[Omniscient]

I have disabled site-wide the Thread Ratings. I've never minded them and while only semi-useful I thought visually they added something to the forumdisplay pages. Members have asked me to alter or remove them for a while now. At one point in HF history they were completed disabled. We don't have a plan to replace them but that's something I'm considering. Realistically any system to rate threads is so similar to the Thread Ratings system of MyBB that I don't see why we just don't use it. Adding B-Ratings isn't appropriate because that's only for Marketplace. Running 2 system is too much wasted resources imho.

So for now many of you have your wish and Thread Ratings are disabled. IMHO the forums look a lot plainer now, almost boring. Actually bothers me already how plain the pages are.

Happy now?

[Eagle 95]

Those stars were awesome but as you've said, members complained because it lowered their sales. I don't know how's that possible to prove but hey...

[Deal]

I actually like the fact that thread ratings are gone.
People would gang rate other peoples threads, and you can buy thread ratings for bytes.
So exactly what purpose did they serve when they didn’t give a truthful picture of the content of the thread?

[Pray]

Those stars were awesome but as you've said, members complained because it lowered their sales. I don't know how's that possible to prove but hey...

Probably just paranoid. I doubt people realistically look at thread ratings, of all things, when deciding whether or not to purchase something.

System never really got used properly in any case.

[Omniscient]

So exactly what purpose did they serve when they didn’t give a truthful picture of the content of the thread?

Well, seems like if people are paying for ratings with Bytes that's actually useful right there. Gives Bytes just another purpose. And I spent some time going over pages in Marketplace of low and high rating threads and imho it was mainly accurate. The 1 star threads were truly crap and the 5 star threads were the better threads. Sure, there was gang ratings and pay offs but overall everyone could rate a thread and most threads were rated fairly over time.

[Dredd]

Dang I miss them already, gave everyone a good indication if the thread was just pure poo. But as with everything I get it can be abused.

[Meowth]

It also didn't help that people were paying one another for five-star thread ratings. Sure, you can't prove that it directly influenced sales, but either way, it's surely misleading.

[sonex]

I don't know how's that possible to prove but hey...

In reality it's somewhat true but that's merely few percent. At one point I had so many questions about why my thread is 3 instead of 5 stars that I had to include it in FAQ and I'm not joking about it. The rating system should be buyers-only feature, would make much more sense down the road. IMHO either completely gone or buyers only, anything other than that is pointless unless you think of it as a design thing. Doesnt really serve any purpose if I can go to Marketplace right now and give out 1 star to random people for no apparent reason other than being bored lmao..

[SUI-3183372]

I can't say I've ever seen the stars used in a positive way. Sure people would 5-star your thread if it was decent, but that rating never meant anything, I don't think it was common at all that someone made a decision based on a thread rating.

On the other hand the only real use I saw out of them was people using 1-star ratings to piss off members they didn't like.

So, removing a tool that people really only used to be petty... sounds good.

[Bluffer]

Definitely can recognize the plainness now that rating are gone. Feels like something is missing.

[Thornzzz]

I can't say I've ever seen the stars used in a positive way. Sure people would 5-star your thread if it was decent, but that rating never meant anything, I don't think it was common at all that someone based a decision based on a thread rating.

On the other hand the only real use I saw out of them was people using 1-star ratings to piss off members they didn't like.

So, removing a tool that people really only used to be petty... sounds good.

Yeah I agree. The threads that always stood out to me was the opposite of how it should be, I always was interested in the low starred threads over the 5 starred threads.

[Omniscient]

Yeah I agree. The threads that always stood out to me was the opposite of how it should be, I always was interested in the low starred threads over the 5 starred threads.

That's because you're 1/2 troll.

[Thornzzz]

That's because you're 1/2 troll.

I just read the one starred because it's a lot more rare to see than the 5 starred threads. A lot of people will have their threads 5 starred by their friends but the one starred threads were less common and more interesting to read and see why they were one starred.

[Mix]

RIP them good old stars the only ones you can get now is the awards. Mhmmm

[PerfectStorm]

Great! I am all for this decision. I prefer without them.

Yeah I noticed it looks slightly boring too but it might just take some time getting used to.