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Are the ratings on MDL useful to you?

Baklajan

Personally I use them to decide what to watch. Especially if something is very low rated I avoid it. But there area few patterns I’ve noticed that make me wonder.

  • kdramas are always higher rated than other dramas.
  • shows that are on Netflix get higher ratings than those that aren’t 
  • new shows get higher ratings than older shows
  • movies almost all have a rating between 7 and 8. This makes them basically worthless when look for something to watch.

What does everyone think?

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mengosteen

You should never trust ratings for jdramas and jmovies - you should always check them out for yourself, even if they are rated in low 7s (or even below). 

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mjf314

I don't pay much attention to MDL ratings.  The average MDL user's taste is very different from my own.

  • Like you say, K-dramas are usually rated the highest on MDL, but personally I think J-dramas and C-dramas are better than K-dramas.
  • Anything made in the last couple of years tends to be very overrated on MDL.  9 of the top 20 dramas were made in 2020 or 2021.

For dramas, I think Douban ratings are much more reliable.  I compiled a list of the top rated J-dramas and C-dramas on Douban, in case anyone is interested.

Top-rated J-dramas: https://www.douban.com/doulist/130966616/

Top-rated C-dramas: https://www.douban.com/doulist/130885613/

For movies, I check the IMDb rating and the Rotten Tomatoes score.  I also look at lists of the best movies, voted by critics.

For example, Korean Screen recently published a list of the best Korean movies, voted by 158 critics: https://www.koreanscreen.com/100-greatest-korean-films-100-51

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Baklajan

Thanks for the links. I will definitely check those out.

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samenai

no.

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DmXas

Not always.

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Totoro

Yes!!  

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nastou19

Yes. I trust the ratings on MDL, more than on other sites actually. But I adjust them in my mind. I did roughly the same observations as you.

If it's a korean drama, I deduce 1 point.
If it's a thai drama, I add 1 while thinking I might still fastforward  some screaming and side characters scenes.
If it's an old drama, I consider it will be quite good as long as it's above 7.
Also, I avoid sad endings unless it's an ongoing drama but this usually downgrade the ratings by 1 or 2 points.
The ongoing dramas ratings reflect the quality of current episodes, it only gives a hint.

I don't trust completed or dropped ratings. The ones who completed it mainly liked it, the ones who dropped it mainly didn't like it so it's biased. Still, I find those numbers interesting.
Verified/Stars ratings: we don't know what are the criterias to be a star member so it's difficult to trust them. But it's true this is often close to my own ratings, so I do check them.

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Fandyllic

I generally trust them with the similar idea that K-dramas and C-dramas tend to be overrated. Also a general rule is that sequels can be overrated as usually only fans rate sequels.

You also need to look out for shows rated by like less than 10 people or so and especially if it is only 1 or 2. Those aren’t reliable. I also am wary of ones with reviews that give all aspects a 10… that means there is probably definite rating inflation.

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GentleRain

I don't care about ratings at all. 

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android

Lol, no. I think most popular shows are rated way too high here.

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burhaa aadmi VIP

I gnore the ratings, but do read reviews, especially the lower scoring ones. That's why I'd love it if reviews could be sorted by score. People who take the time to explain what they didn't like provide information that can be really helpful in deciding whether a particular Drama will appeal or not

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Klio

Yes. If it's rated above 8 there's a good possibility that I'll like it (given that I like the description/actors etc), if it's below 8 there's a good possibility that it's bad. I've watched some below 8 dramas but I didn't like most of them. 

It's true that the ratings here are too high (especially compared to other sites like iMDB) but I honestly don't mind. I curate my own ratings based on the general standard here. If I like something I won't rate it below 8 even though I might score it lower on some other sites. 

Ratings are just one of the many factors I check before deciding to watch something tho.

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Popcxqueen VIP

Definitely not, because I watch a lot of J-dramas and those are rated way too low! K-drama ratings tend to be inflated and the best J-dramas can barely get above an 8. 

Also the reasons for the ratings are all over the map and I find it almost impossible to understand how things are rated. I do read reviews often, (but not when someone writes a book as a review.)

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Baklajan

Looks like most people say no but there are some yeses as well. I still do because I don’t read the synopsises or reviews beforehand. For movies though I now use letterboxd instead.

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