The Rating System is going to be changing..
Tuesday, January 27, 2004 by Frogboy | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
Okay, we've made posts and news items trying to get people to rate things in a reasonable manner but all have failed.
As someone else correctly wrote, the rating system here is a JOKE.
There are basically two problems: People who rate everything high and griefers who go around sabotaging other people's ratings.
The new system WILL work as follows. Yes, most of you will be ticked off for different reasons. Tough. The system is broken, we're going to fix it. Play time is over. It will work this way:
There will be a WEIGHT used to calculate the ratings. A rating by a citizen will counts a 1Xtheir rating. An apprentice 2X their rating, Master Apprentice 3X their rating and so on.
So when an admin or moderator rates a skin, it matters. Now, the default rating from moderation will still only count as a weight of 1. But as people deliberately put in the effort to rate something, it will matter.
Yes, it's unfair. It's unequal, whatever. But the current system has become meaningless.
I have seen excellent ObjectDock icons get ratings of 4 because some griefer comes along and gives a bunch of them 1 totally counter balancing an admin rating of 7 (where the admin in question makes icons for a living).
I'm not sure when we'll get to this. It's pretty high on the priority list. This will probably result in a more skins going down in rating than skins going up in rating. A rating of 5 is an average looking skin. NOT 8. Some people seem to rate things as if anything under an 8 is bad. No, 5 is AVERAGE. Most skins should be rated at around a 5. Not 8.
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Reply #42 Wednesday, January 28, 2004 12:18 AM
If Im not mistaken, it's currently at '7' and any lower will not be shown to the public. I think it'd be fair to knock it down a notch or two...
[Message Edited]
Reply #43 Wednesday, January 28, 2004 12:43 AM
Reply #44 Wednesday, January 28, 2004 12:45 AM
Reply #45 Wednesday, January 28, 2004 12:58 AM
[Message Edited]
Reply #46 Wednesday, January 28, 2004 1:05 AM
Reply #47 Wednesday, January 28, 2004 1:05 AM
If a citizen buys a subscript, he/she will now have 2 voting powerpoints (one from being a citizen and one from buying a subscription)
An apprentice who bought a subscript would have three Power-Points (2 for being a Apprentice and one for buying a subscript) and so on...
Just an idea.
Reply #48 Wednesday, January 28, 2004 1:07 AM
| Citizens who aren't subscribers can't rate..... problem solved. |
But then how many total votes would we be getting into the system?
Unless every subscription buyer votes on every work, it wont be a whole lot.
I think having the public have a say in the rating of a skin is a good idea, provided that their power is limited...
[Message Edited]
Reply #49 Wednesday, January 28, 2004 1:58 AM
I have not yet been able to rate anything, and even if I had been permitted, I would likely have refrained from doing so because I have seen so much controversy and emotion displayed over ratings, and frankly, I don't feel I've learned enough yet to consider my rating to be worth as much as those who have been involved in skinning longer and with so much obvious talent.
For those reasons alone, I like the proposed system outlined here, and would be more willing to rate, knowing that the weight of my rating would contribute to the whole yet not be weighted as heavily as those of individuals more experienced and knowledgeable than myself.
By the way, though 5.5 is the arithmetic mean of the numbers 1 thru 10, statistically it is highly unlikely to ever be the actual mean, median, or modal rating here at WC. I can provide some pretty interesting studies (well, interesting to geeks like me
) to prove the point if anyone really cares, but what it comes down to is a common cross-cultural reluctance to humiliate someone else.In most cultures, it is considered rude to give severe or harsh criticism even when it is completely justified - people can usually find a reason to temper the judgement or rating. They give credit for the person's effort, intentions, or simply to encourage her/him to do better and not quit. There is also another common tendency toward leniency in any rating system, because the rater wants to be liked by the person being rated.
One last reason why the lowest rating is unlikely to be given is due to the halo effect of the moderation process. Most people will assume that since the item being rated has passed moderation, it must therefore have SOME merit, so is very unlikely to be rated as a 1, unless someone has a personal grudge, or some flaw is discovered that was missed in moderation, like it being a rip, partial rip, or just being rumored to be a rip.
At any rate, that's about a dollar's worth of my 2 cents - sorry for being long winded, and thanks for reading if you got this far.
Reply #50 Wednesday, January 28, 2004 2:18 AM
I still believe that a user should have the option to reset their rating during an update though, possible to do that too maybe?
Reply #51 Wednesday, January 28, 2004 2:30 AM
I agree with the ratings being weighted more toward the opinions of the senior folks here. I also think that the scale should be lowered to 1-5 to also help reduce the great fluctuations in ratings, that anything 3 or above on the 1-5 scale should be visible for all, and that anything rated lower than a 3 expire after being available for 30 days.
Reply #52 Wednesday, January 28, 2004 2:31 AM
Reply #53 Wednesday, January 28, 2004 2:33 AM
100-90 is an a
89-80 is a b
79-70 is a c
69-60 is a d
59-0 is an f
Most people including myself have always looked at it that way, getting out of that mindset won't be easy.
Reply #54 Wednesday, January 28, 2004 2:36 AM
(hey, its a joke)Reply #55 Wednesday, January 28, 2004 2:57 AM
Although the reasons for this average being above 50% are quite different than the reasons I gave in my previous post (why I expect ratings here to be higher than the 5.5 arithmetic mean), I predict the results will be, in fact similar, with the real average rating being somewhere in the 6.5 to 7.5 range.
Will shut up now that my 2 cents is up to over a dollar
Reply #56 Wednesday, January 28, 2004 4:39 AM
Reply #57 Wednesday, January 28, 2004 7:03 AM
I think you'll find that the reason that this so-called 'average' in schools ends up at 70% or whatever is simply to do with determining a quota for placement to the next year's class.......the fewer the potential places available the higher the 'passmark' is set to compensate.
It's been a common system in determining entry requirements into University courses for as long as I can remember.
This again still has nothing to do with 'passing' and average ratings.
This is a simple gradation between hot and cold....somewhere in the middle is what is known as 'average' weather/temperature.
It's not "wow....it's 75 degrees outside....summer passed"....
It's "wow....75 degrees outside....a typical summer".
Ratings do not indicate anything more than a mathematical consensus of opinion.
If people start interpreting some esoteric nonsense about a predilection/predisposition to not post an average '5' as a '7' is more polite or considerate then their posted ratings are farcical in the extreme.
Look at your petrol [gas] gauge.....
Empty
Half
Full
Nowhere will it say "oh, you got a passable amount of fuel cos you are at 70%, man, so you're cool"....
It'll just say
Empty
Half
Full.
Reply #58 Wednesday, January 28, 2004 7:46 AM
| Ratings do not indicate anything more than a mathematical consensus of opinion |
wherein lies the 'contradiction' - whereas mathematical consensus is a logical process, human opinion quite often is not
Reply #60 Wednesday, January 28, 2004 8:01 AM
For instance, I have rated some skins that I would never use on my computer because of the "color or the theme of the skin" but I rated it an 8 or a 9 because of the quality of the skin. "Yes, I first downloaded it and took the time to completely look it over."
Now if I chose the correct answer in the "Are the choice of colors attractive to your taste" as a "Could be better" or "not my piece of cake" and also chose the correct answer in "Will you use this skin" as a "no, I won't" because it is true, the rating is a 7. The thing is I know this skin is truly worth a 9. Just because the skin is not something I would use because of color or theme does not take away from the quality of the work and the time involved from the author designing it.
I feel the best thing to do in these cases is to look over these 2 particular questions because if I had liked the color and would use the skin it would calculate as a rating of a 9 which is what I felt the skin deserved to begin with.
I feel that no skin should be rated with out it first being downloaded and looked over. It is very unfair to everyone when skin are rated just on the preview pic. Also that just because a skin is not something you would use does not take away from the quality of the skin in some cases.
JMO
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Reply #41 Tuesday, January 27, 2004 11:55 PM
jarget........ check out the link in goodmorphing comment......... a very good guide to rating. Notice you'll have to actually use a skin to use the guide. This is not directed at you, but at anyone that rates based on the screenshot.
10-4 I'm on it.