@vikicommunity This is a streaming platform, not MDL or IMDB. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind rating shows or movies, but I don’t see the point of having a rating system when 99% of people on VIKI give 9 or 10 for everything. Pretty much everything on VIKI has at least 8.5 rating. I don’t even remember when was the last time I’ve seen a show with lower rating than 9.
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I’m doing subtitles for “Touch”, boring myself to death, and very soon, you’ll be able to see a low rating.
I’m actually happy with being able to see the reviews and ratings. Sometimes, especially when the show just started, they can be low because people nag about the subtitles, but in general, when I see a show that has above 9.4, I actually also like them, and and when under 9, they are often not my cup of tea either. Which, in my case, is probably why I also only give 9 or 10 almost every time - thanks to the revieuws and ratings, I was able to pick out the shows I liked.
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LOL. This doesn’t make me feel better, tho. I don’t mind if people give 10 or 1, because that’s the other side of the story, IF they actually write a proper review, but so many people rate shows even before the start.
Like I said above, I don’t mind rating, if it’s done properly. I’m never gonna understand why Kdrama fans can’t give scores other than 8, 9 or 10 or 1. Like, it’s really not that bad if you give a lower rating. If a show is bang average, you should give 5 or 6/10, average is not a bad show. Also, most “reviews” are only about: “Such a cute couple.” I know, I’m exagurating a bit, but this is why I don’t pay attention to rating and reviews anymore. The critical thinking is nonexistent in fandoms, not just Asian drama fandoms, btw. Maybe it’s just the professional critic in me who loves writing 2 pages about everything.
I can’t use my biased fandom brain anymore.
Haha, oh man, I feel this so hard. You’re spot on—Viki’s ratings are basically a participation trophy for every K-drama ever. It’s like everyone’s contractually obligated to drop a 9.5 just for showing up with decent subs and a hot lead. Remember that one show that was basically a plot-less rom-com on wheels? Yeah, 9.2. Meanwhile, I’m over here on MyDramaList side-eyeing a solid 7.5 like it’s the holy grail of objectivity. And don’t get me started on the pre-air reviews—folks hyping it up before episode 1 drops? Pure chaos
It’s wild because, as a streaming spot, Viki thrives on that positivity bubble. High scores = more clicks = more binge sessions. But yeah, it makes discovery a crapshoot. I stopped trusting their numbers ages ago and just cross-check with MDL or even Douban for Cdramas (those are way more savage and honest). At least there, an 8 feels earned, not inflated by fan armies.
What do you use instead for weeding out the duds? Or do you just YOLO into anything with a cute poster? 
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Just intuition. But it is not true that nobody gives low ratings. Who cares, though? We all have our own taste so other people’s opinions don’t tell us that much.
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I read reviews to help me decide what to watch and I use ratings to help narrow things further. Plus, I love writing reviews for everything I watch. I definitely use numbers lower than 9 to rate shows/movies all the time. There are a lot of bad shows to watch to get to the good ones.
I only wish I could interact with other reviewers! I would love to discuss their review and their thoughts about the show! That would be fun. But I understand why that’s not possible because there are probably WAY more fanatical people out there who would not be polite or conversational than there are people like me… They already attack each other just using the thumbs up/down feature that’s available now.
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I’d love to do that too, but critical thinking in Kdrama fandom is de-ad basically. Most people don’t like to hear different opinions, and they think if a show or movie have a rating lower than 8/10 is underrated. I usually write reviews on MDL, but that site is madness now too. So many crazy people there.
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Different opinions are fascinating. I want to pick their brain about why they think/feel that way. It’s the cinephile/book club nerd in me. Occasionally someone will start a discussion page on here about a show or genre of shows (but not a ton of recent ones related to my interests). Too bad MDL isn’t an alternative. I’ve also thought about checking if Reddit has some show discussion pages to join in on.
Not sure about Reddit, because their Kpop side is very toxic, so I don’t use that site often. Some of my friends said they don’t do much moderating either so it’s crazy out there.
MDL is a bit better tbh, because there are a couple of nice people who write reviews and can talk about shows and movies openly. It’s mainly the comment section that is crazy.
Got it. Thanks for the warning! I’ll check out MDL instead.
exactly that .
hello …I am the same way too when reading or writing an honest review about a show I watched. However I hate when people come on to the ratings with absolute no sense as to why they rated it so high because of either a ML or FL .Also what I do not like is the reviews that spreads a lot of hate and cruelty with word to the actors and actresses on these dramas. This is a platform for entertainment and for watching our favorite books, Comics being openly played out for us to visually enjoy. While we get to share our opinions on our likes and dislikes , was the story created good or bad? what would have been better. The actors and actresses are only being directed by someone on the other side of the camera how to act and some directors seriously are incompetent in directing and filming which can result in terrible reviews and comments. A hit or a miss.
I love reviews , it helps me not to waste precious time watching terribly played dramas .But I do not like when reviews attack the actors and actresses with total hate.
I used to like reviews, but not anymore. They lean towards either blind adoration of a favorite actor/actress or hate and irrational complaints. A recently aired drama immediately garnered a handful of reviews complaining about the lead actress being “too ugly”, with some troll waiting to thumb down any positive review. That’s just toxic. I don’t need internet trolls accompanying my dramas. If nothing else, get rid of the thumb up/down option; all of that is pointless. Viki does nothing about inappropriate/off-topic reviews anyway, apparently finding it totally acceptable to rate over whether something is available (or previously how quickly it was subbed).
That is not true. If 3 people flag a review, it disappears.
I stand corrected then. I’ve only seen reviews hidden, not completely removed.
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@midnightqueen When leaving feedback, I think any part of the show is fair game to criticize/compliment. But I do agree that the feedback should be for the show, not a person. There is a difference between referring to the acting/directing in a show and specifically calling out a particular person by name. I think I have actually read way more reviews of people gushing over the shiny people on screen like they are besties than people hating on the actors. My personal preference when consuming art, in whatever medium, is to know nothing about the artists who made it. That information usually detracts from my enjoyment of the art they made. So, while I might recognize an actor from another show, I wouldn’t even know what their name is…
@alessandrina I agree. I get past that by skipping all the perfects 10’s and lowest 1’s. Often 10’s are the “blind adoration” and 1’s are off-topic complaints. I also do not read reviews for shows that are still on air. How does one write a review for a show before they’ve even watched it? Not helpful or accurate at all.
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@stalkingbeans I didn’t mind, if people watched a couple episodes and wanted to share initial impressions, provided they were actually about the drama/story. I’d even do that and update as the series progressed or once it ended.
However, reviews before a show airs? Yeah, completely unhelpful. I don’t get why Viki allows reviews before the first episode is available.
Some people watch shows before they come to Viki, so not every such review is from a person who didn’t see the whole show yet.