It has come to the attention of the editors- again- that some members are taking unfair advantage of the ratings system.

Six months ago, we posted an announcement reminding people how to rate a story, and why stories are rateable in the first place. We scolded those of you who took unfair advantage of the system by rating your own story highly, and giving your fellow authors low ratings. The problem didn’t go away, so more recently, we changed the system so that only members, and not guests, can rate stories.

Unfortunately, that didn’t solve the problem. There are some authors who simply don’t seem to listen to these posts. These immature members rate in exactly the way we warn not to. For the record: We can see you when you do this. We can look at who has rated what. We usually send out email warnings to troublemakers, but to be honest, it’s rather tiresome. So consider this that warning: rate stories what they deserve, and don’t rate your own stories.

The purpose of the ratings system, for those who need reminding, is so that an author and prospective readers can see how well-liked a story is. You read, and then rate according to how much you like the story. One star for terrible, two for bad, three for average, four for good, and five for excellent. It’s OK to give one star as long as the story really deserves it- while you’re at it, give some constructive criticism so the author knows what’s wrong. It’s only when you indiscriminately rate every story you look at poorly, without even reviewing, that we begin to have problems. Just be honest. It’s much better than the alternative. And don’t get hung up on the top tens; they don’t mean anything.

If, as an author, you suspect that your story’s ratings have been affected badly by this problem, leave a comment here, or PM an editor on the Fangathering forum, and we will look into it, and clear the ratings for that story if necessary.

Anyway, the fact that this is one of our biggest problems (the other is spammy posts- don’t write them, please) just goes to show how fantastic most of the community here is. We rarely get people flaming one another, and you seem to be great, supportive people and good authors. So, good work to all of you who contribute.

Sincerely,
The Fanfiction Archive Staff

Some other stories by MMK:

• Comments vs. Reviews
• A Forgotten Encounter
• Artemis Fowl: The Last Criminal Plot