Point system dying? (Page 1 of 3)

The point system is alive and well. TheNextBigWriter Premium has received more point-driven reviews and postings than before we launched the new site. What is changing is we now have the option for members to also point non-point content. Some are experimenting doing this with poems and short stories. Some new members are putting up novels this way. These are writers who would have come to the old site and not participated anyway, so it is neither a loss nor gain from the point system perspective.

If you want to remove content posted without points, just leave TheNextBigWriter Free site and then you will be back to a point-only environment.

For those who want want to be assured they will receive feedback, the point system is the way to go. And the coins are an indication of a member that is willing to give feedback in order to get it.

Sol

Many might never reciprocate. That's why if you want to be assured that they will reciprocate either by reviewing your work, or the work of others on the site, you can stick with those using points. But it's up to you.

Persons who review my work will get a review in return (It may take a while during the holidays, however).  As Wilma says, it is just good manners.  I would return a review even if it didn't get me any points.  In fact, I read posts because the title intrigues me, I have already connected to the author, or the subject matter is interesting.  The least reason I read a post is for points.

Tom

Then again, when you review a no points piece why not let the author know about this? The new writers I've reviewed so far was just clueless and wasn't doing it on purpose. And while you're at it, explain the recip process as well, they just new?! That's how it worked when I joined the old site, people told me stuff I didn't know. This isn't a problem with the new site, this is us old siters that need to adapt to the change and keep the good bits from the old site where we can (but not at all cost, the new site has a lot going for it). Hope this make sense! Cheers Janet R

Sure, the point system encourages the same sincerity of paid reviews of books sold on Amazon or of merchandise sold anywhere over the internet. If the point system exists to encourage reviews, and I am sure it does, why is there otherwise not a genuine review process, on style and substance, and not so much on grammar and punctuation, only for the sake of reviewing, among disinterested strangers who have nothing to get or give, on TNBW?  It ought to be simple: find a book that has something which interests you and comment on it to the extent it satisfies or disappoints, and why.  But no, everyone either wants to suck up and "make friends"  or get reciprocal reviews of the junk they write for the junk they read.

When I joined it was different given you couldn't post withoutpoints ignoring location for now which is a topic for another day LOL I joined as a reviewer to get points as I knew I was going to post eventually. But, points aside, most of the replies/feedback I got writers did offer to recip and if not for that it would've taken me much longer to get the hang of things. So all I'm saying is, keep on doing that it can only help new joiners?! And yeah, in the process you do get to know people too! And if you're really lucky you get to make new friends too!

Charles, you don't need to make friends or even be friendly, but some decent courtesy does go along way. We're here to learn by reading/reviewing and getting read/reviewed. And surprisingly, work being posted here do need inprovement as I'm sure your writing do as well. If its too hard for you, don't read on and don't leave a review. But referring to anything on this site as "junk" shows to me you need to grow up as a person and as a writer. Of course you can criticize, thats what the site is for, but you can still be decent and supportive in doing so. It's not sucking up, it's called good manners. Each to their own but like Sol said, your comment doesn't contribute anything to this debate.

You can read reviews of my work that people have generously left for no points.  There are more than two.  Seriously, you [insert your favorite expletive], if you are so disenchanted, then why don't you just go instead of spreading vitriol?

And Janet!

Close call Jack!!! LOL But not that I think it's going to make a difference ...

There appears to be nothing by you that is available for me to read.  Moreover, I never said that by eliminating the points system, honest but what also may be scathing reviews would magically appear.  In fact, if reviews did then trickle down to nothing, as seems to be the prediction by the folks running the show, that also shows there is a culture of dishonesty (or perhaps that is too strong a word for the negativity) circling around this concept of amateur reviews by amateur writers or in the nature  of budding writers so many of whom must have fragile egos and impolite natures.