Questions about Conditions and a Top Ten List suggestion.

[porneia]

Questions about Conditions:

My current story ("Blind Date with Catwoman") is a normal story without conditions. I have a "Vignettes" section for brief branches or one shot chapters. I was thinking of adding a branch to Vignettes that would use conditions, so . . .

1) Would I simple turn on "conditions" and use them for this branch?
2) Conditions wouldn't effect the rest of the story, right?
3) I am assuming there is no way to turn on conditions only for one branch, right?

4) On a side note, has a random number generator been added to chyoa? I know several months ago there was discussion about such a possibility.


Suggestion: New Top Ten List

Besides the current "Top Sex Stories", which I am assuming is based on Views, I would like to recommend a "Most Rated Top Sex Stories" based on percentage of Likes to Views. So for example, Story #1 with 2,000 Likes and 100,000 Views (at 2%) would have a higher rating that Story #2 with 2,000 Likes and 500,000 Views (at 0.4%).

I think a minimal number of Views would be required to make the list. I would hope this new list would be much more fluid and likely to change than the current one. I would definitely keep the original list, however, though maybe rename it. Any story that can get 5 million + views should be noted on the front page.

 

[Kazza]

Conditions only affect chapters that are set up for them but the reader would have to read in 'game' mode.

Also, I like your top ten idea for a ratio over a certain amount of views. I feel like the system metrics reward quantity of chapters over quality which may not be the best incentive for the best stories. I feel like I've sometimes broken up a chapter that could have easily been one bigger chapter just for this reason.

I think a Top Story for each genre would be cool too.

 

[Ben Rosewood]

I think the problem with a like to view ratio is that older stories would be at a huge disadvantage as it is to my understanding that there was a time where CHYOA or CHYOO didn't have likes. (would appreciate if anyone can expand on this.)

I'd also like to see a separate top ten that had more movement in it. Maybe a Top Ten Stories of the Month, or a Moderator's Pick of the Months.

 

[Kazza]

Maybe a quality score? Like an overall score on the story like 4.5 out of 5 stars or a percentage score out of 100. That way it can be averaged after a certain amount of scores and ranked? You could break down the rankings even further like just for the last week, month, year or of all time. Only make it ranked for stories that reach a certain chapter depth or count though.

 

[gene.sis]

3) I am assuming there is no way to turn on conditions only for one branch, right?

You're right.

4) On a side note, has a random number generator been added to chyoa? I know several months ago there was discussion about such a possibility.

Not yet.

Besides the current "Top Sex Stories", which I am assuming is based on Views

No... the current rating isn't based on views.
Views are highly unreliable as a stat. See this single post for further explanation.

So the rating is based on the absolute number of Likes.

I feel like the system metrics reward quantity of chapters over quality which may not be the best incentive for the best stories.

Totally agree on that.
If you have a Story with 1,000 chapters (each with 1 Like) it will be higher in the list than a story with 9 chapters where each chapter got 100 Likes.

In the thread, I linked a few lines above, I mentioned another way of rating "Likes per Favorite", though there is a similar but even better way to do it... "Likes per Unique Views." Unique Views would only be the views of logged in users, who are actually able to Like a chapter. (Unique Views isn't a stat yet, though it can be calculated for all existing stories.)
This should also be "self-adjusting" and should offer older (good) stories a new chance to shine.

I'm not sure if I actually created a suggestion about this.

understanding that there was a time where CHYOA or CHYOO didn't have likes. (would appreciate if anyone can expand on this.)

There was a rating system where you could give — I think — 1 to 5 stars. Later it has been changed to a Dislike-Like system which allowed users to "downvote" stories. It had also a logical flaw as you wouldn't continue reading a story if you "Disliked" a few chapters, creating some imbalance.

Maybe a quality score? Like an overall score on the story like 4.5 out of 5 stars or a percentage score out of 100.

That leads to the same problems as the dislike button.

 

[porneia]

Conditions only affect chapters that are set up for them but the reader would have to read in 'game' mode.

So it's what I thought. I just turn them on for the whole story but they will only effect the chapters that are intentionally written to take use of conditions, right? (Sorry for being a little dense, but just want to make sure.)

 

[Kazza]

So it's what I thought. I just turn them on for the whole story but they will only effect the chapters that are intentionally written to take use of conditions, right? (Sorry for being a little dense, but just want to make sure.)

Yep. I just started using them on one of my stories. You can hide variable changes or make them visible (they show up on the side bar) this lets the reader know if you want them to know if they have changed anything that might relate to a chapter condition.

I use the variables in the sidebar as like an inventory. If the reader has the item they need then it will allow them into certain chapters. If they use an item it also blocks of chapters that they would otherwise need that item for.

 

[porneia]

No... the current rating isn't based on views. Views are highly unreliable as a stat.

I didn't know that, great point!

If you have a Story with 1,000 chapters (each with 1 Like) it will be higher in the list than a story with 9 chapters where each chapter got 100 Likes.

Spot on, this the problem I am trying to address with a different Top Ten list.

There was a rating system . . . Later it has been changed to a Dislike-Like system .

I remember that, and I am glad it was removed. The current simple "Like" system is by far superior.

better way to do it... "Likes per Unique Views." Unique Views would only be the views of logged in users, who are actually able to Like a chapter. (Unique Views isn't a stat yet, though it can be calculated for all existing stories.) This should also be "self-adjusting" and should offer older (good) stories a new chance to shine..

I love this idea! However, would it be possible to generate the "Unique View" from the existing data? You seem to imply that it could (with your "it can be calculated for all existing stories"), but wouldn't that be a bear for the programer to initially set up?

Also, I do like the idea of a "Story of a Month" or "Year" or "Season" (Fall, Winter, etc.). That might be a simple method to have a more fluid "Top Ten" list.

 

[gene.sis]

So it's what I thought. I just turn them on for the whole story but they will only effect the chapters that are intentionally written to take use of conditions, right? (Sorry for being a little dense, but just want to make sure.)

Yes...
Though if a reader is in game mode, they can't freely navigate the story map and jump from one branch to another. So you might want to note that it isn't necessary to activate it in general and but for what exact branch.

 

[gene.sis]

I love this idea! However, would it be possible to generate the "Unique View" from the existing data? You seem to imply that it could (with your "it can be calculated for all existing stories"), but wouldn't that be a bear for the programer to initially set up?

It is possible to get the numbers from existing data and it would be quite easy to achieve. It might only need some minutes for the database to process the numbers.

 

[porneia]

It is possible to get the numbers from existing data and it would be quite easy to achieve. It might only need some minutes for the database to process the numbers.

First, as always, thank you for the knowledge and kindness. Your help throughout the years has been invaluable.

Second, I am just curious. How would a person go about lobbying for this addition?

 

[Kazza]

Though if a reader is in game mode, they can't freely navigate the story map and jump from one branch to another.

I struggled with this trade off when I started introducing conditional chapters. Do you like reading in game mode and doing multiple runs or do you prefer being able to jump around more?

 

[gene.sis]

First, as always, thank you for the knowledge and kindness. Your help throughout the years has been invaluable.

Thanks

Second, I am just curious. How would a person go about lobbying for this addition?

Hm... I guess, someone (me?) has to create a suggestion in the Suggestion subforum to allow for votes...

I struggled with this trade off when I started introducing conditional chapters. Do you like reading in game mode and doing multiple runs or do you prefer being able to jump around more?

Well, the structure of Game Mode stories and branching out stories is different.
There are even different ways of setting up a Game Mode story. E.g. you can have a "single" branch for the whole story. All choices would lead back to the main branch while the main branch chapters appear differently due to if-statements. Another way would be to use the feature only to block out future choices in a heavily branched out story to keep things consistent.
So I don't mind it.

The only downside at the moment is that you can have only one savegame and that you might mess up your Score if you go back to previous chapters.

 

[Ben Rosewood]

IMO, if there was to be another list to compliment the top sex stories, I'd rather it be something that focused on bringing attention to stories that deserve it rather than ones that's dependant on likes/popularity.

Something like a Moderator's Choice where every week/month say 5-10 stories got selected by moderators, including older stories that have become somewhat forgotten, new stories that are doing well, and stories that have had a recent spike in activity.

 

[gene.sis]

Second, I am just curious. How would a person go about lobbying for this addition?

So I created a suggestion about it here.

stories that deserve it

What should a story have to deserve it? Being "good"?

Moderator's Choice

I don't think that Moderators could do that. There are just so many stories around. Every day there are about 4 new stories and about 200 new chapters.
And a Moderators' Choice would be biased by the Moderators' preferences, which most likely leads to stories which are already popular.

Though I could imagine that a group of users spot for certain stories which fulfill certain requirements like excellent writing or sth.

I could also imagine sth like a "random story of the week"... kind of pressing the "Random Story" button 10 times and offering the links a judge which would decide which one should be showcased.

 

[Nemo of Utopia]

I could also imagine sth like a "random story of the week"... kind of pressing the "Random Story" button 10 times and offering the links a judge which would decide which one should be showcased.

I want this as a suggestion, I'd upvote the hell out of it!

 

[gene.sis]

I want this as a suggestion, I'd upvote the hell out of it!

You can create one

I think the main problem will be to find a judge, which can focus on judging the writing (storytelling, eloquence, and grammar) and ignoring the kink. The 10 story links could be provided by a moderator or even automatically.