someone knocks on my door at that time of night a number of time will get hosed down...

but I understand your point...

Interesting, Sad and yet hard to believe.

For a Company and a program that is based around change and not wanting to change their site policies is a tragedy.

It is also a sad situation when they have to "spy" on the ppl that rate skins. I wonder how many ppl that rate a skin know that they are submitting their name also. How many are going to hesitate now that they know.

Living in the USA I guess I am custom to privacy rights and this appears less than being a private voting system. What advantages are to be gained by intruding on a vote but to gather info about the voter. Is that a privacy issue? I say yes.

But Please don't make any change because that just might improve the site.

I can see now that trying to make suggestions for a positive change is a waste of time.

Pushing a positive/constructive view that is prevalent here appears to be a one sided issue.

I will no longer make any kind of suggestion or bring this matter up.

However, 2 years is a long time to keep one's head buried in the sand but if that is policy then such is life. It is not my server so carry on or stay still.

Personally, I agree with the earlier post that said the ratings weren't really helpful, in as much as you have no way of knowing why a skin got the rating it did. The whole thing seems like more of a popularity contest than an evaluation on style, technique, artistry, etc.

Although it sounds like it will never happen, at least in the forseeable future, it would be nice to have feedback from a selected # of advanced skinners on every skin. Several years ago, I was a member of an online poetry club and every work you submitted was evaluated by at least 4 other members on style, form, etc. This enabled the writer to improve with real advice and comments from other writers, not just "cool poem". I have only been making skins for a couple of months or so, but I'm not sure if I've ever had any helpful comment from any other skinners. I think the comments I've gotten have been mostly from ppl that come here to download but wouldn't know where to start in evaluating a skin on it merits.

As I said, it probably won't happen but maybe some skinners, especially new ones like me, yearn for help, advice and so forth and the ratings just don't get it done.

ok, that's my 2 cents

Hey paxx, would you please send me your rating grid at mca24@earthlink.net so I can check it out; it would be much appreciated. I've seen alot of good and viable comments here as well as in previous threads on this topic. I feel (I hate to commit myself), that the rating system is poor at best and is in sore need of revamping. I've ignored it for quite some time now as well as amount of downloads which I won't even broach here. It would be interesting to know which skins people have been consistantly using the most, as I've gone through the process of download, implement, oh, and dump...

Like your grid, paxx, except for one critique: Personally, I'm willing to sacrifice a small degree of resources for, let's say, animation; the only place this can fit under is your originality section, which encompasses even a low resources skin, which means a low resources skin can get two marks whereas an animated moderate resourses skin can only get one mark. Do you see what I'm trying to say?

My biggest annoyance with ratings is the fact that anyone with $20 can have the ability. Ratings became truly meaningless when subscribers were given that privilege.

paxx, I Knew you'd say that...

*sigh*

Jebland: those ratings on Gillons skins were probably given by a "competitor", trying to "eliminate the competition". Sad but true, and the main reason I don't like the rating system.
BoXXi goes to check who rated Gillon's skins so low...............

I rather doubt users pay much attention to the ratings. The pic is what's predominant. Either they like a skin well enough from how it looks to download it or they don't.

I've seen skins I like with thousands of downloads, maybe a couple ratings (not necessarily spectacular) and few or no comments. So I don't think ratings deter someone from trying out a skin if they like the way it looks.

(The only exception of course is if the rating is so low visitors can't see it, which I understand is the case.)

An alternative: let only skinners of a certain level rate skins and/or display the raters with the ratings they gave, either to the public or the skinner. (OK, hard to say if the second would make people more mature in their behavior or less so. )