 First Impressions:
I think those are a very good rating and reviewing criteria. I think it's natural to rate a little higher for various reasons. Not wanting to upset a writer, especially if they are new, is one of them. Reviewing a Senior Mod might be another  Many people give items written by friends a straight 5-star rating regardless. There are lots of considerations, and I wonder if you occasionally bend your rules or if you stick to them regardless.
I suppose it also depends a little on the item itself. I would judge a fiction piece more harshly than a non-fiction story or a blog entry because I wouldn't want the writer to take my comments as personal criticism. Of course, my average rating, based on a total of 4,304 items, is 4.06, which is too high. Closer to 3.5 would probably be more realistic. But the lower I rate, the longer my review becomes because I feel the need to justify the lower rating.
 Suggestions:
Of course, I'm now torn how to rate this. Did it blow me away? No, but that's in the nature of the item - it is a bulletin about rating and reviewing, not an exciting story, I didn't find anything wrong with how you determined how you rate, and even if I disagreed with your philosophy, that wouldn't mean I should rate it lower. I also didn't spot any technical errors, but I'm feeling self-conscious giving it 5 stars since you essentially just told me that not everything can be perfect. You might be inviting people to rate this lower than it should be rated because they don't want to give you those 5 stars - I can see that it has a 3.5-star rating at the moment. That's a very long-winded way of saying, I wonder if it might be better to make this a 'review only' item.
 Final Thoughts:
I liked that you went into a lot of detail to explain the ratings, but you also talked briefly about the reviews and the criteria you use. Those are particularly helpful for contest entries where judges have to make sure that the entries are judged by the same standards. I agree that it's important to mention both what worked and what didn't work. Reading this made me want to go and check my own reviewing criteria - I have a very old item somewhere that I probably haven't revised in a decade or more, so I'm grateful for the nudge!
 You responded to this review 10/21/2025 @ 8:36pm EDT |
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Review #4840522
My review has been submitted for consideration in "