[eKstreme]

Hi

I have written a handful of scripts listed on HotScripts. Problem is that the rating system is very flawed, IMHO. Here is why:

The voting system works by allowing members to review scripts. However, member reviews get a much higher weighting than visitor votes. This is wrong because HotScripts does not filter out who can and cannot be a member. Anyone can be, and so the member's thoughts are as good as anyone's. The corollary, if only a certain type of person can be a member (say only people who have scripts listed), then the quality of reviews would go up. Right now, nothing is stopping someone with a bone to pick to post a review.

Secondly, to compound this problem, we cannot respond to member reviews. Why not? There are some people out there who simply just cannot use the script and write a bad review annd we cannot defend ourselves. This puts members at a great advantage over authors - who themselves are members! Obviously, I think this is unfair.

These are just my thoughts on this system. I just hope to start a discussion to see if the system can be made more fair.

Thanks.

[jsjohnst]

The reason why member reviews are weighted more is because they are more accountable. Guest votes are only tracked by IP and time, so unless your the RIAA you won't be able to question that person again about their vote. With member votes a confirmed email address is recorded (As they had to have it to sign up). This is good because if the review's validity is questioned, it's possible to go back to the review's source. Without this it would be impossible to determine if the review was bogus, placed by a competitor of yours, or any other of the number of reasons a review could be questioned.

Now for your second part, I know the ability to respond directly on the site to the reviews is/was planned, just not completed as of yet (or if it is they haven't released it yet). If you have a serious objection to any review listed on the site I would suggest you use the helpdesk link at the bottom of any page of Hotscripts (http://www.hotscripts.com/helpdesk/index.php). I am more than sure the site owners would be happy to assist you in anyway they can.