Yes, there is a flaw with the rating system, in the fact that friends will rate friends 5 stars whether they are good or bad writers; and the fact that there might be people out there deliberately rating users threads with a one. The rating system is been worked on though in an attempt to improve it. Mod's can't find who rated threads with one star, but if it's obvious that a post isn't supposed to be one star, other users can go and rate it higher to get it to a higher rating.

Truth is though, I don't really care about user's ratings. A one star could apply to a thread of mine and as long as they could follow my rules, type correctly etc, I wouldn't hold anything against them joining my roleplay. Like Ilayra stated; she only rates a person if they are good. Only problem with that is that it doesn't help that specific user know what to do to improve. I say, if your going to rate them low, leave a comment on how to improve.

Ilayra says:

Ok now a Q? what is trolling? I was going to ask but forgot.

Trolling is when a users intent is to set out deliberately causing arguments with other users in threads on the chat etc.

Forensic Anthro says:

I agree with Onirukon, but I also think that you need spell check.
Really, what is the point of whining? Do something, don't just talk about it.
So what if you get a bad rating, does that really mean that much to you, that you must whine and complain?
If it really does matter that much to you, don't tell us, tell the mods. They will help if they find that your case has hope, or it's a problem that absolutely has to be fixed.

And that was the green writing for you, Ilayra.

Honestly though, roleplaying is about enjoying what your doing. Look at your posts and try to see why you might be getting one star on them (for the roleplay threads) and see what you might be able to do to improve. That's my suggestion. Also, if you've got a suggestion with the rating system, post it in the Suggestions Thread so that we can see what users like and dislike about the site (in this case the rating system problem).

Hope this helps things.

Criminal.

yes i have one,Destroy it !!! .

Which means that those who think it is really good, but aren't familiar with the voting system and typically don't care don't really cast a vote on your post. I will tell you the majority of the time if someone is rating your post, it is for bad ratings only. That is the majority of the time. I have been around to see people 5 star alot of my good posts, but it really depends all together. I personally like, and don't like the system. To me it really feels unessicary just like half of the other things being installed on the site. That's my opinion though...

Remember as well that if no one rates the post, after 10-14 days I believe it will default to three-stars, which is average. The system can be abused it is true, in both directions truly good writing has been one-starred and one-liners have been rated five-star. As Rem stated it is what the community who reads your work combined rate your work.

Admittedly a major of people don't rate each others work so there is a huge volume of work that is rated average. This is bad on two fronts, first it doesn't reward the good writers, and second the struggling writers don't get the critique they need to improve their work.

Thank you for the clarification and help reading the green writing!
I see a lot of valid points here and I really think there are no easy answers.

Remæus wrote:The rating system is simply a democratic voting system. No one person can cause you to have a low or a high rating. It's a combination of what everyone has rated your post.

Except for the fact that not everybody bothers reading posts critically. This is an RPing site. We're here to RP, not to be impassive judges to every piece of writing we come across.
Plus the 14-day period of not being able to vote really kills any voting habits which may emerge. I haven't kept track of how many days I've been a member, but I don't bother any more.

Remaeus wrote:Reputation is not an indicator of writing ability. It is a measurement of reputation. Does the user provide content that you would like to see more of? Then the user should have a high reputation.

So, basically, it's a visual representation of your popularity? What's the point of that?

I think the stars are pretty. I like to see them when i am looking at the avatars and when i read a new posting. I think that if you are a really bad writer, someone should tell you. Not to say that they should post "YOU SUCK, GO KILL YOURSELF!!" But to say, "Hey, i noticed you are confusing your pronouns and are not conjugating properly. You should watch for that, and if you ever have questions, let me know."

Always teaching, always learning. I think the rating system is great, but I have five stars. When someone or something is telling you that you are wonderful, you generally don't have the urge to smack them around a little. I can understand that people can get bummed out with one, two or three stars, but these are the same people who say "I post well, I have a low rating, it is stupid." Well, darling, you know you post well, why does it matter what the little stars say about you?

Are there really people who look at your star rating and decide to RP with you or not based solely on that? That is just silly. That's like only watching a movie if the critics rave about it. I make it a point to never rely too much on the opinion of people who get paid to bitch. I have eyes and ears and a functioning brain. I can decide for myself if i like something or not.

Anyway, you have all made me spill my opinion all over my screen now, so i hope you are happy. Really...i hope you all have something wonderful happen to you today or this week that makes you really happy. Then, you can share that with us. It will be a rainbow-and-puppy-fest! That is better than any silly star rating...even if they are so delightful to look at...

What? The stars mean nothing. Absolutely nothing! Only because you can rate someone one star just because you don't like them. Really it's just another hate tool you've given people with a lot of time on their hands. You don't need to see five stars to know it's a good post or that someones a good roleplayer and a decent human being. Sure it's great for the ego if your a 5 star poster, but that's just a target for attack when you piss someone off inevitably.

I'll just take my 3.2 stars and wander over here. Away from all you people who measure stars like your penis length...

Hmm... I was wondering, when I first created an account, it said that I needed more of something to rate other people's work. I didn't know if you knew about this or not, or if you could explain to me exactly what that had meant. ^.^

~A Curious Roleplayer >.<

Litria, that was that you needed to have posted at least 10 posts (I think, possibly 20) in the forums and to be a member for two weeks before you could start rating others ^_^

Oh. Hmm... Yeah, that does make sense. I had only written three or so posts before I was in knowledge of that. ^.^ Thanks.

So far I'm not complaining about it, but it does seem and feel very odd to me that I've already attained four stars. Oh well, I guess :)

I'm very interested in seeing how this all will turn out later.

I just joined this site a couple of days ago, no more than a week I'm sure, and I have four stars. I'm very flattered someone thought my post was worthy of four stars and, seeing as I don't really know anyone yet, I am hopeful that I will be regarded as a more than capable writer thanks to that. It's a bit strange though, because it seems like a rating based on popularity more than anything to me. But I won't complain until I have something to complain about. I'm just saying because I have the power to 'say.'

So, what is the point of this whole rating system anyway? Is it like YouTube-ish?

wow lol ok, cool.

This doesn't seem to cover an aspect I think should be.....GMs that quit their own roleplays.

The +1 is going to help Google return search results for you, the clicker. It doesn't affect the person who posted whatever you +1ed.