Danuja That's probably because people are allowed to review a novel more than one time. The ratings here are not really accurate so try not to trust them and read the novel first before giving your first thought about it.
4 a 5 star Low quality of novels
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I try to write better, and so far I've been doing great! And people have been honest with me. Just check out my reviews
https://m.webnovel.com/book/11693436306475705
If you read it (it's short 20 chapters) you can see I do try to make it the best I can.
RR is for a man with strong will, that they can ignore those insulting comment.
Be strong.
A massive problem is that authors are asking for review swaps, which is great, but want/expect 5 stars regardless of what the other person actually thinks. I am really after some constructive criticism (key word being constructive) but i also get the feeling if i do an honest review of someones work they would find mine and give me a one star just out of spite. Also see below for the first brilliant and helpful review i received after my first chapter.
MagicWaffle7
Poopy-di scoop
Scoop-diddy-whoop
Whoop-di-scoop-di-poop
Poop-di-scoopty
Scoopty-whoop
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NU Rating: https://forum.novelupdates.com/threads/ratings-of-1-star-should-be-given-a-low-weight.72479/ or https://forum.novelupdates.com/threads/how-do-people-vote-for-novels-without-a-review.74501/
No rating is honest. Even in NU. Check the review, but ignore the rating.
This is RR problem: https://www.royalroad.com/forums/thread/101816 worse, RR ranking is based on rating. So...
There are many complaint about rating here too: https://forum.webnovel.com/?q=rating (Too many to list, but war on review are big now).
Rating is problematic everywhere.
It's definitely difficult, and I restrain myself from review swaps for precisely the reasons you have mentioned above.
However, I have seen what seems to be a slightly better approach in reviews where the reviewer rates the novel say 4-5 stars but then leave an honest review of their thoughts where they point out flaws, without neglecting the positives.
Unfortunately, it's hard to win because there are those authors that will react very defensively/angrily to what you might think is constructive criticism but they think is straight up flaming (I've seen it happen even with the most reasonable-sounding reviews.)
You can't win.
Nier_Xue What is this novel updates? I'm a writer and do not know about this.
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BabyTanuki Seriously? https://www.novelupdates.com/
That is the best place to search for translation work. It similar to Yahoo! for translation novels. The review usually a good reason to know the positive and negative thing about a novel. This Rabbink thought most readers came from here before they found Webnovel.
MasterRabbink Is it strictly for translations, what about originals?
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Jessie There is one. However, it just list RR novels. However, the list is old and barely any review.
Lord_of_Potatoes Not all authors act like this, I can take criticism. However I want an honest opinion, not a hateful one. There are many factors that go into a review that influences the authors reaction.
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Lord_of_Potatoes Most of authors who were react very defensively/angrily is because the words the reviewer use is harsh. Even though the review is reasonable if the words you use are harsh, the author will not accept that willingly. it's all the same bro, it's like: when you work on something, you put more your time and your hard work on that something, but when the work is done, people said your work is trash, low quality, or other kind thing harsh words. What do you feel? I'm sure you will be pissed too right? it's the same as the author.
Danuja Don't compare original section on WN and RR. How old RR? How old WN's original section? Wn still need time to grow. Also, most original author on WN is a newbie author. So of course there will be big difference between RR and WN.
Nier_Xue There are many WN haters on NU since the WW and WN conflict. So it's not surprise WN's novel get low rating there.
This is only my personal opinion.
HotIce Hey Hotice,
Yeah, I totally agree! BUT I have seen situations were reviewers were reasonable in every sense of the word (good critique, no harsh tone or personal attacks at all) where authors have reacted a little bit extreme. That's what I mean by a reasonable review. And this is coming from someone who is an author himself. Of course, if someone is attacking you unfairly and screaming hate, then have at it.
EldridSmith
Yep, of course! We're all human beings with different personalities and ways of responding. As an author myself, I also wish for honest opinions that can point out flaws, without being hateful. However, I have seen some pretty extreme situations to reviews I thought were fair and not extreme or derisive. But I totally agree, there are many factors that affect an author's reaction. It's hard to feel someone's tone/attitude when its just written word.
Have a great day!
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While i see your point i disagree with your statement that they shouldn't be compared. While RR is alot older the fact stays that WN has a fundamental flaw which will not fix itself. The site is riddled with bots and fake reviews so that authors can artificially increase their ratings.
WN offers certain rewards when one reaches premium. To meet the demands low quality chapters are pumped out daily with record speed. There's a reason why my reviews on WN are ALOT harsher then on RR. WN haters aren't the reason, its just that 90% of the stuff is garbage tier. Authors do not care about the quality of their work, they'll just drown out bad reviews.
I agree the reviews on WebNovels are typically an inaccurate indicator. Someone else had mentioned that authors do review swaps. I myself have done a few of these because we need 10 reviews for our rating to even show up to viewers. It's a big disadvantage not having a rating appear when you show up under daily updates and such. It's hard getting ratings. My novel was rank 97 last week and is 97 again this week. I only have 20 ratings despite being top 100. Some other authors even higher than me haven't even hit 10 ratings yet!
I've always felt NovelUpdates has the most accurate reviews overall (though still not perfect). Unfortunately, they don't allow Originals yet.
SnoozySloth It's a big disadvantage not having a rating appear when you show up under daily updates and such.
I think empty rating made an advantages since it showed your novel is new. That would attract certain type of readers.
MasterRabbink
I often fall back on my personal experiences as a reader before I started writing. I had always avoided novels without a rating already there.