I posted the first chapter of a new story today, and I added a request in the end note (which I normally don't bother with) to PLEASE not rate it based on that first chapter. Whatever, five readers rated it anyway, but two were 10's and one was a 9, so I guess I shouldn't complain.
I don't know how well it fits this situation, but as I said in my stories (and Murphy has said), "If it's stupid, but it works, it's not stupid..."
I would say, rather, "If it's stupid, but it works, then that's what the audience wants... but don't assume they'll always want it." You can only get away with stupid for so long.
It's also possible that you're being upfront at it, they were congratulating you on your honesty about the first chapter, and then are waiting to post any later updated scores.
As the saying goes, "You can cure ignorance, but there's no cure for stupidity!"
Not even duct tape can fix stupid, but enough duct tape will make is shut up for a while. :)
Some readers rate every story a 10 just to thank the author for sharing it, whether the story is the greatest in the world or a piece of crap. As such, they can rate the story immediately before having read it.
AJ
If you rate story with intention to promote it to other potential readers assuming score is a parameter for choice, there's simply no sense to give anything else but a 10. Anything less is a punishment.
Except, a full ten is the most extreme, as few readers would even trust that high of a count. Thus a seven or eight would be a better promotional effort, as no story is ever perfect. They can be great, yet perfection is an impossibility.
Otherwise, once the first masterpiece was written, why would anyone else ever publish anything? We all seek to do better, as once you have created perfection, why even try to do any better. You may as well give up now and rest on your laurels for the rest of your life, never being able to do any better.
Actually, I've never witnessed that, as a ten-score is for truly exceptional work. More often, they'll rate a six or seven, yet very few get full tens. (I've gotten a fair share or tens, yet that's hardly my most common votes, and even those change dramatically for each story.
I experimeted with not allowing voting until X number of chapters were posted so it could develop. But then you dont show up in the feed or something so a negative...
I experimeted with not allowing voting until X number of chapters were posted
I don't believe that's possible nowadays - voting is enabled from the off.
AJ
I experimeted with not allowing voting until X number of chapters were posted
You can't do that anymore.
No, that's based on the scores being visible due to the number of overall scores. So it'll take time for any story to reach that point. Not allowing voting is more about not wanting readers to vote before the story starts building. For those stories with a horrifying or tragic beginning, that could be the kiss of death. Thus, you wait to fully appreciate the story before allowing voting.
But that, by definition, are special cases, and not the typical approach. You genially build credibility over time, and if there's NO voting, than you really can't based the popularity of each chapter is relationship to the others (i.e. you won't know which chapters are the most and least effective.
But as others have noted, it's no longer an option. Unless you can get Lazeez to intervene on your behalf, but you'll need an exceptional reason for the bequest, and even then it's highly iffy.