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Rating Crew, Please Be Back!

Discussion in 'General Forum' started by luis diogo, Sep 28, 2014.

  1. luis diogo

    luis diogo Elite

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    I can understand that allowing everyone to rate mods is a very democratic option, but i'm afraid it won't end up with the best results.

    Ratings are supposed to give users an idea od mod's quality, based on criteria, but with the current system the vast majority of ratings are 5 stars, most of them without any words justifying it and many of them given even without any test in game.

    I wonder if administrators can eventually make an analysis of the most common rating given by people. 5 stars will be around 80 percent or more, when it should indeed be given only to the best mods.

    So my suggestion is that the rating staff might be back, choosing some of the most honorable members of this community for that purpose.

    I'm also sympatethic with the idea of people being able to rate. So maybe 2 separate rating systems could be usefull. One from people in general and other from official rating team.

    At the moment i hardly feel the ratings are usefull, apart from some comments that are made with criteria. In fact they might be measleading users instead of helping the choice.
    Just imagine a mod that might even be nice looking, but it has no lods and will end up lagging the game. Should it be a 5 stars one?

    I also think there could be accurate criteria, altough we should keep it simple. For example:

    Usability (some mods are simple but very usefull and they should be rated accordingly)
    Functionality
    Design
    Textures
    Performance friendly

    Well, this is just an idea but i think we need a rating system that can actually be helpfull, with proper criteria.
    These are my 5 cents for sure.
     
  2. Alex24

    Alex24 Moderator
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    I just checked that and unfortunately you seem to be right. Most ratings are 5 stars. It can be motivating... but it doesn't fulfill the purpose. For motivation we have likes.

    I think it's rather difficult introducing a second rating board with some experienced and critical users. But I am no expert on that. Icy should know that.
     
  3. snick

    snick Moderator
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    We've tried a rating board and it didn't work. People went inactive, got lazy, etc.

    Besides, rating board or not, you're going to get a lot of 5 star ratings.
     
  4. kipate

    kipate Governor

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    It ain't totally true, I have yet only seen one resource that has only 5 stars
    in the reviews, and that was Breeze Coast/Saru by Red_Zone19.
    Even the Fountain by Monty has a single 4 star rating
    (Monty will soon move towards Austria with a bazooka :p ),
    though it is one of the highlights in any city, if not the #1 highlight...

    And I don't think that on average, there will only be high rated resources;
    community will grow, and so will number of people who are aware
    of what they do when they rate; but first you don't have to forget that many
    many resources already have a top quality as the modders are really mature,
    and second you should be aware of the possibility that the functionality of a mod could be enhanced over time,
    see one of my tutorials where I use lextacy's overpasses to have railway bridges...
    So without knowing this fact, you would possibly give it only 2 or 3 stars
    (oh, a lextacy's mod... Geez, Mankind and its hypocrisy...), but now you know
    the other function, so this should make you give it a better rating, not?

    Of course, especially regarding CJs, there are some people who
    don't think before they rate/review...

    At the moment, you have the only option to report bizarre reviews.
    What I would like to have was maybe some kind of headline that comes
    up with the review window showing up, asking whether people
    tested a mod before they rated it, if they have their principles
    that guide them when reviewing or similar... I think this will make
    people think before they rate...
    Btw, do all modders test other modders' work before they rate the mod?
     
  5. IcyHot

    IcyHot Administrator
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    If you look at XenFORO.com with over 3,000 resources you will find that the system actually works. The rating for top spot is not just a simple 5 star rating it also factors in votes.

    I have thought about turning on the option to allow anonymous votes (XLNation staff would still know who made the review) so that maybe some people would feel more at ease offering a lower rate. We've only been doing this for 1 month.
     
  6. luis diogo

    luis diogo Elite

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    Well this was just an idea. I remember when i first got in touch with XL Nation and started downloading mods. My first choice was sorting them by rating.

    After some time i went a little deeper i found some less rated mods that i could find some use for. When you first know this site you'll find around 1000 mods, so a working rating system can be very helpfull.

    Nowdays i like to evaluate every mod by myself, but that's after spending lots of time collecting the ones already available. I guess everybody can do the same and yes, even with a large margin for error, the current system might give some orientations, since there will always be some of us who will rate mods with criteria.

    And of course any rating will have some degree of subjectivity. The given example about Lextacy's mods is a good one. That's why i think the rating could eventually be more detailed. In this case, the rater might give a higher rank in functionality, preferencially if he points that out in the review, but would still be harsh about the performance friendly criteria or the textures.

    Anyways, the new site it's just in the beggining (and i'm liking it more and more as i'm discovering it's potential). Maybe this is something to take into account in the future when things are more stable. I mean all the Xlex uploaded, a full range of members, etc...
     
  7. IcyHot

    IcyHot Administrator
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    Nicely thought out argument, I am more than willing to reevaluate this subject at a later date
     
  8. Mr.X²

    Mr.X² Moderator
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    no, i dont test every modders work :p if i review a mod from our masters i know that this is a good mod and everything works fine..
    @newcomer's, of course i have a closer look at it. but especially if someone made a first or second mod and it doesent look like s* i rate it 5 stars, because i know how hard the learning process can be :)
    cj's... hm usually i dont look at them, and i only rate them if its an awesome one :p
    yet i always wanted to be a 4 star-rating to be my average rating (for good mods) and only rate exceptional mods 5-stars, but uhm well... i dont know... maybe its just because it would look "asocial" in-between all those 5-star-ratings.. :oops:

    but back to the discussion..
    its really hard to rate all migrated mods, so i dont think we can ever use the rating to sort all mods
    and yes, i totally agree with the suggestion of an anonymous rating. i guess people were more willing to give a lower rating if nobody can see who is rating. (at least i would :p )
    btw i also noticed that most mods have much more reviews/ratings than likes. if people could just hit the like button to say "i like this mod, thanks for sharing" they wouldnt just use the review option for saying this and rate more "accurate".
    so im still in favor with a bigger like-button, its just hard to see
     
    The Funky Monk likes this.
  9. Alex24

    Alex24 Moderator
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    Should I understand that?
     
  10. snick

    snick Moderator
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    I do agree that the like button could be bigger. Right now I still have to search for it sometimes... it's microscopic.
     
  11. kipate

    kipate Governor

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    Yes, if you search for the one guy who gave only 4 stars for the fountain,
    you will understand it... I know that you gave 5 stars, though :p

    Btw, just for your information, but it is a fact that people, given
    a real or even a fake moral institution, indeed behave accordingly...
     
  12. Alex24

    Alex24 Moderator
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    ah, just figured
     
  13. Extablitz

    Extablitz Unskilled Worker

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    maybe this not effective but make more minimum character allowed before review, so that people just didn't say "very good!","very nice!", "amazing!!", "thank you", but rate it with 4 stars or below, WTF!!. if I was the author I will be pissed off (like monty's fountain :D).
    people should give reason why he/she give that rate, otherwise they can just press like button like mr.x said
     
  14. IcyHot

    IcyHot Administrator
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    The minimum rate length was increased from 10 to 15 characters, also members can now rate anonymously, though be advised the moderators can clearly see who did the rate.
     
    Extablitz likes this.
  15. Extablitz

    Extablitz Unskilled Worker

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    Icyhot, what you mean member can rate anonymously? do people can rate without login?
     
  16. Mr.X²

    Mr.X² Moderator
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    nope, if you re reviewing a ressource you can check a box "rate annonymiously", then nobody (except for xln-staff) can see your identity
     
  17. Extablitz

    Extablitz Unskilled Worker

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    ah yes that checkbox, I didn't notice it. thanks
     
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