A very good guideline!

Again, and I repeat. This is an excellent guide for Critiquing Photographic Images at this site.

It seems that as a whole, the entire active scoring group of members at this site have forgotten the standards we are asked to use.

Is every other image at this site really a perfect 10 when we consider these three categories of image quality and thirteen sub-categories?

Perhaps it is time as members, to re-evaluate our critiquing skills and become both mentors and peers?

but it only works if ALL are doing the same. Otherwise we will have ratings of different qualitys. Perhaps one should qualify the rating with " given by the mentor group"?

At this time rating is more a political play then a real judge. As there have been some more attempt before to rechange the system without success, in my eyes it is complete obsolet. I´m a member too on an other site without rating or ranking or other stuff for the ego and it is really enjoyable. All this ego-stuff don´t help to talk about photography, which should be the main subject on MFT. And the expertise to do that is really great on MFT, due to a lot of very qualified members.

Thanks for reminding, best wishes,

The scoring system is and has always been ridiculous. Now perhaps even more so than ever before. At least members used both 9 and 10 before. Now it seems like 10 is the only score being used. *lol* Except for competitions. It amuses me to see how members who almost only use 10 for ordinary postings dishes out 2 and 3’s for competition entries. Maybe they are not aware of scores given are transparent?

I admire you for trying Edwin, but I think using the scoring system in a good way is a lost cause. It only takes one or two members giving only 10’s to ruin the whole system. The best pictures are not to be found in the Hall of Fame, but there you will find pictures by those who hand out most 10’s and big words of praise (with a few, honourable exceptions). ;-D

Caroline (who has given up and almost only give 10’s, but to rather few pictures. *lol* And sometimes give a 10 just to get a better picture in the hot spot)

The button i push to comment on an image says "Comment/Rate" does yours say "Critique" ?

It says Comment/Rate. Why do you ask Kathy? Do you think there is a difference between ‘Comment’ and ‘Critique’?

I think there is a difference. I can’t recall ever having seen a proper Critique on MFT. Critique and Comment are used synonymous. We comment on each others pictures – mentions good and bad things we see and suggest how to improve a picture, but it’s done in such a non-thorough way that it’s nothing like a proper critique.

Caroline

The system as intended by the site admin worked in patches during the first year.

It is inherently fractured and will never work as intended. It assumes that all members are operating on the same level and orientation, which is transparently not true. Therefore, there will be fractured ratings. History proves this.

In Ireland, we say that there is no point in flogging a dead horse. Literalists, please do not read this, as it will not make sense to you.

There is no point in re-visiting this issue because all it leads to is pointless conflict.

On other sites that I have since joined, there is a system of having one's own 'favourites folder'. I find this very satisfying as one can 'fave' an image into one's own personal favourite folder and not have to justify this in any way to others. Such justification can be experienced as a battleground to combat control freaks. Life is too short for this nonsense.

You are right Eugene – no point in flogging a dead horse. The only thing I don’t understand is that A&M insist on keeping the rating system. I never see anybody wanting or defending the system as it is. Only members saying it would be good if it was used as intended. But we all know that’s never going to happen.

The Guidelines are good and provides useful help when commenting/criticising pictures. :-)

When members have finished discussing this topic (this time) I would suggest that A&M delete the comments we have written here.

Caroline

The longer I'm a member of MFT, the less stock I put in ratings/HOF, etc., and the more I care about the shared experience of photography on MFT and the dialogue that ensues. I used to fret about giving and receiving ratings and now it's so secondary to other, more positive/meaningful (IMO) aspects of MFT.

The MFT scoring system, for all of its good intentions, is obviously a very flawed system, prone to intended and unintended biases and a host of other problems. The more convinced I am that it is unfixable, the less I worry about it--it's been rather revelatory to come to the conclusion that the ratings really don't matter at all (at least to me, lol). I do enjoy giving 9s and 10s to my favorite images and don't feel comfortable handing out anything lower. That's just my personality, though. I have no problem rating along the full scale from 1-10 in a competition because I think everyone expects to receive a score for their image from every voting member (not practical or even desired by the same people for their front page images, though). I hand out the same scores in comps that I would give out normally--with the added wrinkle that I adjust my scores for how well the image met the "assignment" of the comp. But, as I said, I don't rate images with anything but 9 or 10. (I'll comment on some 7-8 images, but wouldn't have the time or inclination to comment on most of the 1-6 images. And I never rate without commenting; just the 9s and 10s take up way more time than I have available, lol.)

I do like to comment much more than I like to rate (and always enjoy receiving comments more than ratings on my own images). I'd be perfectly happy with no ratings, and something other than the HOF (but what, and how to implement????). In fact, I quite like the system Eugene mentions of having a personal favorites folder. It would be very useful to me, and I wonder if it could be used as part of a different system of choosing HOF images (or not the HOF, but something in addition to the HOF, with even more images). What if the number of times an image was included in another member's personal favorites folder could be tabulated and photos with a certain count were included in a public folder, broken out by genre? When I was contemplating buying the E-1, I couldn't get enough of looking at MFT images and would have loved to have a smaller selection of the "better" images, organized by type, rather than the massive everything-included folders that exist now. Even if "favorite" images weren't tabulated by MFT, I would still love to keep track of my own favorites somehow.

Well, that's enough stream-of-consciousness for now. I hope it still makes sense when I re-read it later. Am I still even on topic? LOL

If this is pointless, why did you comment Eugene?

Ok, I dont want to be rude by not replying to the question but having done so I am finished with this article and this issue for good.

I commented because this issue of ratings is, imho, something that the community goes round and round in from time to time and does not make any constructive progress. The rating practice is imho, well and truly not working as originally envisaged. 10's are hof nominations and members are free to nominate or not. It seems to me that 10's have additionally now become favourites for those who view them to be so. Questioning people's favourites is to me but another round, that in the history of the site doesn't go anywhere. Those who want to do this are of course perfectly entitled to do so but given the previous discussions i am putting my position because that's what I think about it. In fact I'm a little irritated with myself for having gotten involved in this issue again when I have quietly said to myself in the past not to do so again.

As I said I dont want to appear rude by not replying and having said that I do not intend to participate in this article again.

A nice series of images culminating in no 6 the grand finale. Perhaps a touch more movement in the water.( only a suggestion )