Hey guys.
I'm certain I'm not the only one tired of seeing people give members' photos poor ratings and not saying why...
When someone posts a great pic like this:
http://www.joedios.com/dioramas/sho...php?i=21644&c=7
That's only got a rating of 3, and all the comments are absolutely positive, it makes no sense.

From what I heard, Hammerfel either doesn't know how to disable the ratings, or simply can't.
Personally, for a while now I've been countering these "poor ratings without an accurate criticism" with ratings of 5 (I don't think anyone here deserves less) but I'm only one member and there seem to be more than one person handing out those ratings.

So I'm asking you guys, my friends, my compadres, my partners-in-crime... will you join me for this, to force the people that give crappy ratings without a reason to either stop, or start posting actual critiques rather than hide behind an anonymous rating?

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RIP Minouche, 1994-2009.

I don't consider "average" to be a bad rating. I wish that the 1 and 2 star ratings were not labeled "bad" and "terrible" though.

I have always thought that 3 and up was pretty good. What I mean is, we can give alot of praise but still not think that a photo is perfect. Maybe I like the set but the focus is out a bit. I will comment on the greatness of the set but might still give it a 3. I really like most of the pictures that go up but dont think they are all perfect 5's. on the flip side. I have seen very few that deserve 1 or 2's but there have been a few. I usually just choose not to vote at all. Like, Im not a fan of the crossover pics or not joe related pics at all so I just choose not to vote instead of voting 1 because I dont like the subject. Now that would be rude.

To me it takes A LOT for a pic to be a 1 or a 2, 3's are okay but I think what people forget is the general effort other folks put into their shots. The general consesus ought to be if it's not you're thing just ignore it.

I think at this point most folks just ignore the ratings because it's been abused so. I for one don't pay them much mind. Overall I think it's fairly harmless and would even prefer a few measley yellow blocks as opposed to someone just nit picking the most miniscule of details, and I know I'm not alone there.

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Jay, this issue has been raised before, I don't think there's a lot that can be done. The one star bandit seems to come and go every now and then, and if that's how he gets his jollies, then I feel sorry for him. Personally, I dislike the rating system and never use it. Our work is like all art, it's subjective, I don't see how it can be given a rating as such. You either like it or you don't. If you like it, say so. If not, have the courage to put your name to it and say so as well. Don't just bomb it with a "1" and slink off into cyberspace.

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"The future's uncertain and the end is always near." - The Doors "Roadhouse Blues".

What's to be said or mentioned here that hasn't been said before?

I do think theres a way round it, but asking people to rate *5 to counter those decisions isn't fair, not all bad ratings are down to the one shot phantom.

The best way to deal with it is as the vets have done. Discount the ratings totally. I know I do and so do alot of others here.

I think alot of the contributors here spend time on their sets and photographs.. to primarily to receive feedback on it, to be told if it's good/great or if something could be improved and mainly to share with people who like what they like..
i'd rather receive comments than the yellow ratings. When I first found out about the 'one shot phantom' it pretty much killed my interest in the ratings, how geniune can the ratings be if someone out there is downgrading them every now and then?

As far as Hammerfel doing nothing about it, I think its not simply a case of ticking a button and removing it, i think its a software problem, something that is intergrated into the applications or something and it would cost money to pay a designer or person to fix it. Therefore its easier for us and him if we just ignore the ratings.

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My thoughts exactly. Sometimes I vote on on the Top Rated Images section but that's about it.

In my opinion the photos are being rated too high. Even bad photos get five points. On a rare occasions some photos get a four. Looking through the archives, three points or lower are few and far between. Rating accurately is more important than rating high.

If a stellar Outrider photo gets a five, then at the same time an out of focus, incomplete vehicle sitting on a kitchen table gets a five, rating becomes kind of meaningless.

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My JoeDios photos | Flickr

... my two cents.

To play the devils advocate... which I tend to do... offten,
How can we complain about the rating system?

a rating system is a reflection of the opinions of one's peers. If I didn't like the photo (hypotheticaly speaking), lets say I felt it was too blurry to understand what was going on, and it didn't apeal to me on that point, that would be "my Opinion" and I would give my rating based on that opinion.
If you don't agree with that opinion then that's your business, but what's the point of a ratings system if we all get 5 stars/blocks?

I personaly thought the picture was original and different, but it didn't apeal to my "would I hang it on my wall" meter. so there fore "IF" I used the rating system (which I have never noticed LOL) I would have given it a 3 or 4. that's my opinion
you can't expect everyone to love the pictures you love.

I say this to make a point I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings (why I don't rate pictures) and I hope my objectional comments don't reflect badly on my work or anyone else's

WE (all of us) do what we do because we love it! I say get rid of the system (if possible) and move on


P.S. can some one tell me why I'm only getting a 4 rating on my comic?

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to see all of my work go here:
www.flickr.com/photos/jgwhitlock

You're absolutely correct. The problem is not with someone disliking a picture, its more that it would be nice to say why rather than just rate it without any reason. Contructive criticism can only help us all get better. I would hate to think a new member to the site would be discouraged and stop posting if his pics get unexplained low ratings.

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"The future's uncertain and the end is always near." - The Doors "Roadhouse Blues".

This.

See, I have no problem with people not liking one of my pics.

But when there's nothing but positive comments in the picture's thread but a crap rating, how is one to learn what he did wrong that he may work on improving that in subsequent photos?


I know Hammerfel once had it set so people couldn't give out ratings until they'd done, I think it was a hundred posts...
What I can't help but wonder is, can that number be raised to one million or so?

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RIP Minouche, 1994-2009.