How the rating system works
Every approved place used to be worth the same, whether it was a factory hall or a foundation in the bushes. Now the community decides: for 7 days trusted members score it, and the average becomes the author's points. At least 3 votes are needed for that average to count.
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1
The place enters a vote
Every new place enters the rating queue automatically once moderation approves it. The vote runs for 7 days and starts within an hour of approval. The author gets a message with the closing date and the ranking month the points will count toward.
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2
The community scores it
Raters see the photos, the description, the location and the hazards - then set a slider from 10 to 120 points in steps of 5. Scores stay anonymous until the vote closes, so later raters are not anchored by earlier ones and the author has nobody to lobby. One vote each, and it cannot be changed or withdrawn.
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3
We take the average
When the window closes the average becomes the place's base value. With fewer than 3 votes the place gets the default 50 points instead - exactly what it was worth before ratings existed. A quiet week never costs anyone anything.
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4
The points are frozen
Bonuses are added on top, and the result is stored permanently and counted toward the ranking of the month the vote closed in - not the month the place was added. A month that has been settled never moves again, so a reward cannot be undone by later votes.
The scale
The slider runs from 10 to 120 points in steps of 5. The six named levels are only labels that suggest where to put the slider - the point value is what counts.
- Awful 10-20 pts - nothing to see, not worth the fuel
- Poor 25-40 pts - scraps, heavily stripped
- Average 45-60 pts - a typical site, seen better
- Interesting 65-85 pts - worth the detour
- Great 90-110 pts - a gem of the region
- Iconic 115-120 pts - site of the year
How the final score is calculated
- Base - average of the scores (with at least 3 votes) 10-120 pts
- Base - fewer than 3 votes 50 pts
- Request-only place +50 pts
- Detailed description (from 200 characters) +25 pts
Bonuses are recorded the moment the vote closes, so it is worth expanding the description before then - afterwards it no longer affects that place's score.
Who can rate
Rating is open to active, unbanned accounts that have reached either of two thresholds. Meeting one of them in full is enough - time and contribution substitute for each other, so an active new account does not wait as long as one that was opened and abandoned.
- 150 points and an account older than 90 days
- 500 points and an account older than 30 days
You cannot rate your own places, and each place can only be rated once. Rating itself earns no points - it is not a way up the ranking, it is what makes the ranking mean something.
Common questions
- I added a place and see no points for it. Is something broken?
- No. For the 7 days of the vote the place is worth 0 - the points appear once the window closes. You can follow your own places in the "My places' ratings" panel.
- What about older places?
- Nothing changes. Places added before the system went live keep their existing scoring forever - nothing is recalculated backwards and no past ranking moves.
- What if my place gets few votes?
- Below 3 votes the default 50 points applies, which is what the place was worth under the old system. Low turnout cannot hurt you.
- Does a vote from someone high in the ranking count for more?
- No, every vote counts the same. Weighting votes by points would let the top-ranked accounts decide what their competitors' places are worth - and would turn farming comment and photo points into a way of buying influence.
- Can I change my score?
- No. A score is final, because the window is a week long and the points are real - letting people revisit a score turns the place's author into someone worth lobbying.
