Forum: Author Hangout

Score That Start Low

Marc Nobbs 🚫

I submitted the first two chapters of a new story yesterday evening, and it was posted 'overnight' for me here in the UK. This morning, it had 8 votes, which, of course, didn't reveal the score. By the time I got to work, a couple more votes had come in, and the score was revealed. I was disappointed but not surprised to see it 'low' because this happens all the time when I post a new story.

By the end of the workday, the number of votes had tripled, and the score was looking much healthier. I wouldn't be surprised to see it keep climbing slowly as I post more chapters—that's generally what happens until the story finds its 'level'.

To be clear, I'm not complaining about this morning's low score. I'm also not asking why it swung upwards so 'quickly'—I work with numbers; I understand statistics.

What I'm questioning is the mentality of those early voters who have very clearly given the story a very low score—low enough that those scores drop out of the calculation, allowing the score to climb quickly. Why do this? Surely they know those low early scores fall away as part of the way the system works, so why do it? Do they get a kick out of it? A short-term adrenaline hit?

I just don't understand why these people would do it.

Replies: madnige TheDarkKnight Tantrayaan rustyken

madnige 🚫

@Marc Nobbs

questioning is the mentality of those early voters who have very clearly given the story a very low score

It's a (probably unintended) second-order side-effect of the way scores are calculated here, that giving a very low score to one story marginally increases all other story scores. Of course, the people doing this are probably not intelligent enough to have realised this, they're just dicks.

Replies: Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

@madnige

that giving a very low score to one story marginally increases all other story scores.

Considering that now there are over 32,000 stories included in the calculation for new stories, it would take a trend of lower votes across the board for days on end, even months to move the base median to affect the calculation for the displayed score.

This is not a factor anymore. The last time the base median for new stories changed was in 2022.

Replies: Marc Nobbs

Marc Nobbs 🚫

@Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

it would take a trend of lower votes across the board for days on end, even months to move the base median to affect the calculation for the displayed score.

I was thinking the same thing. It would take a massive, sustained swing in votes to shift the median (and there for all the scores based on it) even a tiny amount because the sample size is so huge.

TheDarkKnight 🚫

@Marc Nobbs

I've tried a couple of times to ask readers not to vote on a story based on the first chapter or two. It didn't do any good, and the early voters (watched a lot of election returns last night) always seem to give the story a low score, at least lower than the eventual rating. I won't even try to understand the psychology of why some readers feel compelled to rate a story based on the beginning. I know I could avoid that issue by not posting stories a chapter at a time, but I don't have the patience for that.

Replies: Marc Nobbs

Marc Nobbs 🚫

@TheDarkKnight

the early voters (watched a lot of election returns last night) always seem to give the story a low score, at least lower than the eventual rating.

I'm convinced there's a subsection of users on the site that get a kick from '1 bombing' every story for the hell of it.

I saw the score jump by nearly a point and a half yesterday over the space of about half a dozen votes. That can only really happen if the artificially low scores get pulled into the group at the top and bottom that are discarded before the score calculation.

Tantrayaan 🚫

@Marc Nobbs

I deleted a story of mine today as well.

The story went from a 9 to a 7.5. It would stay low until someone improved the score. Then I would get a couple of 1s that would pull it down.

When the score is low I don't see any additional votes. For example, my story stayed on 7.06 for a bit.

Then a couple of folks upvoted and immediately there were 1 votes that pulled it down again. Seeing that with my current story as well. The score stays constant until someone upvotes. Then there are a flurry of 1s that pull the score down.

Something ain't right.

Replies: Switch Blayde Creamerycentral

Switch Blayde 🚫

@Tantrayaan

Then I would get a couple of 1s that would pull it down.

Why does everyone assume the low(er) scores are always 1s? I don't believe there are as many 1-bombers as people here think.

Replies: madnige

madnige 🚫

@Switch Blayde

Why does everyone assume the low(er) scores are always 1s

Way back when authors could see a histogram of vote distribution, the shape was commented on: a spike at 1, flatlined through the low scores then rising in the higher scores to max at 10, near classic bathtub distribution. ISTR that a lower scoring story had lower 10 spike, score frequency peaking below 10 I think, and a longer tail, but still a spike at 1.

Creamerycentral 🚫

@Tantrayaan

StoriesOnline Deep State Reader 😅

Jokes, jokes..

rustyken 🚫

@Marc Nobbs

I haven't looked recently but I thought an author could block voting on their story. Personally I question the value of voting on the initial chapters of a story. I seldom vote until I have read several chapters or I even wait till the end. If I don't care for the first several chapters regardless of the reason I find something else to read.

Replies: Switch Blayde Marc Nobbs

Switch Blayde 🚫

@rustyken

I thought an author could block voting on their story.

Not any more.

Marc Nobbs 🚫

@rustyken

I thought an author could block voting on their story.

You can turn off public comments but not votes.

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Forum: Author Hangout

Score That Start Low

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