, themes, character portrayal. People who want to jerk off, it seems, don't do that to set texts in Literature Appreciation 101.

People who post on the AH are into 'proper' writing, people who visit Lit are into jerking off.

So it's a trade off. Art or graphic sex but not artistic graphic sex.

I think I'll have to get back to basics for the next contest and see what happens.

Gauche

I'd be really interested in your opinion of 2 of my stories as example Richard. "Across the Street" and "Hunting Dawn"

 

[mismused]

Let's see if I can say this without getting into trouble, or getting anyone hot.

I recently had an author tell me about being bombed. A few days later, it was cleared up, and the author was happy. That lasted about two days, and then the bombing really hit. Bad!!!

I've been consistently bombed, and have given up squawking about it. That's just me though. I don't blame anyone for complaining (just be careful how you do it ).

Here's something that maybe belongs on another thread (that was probably just closed out). Anymore, whenever I have submitted my stories, they nearly instantly get many views, like 50, and that's after I go back into the story initially and it gets to be as resubmitted.

Someone once said that many views were probably "bots" (preset programs that looked for anomolies to be cause for story rejection). That's too many views for just being "bots."

The tie in to this is that there are most likely many people with access to the stories, and not just Laurel and Manu. The never say (and I can't find fault with that), but simple math says "the many theory" is probably right.

This means, if true, that many have knowledge of things in the system, and can somehow enter in to cause serious damage to the story ratings.

Read that as you will, it's just a plausible theory I have come up with. There is no need to look for the logic of doing such a thing as it seems to happen.

Oh, by the way, the author I was speaking of was very discouraged by all of this, being bombed, having it fixed, then being bombed worse almost immediately.

Seems they ought to do something to take care of it, but business is like water, it goes the easiest route possible.

To any who might think other wise, this is not a complaint, just info. Take it how you will.

mismused

(edited for spelling)