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  • Really redundand reviews and how we can change this trend

How many times do you buy into the reviews of a 4-5 star story only to be massively disappointed?
If you're as jaded as a cop a year from retirement too; then this post is still your band wagon.

I'm not innocent but I have learnt to stop exp whor*ing to the detriment of others.

The system has never been perfect. However, the exp for review scheme has only succeeded in making a bad thing worse.

Go to any story right now and look at the reviews. I bet you that you will quickly find a 5 star review with no text. Just emojis. Or one character repeated over and over. Just until the 140 character limit is met.

So many cràp reviews are making the whole rating system redundant. You can only tell that a story is bad if it dips below 3stars, it's tough to distinguish the quality of any story between 4-5 stars because of flase review ratings.

I suggest a different system that incentivises quality reviews that would add to the user experience of this platform.

I don't have the best idea, but I want to get the ball rolling. Here's my suggestion:

You don't get 5 exp per review. You get 1 exp for each like that your review attracts. The more insightful and helpful reviews would be rewarded by the community on their merit. Note subsequent replies should not be rewarded the sane way.

The benefit to this method is that is that the better the reviews, the more long term gains the poster is set to receive. Also prospective readers get truer and fairer reflections on stories they are thinking of reading.

The implementation eludes me but Webnovel could make it so that after say 10 likes the exp is released to the reviewer, and then after 20 likes the next 10 exp is released, and so on.
Reviews that get 100 like could even get 10 ss.

Sorry for the whiny post. There are some absolute gems worth reading that authors and translators work their bútts off to provide. This dedication deserves way more than emoji reviews or some variation of 'dis iz gud zzzzzzzzzzz (insert 140 characters)'.

Our appreciation should be articulated and rewarded justly.

    SlimJim I agree! I once started a discussion on this topic. My point is, legit reviews should be rewarded appropriately, especially since they take effort and much thought to write. The XP reward system not only diminishes its value, it also encourages trash/ spammy reviews.

      SlimJim Not a bad idea, but what do you do with users creating multiple dummy accounts to like the reviews posted by their main account?

      There will be less trashy reviews but more rubbish accounts littering WN's DB.

        Cantiara
        Hey Cantiara
        That is a really good point, I'm stumped. Dummy accounts are always going to be around. Especially when it's so lucrative to invite a friend.

        I guess one solution is to make the value of a 'like' less than the effort it would take to create so many dummy accounts.

        If 100 likes = 10exp and no SS were involved, well written reviews would come from a place of sincerity.

        Less people would review a story unless they really liked it, plus the exp would be a long term fringe benefit.

        We don't really need more reviews at the end of the day. We need better quality reviews.

        ealdgyth nice to see that we're not alone in this, I hope other like minded souls agree.
        How did your discussion go?

        Cantiara bought up a good point about people gaming the review system if likes were used as a measure for exp. Can you think of anything that would manage that outcome?

          SlimJim it went nowhere, unfortunately. One of the moderators joined the discussion (forgot their username) and sort of threw their hands up saying, "one can't reward thoughtfulness." It's true, that most of us who care to give authors real feedback do so out of "thoughtfulness." The reward system is a wonderful and enjoyable way to encourage interaction. Unfortunately there will always be unscrupulous people out there. What's an XP anyway? Or a badge? They don't give real benefits apart from bragging rights.

          Speaking of which, WN does have a badge for legit reviews! The Council of Bookworms, which, I feel, is not utilized enough. What if they removed the XP for reviews, and instead gave the badge to outstanding reviews, and not just for novels they are pushing? I once tried to join a promo for that badge, reading through a featured new novel in order to submit a review before their deadline. But then, how is it possible to cram in one week? Good and honest reviews are the product of real reading, which takes time.

          I am thinking, apart from likes (which can be rigged, as Cantiara pointed out) why not give authors or editors/ translators the power to award reviews? Maybe half and half with WN? I noticed authors are able to pin up reviews they like so they appear permanently on the novel info. These could be a basis for rewards instead of XPs. Two of my reviews (for different novels) have been pinned so far. One wasn't even completely positive, yet the author placed it up there. :)

          I’d give honest reviews, but people tend to like throwing negative reviews in response. So I don’t review at all anymore.

          Mostly because people don’t often realize the difference between a story being bad, and the genre not being for them.

            Bunny sadly not many people can take criticism, no matter how constructive you try to be. In fairness to authors, they do have the last say on how they go about the creative process. Whether we understand or appreciate their work is another issue. Everybody has a right to their own opinion, but that hardly makes us experts (even if we might be writers or editors too).

              14 days later

              ealdgyth Naturally, I just don’t know why they ask for a review in that case if they just want empty praises. They could just ask for someone to hype them up for their next chapter in that case lol

                Bunny haha! You're right! Maybe they din't know what a review really means. Hehehe!😅

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