Frogboy Frogboy

Ratings Abuse

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Ratings Abuse

from WinCustomize Forums

Skins, Themes, Icons, Wallpapers: All of these things have ratings associated with it. Ratings are designed to allow users to better find things that are of higher quality while helping new skin authors improve on their skill set.

Unfortunately, the ratings system is imperfect. Only those with Apprentice access or higher OR have WinCustomize subscriptions can rate skins. But some people abuse their ratings priviledges. Some people will give a 1 to a nice skin and many people will give 10's to terrible skins.

There is even what appears to be the occasional use of rating trading. Where authors will agree to vote on each others skins in exchange for high ratings for their own.

Let me be clear: We can see the ratings. That is, we know who rates what. And they are cross referenced. The Admins actually get a visual cross reference of what a user rates things. So if User A is giving all of User B's skins 10s (or 1s) and vice versa, it's pretty apparent what's going on.

Here is the standard of which rating should be done:

It's a 1 through 10 setup. 5 means average. A 10 means you think it's one of the best skins of all time. A 9 would be one of the best skins of the year.  Most skins should get between a 4 and 6.

We have begun prooning ratings to try to make them somewhat more representative.  Giving your friend a 10 on a bad skin is not helping them. It is definitely not helping other users who simply conclude that the users here must just have terrible taste. We don't want to have to threaten removing ratings priviledges from users so please, just try to be fair and honest in your ratings.

Thanks!

15,344 views 34 replies
Reply #26 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I can relate to the problems ANY rating system can cause.I am not a graphic artist but I create and post music on AcidPlanet.com.That site suffers from the same type of rating abuse!Thankfully for WinCustomize contributors their work can be SEEN and the user can judge for themselves.Unfortunately with music the user see's the rating and reviews BEFORE hearing the music and if it is unfairly judged they don't bother to listen.I feel due the visual nature of this site "the cream will always rise to the top" regardless of ratings.By the way I personally ignore the ratings....I just download what I like!
Reply #27 from WinCustomize Forums Top
While I'd love to debate this further, we're wasting valuable space here. Suffice to say I disagree with your view of the ratings. I think I pay plenty. I think the subscription to this website should be integrated with the rest of the stardock OD and subscription prices adjusted accordingly. I think any kind of rating system that can be utilized by only SOME of the people who use the actual skins is a biased rating and won't ever be a true representation of the skinner's skills and artistic talent. I was not the one who intimated that those without WC Rank were possibly dingbats and incompetent to rate skins. I did not suggest that the general public(someone surfing in off the web with no vested interest in the stuff) should be able to come in , view the site and rate sites.
While you consider yourself a "regular cit," you are a skinner, and therefore able to recieve apprentice level at some point. I am not. I utilize what is available to me to beautify my surroundings. I pay for that privelege with my OD subscription every January.
I accuse you of nothing. I point out only that you made a derogatory comment that refers directly back to the elite group you are promoting.
I still say it's not strange that the few make the decisions for the many, it's bureaucratic perogative.

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Reply #28 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Yeah I agree that there are favoritism going on...I couldn't count the number of bad ones that got high ratings.
Reply #29 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Everything posted here is for public consumption...let the skins speak for themselves....in others words...a skin's rating should be based on the number and frequency of it's downloads.
Reply #30 from WinCustomize Forums Top
"It's a 1 through 10 setup. 5 means average. A 10 means you think it's one of the best skins of all time. A 9 would be one of the best skins of the year. Most skins should get between a 4 and 6."

If 1 is the lowest score someone can get and 10 is the highest, how does one get a score of "0" (ZERO)? I have seen lots of zero scores lately, what does this mean?



Reply #31 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Thanks, Ess Sorry if I jumbled your words. It's true, an animated gif converted to a DX object most likely would just be for entertainment, and I would only post those "simple" ones just for the sake of sharing. But for someone to come along and vote a "1" on it is purely because someone considers it "unoriginal". Unoriginal, perhaps, but I didn't see anyone else take the time to convert it to a DX object before, so why WOULDN'T I post it? But a "1"?!

I recommend a simple system like:
"Click here to recommend this object to other users."

And a tally of recommendations for each object:
"This object is recommended by 2 Admins, 11 Apprentices, and 21 Citizens"

Then, you could more accurately judge for yourself what the interest is in a particular object.
Reply #32 from WinCustomize Forums Top
[brazen weep]: may i quote the WC Mission Statement from here: https://www.wincustomize.com/index.asp?Cmd=about

Ownership: You own the materials you upload. This cuts both ways, we assume you made what you uploaded and we will not sell your property without your permission. You must not only own what you submit but the subcomponents of it unless you have permission from the owners of the property you are submitting.


what you did was taking an animated graphic made by somebody else without giving credit to the creator and without including the permission of the creator (if you ever asked for it, what i doubt). that´s what is called ripping in the skinning community. hence the low rating.
Reply #33 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Hey moshi, credit would be given if I could find the original author of some of these animated gifs. But guess what? They're not copyrighted ones, they are ones freely available from almost any online GIF archive. If I had any way of contacting the author of these, I would. But from what I can tell, the only ones I convert are freeware GIFs that appear on MULTIPLE websites with NO author credits. Hence, you should do a little research yourself before passing judgement. Or next time, don't vote. You're not making ME feel bad, because like I say in EVERY object these graphics are simply "converted from graphics available elsewhere on the web". Your low rating does NOTHING but hide the object from users who normally would be interested in the object. Stop trying to play God. I don't see you contributing anything to the site except a single screenshot. Spend your time doing good and sharing with other users instead of playing the part of a bad Detective.
Reply #34 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Here's my 2 cents worth on the "ratings" debacle. I think the true "artists" in the game (Mormegil, Adni, etc) do it for the enjoyment it gives them, not the ego boost that so many apparently are seeking. I have done ONE skin, just to see if i could even do it, and they are a lot of work, even in a simplistic form. The true artists know if they are doing good work, and I really dont think its for admiration, but love of the work.