Feature Request Replace the 5-stars rating system!

Very good points.
The 5 star system is bad, but so is a system of only likes. There need to be a way to downvote, as well as a way to mark it as "I read it, it's not bad enough for a downvote, but not good enough for an upvote"

 

Facebook's system attempts to focus on popularity for various, mostly business-related reasons as it is an extreme example of scaling-based rating systems, but that was never a good rating system for quality.
That is why implementing the above proposal will only create the same nonsense as the review likes already generated.

There are better system but they won't be implemented here, so It would be much better if the admins addressed the actual issues we have to deal with, for instance, votes when only less than 10 chapters haven been released or the battles between 1- and 5-star ratings.
For the first issue the solution is obvious, for the second one you could take example from animenewsnetwork.cc and add semantic definitions to the numbers, as well as calculate a Bayesian score.
Then, if you wish, you could add a separate score for each translation group within a novel page. This way people would automatically tend to rate the stories itself first.
That's already enough coding work considering the length of the to-do list. There may be better yet simpler solutions but that's what I got at the top of head.

 

Funny thing is, a lot of it would be fixed with a Bayesian rating.

Also they should change from a 5-star system to 4-stars, that way people can't take the middle ground and give a work 3 stars.

 

Please do enlighten me on what part of the solution is obvious, considering that there are one-shots, stories with less than 10 chapters on the raw, and stories with super long chapters (like Youjo Senki) on NU.

I think that Bayesian score was already mentioned in some thread in the past... In the end, it's just another form of measuring ratings, so it doesn't help much... At least that's what I remember from the argument.

Although... What is the problem between having 1 star and 5 star ratings on a novel? People's tastes vary.

You aren't supposed to rate the translations group in the first place, so this wouldn't help.

Why?

 

"The novel was meh, I have no real opinion, but I'll rate it anyway, 3-stars."

This way they're forced to say whether they loved it, liked it, disliked it or hated it. There is no middle ground.

 

If the novel was "meh", 3 stars is a fitting rating.

And of course there is a middle ground, if I didn't particularly like or dislike something, 3 stars is the rating the work deserves.

Most of the time I don't bother with rating things I don't like or dislike though, but those that do feel the need to rate (which honestly are the minority, since most people are too lazy to rate), should have the right to put a number that represents their like/dislike.

 

That's why personality tests typically do not have a middle-ground option (Strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree). A 4-star rating system makes you think more about how you feel about it.

Not even to mention how people give too many 5-star ratings simply because they enjoyed something, they'll give it the max rating. (You'd find a lot more info on anidb about users giving too many 10.00 ratings)

 

Yep, lots of people give 5 stars on whims, an even greater number of people gives 1 stars on whims.

What's the problem of people giving 3 stars on whims as well? I fail to see your point.

 

His point is that you are not supposed to ,but people do it anyways.
by giving a separate "rate translator" option it will act as a valve for such reviews who are more likely to rate the story itself without considering the translation when they actually have the option to rate the translation separately.

 

There's no need to unlock the rating immediately even for a single chapter work. A few days would reduce rushed or manipulative voting you can witness with many new releases.
There are various ways for further fine-tuning, for instance, you can add a new categorization: Check whether <25 or more chapters are expected. The first unlocks earlier than the former and may also depend on the number of releases.

That's like saying why not eat potatoes raw, cooking them first is just another way of consumption, it doesn't help much.
A rating system is a subjective method to produce an objective evaluation. The Bayesian estimate is a helpful tool in that regard when you insist on a numerical representation; a mere mean value, on the other hand, hardly ever generates a useful value, especially with such small data sets we get for most novels.

Exactly, and people's understanding of the system vary, their interpretation of it vary, and their intentions when voting vary. A numerical score does represent all the mentioned in a intermingled way except for an effective review of a novel.

Neither did I suggest that. I said you could rate the quality of the translated releases separately, grouped based on the translation teams.

 

Nobody will go back to something they already read just for the sake of giving a rating.

Not to mention a good chunk of views come from the release day, since it's when the novel appears on the front page. Not allowing ratings on that very first day would just harm the novel.

How?

I don't see how does that make 4 stars better than 5 stars.

You're rating the translation, you're just using fancy words for it.

You're not supposed to rate the translation, period.

 

Oh, I didn't see this comment.

Yeah, I don't see how openly allowing people to do what they shouldn't is a good thing, it will only lead more people to do it, and for more translators to see the result of it... Not my cup of tea.

 

Well, that's your opinion. Unless it's a one-time release there's very rarely a good reason to rate on the first release day. NU would either have to decide what their priorities are.

No idea what you're talking about.

Firstly, you stated one shouldn't rate the translation groups. Secondly, I didn't use any fancy words, I was obviously talking about the translations. The reason I mentioned that is because of that is one of this topic's main proposals. I also disagree that we shouldn't do such. No need to pretend this wasn't a significant part of an evaluation all this time.

Well, I'm off.

 

I'm talking exactly about one-shots.

And that's not just my opinion, it's how things work, people just don't bother much with ratings on the first place, to go back days later to a one-shot they already read, just to give a rating? Nobody bothers with that.

NU's priorities are pretty clear, giving fair ground to everyone, including the one-shots, instead of changing the rating to something that will harm them while not giving any clear benefit to others~

I don't either, that's why I asked.

Yeah, rating the translation is definitely great, it definitely won't make the translator annoyed by how people view their hardwork, specially when they're doing it just to share a work they like and not trying to earn profit.

Sure, definitely a good idea, keep up with that line of thought.

 

Because right now they are rating the SERIES based on the translator. but if there are separate ratings for "story" and "translator" then they won't.
And honestly, the whole "we must not rate translators" thing is kinda bs anyways

what? this comment makes no sense. you are replying to the suggestion that ratings will only be possible after a minimum of 10 chapters have been posted.

 

This was replying to a commentary that he said ratings would be unlocked a few days after the release in case of one-shots, which I replied to by saying that nobody would go back to the series page that they had already read just for the sake of giving a rating.

Regarding to the 10 chapters thing, I already said the problem that makes it completely impossible, one-shots, short stories and stories with really long chapters.

 

Oh, I misread. that said, the loss of ratings from a few of the early readers will not actually cause any harm. other people will read it afterwards and rate it instead.

I saw that, and I agree with most points.

 

Nah, we're talking about oneshots, a big chunk of the views come from the release day, because it's the only day the novel will be on the main page.

The amount of people that find new things by the main page is ridiculously high, the ones that go through the series finder aren't that common... That, and most of those prefer bigger series as well, so they won't read a oneshot.

 

I think there should be a separate rating for the quality of the translation for the series as more often than not there are very good series that get many "hate" low votes due to poor translation.

 

True. Furthermore they should be glad to get translated chapters for free