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I'm going to put in my twenty cents here (inflation you know). As a reader, if a story is bad, and has no redeeming qualities that I can see, I absolutely will not leave a review for it. The reason for that, is that regardless of the author maybe, possibly being willing to listen, if it's that bad, I'm too blunt to say anything at all that resembles positive concrit. Were I to actually review something like that, yes, I'd manage to keep it from being a flame, but as blunt as I am, I promise my review to that kind of story would be very much LESS than kind. While I wouldn't intend to hurt someone's feelings, I know that I would. So, it's better that I say nothing at all on such a story.

There was a time--on different sites, though, I'll readily admit that--where I did bother leaving reviews on such sub-standard works. To the best of my knowledge, not a single one of those reviews was listened to. Indeed, in a few cases I've had authors call "flame!", in another few cases I've had authors send their fluffy fanpoodles after me. That does not bother me as much as it does to some people, and indeed, would not have stopped me if at least one of the authors I left reviews for actually listened. Unfortunately, the people you describe, who will assume that their story, with all it's flaws, is the best thing since sliced bread solely because they see their view count jump up, tend to also be the people who assume that anything less than sugary sweet reviews are flames and that the reviewer, honestly wanting to help them improve, is just jealous of them and their great story. Of course, that is just all my experience. However, what I am speaking of in such cases are not just "bad" fics. They're the borderline-troll fics. Anyone who can upload, say, a whole chapter of sentences like "n den i flied on top f teh coluds, wif mai beatyful prefectly whit wings & my fifthy ft long black-blu-blond hare was rifled bye teh wind. Den my pruple-gren-blu eyes spoted............................................... somting weeeeeeeeeiiiiiird. n den jake flied 2 were i am nd puled his 18 ins long fat rod off manmeet outta him lether pans nd stated makin luv 2 me form behin" (not a quote of any specific work to the best of my knowledge, but yes, some inspiration for this... style was drawn from the infamous 'My Immortal') and actually believes their work is perfectly acceptable for uploading will not be likely to start scratching their head and think, 'hey, I could improve some' because of a review. Or twenty. Like I said, generally speaking, if I come across stories like that, I hit "previous page" before ever reaching the point where I can leave a review. The exceptions is if I'm trying to figure out if someone is a troll or just that bad a writer. Of course, now that I am staff, there'll be more stories I'll have to read for obvious reasons that I normally would have clicked away after a few lines because it's giving me a headache. There are writers who just have no real interest in writing, just in the fluffy fanpoodles. They see writing as a way to get their attention fix, without any love for the written word, for the stories they've read or the stories they're telling and without any wish to improve, because that would take effort. They don't want to do something that takes effort, they just want their daily/weekly/monthly dose of attention. There are people that believe whatever they do cannot be anything less than perfect--whether they're people singing for talent shows that honestly believe they're talented, amazing singers and that everyone who dares say different is just jealous, even though that would mean that 99% of the people around them are jealous, whether they're the people that honestly think they're the next great baseball star, even though they can't run or hit a ball or whether they see themselves as awesome writers. Yes, some of these people do grow a love for writing and a realization that they're not as perfect as they think they are at some point, as well as a wish to improve. However, that requires them to open their eyes. So long as they've gotten their eyes closed, their fingers in their ears and singing loudly "I'm amazing! I can't hear your criticism, because I'm too amazing to improve!", it quite honestly is not worth the effort in my opinion. They might hear what I say, but they will not listen. Especially not if there is not a single point I can mention that is positive. Now, I don't say this goes for all or even most of the writers whose writing is below "outstanding" or even "acceptable". However, when there is quite literally nothing positive to say about their fic, that tends to be a VERY big clue pointing in that direction. Combined with some other factors--like tone of voice in ANs, certain kinds of snark in disclaimers, etc.--there just are cases where I know there is no way they're going to actually listen. However, that does not mean I do not care for the future of the written word, or that I want to see sub-standard become the new standard. It's just that, as BronxWench put it, I have no desire to waste time tilting at windmills. If I figure in a case that there is some chance, even if but a small chance, that the author will listen, if not to all I have to say, then at least one or two points, I will be likely to leave a review anyway. (Though I must admit I have been slacking here at AFF, for a good part because I haven't read as much as I would like. Will be working on that, though.)

What I'm saying is not that I won't leave a negative review, but that I won't leave a review that crosses the line from constructive criticism to destructive criticism. I am willing to say negative things, but I'm not willing to say only negative things without at least a single positive or neutral point. Because, whether intended as constructive or destructive, it'll only come across as destructive then. There is a difference between "The idea behind this story was certainly interesting. However, I did not feel any real connection with the characters and the spelling and grammar mistakes jarred me out of the story at times. Perhaps you would benefit from acquiring a beta-reader? A couple of examples of what I mean are 'a' and 'b'." and "Sadly, the number of spelling and grammar mistakes made it difficult for me to get into the story. The characters seemed flat, with exception of "Character", which seems a bit of a Mary Sue to me. You contradict yourself on the time-line here, here and here, on the settings here and here, on the character background here and here. The basic plot you used has been overdone already and none of your plot-twists were creative or original."

I'll just say that with my directness, should I happen upon a story that I honestly can't go further than a paragraph or two in to, I absolutely will not review, nor rate. I click the back arrow. I'm not willing to further waste my time.

Having combined a series of prompt-response oneshots into a single story, I had the opportunity to see all my reviews together for the first time, and I have to say, I'm delighted by the number of reviews that contained concrit. It was all valid, and I did take what was said to heart and tried to incorporate that into future prompt responses. Hopefully, I did grow as a writer. But that is indeed the issue. The concrit was balanced. There was comments on what did work as well as what could have worked better, or didn't work at all. When I can't find a single positive thing to say, or when I'm confronted by something that requires multiple attempts to make sense of a single sentence, I can't find anything positive to say beyond, "I'm so glad you were able to turn on your computer." I don't do polite lies, and if I couldn't get more than a paragraph into a story before I walk away, then I also feel no obligation to leave a review. What could I say, after all? "I read a paragraph of this story and was unable to continue." Anything further delves into the realm of being unnecessarily unkind, and as a member of the staff here, it is both inappropriate and inexcusable for me to leave such reviews.

To be fair, I don't think that there's any room to complain about reviews on a fic all being positive when what's being said is that you won't leave a negative review. I understand DG is blunt as a spoon - and generally, so am I. Bronx is one of the most diplomatic individuals I know when it comes to saying something that needs said. While we may have to disagree on the point of leaving the review, I appreciate your point about "tilting at windmills," though I've left enough concrit to know that there's about a 60/40 ratio - with the larger percentage being the ones who leave the review and will possibly learn from it. As for the 40, when they delete my review, or continue writing poorly, I stop reading their work. As to the writers who want fanpoodles, yeah, we're all familiar with them. And they get the fanpoodles with their all of three recycled plot lines because they write in a popular genre. Those writers can usually be identified very quickly by their diva tendencies. That being said, some people actually like being bad writers, because they see "everyone else" doing the same and think it's perfectly fine, and those of us who want more are the ones who are out of our gourds. Well, I haven't gone 'round the twist - not just yet. But with the response to even the idea of leaving concrit on bad stories, I can answer the question originally asked "Can we trust good reviews?" with "No. Not unless they tell you a particular positive aspect of your story."

To be quite frank, I don't leave reviews on stories that I simply can't read. It's not because I don't care about the future of the written word. On the contrary, I'm in love with words, and have been all my life. I relish the interplay of language, and I delight in nuance and shading. Nothing makes me happier than to be transported elsewhere by a well written story. But... But if you don't care enough to run a simple spellcheck, if you prefer the sloppiness of text-speak, if you haven't the barest notion of how to use punctuation, if grammar is an elderly female relative good only for birthday handouts, NOTHING I say in a review is going to make you change. I've no desire to waste my time tilting at windmills. The best advice I can give to anyone who wants to improve as a writer is to read. You'll see some common themes in published books everywhere. They follow the basic rules of grammar. They use punctuation appropriately. They spell words correctly. They attribute dialogue in a way that lets me know who's speaking without having to read back three paragraphs. They don't broadcast a change of scene or change in point of view with a banner headline. They research, so you don't have a medieval monk checking his wristwatch. (Brownie points if you can name the play in which Shakespeare makes a similar error.)

Like phoeyay, I tend not to leave a review if I have absolutely nothing to say that's even vaguely positive. That's not because I am afraid of retaliation, but because in most cases, I will have hit the "back" button before even reaching the end of the first chapter. In the cases where that is not the case, I will usually have at least one positive thing to say. Be it that the story has an interesting premise, that I smiled at a witty remark or joke or sarcastic line, that there was some description somewhere that I liked, or a character I liked or (in case of fanfiction rather than original) felt was portrayed well, or even just the title or a chapter title, the use of proper grammar, spelling and punctuation, an interesting piece of dialogue or a neat plot-twist. However, if absolutely none of these apply; if I have even searched for something I like but came up blank, then I will not leave a review unless that person specifically asked me for feedback. Because frankly speaking, at that point, the story isn't worth even more of my time. Especially because the chances of an author honestly welcoming an in-depth concrit review, rather than deleting it or crying "FLAME!", when in their story, the spelling, grammar and punctuation were off, the titles cliché, the plot twists absent or visible from ten miles distance, the characters completely and utterly boring, OOC or Mary Sues, the descriptions not evoking anything, the storyline not interesting and not a single sentence in sight that I liked... yeah, those chances would be practically zero. EDIT: For clarity's sake, with "the spelling, grammar and punctuation were off", I do not mean the occasional typo, homophone-switch, a single missed capital or similar problems. I mean the kind of story where it's very clear that the story has seen neither spell-check nor beta and most likely hasn't even been re-read once by the author before uploading it.

On this site, I don't have any worries reviewing something I didn't like. I know that I'm not overstepping by telling them what I thought, because I always try to do so in a courteous manner. I give points in their story to back up my opinion, and I always try to point out something about the story that I did like - even if it's just the use of active voice instead of passive voice. An example One reason I don't have to worry about what I say within the boundaries of civility on this site is simple: flames aren't allowed. So if I review your story with actual viable criticism, and you flame mine in return? I report. The end. On FFN I have the option to block a user, and I use it quite frequently. Here, I don't have to worry about slow mod response, so I don't need to block users. I don't just say that because I'm a member of the staff, I say that because we actually care about our readership, and anyone that's flamed would get the same treatment, as long as they had abided by the terms of service themselves. I can say that I haven't had the issue of retaliation reviews on this site. Most of the users here (not all, mind, but most) will either simply delete the review if they don't like it, and ignore you, or they'll accept you have an opinion and respond to you. Some will just ignore the review. I don't have a problem in the world telling someone what I thought of their story, especially when they make it publicly available. I understand the hesitation, but rest assured, retaliation would not be permitted as a response to true concrit.

Why I hate the star/plus rating system: Friends will up-vote their friends' stories. No matter how atrocious the writing. Pairings are down-voted just because someone doesn't like them, regardless of how good the story was. Drabbles and Twitfics are down-voted simply because of what they are, regardless of their content. It is utilized as a form of retribution for any number of things. Users will leave a "rating" rather than a review. The last one doesn't bother me so much because I thrive on praise, but because if it sucked, tell me why. I can't get better at writing if you don't tell me what I did wrong. (Having said that, please, by all means, tell me what I did right as well so I don't keep trying to improve something that is in an acceptable place, but neglect something that is in vast need of improvement.) Case in point of that: That review meant the world to me. It told me one thing I needed to know: did I convey what I intended? And, Daye, I can honestly say that I didn't get a "more" review on any of my stories until 2013-09-05. The story was Published [2013-05-11]. Even then, there was a bit more to it, and it was spelled correctly as well as being a complete sentence. I will say this - I generally won't 'vote' on a story in the archive (can't say I never have). I will, however, leave a review that will offset the "MOAR" reviews by leaving actual concrit. Anyone who is looking for a solid review would hopefully see that and consider it before simply clicking on the link and being disappointed by a five-star rating.

@ Tigro Spottystripes: It certainly doesn't hurt to say something like that in a review. It just would be even better if you at least give a bit of an idea what exactly it is you like so much, or of what could have been done better. Perhaps you don't have specific criticism, nothing that stood out like a sore thumb. Maybe it's difficult to exactly pin-point what made the story so enjoyable. However, even just saying something like "this and this line/scene/conversation made me laugh", or "I cried a little when this/that happened" in an otherwise "plain" review makes it special. Hell, even a line like "I wonder how [character] is going to react to [other character]'s action/revelation/etc." could be enough. It shows that you read the story and considered it worth another few moments of your time to leave a review, whereas a review like "I liked it. Please update. I wanna read more!" could be meant for any and every story. Nothing in it refers to the fic you just read. It reads like a copy-and-paste response, even when heartfelt by the person leaving it, because it's so generic.

As a reader, somtimes i don't got any specific points to make, but i still feel like thanking the writer or letting them know i enjoyed it enough to wanna read any additional chapters they write, and other stuff along those lines. If these types of reactions aren't appropriate for the most obvious and easy to reach place when you finish reading a story, then how do you suggest i proceed?

Being utterly paranoid, I get all nervous when I hear something nice about my work. Balancing that out, however, is the little monster than needs stroking with some verbal gushing. What helps is hearing why someone likes what I've written. I'd like to know what worked and, even more, what didn't. "I love your story!" is great for the ego, but hearing why they like it, with a few examples helps me feel better about actually working on my craft.

I hate when people continually leave the same generic reviews. It doesn't help the authors, and it feels like the reader is just saying something to be nice. I try to make sure all of my reviews are detailed so the authors know what they did well and what they can improve on. It's too bad that most people just see it as a place to leave generic encouragement- not that encouragement is bad (I'm not saying that!!!!), but just that it needs to be more constructive if it's going to amount to anything more than words on a page. As to ratings, I don't leave 'em, and I don't really pay attention to 'em. I use summaries to make my decision on what to read; if I happen to like that author's style, I'll look up more of his/her work and check out recommendations.