Old rating system is back: back to the drawing board

I hate the thumbs up down rating system. It seems 9 out of 10 times the thumbs down is always higher. I read through the post with some liking the software and some not but find it hard to relate the thumbs up down to what I am reading. With the star system if I see 2 stars I think not so good and the reviews seem to fit this way of thinking. Three stars I think not so bad probably need to try it and again the reviews seem to fit. Four stars, definite download. The relation just seems to fit better for my simple mind.

The idea that a window would appear during the activation process – where a user could rate and review the giveaway is probably a little too premature.

A rating or review is probably most useful after the software has actually been used for a period of time. (Unless the review is to be of the download process).

Of course there are always a small group of users who will write a review or comment after doing little more than reading a 2 paragraph description written by the developer.

Writing a comment, review or rating will always be optional (otherwise people just write garbage).

Thumbs up or down keeps it simple but what about if a party downloads it and it won’t register? I find no way to note this any more? I sent a message to Danusaoft that there video converter downloaded but wouldn’t go on line to register from the install and all I get back from them is an automated message to register on their system. It may be a golly good program but if there is no way to register it to try it out for a few days they might as well not have bothered to put it on GOTD??? I tried 4 times to activate it and every time the program tried to register me on line it said my comptuer wouldn’t go on line and I was on line. Am I missing something????

would like a system where in addition to the thumbs up/down you have comparison thumbs ups for earlier reviewed alternative systems.
this could develop into a better system which could rank the current offering against previous reviews for the very best in that category. the idea would be for readers to quickly determine the best software, which has come through the site ever, and the best current options, so that you could balance the review with some comparison which would let us pick a better earlier review.

As others have said, before me, there really be a broader rating system that would cover some of the grey areas; not just an ambiguous Thumbs Up or Down. You could then average each category, posting those averages from previous days/weeks; but, you need to cover all of the various categories and allow for multiple choices.

You could make it more meaningful to let the users add comments, but ONLY by casting their votes FIRST, then they are allowed to submit comments. The comments should not flame the program, or its author(s)/developer(s) (in act flaming shouldn’t be allowed, nor should flaming of any other users’ comments be tolerated). Comments should be made with the idea that other users reading them could get something useful out of what you have to say, comparing your comments to the voting results. If the user tries to by-pass voting, they don’t get to submit comments.

One last thing would be ask them, first thing before voting, if they have downloaded the program and actually tried it. If they haven’t done that simple task (which is what “Give Away Of The Day” is all about), then anything they submit, e.g. voting and commenting, would be moot. I see those types of comments/”reviews” too often and it gets boring and taints any overall impression someone might get before trying, or buying. The worst are the idiots that gripe and complain about programs & utilities that cost them absolutely nothing! This occurs on virtually all sites that accept “reviews” about products a user downloads for free use, mostly during trial runs. They don’t know the meaning of a review, using the space to rant, rave and flame about the developer, author(s), programs and utilities.

Hope any of this is useful for whatever you folks come up with! Keep up the very good job!

This is a positive step but just a couple of comments.
It seems this had been around for a long time prior to the change and there were not too many complaints, mostly people were “unhappy” that there seemed to be an imbalance in the ups and downs in respect of views and suspicions of developers manipulating them.

Firstly I suspect that human nature being what it is no matter what system you come up with there is always going to be a percentage of us who are dissatisfied, hell it could reward us with a 20 [chose your currency] and some would still grumble.

Likewise it is always going to be open to cheats, manipulation, idiots or who ever, it is the nature of the beast….Internet.

Secondly, along the same lines it is our nature to complain but not so much to praise, so there is always the reality that those that do complain are outnumbered by the “Silent majority” so a knee jerk reaction to a few hundred moans is not really realistic or sustainable.
Unless you measure your comments as a stat against downloads over a certain period of time then I think it is of little concern.

Lastly, re “Back to the drawing board” sometimes the old way is actually very good or indeed, the best and doesn’t need to be changed or improved for the sake of it.
I think the thumbs and comments works fine, I NEVER look at the voting, I read the comments if it is something I am interested in and then download and make my own judgement.
If I strike a real problem then I post a comment otherwise I either delete it it it isn’t what I want or keep it.

Sometimes the simple, original method is best, KISS!

IMO I don’t know what the problem is anyway. Thumbs up or thumbs down was great …IMO.I never downloaded anything until I read what whiterabbit had to say anyway.
Also… there are hardly ever any games anymore anyway. I come here hoping that finally today is the day…for naught. It’s certainly not as much fun as it used to be.I am disabled and this is my only hope for a new game since disability doesn’t give you enough to live on let alone a new game now and then.

Thanks for what you “try” to do…just wish it was more games, more often.

I’ve finally began reading the responses before downloading the GOTD. The thumbs up or down are useful in deciding on reading the comments.
As a suggestion, unless I missed it, how about a program for moving applications. One that fixes all the registry entries too. With GOTD I’ve found it useful to install the software to a D: drive initially then either delete it, if I don’t keep it, or move it to my programs drive if it’s useful. They all go into the GOTD folder.

My comments below stem from some bad experiences leading me to uninstall software which seemed to promise things that were not borne out in practice. I suspect that some developers are taking users for granted and have not done proper testing.

I think a simple way and robust to assess the software would be to use either a 5 point Likert rating scale or a 10 point Likert rating scale with the following descriptors:

Totally disagree (TD) statement Totally agree (TA)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

I prefer a 10 point rating scale.

1) TD The software was easy to install TA
2) TD The software performed as claimed by the developer TA
3) TD The software did not cause me any unexpected problems after installing TA
4) TD The functionality offered by the software was good TA
5) TD I would be willing to pay the advertised regular price TA
6) TD I would recommend this software to my friends TA
7) TD I have not wasted my time in getting this software TA
8) TD GOTD image was enhanced by this software offer TA
9) TD This software offers functionality that others do not TA

The average value of the score gives the final rating by a user.

If users find 9 statements too many to deal with, I suggest using statements 1), 2), 5), 6) 8).

And if 5 statements are too much, then just two statements will suffice, namely 2) and 6).

Suggest you add one more question:

Did you try today’s offer: Yes / No

Here is the important bit: Only count the rating if the answer to this question is Yes. That avoids negatives from people who simply have no interest in the offer at all.

Why not a two-tiered rating on a tier basis: Tier one for desirability of the viewer and tier two for program functionality.
I also agree that a neutral rating could be added (from a previous comment) to each tier.
In this way, desirability and functionability would be rated separately as in the following example:

Desireable: – = +
Function : – = +

Put the ratings in the comments-section.
You leave a comment, you get to rate the product. As the comments need to be moderated, you could easily remove the ratings that have nothing to offer…
“Great program” would be removed, as would “crappy program”, but those who leave a sensible comment would help rate the product.

And as an aside. I disagree. Crappy program shouldn’t be removed, neither should Great Program. People are most likely to leave generic comments, and a theoretically near-perfect program shouldn’t be penalized for being too good in all area’s to specify exactly what is good about it. I’ve left the review ‘Thanks’ once or twice. The only reviews that should be removed are those that had expectations that clearly diverged from the program’s intended purpose, those that didn’t download the program, and those that unfairly critique the program for not summoning a genie on command.
Would you remove ‘Great product’ from the review of something sold on an infomercial?
Moderation can help… but one must be very careful to select moderators who are in no way biased.

The site is much better in the original format, as the complexeties add up, the usefulness of the progams becomes debatable. If you have to jump through hoops to leave comments as to fixes and tweaks, user help dwindles.

Anyone else wish the “stickr” was moved up or down, preferably on the other side. The h3ll out of the way, for people who read with their mouse. Surely I’m not alone on this. RB

Do it like this:

^ Like v Dislike

And if you choose Like it shows:

Would you like to say what you like of this giveaway?

Appearance ^ v
Functionality ^ v
Setup ^ v
General ^ v

And with Dislike:

How would you improve “_________________”?