Am I the only one who thinks MDL ratings are inaccurate?

I feel like recently, with more users on mdl, the ratings are not as accurate as they used to be and have a more bias outlook. I used to be able to clearly judge a show by it's rating but now a show ranking above 8.5 is no longer rare. Everything seems skewed. 

Is it not possible to hide ratings until after a show has aired. It makes no sense for a show to be 9/10 when episode 1 came out a few hours ago. 

 bilan:

ratings are not as accurate

The one which the audience likes will have high rating and the one which doesn't will have low rating. There are different reasons for audience liking.  Favorite actor, actress, director, producer/production, country , singer, music, story, theme, tag, genre Or there was some scandal at that time/in what mood you are watching/Are you watching when the drama is hot or when the drama cools down?, etc So no one can control the choice of audience that you have to like/rate any content on this particular  basis only .  Because every audience has different preferences

 bilan:

It makes no sense for a show to be 9/10 when episode 1 came out a few hours ago. 

Even I find it surprising that the drama hasn't even started and the rating has been given. 

But after the drama has started, I don't think that one should wait for the entire drama to end for ratings. They rate based on what they have seen till that time. You can analyze or rate even on a single scene or after an episode or even after the entire drama is over.  And it is not that you cannot change your rating, many people also change their rating later as the drama progresses.

the audience  they like whatever feels good to their heart.

I myself sometimes do not agree with other users regarding rating reviews but I ignore them understanding that everyone has a different thought process.

 ArniA:

Maybe MDL should introduce something like.... "senior rating" lol... rating by people having more than 100 dramas under their belt.

Then again, I do find MDL rating useful, but it's very skewed for new dramas sometimes, and for older dramas it is unappreciative. Actually as long as a drama doesn't get like sub 7.5 I don't exclude it. 

Older dramas like Empress Ki, it should have a 9.0 in rating. Then there are new dramas that is not very good but have popular male leads, it gets 9.0 in rating. I find this too to be skewed.

But I am aware of this bias and try to adjust.

 That's an idea, though having seen so many drama can also affect the rating in a bad way. While I don't grow tired of watching drama with similar stories, I have seen people rating poorly something considered good because "it has been done before". 

In the end there is no perfect solution but I had this conversation on many drama pages (here is an example if you care to read). In my experience many people rate inacurrately because they do not understand what the number actually means (as silly as it may sound). I can't remember how many times I have seen people saying things like "such a bad drama 7/10" or "Boring 7.5/10". I tried to explain how it will make the average higher if people who dislike it only rate on a scale starting from 6/10 and sometimes giving it a 7 even. Having an adjective next to the rating or an emoji even, would emphasize what each number means and help people rate according to what they trully think.

And we are not talking about "younger" people here, but adults who sometimes have seen many many drama and movies. On this site a 6 or 7/10 usually means it's terrible and worth a 3 to 5/10.  Then you have all the 7 and 8 that are jammed together. That's where most of the content is seating, which does not make any sense and will not represent what people think of the drama/movie in the end. Good luck figuring out if it's actually worth giving a try if people that hated it gave it a 7 and you have an agerage of 8+/10 haha.

 Klio:

The ratings here are inflated, that's true, but I personally have adjusted my own ratings to fit the MDL criteria. I don't even try to be objective (maybe a little) and rate things based on the level of my own enjoyment. 8 and everything above is good, 7 is average and 6 is something I forced myself to finish. My ratings on MDL are higher than my ratings on IMDb (usually by 1 point), but even on IMDb I struggle with 1-10 system (according to that 5 should be average, but I just feel horrible rating something that is watchable 5 or less). I think having just 5 stars rating system (without 1-10 scale) would be much better.

7 is good and should be considered as such by anyone. This is exactly what I was talking about in my previous comment, and  the fact that you are admitting that it is inflated while also being actively part of the reason why is confusing haha. The problem is that you are affecting the general rating of the show (and so are many other users, so don't take this personally). 5 is the average but if we go with your system then there is no drama or movie that is worth a 5 or below even if you dropped it or forced yourself to finish it. 

This means that you are increasing the general rating of something you hated or disliked and this will make the rating something between 6 and 10 instead of something between 1 and 10.  Since so many people do the same and every show has it's fanbase, you will have people rating it 10 as well. We are then losing any form of nuance, making the rating system inaccurate to the point it is useless. 

It feels like the community is rating with a 5 stars system in mind, so what is the point of having 10 different options to choose from if we don't use those. More than that, why bother rating something if you feel horrible doing it the way it deserves? It's like doing something you are not comfortable doing and the result is affecting everyone else.

Please reconsider your system  as it is part of the problem on this site. I cannot tell you what to rate something because it is subjective and should stay that way. But it is important that you give the proper rating you believe it deserves.

Edit: Looking at your profile I am even more confused as you display different ratings that seem to be more in phase with what should be the norm.

@Klio 

Then I wouldn't consider your behavior as problematic, though I would still encourage you to rate based on your own preferences instead of what the current rating is. It can be difficult to ignore for sure, and it does make sense to avoid extremes too. It's not like we can just blindly pretend the fandom and haters aren't going to influence things in any way. But in the end I personally care more about what other users trully feel and think. I want to know what your true rating is, not your rating adapted on trends. Not sure if I make any sense haha  

 Klio:

I did think about changing my own system of rating, but then that means the newly rated shows would be judged harsher than the shows I watched in the past, and something that is better would be rated lower so I just continue with this system.

That's right, it would probably be less coherent based on shows that you rated in the past. But I would argue that watching the same show at a different period of your life could also affect your own rating.  Movies and Drama I rated a certain way years ago I wouldn't rate the same way today. It can be unsettling because we tend to embellish our memories. 

I don't believe in 1s either but I always try to remind myself it  starts from there. I also agree there are way too many people going for 1s (2s even) and 10s and it's a bit ridiculous.

@AthenaTheStorierX  exactly 

I have also been saying this that people are different and their thinking process will also be different.

and no site is perfect

Ratings are personal. What I really enjoyed and would watch 7 times, you may have hated and dropped. 

Personally, I only look at ratings when they are really low, and I always read why. If there is no explanation, I risk to watch 1-2 episodes, or a few minutes of a movie.

I find summaries and reviews much more helpful, although summaries most times are inaccurate. I usually try to read as many summaries from different places as I can. If reviews are only about "the kiss" I don't take them seriously, but some reviews are enlightening.

As for ratings on the 1st episode, I trust them.  I decide 90% on the first or second episode.  If the 1st episode is a flop, I drop the entire thing.  I think I can judge if they need more time to adjust the writing and the cooperation and to get a grip of their equipment. It shows during the episode. If it is a matter of  "new job, new rules", I watch the 2nd episode. If the whole thing is slow, boring, tiring and badly-filmed, I drop it. You can't learn your job in 1 episode.

 bilan:

I feel like recently, with more users on mdl, the ratings are not as accurate as they used to be and have a more bias outlook. I used to be able to clearly judge a show by it's rating but now a show ranking above 8.5 is no longer rare. Everything seems skewed. 

Is it not possible to hide ratings until after a show has aired. It makes no sense for a show to be 9/10 when episode 1 came out a few hours ago. 

The ratings are not "inaccurate", they're subjective.

 "Inaccurate" means "wrong", and that implies that it is possible for ratings to be objectively accurate, or right.  It is not

"2+2 = 5" is inaccurate, a Drama that you personally did not score highly being given a high rating here is not inaccurate. It is simply a difference of opinion.

I disagree with most ratings here, and think they're hugely overvalued, but that's just my opinion. My opinion is worth no more (or less) than anyone else's.  Rather than attempt to use MDL's average ratings as a guide, it's more useful to find people who either consistently agree with your tastes OR consistently disagree. Both can be very helpful.