Did anyone else find this BS

Discussion in 'Novel Updates Site Discussion' started by LordCorwin, Jan 20, 2016.

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  1. LordCorwin

    LordCorwin Supreme Book Lord; Leader of the Fiction Faction

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    Posted on http://soaringtranslations.com/2016/01/19/extra-chapter-requirements/

    And for those who don't want to follow the link:

    Alright, as I’ve said before, I will do 2 more chapters this week.

    Now to get another chapter later on, here are the requirements:

    1. The rating of LSG on novelupdates have to get to 4.5/5.0 from 4.3
    2. One written review on novelupdates that is 4/5 or above after today
    Whenever these are achieved, I will do the bonus chapter within the week

    • progress will be in a widget at the bottom of the site :)



    Am I the only one who finds this a fraudulent activity? They are using their users to boost their novel rating by promising bonus chapters. If I had to guess, to drive their novel up the top 100 list, and thus get their site more traffic, presumably in order to drive more donations. Now of course, a lot of that is supposition, but I stand by what I said.

    I find this offensive. I think there is a reason most review sites don't allow 'bought' reviews and actively delete them in the case of book retailers.
     
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  2. Shio

    Shio Moderator Staff Member

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    I agree. There's no point in review and rating system if they are manipulated simply for 'advertising' a series.
     
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  3. tocos10

    tocos10 Even more then the greatest Poster

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    The previous top review was a 2...
     
  4. Simon

    Simon [The Pure One's Chief Steward][Demon Beast]

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    This person want others, to upvote their translation for one measly chapter.
     
  5. LordCorwin

    LordCorwin Supreme Book Lord; Leader of the Fiction Faction

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    Their next bonus chapters will be based on it's position # on the reading list, # of votes, and other such blatant attempt to buy site traffic to increase revenue. If these were hidden milestones that were only mentioned after being achieved, I wouldn't have an issue with it.
     
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  6. tocos10

    tocos10 Even more then the greatest Poster

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    they aren't making much money as it is. Translating novels is not a good way to make money.
     
  7. LordCorwin

    LordCorwin Supreme Book Lord; Leader of the Fiction Faction

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    They may not be making a single cent over what it takes to run the site, but it still undermines the rating/review system which means no one can trust it anymore, and if they can't trust it, then there is no reason to check the reviews on this site. On the flip side, it means mods will have to spend a portion of their time trying to determine which reviews are blatant adverts solicited by the translators in order to prune them because if they don't, the site begins to lose relevance. Maybe not a lot of relevance, but still, that's a feature potentially compromised. And I don't want to see that. I would also like to be sure that the reviews/ratings I'm viewing are sincere whether they are positive or negative.
     
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  8. Slimikyi

    Slimikyi ^____^

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    Bwuahaahahhahaa, they must hate me.

    That aside, now I wish to have a side rating for translators and give it a negative 40.
     
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  9. LordCorwin

    LordCorwin Supreme Book Lord; Leader of the Fiction Faction

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    I take it you were the 2 star review?
     
  10. tocos10

    tocos10 Even more then the greatest Poster

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    yeah...
     
  11. Slimikyi

    Slimikyi ^____^

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    If you look at the names, yes. It's the same green Slime. I'm the only two stars review with a wall of text and read more than what they translated.

    Anyways, my main issue with it is that it doesn't give any more than the standard scenarios or plots. The execution is also meh. That is why it's only an "okay" from me, which is two stars.
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2016
  12. tocos10

    tocos10 Even more then the greatest Poster

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    increasing the rating through bought votes is going to negatively effect the ratings, but asking people to rate it and put it on their reading list i see no problem with. If anything it is just going to bring people who like the story to the attention that they can rate it, knowing that if the story gains popularity the translations will continue and may even get better/faster. The free chapter is more of an short term thing to get them to take action.
     
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  13. Tony

    Tony Moderator Staff Member

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  14. LordCorwin

    LordCorwin Supreme Book Lord; Leader of the Fiction Faction

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    Yeah, I saw, I thought about commenting on it, but I felt that I had said enough in the comments of the original post. As it is, I saw something wrong, brought it to the peoples attention, changes were made, and I feel better about myself. Look, it's Democracy in action. Whine until you get your way.
     
  15. Asf

    Asf 《《The aria of souls》》

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    Welp. These kinds of strategy is used all the time in mmo or even phone games. imo. like 10000 times in facebook, everyone get free costume.. share it in other social media, gets free mount..
    but using it for a novel review must meen that he's desprate and not doing well..
     
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  16. Evilnemesis7

    Evilnemesis7 Well-Known Member

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    That or motivation is at a low.
     
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  17. Turbe

    Turbe Novel Leecher

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    Yea. It's media boosting. I'm don't agree with it but it's used everywhere and can sometimes help promote a series just this site is so small that those few artificial upvotes/rushed reviews make a bigger impact. If this site was 100x or even 10x the amount of difference it would cause would be a lot smaller.
     
  18. LordCorwin

    LordCorwin Supreme Book Lord; Leader of the Fiction Faction

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    Ok, I really thought this thread was dead at this point, but since it isn't, I'll chime in one last time. In case I wasn't clear before, I only had issue with this for 2 reasons. One, artificially inflating their rating, destroying the review system. Had they just asked their readers to review and rate with no benefit other than to help a series they enjoy, it would have been 100% okay with me. Two, the fact that they solicit donations for chapters also left a bad taste in my mouth about this, because while it may have never been their intention, the cause and effect is: better reviews>higher ranking>more site views>more ad revenue>more donations. While it isn't a guarantee that anything past higher rankings will occur, it just didn't sit well with me.

    But since it's since been resolved, how about we let the thread die.
     
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  19. Yukkuri Oniisan

    Yukkuri Oniisan 『Procrastinator Archwizard Translator and Writer』

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    Calling all moderators! @Parth37955
    Lock this thread please, the OP had stated that he think this problem solved...
     
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