I am just a little stumped about this...

[Zekoyah]

Has anyone else noticed something occurring more often in the Writing Arena?
I see cliche, usually uncapitalized, unorganized poems and stories being rated high. I don't consider them to be written well most of the time, however I save myself time and the user's rating by breezing right by it. These poems have the most comments and all of them are insisting they love the piece.

Yes, I understand that different writing appears to different people, however these pieces all sound so similar, the themes so reoccurring, it's boggling my mind. I don't really understand it.

Has anyone else noticed this, or am I just seriously at a writer's all-time low? In 6 months of having a piece of writing up on here, it has been rated a grand total of 8 times, with only a friend of mine commenting. The said poems above are skyrocketing.

AND: In no way am I bashing a writer on here. I have said no names, have not given examples of writing I have seen. Chances are you've seen some of it already. I just want to know if I am just impatient or if this really is occurring.

[Molla Malinconia]

I just entered my first piece this... Saturday, I think. I wasn't surprised when I saw a few less than savory poems, but when, after several ratings, I found them to be in majority, I kinda started to wonder whether something was amiss or if my luck was just plain foul.

The conclusion I've drawn, after reading the comments that some people left, is that there are a lot of people who can just understand the short, simple, 'typical' poems, and prefer them vastly to the things of, say, 5+ stanzas. Not that I'm trying to say that longer is better, but in this case the opposite, that the length and intricacy of one's poem can have a direct and negative effect on one's ratings.

What I'm curious about is if it's normal to have only six votes after five days. o.o;

[Zekoyah]

Exactly! The Spotlight column often has these poems displayed, and I am really beginning to be frustrated.

I see your point there, and I was sort of thinking on that as well, because the comments I would often see were written with chat speak and had nothing substantial to add to the growth of the writer. I realize chat speak isn't the worst crime in the world, but it's been so long since I've used it, I cannot begin to decipher it.

My poems are most likely longer than what a lot of Gaians are used to reading. I've been having a craving to write a lot of sestinas.

You are very lucky to have been rated so many times in 5 days! As I mentioned in my first post, my first submission has been rated 8 times in the last 6 months. I don't enjoy asking people to read my submissions through this forum (it's pretty slow anyway), so I always hoped that Gaia had a system that would show everyone's work equally. I don't really think that is happening right now, though.

[Molla Malinconia]

I was going through the avatar arena sometime prior, where someone was complaining about something quite similar to our little gripe--people were saying the spotlight was randomized, or something similar to it?

As for these forums, I noticed they were rather inactive, I even kinda freaked out for a second when I noticed your post was a day before mine! I was thinking that "Oh, god, I hope I didn't accidentally revive an old thread."

I guess, if you just keep on writing, something'll get up higher, maybe if you join a guild that participates in the arenas--assuming you haven't, already. o.o;

[Julia Dream]

Something happened with the Spotlight system. It was working fine for a while, based on the ratios of votes-to-stars, and now it's featuring entries I can't imagine could've been voted that highly.

[Zekoyah]

@Molla It's possible Gaia changed it, although I cannot imagine why they would. Or maybe Gaia is simply filled with more and more eleven-year-olds.

Indeed, I was under the impression no one would even reply to this little thread of mine. I was surprised to see that you did, but happy nonetheless to know that I am not the only one experiencing this.

True that, writing and development take time. I have no choice but to keep writing as I am in Creative Writing and it seems our teacher's forcing us to journal constantly is now stuck with me. And I actually haven't joined any writing guilds o_0 Know of any good ones?

@Julia Yes indeed =/ The spotlight is full of nonsense whenever I look at it. People writin lik dis and getin r8ted hi.

I killed a part of myself writing like that just now.

[Molla Malinconia]

I've never been much of a guildy, not being a very social creature myself. I've got a smallish circle of friends, with a quantity more that don't possess the same mutual relation. I've joined a few guilds in the past, but can't really recommend anything in particular. Sorries.

Yesterday, though, I'd have to say that the articles I saw featured in the spotlight were considerably better than, say, monday. But, I haven't been in the arena as long as either of you likely have, and thus repeat that I don't know quite what they once were.