How do you rep stories?

[Cia]

I've been trying to get back into reading and reviewing regularly on GA, though most of my time on-site is taken up with more 'work' like matters. I try to plus rep chapters I really enjoy, do the star rating based on the quality and leave a review no matter what. If I think a story needs work I try to tactfully point that out. If I have things I like specifically I try to mention what that is and why to give the writer specific feedback more than just, 'I like it'.

 

I NEVER neg rep a story. I never go to an author I find distasteful and use my 'powers' of like/not like to reduce their stories rating or rep. What is the point of that? It's their hard work they are sharing, if I don't think it's up to snuff then I give feedback to try and help the writer improve. I would hope that anyone who felt that way about my stories would do the same so I try to act accordingly. I post here to get feedback to improve my writing and share what I know and have been taught to others to help them as well. The system is set up to really provide that network to give and receive help.

 

Do you use it? How so? Is there anything you'd like to see happen on site for writer's support that would make the system better? Any programs, topics shared, feedback set-ups... How can we help each make the writing side of GA just that much better???

[Sara Alva]

I try to give rep points, especially to those authors who are still under 100. I also leave reviews for everything I read. When I see specific areas of need or have suggestions for improvement, I tend to send a PM (in case the people aren't interested-- that way they don't have to see my opinion up in the reviews).

 

Maybe the star rating could go at the bottom of the page? I'll admit I often used to forget about the stars until some issues cropped up that caused me to think more about them. I use the stars like I use rep points-- I rate high when I like the story, and don't rate when I don't like.

[TetRefine]

I always rep stories I like. If I don't, I just leave it be. The only stories I'm currently reading right now are Social Skills and Second Shot. I try to leave a positive rep for each chapter I read, even though both authors are well over the threshold limit. Its my tiny way of saying 'thank you' for writing good stories. I also try to leave lots of reviews in the discussion forums for the respective authors because I have been told countless times how much authors appreciate feedback, comments, questions, etc on their stories. If I'm getting to read quality online fiction for free, leaving rep points and comments is the least I can do.

[Tipdin]

The Rep buttons are more harmful than helpful. Whether you hit the + or the - is irrelevant. Without comments, the rating is meaningless. And the ease of hitting the Rep button means that one can express an overall impression without comment. Removing the Rep buttons would mean people would actually have to make a comment if they wanted to express their views.

 

When someone clicks the + or the - are they commenting on content or editing, or are they agreeing or disagreeing with the author? There is no way to know for sure what someone is trying to say by clicking the Rep button. It's just a quick way to give a thumb up or down - and as most people know, a reviewer's thumb is not necessarily an accurate rating. Those buttons are, for the most part, just a quick way to piss people off.

[option]

I use the 'star' story rating part

the way I see it, im rating the story ive read / am reading

if I want to rate the author, I should rate them on their entire body of work

 

an example of how this works:

 

Author A;

3 stories, 1 is very good, 2 are just ok

I will rate up the very good story, but wont give rep points to the author

Author B;

3 stories, 1 excellent, 2 very good

I will rate up the stories, & give rep points to the author

 

if I had given rep points to author A, it would give a false indication of how good their stories are, whereas by only rating the story, i can highlight which one of their stories is the good one.

 

& heres an example of why the 'rep' system dosnt work very well for authors:

 

KingdombytheSea has;

rep of 563

1 story, rated 5

Renee Stevens has;

rep of 294

15 stories, all rated 5

 

this makes it look like the first author is 'better' than the 2nd, even though they have 1/15th of the stories

 

 

 

I do think there must be a better way of rating stories & authors.

Maybe use the story rating to create an 'author rating', which could be the average of all that authors story ratings, or a combination of all that authors story ratings.

[Sara Alva]

I use the 'star' story rating part

the way I see it, im rating the story ive read / am reading

if I want to rate the author, I should rate them on their entire body of work

 

an example of how this works:

 

Author A;

3 stories, 1 is very good, 2 are just ok

I will rate up the very good story, but wont give rep points to the author

Author B;

3 stories, 1 excellent, 2 very good

I will rate up the stories, & give rep points to the author

 

if I had given rep points to author A, it would give a false indication of how good their stories are, whereas by only rating the story, i can highlight which one of their stories is the good one.

 

& heres an example of why the 'rep' system dosnt work very well for authors:

 

KingdombytheSea has;

rep of 563

1 story, rated 5

Renee Stevens has;

rep of 294

15 stories, all rated 5

 

this makes it look like the first author is 'better' than the 2nd, even though they have 1/15th of the stories

 

 

 

I do think there must be a better way of rating stories & authors.

Maybe use the story rating to create an 'author rating', which could be the average of all that authors story ratings, or a combination of all that authors story ratings.

 

That has to do with when/how Renee posted her stories. Many were up on the old system (before rep points were given for stories) and were posted in their entirety over here. If she'd released them chapter at a time over here, or if the rep points had been in use before, I'm sure she'd have many more points than I do. I'm new-- just started posting after the changeover.

 

Also rep points are not only for authors. They're for all member who post on the forums . . . so I don't know that people think rep points mean an author is 'better' than someone else.

 

Stars are not terribly accurate either, since many people I've spoken to didn't even know about that rating system.

 

I can't speak for other authors, but for me, the rep points are pretty meaningless past 100-- I just wanted to get out of the mod queue and out of the blue background.

[Agaith]

I agree with rep become irrelevant after you have hundreds of rep points. Reviews are what make me want to continue writing, if I can see a reader has taken the time to tell me in writing how they like/dislike this or that about my story then I feel more inclined to want to put more out there for them to read.

I do think repping people has become the easy option. Please review people, it's an author's favourite type of feedback! If not on the main review pages via a pm

[Michael9344]

I 'rep' stories I really like. I don't neg rep, I'd rather leave it like that. I don't review much. My phone doesn't allow that. But I do review anytime I have a computer at my disposal. I sometimes do write authors on how much I loved their stories and what I didn't enjoy.

[phana14]

The Rep buttons are more harmful than helpful. Whether you hit the + or the - is irrelevant. Without comments, the rating is meaningless. And the ease of hitting the Rep button means that one can express an overall impression without comment. Removing the Rep buttons would mean people would actually have to make a comment if they wanted to express their views.

 

When someone clicks the + or the - are they commenting on content or editing, or are they agreeing or disagreeing with the author? There is no way to know for sure what someone is trying to say by clicking the Rep button. It's just a quick way to give a thumb up or down - and as most people know, a reviewer's thumb is not necessarily an accurate rating. Those buttons are, for the most part, just a quick way to piss people off.

 

 

Mr. Tipdin sir,

 

If I could give you a dozen (or more) positive votes for this post I most certainly would!

 

What is a "rep" supposed to do?

 

I breifly disappeared from GA, and came back to find astronomical reputation points posted to people who ...did WHAT?...to 'earn' those points?

 

IMHO! pos and neg means nothing unless you actually read the stories AND the posts on the various threads! AND, if you have done THAT, then it's like comparing your opinion with that of a movie critic (nameless) whether thumbs 'up' or thumbs 'down'! It is your OPINION only. Why should Joe Shmoe give a rats ass what "I" think about a particular topic/story--but more importantly, why should MY opinion make someones rating go down? just asking

 

As I drag myself out of the cellar, sir,I feel glad that I am ALIVE!

 

hugs

[Cia]

To me the use of rep points are secondary to the use of the star rating system and the reviews in GA Stories. I don't think I rep more than once or twice a week, with the exception being NEW authors. Those folks who are just starting out here on GA and are still in the mod queue; those who need the initial encouragement I think rep points give. They gain more visibility and feedback as they move out of the queue's if they continue to post stories and interact with the other readers and writers on-site. The rep/mod queue system allows us a set way to make sure those newer members are being monitored so we can check their stories for plagiarism or rule breaking and to provide that initial feedback. I don't see the huge numbers some people have being as much impact as those first 100. Basically, with someone who has levels really high I just don't 'see' it for the most part because it has become irrelevant. I rarely even notice mine but the system has a purpose.

 

This topic wasn't started with the intent of bashing or questioning the purpose of the rep system however. I wanted to know HOW people use it and the other feedback options in relation to GA Stories specifically. Do you plus rep or neg rep stories/chapters? Do you even notice the star rating system? Do you leave feedback for authors via review or forum comments? Do you only review/comment for readers who review for you if you write? Can you think of any other ways to encourage readers to give feedback?

[phana14]

Thank you Cia. Your info here is so right to the moment!

When I read a particular post/storydirective I evaluate it and decide right then--'this was good/bad' or something not even worth rating.

As for the ratings. Gold stars? I see them all over the place but I have never opened my peepers wide enough to see how to 'use' them. And from reading other post(s), I'm not the only one who has no idea how to use 'em.

My personal opinion is that I like the review option: whether that be in the forum section or the story section. However! It seems rather redundant to me to post a review in the chapter/story area and then do it again in the story thread. ?

I'm open here. There is no way that I would read a piece of literature and not comment on it in a friendly way. Whether I liked the presentation or not, I would be positive in my remarks, or I would not comment. There are so many authors here who plead with us readers to be honest with them--tell them--the yeas and/or nays of their stories. That's fine to a degree. I won't hurt another person's feelings over something that is important to them and , while interesting to me, was not from my bosom!

ok out

thanks for listening, Cia.

[Dark]

I don't use rep points for stories -- only in the forum. The exception to this is for a new author, like Cia said. Basically, beyond the first 100 rep points, they become pointless IMO. Unfortunately, people who are new here think that the more rep points you have the better an author you are (I've seen this confusion in comments/reviews, forum posts, and messages).

 

The fact is, some popular items are not necessarily the greatest literary works. That's life. There are people who really and truly believe that Harry Potter or Twilight are the greatest things since sliced bread ... and yet the great 'classics' many people find horribly boring. It's all opinion.

 

I used to like the star rating, but that, too, becomes pointless if the only rating ever given is 5 out of 5 stars, and it can be awkward to use rate with those because they're just not obvious at first glance). To really make the stars useful, they should be incorporated into the review system -- you leave a review and have an option to rate with the stars -- like they do reviews on sites like Barnes and Noble and Amazon. That way the stars have meaning based on the context of the review.

 

What would be really interesting would be if the number of reviews could be used the way that the rep points are now ... hm.

 

As far as feedback goes, the only really meaningful way to do that is through reviews or posting in that story's forum topic. I wish I could say I was better at this, but I hate reviews that simply summarize or just say "it's great" and often that's all I can think of. That, and I don't review stories I don't like. I don't neg rep them, either. I think that would be a misuse of the system.

[Andrew Q Gordon]

For me I agree with much of what has been said -

 

1) Emphasis on helping new authors escape the 'blue hell' as someone called Peer Review.

 

2) Generally do not give rep points to chapters, but mostly because I don't have enough left over

 

3) Never given anyone a negative point for a chapter or story. - This to me is a terrible thing - someone who works hard to create a story then has the guts to post it does not deserve to told they stink or that it is terrible. There probably are exceptions to this but i haven't met that person yet. If I don't like I don't review or give comments.

 

4) I am not sure the rating systems are useful. As Dark said, most folks only give positive so most stories are 4 or 5.

 

To me the best form of feed back is comments on the forum and reviews. I have been lack in this regard lately. BUT I find this and read counts are the most useful barometers of how good your story is.

 

That's just me.

[Cia]

Thanks for your comments everyone. I do agree with not neg repping stories and chapters though I will usually comment about things I think could be improved or I would do differently. There is a time and place for the criticism though and I'm usually careful about who I offer it to, it is true that not everyone is honest when they say they want real feedback.

 

Oh, Phana, the star ratings are easy to use. If you scroll over them with the mouse or the touch pad on your computer they will light up. You can pick 1-5 stars by lighting them up and then clicking on them. Dark, I'll ask Myr if it is at all possible to make those ratings be linked to individual reviews or not, I think they were in e-fiction. It may not be possible but if it is I think that would be a valuable insight into the real opinion is of someone who uses that rating system.

[option]

Few points-

 

 

the star ratings show up on every chapter, but are for rating the story (? - it says on mouseover 'rate story');

how do you rate a chapter,

& how do different ratings on different chapters get collated into an overall story rating

& how is rating the story on the story page different to rating on the chapter pages? (& what about 1 chapter stories, where you can rate on the story page & the chapter page)

 

 

as an example:

a 5 chapter story, where the writing gets better

ch1 & 2 - 3*

ch3 & 4 - 4*

ch5 - 5*

 

what star rating have I given the story?

what star ratings have I given the chapters (or have i)?

 

 

 

 

 

Reviews;

 

people are doing reviews on the stories in GA.Stories, & others in the forums on the relevant threads

the thread/forum way is more open, & allows discussion etc, so is that a better place for reviews?

 

 

 

Reputation;

 

if you add rep to a chapter, does that add rep to the story, or can it still be repped again on the story page?

(ie. if i + on chapter 1, can i then plus on the story page, effectively giving +2 rep)

[DragonFire]

I can never leave a negative for a story, no matter how bad.

 

The way I see it there are 4 categories. Superb, great, pretty good and awful. For the really bad stories who, IMO, have no hope I just skip. I could bitch til the next millennium, but no comment is better than being ruthless.

 

If a story has potential, but it’s kinda all over the place then I’ll IM the author privately and offer constructive advice. Public criticism is not necessary.

 

But all that said I’m terrible for leaving reviews, I’ve become what I always detested, a lazy reader. I should know belter frankly. Authors thrive on reviews, and if we can take the time to read, then it costs us nothing to give some praise where it’s due.

 

 

[PrivateTim]

Only Authors ought to have ratings, or at least visible ratings and you should only rate stories, not chapters and you only get to rate a story once.

 

I've been doing all I can to get Dom's numbers up because he isn't active right now and hasn't been active since the switchover to the new system. Because there isn't a lot of activity on the Dom Forums a newbie might not consider the Dom stories unless he sees the stories liked a lot or authors rating high.

 

We actually have three rating systems here, the "like", the stars and the + and - and I still don't understand which is the most important or which matters if someone looks for the "most popular" stories on GA.

[Tipdin]

Many good comments here. Although, I think I am in a minority when I reassert my claim that ratings are irrelevant. If YOU like or dislike a story, how does your rating help ME decide if I am going to like it or if I should read it? Are your tastes the same as mine?

 

If an author gets a good or bad rating, what does that mean? That the reader didn't like the story or didn't like the subject or didn't like the editing or didn't like the pacing or didn't like the settings or didn't like the protagonist or didn't like the...? A rating is irrelevant, it doesn't convey any meaning.

 

If a reader were to leave a comment or commentary, then we have something more useful. They can say what they did or didn't like and why.

 

Making a comment does not mean leaving a snide remark or nasty insult, - that would simply be an act of bullying. If readers and authors want true ratings and reviews, then comments and suggestions are the only way to accurately convey meaning. A reader can say what appealed to them, or didn't, and why. Editing and other construction faux pas can also be illuminated or discussed. A simple like or dislike, to me, as a reader and as a writer is meaningless, I don't care if you liked or disliked it - WHY you liked or disliked it is what I care about.

 

If my story lacks focus or wonders all over the place while trying to make a point, then say so. There is no shame is being honest - and no learning without it. I'll never get better if nobody tells me to get to the point or quit making asides to my asides. Grammar and punctuation are somewhat straight forward, but can also be subjective in places - did I use punctuation in a way that helped or hurt? Was my grammar sucky or was I eloquent?

 

We all start as beginners. Getting better means we learned better ways of doing what we do. We learn when someone gives us feedback - constructive feedback. Even if you hated what I wrote or wrote about, did I write it well? Was there a more palatable way to convey the thesis of the story? Even if you thought my story PROVED I must be a worthless human being, then I must have presented the proof well - what made it seem well done?

 

A plus, minus, star, moon, or thumb up/down is worthless, it doesn't tell me or readers a single thing worth knowing. Just because this or that story has a 42-star rating doesn't mean a darn thing to me. I hate stories in that genre so I give it a half star. I hate the way the writer writes so I give it a thumb down. Who cares what I think? WHY is far more important - and that requires words.

 

I've seen millions of posts and stories here with ratings on them that I thought were completely opposite of the way I would have rated them. There are highly rated authors here who I haven't been able to slog through even a single one of their stories. There are unrated authors here who have stories that I have re-read several times. A synopsis or a review will do a heck of a lot more for me than a rating.

Edited May 26, 2011 by Tipdin

[Lugh]

heres an example of why the 'rep' system dosnt work very well for authors

 

you want some statistics... lets look at apples and apples:

Hosted Author #1

Joined: February 05

No. of Stories:23 (19/5 star, 3/4 star, 1/3 star)

Total Words:2,946,383

Rep: +1900

 

Hosted Author #2

Joined:January 05

No. of Stories:11 (1/premium, 10/5 star)

Total Words:1,812,913

Rep: +500

 

Hosted Author #3

Joined:September 05

No. of Stories:47 (25/5 stars, 2/4 stars, 20/unrated (mostly poetry))

Total Words:320,078

Rep: +200

 

Now ALL these authors have been on site for roughly the same amount of time, all three are hosted, all three moved over into the new system at the same time, and all three have a good number of five stars for their stories. Yet, there is a wide discrepency in the rep points.

 

Quite honestly, your averaging of rep points would lower Author #3's rep point's even lower because of the higher story count, although Author #1 clearly has more words per story... so the question becomes... what would be a fair way to do the averaging? per word?

 

The system works as intended. It was designed as a filtering process for new authors to the site to be monitored in GA Stories. If you don't like it, don't use it, simple as that. Frankly I don't care what my rep is, it's just a number once you pass 100.

 

 

 

 

Do you plus rep or neg rep stories/chapters?

 

yes

happy points more than stupid points on a typical day

 

Do you even notice the star rating system?

 

yes

and I like it.

 

Do you leave feedback for authors via review or forum comments?

 

usually if I have something halfway nice to say... I've gotten quite the reputation for being an ass... I'm trying to um... mend that a little.

 

Do you only review/comment for readers who review for you if you write?

 

no, LOL, I'm quite random

I often forget to even thank the people who review for me... thanks guys

 

Can you think of any other ways to encourage readers to give feedback?

 

bash them over the head, drag them to the man cave and sit on them until they do?

 

 

Lugh

[Cyhort]

With the little green plus sign. Why, is there another way?

 

 

Yeah, I'm not funny, I know.

 

Usually if I really like a story I'll rep up each chapter until I use up my rep points for the day. I never neg rep anyone. I don't see the point since there's no way to tell anyone why I marked it down and leaving a review that says "I minused your rep because...." seems kinda dickish. I do like the rep system though, I just think negative reps should be saved for truly idiotic forum posts.

[Benji]

.............Easy, if I like to story and it is well written I rep up after each chapter and make comments on it. If I do not like the story, I usually don't read anymore of it, but I never rep down an author. He/She has put out the effort to write and I will not downgrade their rep because I did not like it, I sometimes comment on it, but that is rare. I'm sure others will do that and I feel no need to add to it.

[Tara00]

Though negative rep is a bitch and is very similar to the 'dislike' option which does not exist fortunately, I personally feel that positive rep gives the new readers like myself an insight on what should be read and what should be ignored.

 

It could do more harm than good since some really good stories are ignored.

 

Star ratings are easily given by many but rep points need more credibility, I think. At least I give them only when I feel that the story content and the writing are worth them. This marks the story of 'the' author as a distinct one as against around 1000 others 'with good star ratings' on the site.

So I think I see the rep points in the shades of gray!!