I do know that the archive's search engine features are not yet written, but if I'm understanding you correctly, what you're asking about is more of a sort feature.
I have not heard any mention of being able to sort within categories by certain criteria, It may indeed be part of what is being written, but since those criteria you mention are not currently searchable criteria, I'm not sure that they would be available as sort criteria.
In fact, there was some mention of eliminating the current ratings feature altogether in favor of a different method, since the current method has been used to unfairly rate down stories. We've had users who received over one hundred low ratings in a very short span of time, something that can only be an abusive use of the feature.
Certainly, we always appreciate hearing what our users would like to see, and we thank you for taking the time to let us know what you think!
