Shanley

Wouldn't it be great to have some explanation appear for each rating 'degree' when rolled-over with the mouse? Like for 1* it would say 'i don't like it/bad' and for 5* 'i like it/excellent'? Just to avoid confusion when rating. I noticed there's another type of 'misclicking' especially with the new TDers.

marg

Hey, Shanley - I agree.. but I actually think it would be better to just have a single ' I like this picture' tickbox, rather than giving people the option of rating it.

After being on TD for more than a year, and with the ever-increasing number of users, I've realised that the majority just DON'T understand, or want to understand, what it all means. I honestly believe that most people would prefer a simple 'Yes, I like it' option - if you don't like it, don't rate it !

polenta

sure, yes I like it or not or then only a four or a five.
Five I really like it. Four I like it but it's not a masterpiece but it has values. In fact I think the five marks are not used. People use only five or someone we don't know uses the one mark to take out a picture from the Top5 "market".

maddyjean08

I use all the marks. I only give out 1s if I think it's somewhat good, but I have a suggestion to change it. If I hate it I don't rate.

Chinky

Well, I don't think a 1star rating on a pic will jeopardize it's chances of making it to top5, based off the past few months, the top5 are based off most ratings and favorites. If Rachel really did base it off Highest rated, then we would all see a completely different set of top5's. I agree with Shanley about the mini description over the stars. Most of the "one" votes are from people who don't know the system yet. Maybe like, 1 out of 5 one votes are intentional on a potential top5 drawing, Or, maybe the person gave a 1 because they don't think it's good when everybody else does. <- I think that way on some top 5 potential pictures lol; not naming which, but I'm just into new and original drawings, not drawings that pretty much mimic another drawing, but with a different image used. For those I just don't vote. Hm, getting off topic. Keeping the ratings would probably be best in my opinion, it satisfies both sides-ish, for those who like using all the ratings like maddy, and those who go for just the 5's.

Shanley

It's not only about the Top5 pics being rated down, the point would also be to get a correct feedback from those ratings. When somebody rates it one because he really dislikes a pic is one thing, but when it's done due to wrong perception of the rating system is another thing.
And as I see some of us tend to think this is a good time for putting down a wish list for TD I'm still for a Top5 in Faces and also, I'd love if we'd have the possiblity of chosing between a lanscape/portraits format for a drawing (I realized the 'Magritte inspiration' lost a lot of its charm due to space constraints).

maddyjean08

Yeah, Chinky, I've always likes variety. If I just chose 5 all the time, I would die of drabness.

holidays

No, cannot of drabness. It's impossible.

Sarahad524

i would love if everbody would send good ratings even though it is bad because they put alot of effort into it

stevedover1965

I would love there to be a system in place, that gave a fair result for the pictures created! But I do not think there is, it does not matter how technically good, creative, detailed or imaginative a picture is, if people will not vote for it. I know that on TD there are some people who do vote fairly, but the proportion of voters is different for everyone, and it is this that makes TD more of a popularity contest than a drawing contest, if another competent artist has more followers than you, it is not a case of how wonderful your picture is, your picture will under achieve! I enjoy creating pictures on think draw but for the reasons stated above my art is not achieving the status I would prefer. But I know that you can't always get what you want. Don't misunderstand what I am saying I fully appreciate the people who have taken the time to vote and comment and even add works of mine to favourite lists. But I do feel disheartened when I see a good picture of mine fail. Nearly 180 pictures, only 1 reached Top 5, that was as best newcomer back in Feb. What system can remedy this?

Shanley

Steve, sorry to say this, but you've got it wrong. There is no contest. No official contest anyway. Getting a picture in Top5 is actually pretty easy. (Refer to Chinky's tips ...you'll find them in the forum). And no, it's not the following system that makes easier, though it surely helps. But let's think of it this way: if an artist is followed by 100 persons let's say, it doesn't mean he/she will automatically get 100 votes. Firstly, because not all his/her followers use their accounts (some just come here, gaze, push the follow button and then forget about TD). Secondly, because even they are there, they could miss the pic. There are many Td-ers following a great number of artists. From my experience, there is no way to keep track of everything here, unless you spend at least a couple of hours browsing forums and gallery (how many of us can afford to draw and do the browsing job at the same time?). Finally, assuming your followers do see the pic, they must like it in order to vote. Or at least have enough maturity to appreciate your tehnique, imagination...or any other aspect. That brings you down to maybe 25-30 of 100 who might find, see, like and vote your pic. The 'extra' votes come usually from new-comers who vote instinctively or from older TD-ers who use the filtering system to make sure they didnt miss anything worth casting a vote. (Let's call these 'gentle TD-ers').
One more note here: suprisingly or not, I vote very often on artists I don't follow. So, you see...the following system in our heads leads us automatically to things we like.

As for the rating system, my only intention was for people to know exactly how their votes are interpreted. Whether they do vote or not, whether they use it correctly or not...that's up to them anyway.

Don't get disappointed over this Top5 issue. It's more important to enjoy what you are doing and keep learning. If you draw with the only purpose of getting to Top5, you'll lose focus of more important things. Might not seem optimistic, but I cant help recalling the words of my piano teacher: 'if you really like the results of your work, if you really put your best effort in it, people will like it too'. So maybe when we dont succeed in what we expect, it's because the others trust us to be even better.

stevedover1965

That is your opinion!

stevedover1965

Shanley: I do respect your opinion in this, but you are a regular Top 5 artist so you might not understand why I feel the need to do this and succeed, it is based on frustration after all. Incidentally you might have missed my two most recent pictures, which could illustrate the point I'm making!

Qsilv

pff..... steve, your work is lovely and many pieces are interesting. But fwiw your own interest in fair rules is a bit skewed and you're not paying your fair dues. I'm one who has been in a bunch of Top 5's but plenty of my pieces get ignored --including ones that I've put tons of thought and work into. Some I do consider competitive, some I don't. I have very little free time to waste here and if you want to talk about frustration, I was raised to believe that artwork IS mostly a waste of time, so I could be frustrated and needy --man I do so hope I'm not! Many of the ones I do are actually gifts to friends... either portraits of their kids or honoring photos they've taken or inside jokes to make them happy. One such purely poetic piece had an added bit of care put into it to make it be submitted at exactly the moment of a new showcase opening. That position lasted about one day... and then a (very good and quite popular) piece that had been done hours earlier without due care for time differences got special permission to be there instead. That's not a votes or fame issue... it's about intent. Yours trumped mine. I heaved a sigh, mustered up a rueful twinkle in my inner eye, and got on with life.
This is not the place to “succeed” …it’s a damned good workshop, however. Please treat it as such.

five

It's too bad you are so frustrated, Steve. The TD rating system is pretty good now that there is a unknown-to-us formula that lessens the impact of intentional down-voting; no system is perfect, and everyone is going to have different opinions as to what a "fair result" is. Sure, it's partly a popularity contest -- I think it always would be even -- both in terms of who the artist is and what the subject matter of the picture is. Have you noticed in general abstract pictures don't usually get Top 5, even though there's some very good abstract and pattern work posted each month? "Cute" and representational has a bit of a leg up and there's undoubtedly something to the timing of posting the pic, etc., in terms of it's being noticed and being favorited (since people seem to run out of favorites by the middle of the month or so, especially in beads). Keep drawing; you'll get Top 5 eventually.

The one change that would be nice is an indicator that "5" is the top rating, not "1", because I think some people new to the site unintentionally vote "1" when they mean to give a pic the highest rating.

stevedover1965

Shanley, Qsilv, five , I apologise for coming across poorly with my flawed opinions, I had not intended to confront or create issue with Thinkdraw or any of the people on this site, whom I believe I share camaraderie with. Your opinions are valued in this respect, and I am proud of the work I create on here, it has long been a secret desire of mine to be an artist, I have painted a little, not commercially, a couple of pictures were given to family. But never to so wide an audience, which is why the ratings and opinions of people on TD seem to carry so much weight with me, when in reality I should be more relaxed about this whole website which I know is meant purely for relaxation. My occasional rants are not intended to annoy or create controversy. I have even befriended someone on this site. So don't think badly of me for wanting more than is available.

polenta

I wrote this to Stevedover.

It's a very good drawing. Many of your last pics are very nice to our eyes. I also work a lot to draw my pics and neither can I get a top 5. It's OK. We can't have all in life. I haven't counted how many pics there are a month, probably more than 3,000
and only 30 can get a Top 5. Maybe God willing, one day we can get one. Meanwhile let's enjoy our community and the happiness of doing what we like. Cheer up. LOL

stevedover1965

Thank you polenta

marg

hey, Steve..

I think your stuff is brill - and I also think polenta's stuff is brill
(and polenta, you have certainly had a number of Top 5's !)

I was lucky,, in a way, because when I first started in Nov '08 the rules were different - so I'd do some stupid pic and because I wasn't a 'contender', it would get into top 5 because it got a few straight '5' ratings.

These days, I still think the selection is wrong (whatever arcane formula ThinkDraw is using), but it really boils down to what grabs people's interest - you can do a fantastic pic (technically, etc.), but if people don't really like it, it will get a few comments and disappear.

I have absolutely no idea what people will like, so I tend to do what I want, and hope for the best - and I'm amazed at what people DO like - which can include abstracts/patterns, if they're just right.

As this forum is for feedback to Think Draw, I'll just add my time-worn plea for 1+2+3+4+5 !

Dragon

I don't think there really is a method of choosing the Top 5 that everyone would agree is "The Right Way". I'm much happier with the new method which takes into account the favorites and means that a single vote of less than 5 completely knocks you out of contention. Personally, I never draw with the intention of getting into the Top 5 and I never have. I suspect if the Top 5 were abolished altogether I wouldn't even notice until people started commenting about it in the forum.
I think if everyone simply drew to make themselves happy and not in some attempt to garner attention then everyone would be much happier. I don't think that's going to happen but it would be a nice change.