Captain_Colossus Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Is is possible in the forum software to make it mandatory that someone who rates a mod should be required to leave a comment? That way, people might be dissuaded from doing drive by hits and deliberately depressing or inflating scores. I suspect people do this.If someone wants to rate a given mod badly, a justification would be useful, then it's not just a hit job done anonymously. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Volcano Posted September 27, 2011 Moderators Share Posted September 27, 2011 No, I don't think there is a way to do this. I suppose the only consolation is that people who do those "drive by" ratings won't matter because, if the mod is very good then generally people will always give it a good rating and leave a good comment so over time its true reception will become apparent. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
congo Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Is is possible in the forum software to make it mandatory that someone who rates a mod should be required to leave a comment? That way, people might be dissuaded from doing drive by hits and deliberately depressing or inflating scores. I suspect people do this.If someone wants to rate a given mod badly, a justification would be useful, then it's not just a hit job done anonymously.What would be the justification for doing this? I don't understand, you either like a mod and download it or you don,t. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabot_ready Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 A comment would help the Mod creator/scenario designer get feedback... a bad rating doesn't help a person know what they did right or wrong.And yes....tying your name to a rating would help keep drive-by sour pusses to a min. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Colossus Posted September 27, 2011 Author Share Posted September 27, 2011 Exactly as sabot_ready stated it.That goes for scenarios or anything else- if someone actually left some kind of comment, maybe that would show the person actually took the time to experiment with the scenario and have something legitimate to say.On top of that, if there were some kind of bad blood from the forum or on Teamspeak, you'd know at least who it was giving these ratings. Sometimes it's just a random joker trying to be a spoiler, sometimes it's someone who might have some agenda or something.If the point is to share these files among SB users, some people might figure they can try and manufacture consensus that something is horrible by giving a file low ratings.If something gets a bad rating- ok, fine, now let's hear why it deserves that. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Assassin 7 Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Thats why I do not make hardly any missions anymore to put for users to download. I got bad ratings with no reasons too. So I feel your pain. Spend hours working and taking the time to make all of these nice downloads for someone who dont care to come by and give you a bad rating with no comment.:decu: I now only make mission for my friends and myself, to play online. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Volcano Posted September 27, 2011 Moderators Share Posted September 27, 2011 Well, I don't know who would be doing what is implied -- but really, who cares what a sour puss rates something? They can only rate a file once and, as I said, if something is truly good then the good ratings will eventually out weight someone who may be on an agenda. That is life unfortunately, but the good will always shine though.Now if something has one single rating and that one rating is bad, then obviously it doesn't mean much. Once a mod has ~10 votes then you get more of an idea. Now if a mod has 10 bad votes then, well... maybe it really is bad?IMO, the real trouble is that people can download files and not give a rating. IF you download someone's work then GIVE THEM A RATING after you try it out. I see some mods with hundreds of downloads and only 5 votes -- people are just naturally lazy when it comes to giving feedback unfortunately. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Colossus Posted September 27, 2011 Author Share Posted September 27, 2011 Well, I don't know who would be doing what is implied -- but really, who cares what a sour puss rates something? They can only rate a file once and, as I said, if something is truly good then the good ratings will eventually out weight someone who may be on an agenda. That is life unfortunately, but the good will always shine though.Unfortunately, it is possible to sort mods by ratings. So, there might be users out there who assume there are some objective criteria going on (of course this is impossible, taste is subjective), but nonetheless presume to make judgments based on how many stars a file gets informing his judgment. At least visual mods might have an accompanying screenshot, with scenarios a user might be biased from the start by a subjectively low rating and nothing else to go on. If someone were biased from the start because of a rating, well, some joker accomplished the goal. It's not like we haven't had trolls or trouble makers who would be above it. In general, the Internet itself is filled with people who have nothing else to do but just do it for kicks even if there is no outright motivation.Suppose some column in a PC magazine rated Steel Beasts 2/5 stars with no commentary, no review, no article to explain this score. What does this really say? IMO, the real trouble is that people can download files and not give a rating. IF you download someone's work then GIVE THEM A RATING after you try it out. I see some mods with hundreds of downloads and only 5 votes -- people are just naturally lazy when it comes to giving feedback unfortunately.Right. And if people download without saying anything out of laziness, it makes me wonder what type of person would go out of their way to actually give a score low.It's not to say something can't or shouldn't receive the best score, but without some context, the rating is sort of meaningless. Since as you say it can't be done with the forum setup anyway, I guess it doesn't matter. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
congo Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Generally speaking I did most of my mods because I enjoy the artwork and get some satisfaction when I can include them in my sim while playing. When folks expressed interest I started making them available for general consumption. Whether they have good ratings or bad would not deter me from doing them. Ratings as you said are very subjective. IMO if someone is so low to give low ratings just for the hell of it then they will most likely be untruthful when asked to comment about why the rating was low. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabot_ready Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Since I am sure Homer is looking for options to upgrade the forums in the future, maybe he could keep an eye out for that feature. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Colossus Posted September 27, 2011 Author Share Posted September 27, 2011 Generally speaking I did most of my mods because I enjoy the artwork and get some satisfaction when I can include them in my sim while playing. When folks expressed interest I started making them available for general consumption. Whether they have good ratings or bad would not deter me from doing them. Ratings as you said are very subjective. IMO if someone is so low to give low ratings just for the hell of it then they will most likely be untruthful when asked to comment about why the rating was low.I make mine first and foremost for myself- I also share mine, since I have benefited by downloading files that others have created.My problem is that it probably is possible to distort something here. As Volcano says, if people can't be bothered to rate, all it takes are the one or two odd ducks to proactively give a low rating to skew the score. If people are turned off by a rating, well, then that is the effect of that. I can tell you I have been guilty of sorting and browsing by higher ratings.If they are being untruthful even in their comments, at least they have to put forth the effort and identify themselves in order to do that. I think that would dissuade some people or cause them to maybe say something more honestly, rather than just to manufacture the appearance that something isn't any good. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Volcano Posted September 27, 2011 Moderators Share Posted September 27, 2011 Generally speaking I did most of my mods because I enjoy the artwork and get some satisfaction when I can include them in my sim while playing. When folks expressed interest I started making them available for general consumption. Whether they have good ratings or bad would not deter me from doing them. Ratings as you said are very subjective. IMO if someone is so low to give low ratings just for the hell of it then they will most likely be untruthful when asked to comment about why the rating was low.I agree. I say make the mod first for yourself, then provide it to others if you like, if only for the satisfaction of sharing things. People will either love it or leave it and unfortunately the world is full if idiots who do things like cut you off in traffic, throw trash in your front yard as they drive down the road, or go through the mods database and give bad ratings for no reason whatsoever. Don't let that bother your or deter you from making mods.Having said that, we have to accept that people may not like a mod that you make and may give it a bad rating. That seems to be within their right to do so; I mean, lets just not leave out the idea that someone may actually not like the mod. BUT, if this is about some rogue voter with an agenda, can't you vote on the mod yourself and cancel the one vote out? Then votes will happen over time and it will go from 3 star rating to whatever it should be? In any case, yes, I do think that a system where if you vote you are also forced to leave a comment (kind of like eBay's feedback where you have to leave a comment) would be a good improvement IF that can be done. My concern however is that anonymous voting, besides the numb skulls that vote on a mod without having tried it, is mostly honest voting. I think the problem however is that not enough people vote. In a system where you have to leave a comment to vote, I think more people will just not vote at all if they don't like it (personally that is what I do myself), which isn't exactly encouraging honest feedback. But I guess it is a pro/con relationship either way... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Colossus Posted September 27, 2011 Author Share Posted September 27, 2011 That seems to be within their right to do so; I mean, lets just not leave out the idea that someone may actually not like the mod. BUT, if this is about some rogue voter with an agenda, can't you vote on the mod yourself and cancel the one vote out? Then votes will happen over time and it will go from 3 star rating to whatever it should be? Well, I'm not interested in voting for my own just to cancel another out (it doesn't necessarily average as canceling out, anyway). I don't submit something for high marks, I'm more concerned over just this:Scenario such and such. Rating: 2/5 stars (2 votes).Ok, I see that and assume it sucks. I have nothing else to go on, but apparently the average of two mediocre scores (or perhaps one great and one bad? Dunno.). In any case, yes, I do think that a system where if you vote you are also forced to leave a comment (kind of like eBay's feedback where you have to leave a comment) would be a good improvement IF that can be done.Yeah, I can't see a negative to that at all, except one- comments would have to be moderated for idiots saying something stupid or against the rules in the comments section. In and of itself however, it could only be more useful than just a star system, it doesn't take away anything to do that. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
congo Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 Maybe something like when you open the ratings window the first screen is for a comment and once that is filled out and you hit submit then the ratings window pops open, just a thought. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanPatrick Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 I pay more attention to the number of downloads, personally. Maybe because of the fact that ratings are so few and far between. I never trust reviews either. As mentioned earlier in this thread, it's so subjective. Makes my own submissions seem more popular anyway. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 We tracked down who is doing this.To this person: Stop it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 I have received assurance from this person that it will no longer happen in the future.Problems do not always require technical solutions when simply talking to people can accomplish the same thing. Having said that, the items brought up in thread will be considered when picking our next download manager.Everyone happy now? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Colossus Posted September 29, 2011 Author Share Posted September 29, 2011 Thanks to Sean and Homer for taking the time to look into it. And something good might come out of it is well. Right on. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabot_ready Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Five stars Homer *****I gave him that rating because as a mod, he has done this community a great service. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brun Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 I search by author name. I know that certain authors always have the level of quality I want in a sceneario so I stick with them just like a favorite beer or car brand. If my selected Authors don't have anything new coming out I usually go without. I only download Co-ops and single player scenes from the sb site and often modify them a bit to better fit my taste or make huge co-op's a bit more single player friendly like extending time limits to make it possible for one person to complete. I don't host so multi-player scenes I let the host decide or make a suggestion. I may try a new Author from time to time but if I don't like it I may never download anything of theirs again.Star ratings have never played any role in my choice of Downloads. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tacbat Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 The only stars you need to worry about are the Death Stars. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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