Suggesting an Improvement to the Rating System · 7:58am Feb 4th, 2015
Hey Everyone,
So based on some things I've been seeing around the site, I feel like our current rating system (Everyone, Teen, and Mature) is kind of flawed. "Mature" is very vague, especially when it comes to clopfics. Since I don't want to be surrounded by them on the main page, I keep the mature filter on, but I feel like I could be missing out on some good mature-rated stories that are rated so because of mature themes OTHER than sex.
This being said, I think it would be wise to add another rating to the system—something like 'XXX' maybe?—that would be meant specifically for clopfics. That way, we could have another filter that would only filter those stories out and still leave some of us available to see some of those mature-rated stories.
I wrote a PM very similar to what I've just mentioned to Obs (I figured if I wrote to Knighty, it'd get lost in the fray). I'm hoping he'll take my suggestion to him into consideration and write a site blog asking for site members' feedback on the idea.
Aside from what Obs thinks, what do YOU think? Think adding a higher-than-mature rating is a good idea? If you do, maybe you guys could also write to Obs (and possibly Knighty, too). If they see that more than one person is in favor of this idea, maybe they'll be more likely to actually write that site post. I've already gotten a couple of agreements, but more would be helpful.
I know that listening to the members in regards to site improvements is a rarity (
) here on FimFiction, but I feel like this is a pretty reasonable request. It would require a little more work on Knighty's end when it comes to the coding, but I think in the long run, this would be a good idea. If you think so too, but don't feel like writing one of those PMs, maybe you guys could link your followers to this blog post and see if other members of the community will write to the mods and/or admins. Strength in numbers and all that.
Spread the word and let our voices be heard! 
I think it is a good idea, but I am not sure how practical it is. And I don't mean practical in the 'it would never work' sense, but in the sense of a site that has already been running for several years.
We already have a number of fics that mark themselves incorrectly, get past the moderators on the first chapter, then start posting clop in the chapters after.
There seems to be a very loose definition amongst the fan base on what constitutes clop. Add to that, how do you differentiate between a story that might have a tasteful sex scene (if we are going with other media analogies, let's use Mass Effect) versus something that is out and out pornography (like any of the many H games out there)?
Adding in another rating, such as "Adult" is going to be hard when it is a self-policing system. I've had to report fics that have been woefully inadequately rated in the past, and it has taken days for said fics to be correctly rated.
If we use the example of games, you have several boards that rate the games. The ESRB isn't going to rate a game PG-13 if they have only the first ten minutes of the game. How can they know if the publisher or designer isn't going to put a hard-core gangbang scene in later? Same with movies. They get rated and approved as complete products. Ongoing shows may fluctuate in their ratings (for example, Adventure Time on Australian TV can fluctuate from Everyone to Parental Guidance, depending on the content), but there is still some form of policing, as the TV stations get to check to ensure it meets the rating before publishing.
Fimfic isn't like that. It's a one shot at approval, and unless people complain later, the stories are not looked at by the moderators again.
An addition to the impracticality, there is the backlog of fics that are rated mature that may need re-rating, but the authors are long gone. Who would then be responsible for re-rating said fics.
Like I said, it's a good idea, in theory, and would be great for a site just starting out… but on a site that at this moment has 92,676 already approved stories, and is approving on average 475 stories a week… I think that might be adding way too much work to an already overtaxed (and unpaid) staff as it is.