Happy Monday, everyone!

This last week, we asked users what they thought of the review system for commissions on Furry Network. While we have done research into how reviews are done, this hasn’t been formally worked into a commission system in the fandom before. We wanted to help build a system that encourages honest feedback while helping build the community.

Users across social media gave a variety of ideas for how to shape the review system on Furry Network, but we want to take time to discuss some of the biggest issues.

Avoid Popularity Contests

One of the biggest concerns was making sure this was not a popularity contest for ratings. In general, popular users could send waves of followers to use the system, and unhappy people on the internet could potentially create a wave of unjustified negative reviews.

The simplest way to combat this problem is to allow reviews only from users who have purchased a commission from that seller. This is similar to the way Uber works – the user is able to leave a review after receiving a ride. Limiting reviews in this way puts users on an even playing field.

Star Ratings vs. Up and Down Votes

People responding on Twitter seemed to be fairly divided about the way to go. Some backed the simpler up and down votes while others said this would ignore a commission that has some bumps in the road.

Both systems have their benefits and their challenges, but one thing we want to highlight with this is the ability to give an accurate review. This is why we are leaning towards the star ratings – thumbs up or down either rewards or punishes the seller, and there’s no in-between.

One other issue with star ratings, though, is the possibility of review inflation – the community could give such high ratings that a single four- or three-star rating would greatly affect a seller. A solution would be to encourage realistic ratings and have text show what the different stars represent:

• 1 star – Terrible. Everything went wrong.
• 2 stars – Bad. There were several things they could do better.
• 3 stars – Okay. There were some rough patches, but it worked out.
• 4 stars – Good. Everything went well with the commission.
• 5 stars – Excellent. They went above and beyond what I expected.

Another option is allowing different ratings for different parts of the commission process. This would allow users to give more detailed feedback.

Generally, users will be more likely to give an honest breakdown when given separate criteria for the review. The only problem, though, is that users might skip the review section – the faster a review can happen, the more likely it will be completed.

Extortion

Some users expressed concern that reviews could be used to extort or blackmail artists to get something in return. We discussed this some in the previous post, but we definitely are against any sort of extortion. We will have rules in place when reviews are launched to prevent this.

Thanks to all who contributed to this conversation on social media! This has given us quite a bit to think about as we shape the commission tool. If you do have more suggestions or feedback, feel free to hit us up on Twitter.

Digby