Scott_Crosswhite
Low reviews impact a contracted writer's income or uncontracted writer's chance of getting a contract so that's a big reason why they delete them. It all just part of a game that people play to get ahead on this site.
But for people that don't care at all about contracts (like me, who rejected an offer), they tend to not care about poor reviews.
kazesenken Unfortunately the author LuckGod apparently can. He just deleted all my reviews and comments toward him. I gave his story a 3 star review and showed how it can be improved yet he attacked me then deleted his comment and my review. I then went to reply to him on his top review and he removed those without even trying to start a conversation.
Edit: Never mind I thought you meant replies on reviews. Forget what I about said about him being able to delete chapter comments.
AzureWolf
Of course, he's going to delete that review. His story does not deserve to be 4.8 and he's about to go premium. A low rating that would shift it down would damage that when it starts going on the front page.
Why don't you review other works? Go ahead and give your honest opinion for mine if you want. the only time I've ever deleted a rating was when someone gave me a 5* gibberish rating where it said nothing but random letters. I know my work has a lot to improve on, so input is always good.
My thought is that the review system is so broken, that any story below 4 in rating is perceived as bad.
So if i had to let a review, i would let one at 4.0 minimum, but i would still say all i have to say. Feedback is necessary to improve. Especially uncontracted authors, they need to be motivated not discouraged.
4.8 should be a masterpiece. Even movies with several oscars rarely go above 90% in rating. Yet, there are 4.8 rating everywhere, my novel with bad grammar included.
An honest review is what allows the author to grow by rewriting the novel, it only gets better, the text block itself becomes richer. Provided that the reviewer himself is adequate, he writes practical advice on how to improve the novel in his opinion.
On the other hand, the reviewer should not be intrusive, because he can be perceived not as a good Samaritan but as a malicious troll pursuing his victim.
Many novels are tied to the rating, and when you give him 3 stars, he will not be able to get more readers, etc.
Mainly the reason why I don’t rely on the reviews or ratings here before I read a book.
It be good if we have sites with better review system or tag searching like goodreads or novelupdates for originals.
If for a well-written review they would give something - free pass pieces of 5 or 10, then those who write the review would treat them differently. And not just stupidly read the previous reviewer, slightly changed the text and wrote some kind of hell.
Most reviewers do not read novels, you can understand, they do not want to spend time on a poorly written novel or with poor grammar. But they require other reviewers to read their novels. This is not very honest.
I usually read 10-15 chapters, if I like the novel I can read 60 chapters, then I write my thoughts, this is not a classic review, but I write about the minuses and the pros. My thoughts are how to improve the novel. Of course, this is a subjective assessment of the author’s work, but it’s honest.
The review system isn't going to change here since it's a reflection of practice.
I recommend placing objective growth inspiring constructive feedback as a chapter comment instead.
yea Ive seen a lot of people give criticism though and still give like a 4.8 star rating, Id much rather know what my work is actually worth, even if it is just a 3 star right now... Otherwise ill probably just think I'm awesome and wonder why no one recognizes my supreme talent and mater craftmanship of words... XD
burntpotato The only real time I rely on a review for reading material is if I am checking to make sure it isn't being pirated. There are some translator sites off webnovel that I use, and a lot that I don't, but sometimes you'll find someone trying to post it here, just because they want to "share it with more people."
Personally I would love to have reviews on mine because it would mean I could work on the novel.
I think what luckgod should have done is to reply to AzureWolf with thanks for the criticism and that they would either pay more attention to it in the future, or would try to do exercises to become better.
burntpotato so you're saying someone should create an independent site to catalogue and review originals on Webnovel?
yansusustories I love their search function there, easy to narrow down what you’re searching for (NU and ScribbleH). Scribblehub is their writing platform though, not a catalogue/directory.
KoraL yeah.
Just a passer-by,
Chill out Bro, need a beer?
This reminds me of a story, a young hot-shot MBA graduate from a prestigious IVY- league or something school went into a Chinese MNC and within a month, shot an email all the way to the top detailing the issues the company was facing and how it could be solved. He was fired on short notice.
The Chinese government once solicited feedback from very high net worth individuals on how they could improve certain things with regards to canvassing business. They implemented that feedback.
The point of the article was about how sometimes, people only take advice from the Pros.
My take on it was kinda like, you kinda have to establish your credentials before giving any life-altering, game- changing, god-tier level feedback. I mean... do you really expect J***s to suddenly manifest himself before you and drop you a sentence that will let's say improve your life's work instantly? I mean... sure it can be done- it is possible. How probable?
Anyway, just a long time lurker wanting to practice typing. Hope it helps.
Well... With how less than satisfactory webnovel has been with its users, paywall and all, is it really a surprise that they practically rendered any real review aside from those 5 stars exp review or 5 stars ass kissings moot and pointless? I think not.
The review system is indeed, busted, and I don't see it being patched up any time soon. I understand your frustration and I'm sorry that it's having such an effect on you.
Posting the content of the review in the comments is one option (which is why you should have backups of everything , but we can take it a step further by notifying members of the fourm and discord that legitimate reviews are getting gagged if such isn't against the rules.
I typically don't advocate name and blame, but arrogant writers have a special highchair at my table. I'm interested in disscusing a community solution if WN isn't up to the task.
Maromar at the very least, wn could adopt the review model of royal road. It's a lot better and trustable.
Let's call it less bad ;)
AzureWolf Haha. Yeah. I have written many reviews like that. All of them were full of advice and suggestions. I don't know if any of them were deleted though..... even in school, I was the worst of critics (no, not Gordon Ramsay level).
Everytime I write a review, I hesitate a lot. I keep deleting and rewriting them. Just five minutes ago, I wrote one that took me half an hour.
The only way i can post an honest review was by adding some placating words like, "No offense " or "I'm sorry but I had to say this.." most of the time, others would agree with me so I guess it was left alone.
Also, somehow I found out that my books were copied on two other sites without my permission (Plus they were just like 7 chapters or so and left on hiatus). WN is leagues behind Wattpad. If wattpad wasn't so saturated with shoddy works, it would have been a very nice thing. Even their chapter ad scheme is good.
