Story Voting

[Flynn77]

Just a query. How exactly does the voting work? I had a story posted in november`s exhibitionist and Voyeur category which gained a voting average of 4.74 with a total of 281 votes.

I noticed that the story which was posted as winning this category for November had an average of 4.78 but only 55 votes.

Is there no accounting for dilution of score through high number of votes? If this is the case then hypothetically a story posted on the last voting day could win hands down by gathering only a handful of good votes, which makes running contests pointless.

Just wondering about the formula for calculating scores fairly, if there is any.

 

[cloudy]

Just a query. How exactly does the voting work? I had a story posted in november`s exhibitionist and Voyeur category which gained a voting average of 4.74 with a total of 281 votes.

I noticed that the story which was posted as winning this category for November had an average of 4.78 but only 55 votes.

Is there no accounting for dilution of score through high number of votes? If this is the case then hypothetically a story posted on the last voting day could win hands down by gathering only a handful of good votes, which makes running contests pointless.

Just wondering about the formula for calculating scores fairly, if there is any.

A story has to have 50 votes to be eligible for the monthly contest. After it has accumulated those votes, the winner is determined strictly by score.

It's fair, actually, whether you think it is or not. Some categories rack up staggering numbers of votes, while others don't. It would hardly be fair to penalize a story simply because it isn't in one of the more popular categories.

 

[Fantasymaster]

Just a query. How exactly does the voting work? I had a story posted in november`s exhibitionist and Voyeur category which gained a voting average of 4.74 with a total of 281 votes.

I noticed that the story which was posted as winning this category for November had an average of 4.78 but only 55 votes.

Is there no accounting for dilution of score through high number of votes? If this is the case then hypothetically a story posted on the last voting day could win hands down by gathering only a handful of good votes, which makes running contests pointless.

Just wondering about the formula for calculating scores fairly, if there is any.

Actually the votes can be and are rigged and fiddled with in numerous ways, so it is hardly worth bothering unless you really want to get into it.

 

[Flynn77]

Okay, cheers.

I tend to go with Fantasy`s reply - it would appear a bit unbalanced, hence the major contests all being won by Romance tales, on an essentially sex-based story site (Lit'erotica' anyone?).

I`ll not bother my ass with voting or scores in the future, just be pleased that 281 folk bothered enough one way or the other to read my submission and cast a vote.

 

[JamesSD]

Okay, cheers.

I tend to go with Fantasy`s reply - it would appear a bit unbalanced, hence the major contests all being won by Romance tales, on an essentially sex-based story site (Lit'erotica' anyone?).

I`ll not bother my ass with voting or scores in the future, just be pleased that 281 folk bothered enough one way or the other to read my submission and cast a vote.

281 votes is a lot and 4.74 is a really good score. Just enjoy your success!

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

The votes and score thing is a positive value to readers because it really does separate the wheat from the chaff, but the huge flaw is that it does so in a very coarse way while giving the appearance of being precise. A story with a 4.71 is probably not any "better" than a 4.86 - but they are both much better than a 2.27. Readers can be sure that any story with a "H" is well written and reasonably hot. After that, whether a reader likes one "H" over another depends much more on how well the particular story caters to the particular individual's fancy.

I try not to let the slings and arrows of outrageous scoring get to me, but it's hard. When I see one of my stories racking up big numbers I like Charlie Brown when Lucy holds that football and invites him to kick it - I can't help getting excited. Even though I know I'll probably end up flat on my back.

Of course the great consolation comes from actual comments and feedback from readers.

Actually, to compensate I have urged Lit to provide authors with a grid of their actual votes, like this:

5- 23
4- 9
3- 2
2- 0
1- 6

OK, now I can see that most readers think the story is very good, or good. Based on self knowledge, confidence, and past results, I will probably judge that assessment as fair.

So what do I conclude about the six people who think it really sucks? Mainly that they are almost certainly all dishonest and malicious ("trolls"). That explanation raises the least additional questions (Occam's razor), because after all, 31 fair minded readers, "good men and true," judged very differently, and it would be an insult to them to conclude that they are all wrong. If someone not malicious and dishonest has a serious beef, they are free to send a note explaining it in reasonable terms, and I will take it seriously. That this did not happen is confirming evidence of the conclusion

Bottom line: My story still has a sucky rating, but I feel better, because I know the honest readers of good will think it's pretty good.

 

[JamesSD]

Readers can be sure that any story with a "H" is well written and reasonably hot. After that, whether a reader likes one "H" over another depends much more on how well the particular story caters to the particular individual's fancy.

This isn't necessarily true. There have been other threads about it, but my personal opinion is that an H usually means it's at least either well written or hot. I've read plenty of stories where the quality overrode the lack of hot sex, and many that the sex was hot enough to override composition concerns.

Actually, to compensate I have urged Lit to provide authors with a grid of their actual votes, like this:

5- 23
4- 9
3- 2
2- 0
1- 6

I think something like this could be very useful. I also think that you'd have a lot of authors petitioning to have their "1 bombs" all removed. A big part of me feels that 1's and 2's should just automatically be changed to 3s for score purposes.

Of course, another, far more complex method involves weighted scoring. If I did the math right, the mean of the above scores is 4.05 or so. But that doesn't necessarily seem to reflect the average.

I remember from Stats class there's a way to reflect that and produce a weighted average. I also realize it probably would be very difficult to implement and need a bit too much computing power.

End of the day it doesn't matter that much to me, because I'm not a good enough writer to win contests.

 

[tumb]

me too

 

[exiledmaster]

A story has to have 50 votes to be eligible for the monthly contest. After it has accumulated those votes, the winner is determined strictly by score.

It's fair, actually, whether you think it is or not. Some categories rack up staggering numbers of votes, while others don't. It would hardly be fair to penalize a story simply because it isn't in one of the more popular categories.

I think this is one of the things that baffles me, that my stories get thousands of readers, but so few of those readers vote. It's not that I get bad scores, just not enough votes to suggest anyone cared either way....

To give you an example, one of my stories (Office Party Adventures) has been viewed nearly thirteen thousand times, but has a score of 4.25 off a total of 36 votes. So was it so mediocre that it didn;t make anyone want to retch or reach for a laurel wreath?

It baffles me....

 

[cloudy]

I think this is one of the things that baffles me, that my stories get thousands of readers, but so few of those readers vote. It's not that I get bad scores, just not enough votes to suggest anyone cared either way....

To give you an example, one of my stories (Office Party Adventures) has been viewed nearly thirteen thousand times, but has a score of 4.25 off a total of 36 votes. So was it so mediocre that it didn;t make anyone want to retch or reach for a laurel wreath?

It baffles me....

Low votes to reads ratio is completely normal, I assure you. My halloween contest winner from 2004 has 27640 reads, but only 71 votes, and that was a contest entry, which will garner more votes than most.

When I first found Lit, and started reading, I was completely unaware that there was even a voting system in place. I think that may be the case with many readers. Who knows?

 

[exiledmaster]

Ten out of ten to mr Anonymous (or Ms Anonymous) who sen tme this anonymous feedback.

Hey Exiled,

I'm curious, why do you guys have to always spurt something on a sweet girl's face. What a slap in the face. Make you feel like a Biiiiggg! man, huh? Yeah, go whine to the threads again how you're not getting your just dues. *ha*

Hmmmm...

Anyone want to explain what the hell that was all about?

 

[Fantasymaster]

Ten out of ten to mr Anonymous (or Ms Anonymous) who sen tme this anonymous feedback.

Hey Exiled,



Hmmmm...

Anyone want to explain what the hell that was all about?

PMT!!

 

[Guest]

Ten out of ten to mr Anonymous (or Ms Anonymous) who sen tme this anonymous feedback.

Hey Exiled,

Originally Posted by Miss D Point
I'm curious, why do you guys have to always spurt something on a sweet girl's face. What a slap in the face. Make you feel like a Biiiiggg! man, huh? Yeah, go whine to the threads again how you're not getting your just dues. *ha*

Hmmmm...

Anyone want to explain what the hell that was all about?

Nope. Typical ignorant feedback. The only odd thing here is that they actually signed their name.

Usually that sort of thing falls under "anonymous".

 

[Boxlicker101]

Quote:
Originally Posted by exiledmaster
Ten out of ten to mr Anonymous (or Ms Anonymous) who sen tme this anonymous feedback.

Hey Exiled,

Quote:
Originally Posted by Miss D Point
I'm curious, why do you guys have to always spurt something on a sweet girl's face. What a slap in the face. Make you feel like a Biiiiggg! man, huh? Yeah, go whine to the threads again how you're not getting your just dues. *ha*

-

Nope. Typical ignorant feedback. The only odd thing here is that they actually signed their name.

Usually that sort of thing falls under "anonymous".

I've seen that kind of thing in porn movies and I never could figure it out. I see a guy take his cock out of the woman and finish himself off in his hand and cum on her ass or belly or face. I have never done that and it looks fake to me.

I never write stories where anybody does it either although one time the woman wanted the guy to cum on her nipples so she could lick it off and cum that way. I would almost NEVER have a guy cum on a woman's face, though. I have a story in mind where he does and she belts him in the balls.