Forum:Episode rating system

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Hi. Has anyone considered an episode rating system for episode pages? Some episodes already have a note about the show's "critical reception" when it was aired. I find myself perusing episodes often and am very curious about which ones other people consider to be worth checking out. I would like a 5-star system or maybe a 1-10 rating system that users could vote on. It would also be useful if something like a "selected in top 25 episodes of that series" note for episodes which were incredibly popular.

I would suggest: 1 star: terrible (ep. should not have been made 2 star: poor (sub-par for the series) 3 star: good (ought to be the average) 4 star: great (definitely enjoyable) 5 star: excellent (series classic)

-- Psydev 01:38, June 11, 2010 (UTC)psydev

A rating system based on our opinions is not a road that we should go down- we are an encyclopedia, based on facts. Certainly it is valid to post information about ratings of episodes or other documented information about the reception of episodes, but rating them ourselves is not encyclopedic.--31dot 01:47, June 11, 2010 (UTC)

If you're interested in reviews of Star Trek episodes, there's plenty of sites out there. e.g. Jammer's Reviews, EAS, DITL. The latter two allow users to submit reviews/rate episodes.– Cleanse ^{( talk | contribs )} 01:53, June 11, 2010 (UTC)

There's something good and something bad for every episode and movie that I've seen. Sometimes, there's more bad than good, (i.e. TOS Spock's Brain), but I still find those failings somewhat enjoyable. However, this is an encyclopedia, not a blog.-- ScottyJefferiesChekov 16:30, September 9, 2010

But couldn't we add info about how some sources rate episodes? I know direct quotes aren't really allowed, but how about star systems (that is, star rating systems; pun intended!)? I think even Star Trek Magazine had its own star rating system (at least, when it started out as Star Trek Monthly). I would think this would be encyclopedic. --Defiant 02:28, September 10, 2010 (UTC)

What do you mean by "direct quotes aren't really allowed"?– Cleanse ^{( talk | contribs )} 03:03, September 10, 2010 (UTC)

Sorry; I should have clarified. I meant (in the words of Memory Alpha:Canon policy), "Please note that text from these works should not be repeated verbatim in articles." --Defiant 03:15, September 10, 2010 (UTC)

Ah right. The gist of that is to not plagiarize or violate copyright by using whole chunks of material. Short, attributed, "direct quotes" on the other hand are perfectly legit and often necessary to back up statements.

Back on topic (I didn't intend to sidetrack this) - in response to your question, this kind of thing is already allowed and is the primary purpose of the "Reception" sections - to note how the episode was rated by secondary sources (including both people who made it and others). It doesn't really matter whether that rating takes the form of a direct quote from Rick Berman saying he was "very pleased" or a reader poll from StarTrek.com or a star rating from Star Trek Magazine, so long as its cited properly etc. We just shouldn't rate the episodes ourselves.– Cleanse ^{( talk | contribs )} 04:01, September 10, 2010 (UTC)

Agreed. And I already understood the quotation policy, but thanks for reminding me! :) I knew short, direct quotes are allowed, which was why I chose to quote the MA canon policy page; I was having a hard time putting into words their justification. --Defiant 04:18, September 10, 2010 (UTC)

Not everyone is going to agree on what the rating of a particular episode should be. If you want to set up a poll and then post it in say the background section maybe. But otherwise, if you want to take the time to set up and conduct a survey, it might be kind of fun. --ScottyJefferiesChekov, September 10, 2010