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Porn Users Forum » The first batch of review 2.0's launched at TBP!
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08-18-09  09:07am - 5567 days Original Post - #1
Rick (0)
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The first batch of review 2.0's launched at TBP!

A new era starts today at TheBestPorn.com!

Took long enough, but they're here:
https://www.thebestporn.com/home.html

We will be mixing old format reviews in with about a week. After that, we'll be launching about 6 new review 2.0's per day. These are full very detailed reviews.

-No more wimpy express reviews, no more attached follow-ups.

-Top sites (85 and above) will be re-reviewed at least once per year.

-New reviews will be done by a new editor, with a completely fresh review.

-When you're browsing the site, the 2.0 reviews are colored in blue.

Look forward to everyone's feedback. It'll obviously take some time for the new reviews to make the big impact, but the process is in motion!! The Best Porn - Ultimate Consumer Guide to Porn
Porn Users - Porn Review by the People
Ranks.com, Inc., Chief/Founder

08-18-09  10:14am - 5567 days #2
TeenModels (0)
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Good stuff Rick. I like the new format and it's very detailed with lots of written information regarding the review.

08-18-09  10:18am - 5567 days #3
GCode (0)
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Wow, these reviews will have me looking at more than the score nowadays. These reviews are extremely detailed in opinions but also display awesome technical stats as well. The 2.0 reviews are going to have other official review sites, well how do I put it? shitting their pants! :)

Well worth the wait and in terms of page set up everything is very easy to read and looks great in my opinion. Whoever was involved with the new set-up, I give you all a huge pat on the back for sure! Great job. Sexted From My iPad

08-18-09  12:13pm - 5567 days #4
Wittyguy (0)
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x Edited on Apr 20, 2023, 11:43am

08-18-09  12:39pm - 5567 days #5
Rick (0)
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Thanks for the great feedback so far!

To answer Wittyguy about image specs, I do agree that max dimensions is something that should be included somewhere. This is planned for my next update of the site facts, which is why it's not included in the review specifically (unless the editor mentions it).

However, there are some related items that will help guide image lovers:

New Grade: Pic Quality
Under the new grades, you'll find this item. This is an A-F grade only judging the quality/size of the images.

Site Details: Avg. File Size (HQ)
This will cover jpgs and zips (plus vid files). This gives the average file size of the high quality image content. It's a decent indicator of the overall quality.

With that said, you probably already noticed those sections. I do agree that we need more image specs still and we will have that at some point soon (no date promises! lol).

Overall, I'm glad the new reviews are being well received so far! Keep the comments coming. The Best Porn - Ultimate Consumer Guide to Porn
Porn Users - Porn Review by the People
Ranks.com, Inc., Chief/Founder

08-18-09  12:49pm - 5567 days #6
Drooler (0)
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The more things change, the more they stay the same, I say.

Maggie's review of MySexyKittens is good because it tells you that the pic sizes go up to 2000px. But Duke's review of SpecialExamination just tells you that they are "large, high resolution" pics, which obviously lacks specifics and IS subjective because what's large to one person may or may not be to another.

Hi-res in the TBP definition is a total width/height of 1800 pixels. So 900x900 would qualify?

LOL. I wanted something new, so I left England for New England.

08-18-09  01:45pm - 5567 days #7
GCode (0)
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Originally Posted by Drooler:


Hi-res in the TBP definition is a total width/height of 1800 pixels. So 900x900 would qualify?

LOL.


If they did not use the term combined width/length of 1800 pixels I would have thought they meant at least 1800 pixels in either the height or width. Meaning, a photo can be landscape or potrait but one of the dimension had to be at least 1800 to be considered high res. I.E.: 1800xwhatever or whateverx1800. But, since the word combined was used I think they probably do mean what you think it as Drooler. But, the facts are from late 2006 and I suppose then, something like 900x900 was alright (kinda).

In this case, I think it is only fair to ask if we are correct in our assumption of what the definition for Hi-res for TBP is and if the TBP reviewers are using these same guidelines to determine what qualifies as Hi-res today as they were then. Sexted From My iPad

08-18-09  01:59pm - 5567 days #8
Wittyguy (0)
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x Edited on Apr 20, 2023, 11:43am

08-18-09  02:06pm - 5567 days #9
Wittyguy (0)
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x Edited on Apr 20, 2023, 11:43am

08-18-09  03:26pm - 5567 days #10
badandy400 (0)
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I just checked out a few of them and there certainly is some great information listed. TBP was always useful but now it is so much more. I like the log in and download manager information, those are important to me.

Great work guys! "For example, badandy400 has taken it upon himself to become the one man Library of Congress for porn with a collection that surely will be in Guinness Book of World Records some day." ~Toadsith~

PU Interview

08-18-09  03:28pm - 5567 days #11
Rick (0)
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Agreed, I'll mention this to the reviewers. Definitely simple to at least mention it somewhere in the reviews. In fact, I'm going to add a dedicated Image section to the new "Site Details" of the review so it's forced into the review.

Been a busy day, been meaning to add a site announcement on PU and TBP. This past week has been non-stop! Tons of training, plus unlimited supply of small bugs (most of which don't exist on the user side thankfully).

Appreciate the feedback you guys. The Best Porn - Ultimate Consumer Guide to Porn
Porn Users - Porn Review by the People
Ranks.com, Inc., Chief/Founder

08-18-09  03:45pm - 5567 days #12
james4096 (0)
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Nice work Rick.
Big improvement. I was skeptical when you mentioned changes, but the new reviews are more helpful.

08-18-09  06:59pm - 5567 days #13
jd1961 (0)
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Looks great!

08-18-09  07:19pm - 5567 days #15
messmer (0)
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Great job, Rick and gang. Nice and modern and crisp, laid out very well with tons of information. I like the grades on the side. The general impression is that 2.0 is very pleasing to the eye (as well as informative).

08-18-09  08:43pm - 5566 days #16
badandy400 (0)
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I really like it so far because it seems like it is a whole bunch of our review styles all rolled up into one. There seems like there is something for everyone and digging is not needed to find that information. The stuff I always look for is nicely kept together on the right side of the screen for quick reference. Average video size is a nice touch, although I think I know someone who liked to mention those in his reviews... :) A lot of great touches. While I am sure a lot of this update is held up by internet duck tape at this point, when this process is completed I believe TBP will have truly stepped on the balls of competing review sites.

Since you guys are taking suggestions from us I can not wait to see how everything looks when we are done picking at it. We all want to see different things and I believe you guys read our thread on what should be included in a review. It looks as if you captured most of what we want. Hopefully soon you will have everything worked out and all the bugs swatted away so you can sit back, take a deep breath, and watch some porn simply for enjoyment. "For example, badandy400 has taken it upon himself to become the one man Library of Congress for porn with a collection that surely will be in Guinness Book of World Records some day." ~Toadsith~

PU Interview

08-19-09  12:44am - 5566 days #17
exotics4me (0)
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I really like the new ones. I've mentioned my OCDC/organized/uniform/clean likes, and the new reviews, site facts, are very uniform and clean looking. Maybe this would be a place to mention this. When the new reviews come out on sites that have been around while, does the TBP staff use the "beta" versions of the sites or the old versions? Like with Bang Brothers and Reality Kings, both have new versions of their sites up and you all, I can post a picture of what I've downloaded each day. I've topped their download limits each day for each of the last 2 weeks without one 24 hour suspension. Not that I'm trying to get a day suspension, but I'm more or less trying to test their DL limits. My last day on Reality Kings was yesterday, I downloaded 22.9 GB and 81 big movie files, plus all screen zips and photo zips for those 81 scenes, no suspension. Their limit say 10 GB per day and some of our members have said they reached the limit at 15 big files in a day. Bang Brothers TBP page has a 500 MB limit listed on each site in the network. I've went as high as 8 GB per site, 3 sites per day for nearly 25 GB total in a day without a warning. I think that could be very useful information as well. My first time I jacked off, I thought I'd invented it. I looked down at my sloppy handful of junk and thought, This is going to make me rich. - Chuck Palahniuk

08-19-09  03:22am - 5566 days #18
Drooler (0)
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Originally Posted by Wittyguy:


For me the average file size doesn't say anything if it includes both pics and vids. Vids are going to be huge and dwarf all the pic content when lumped together. Even if you break them down by category it can sometimes be deceiving depending on the pics were edited (I've seen 1200x800 pics come in at 500kb because the site shot in a large digital format but didn't compress the pic density when shrinking the photo). As another example, Duke's review of TeraPatrick says file sizes vary from 50 to 500 mb +. No help there. While the picture grade does give some idea (an A is better than a C) it's no great help because pic sizes can vary all over the board once you've surpassed TBP's threshold for hi-res pics of 1800+ total pixels.

The impression I have from your comments is that you'll be adding a new or different box to put pic sizes in it at some point in the future. Until that time, I'd just love it if the reviewers would at least mention pic sizes in their written pros and cons. Takes little time and little space to do so and it helps us minority types (pic lovers) out a bit.


I'm not taking issue with what you said; I'm glad you spoke up, too. But I will say generally that I don't bloody care if we who love pics are a "minority," as thousands of sites do have pics and many feature them as well. Pics have better overall image quality than videos anyway. So 'nuff said.

It doesn't take much effort to get the available sizes of pics. Just open one, right click and choose "properties," and Bob's your freakin' uncle. And do it for the various available sizes. Then post the information where it is easily found in the review, just like the video info is.

I really can't believe, after being a member of this site for 2.5+ years, that I still find myself having to explain such simple and obvious things. Good grief. I wanted something new, so I left England for New England.

08-19-09  07:12am - 5566 days #19
Khan (0)
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REF: Post #17

exotics4me,

I checked with one of the reviewers and here's what he said ...

"If they'll let us, we always try to review the newer/beta version of a site. However, there are times that the site owners ask us to hold off until they can fix bugs, etc. If that's the case, and a review has to be done right away, we'll go back and look at the original version.

As far as the BW limits, we generally list whatever we can find in the terms and conditions, or what the site owners tell us is the case. Of course, times change, and they may update their limits without actually updating the T&C page :)
"

Hope that helps. Former PornUsers Senior Administrator
Now at: MyPorn.com

"To get your ideas across use small words, big ideas, and short sentences."-John Henry Patterson

08-19-09  12:27pm - 5566 days #20
Wittyguy (0)
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x Edited on Apr 20, 2023, 11:43am

08-19-09  01:47pm - 5566 days #21
Rick (0)
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Hey Wittyguy,

All reviews assigned as of yesterday will include Pic Dimension info. You'll start seeing this info within about 5 days in the reviews.

Also, I agree on what u said about those pic quality grades. They are way too high for those sites. I had a talk with Duke and Maggie about their grades. They're still fairly new and I gave them full control over them, but I will guide them more so they can get a clearer understanding.

Good comments. I'm do think constructive critisism is good, so keep em coming guys. Thanks. The Best Porn - Ultimate Consumer Guide to Porn
Porn Users - Porn Review by the People
Ranks.com, Inc., Chief/Founder

08-19-09  02:19pm - 5566 days #22
atrapat (0)
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I feel the TBP pages are too narrow: 850px wide is a bit too little nowadays. The multi-column layout of the new review 2.0 section would benefit from wider pages: easier to catch all the pros without the need to keep scrolling up and down.

Another thing that already happened before: when a site gives access to other sites from the same company, the list opens in a new window and all menus disappear. You have to close the window to get back to the review instead of the back button.

This is probably just me but, when linking to the TBP review page from PU (link at the top right of any site page), maybe it should scroll you directly to the review and not the site facts. There's already a different link for the site facts.

08-19-09  02:37pm - 5566 days #23
Rick (0)
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Originally Posted by atrapat:


I feel the TBP pages are too narrow: 850px wide is a bit too little nowadays. The multi-column layout of the new review 2.0 section would benefit from wider pages: easier to catch all the pros without the need to keep scrolling up and down.


I agree for more advanced users this is true, but I feel it would affect most averages users in a negative way still. In the future I might work on this design to make it more compatible with dynamic widths (like done at PU) however. Good suggestion either way.

Originally Posted by atrapat:


Another thing that already happened before: when a site gives access to other sites from the same company, the list opens in a new window and all menus disappear. You have to close the window to get back to the review instead of the back button.


Yeah this is another personal preference, but if I were going to redesign the site today, I would do exactly what u suggest. I'll keep this in mind for future updates.

Originally Posted by atrapat:


This is probably just me but, when linking to the TBP review page from PU (link at the top right of any site page), maybe it should scroll you directly to the review and not the site facts. There's already a different link for the site facts.


This is a great and easy suggestion. I think most will agree with this. I'll add that to my list and have that changed soon.

Thanks atrapat! The Best Porn - Ultimate Consumer Guide to Porn
Porn Users - Porn Review by the People
Ranks.com, Inc., Chief/Founder

08-19-09  03:25pm - 5566 days #24
Wittyguy (0)
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x Edited on Apr 20, 2023, 11:43am

08-19-09  03:48pm - 5566 days #25
Rick (0)
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The grade results are very amateurish so far. I don't blame the editors, I blame myself though. The instructions I gave them was that a C was a pretty bad score, and a D or F is REALLY bad. Similar to our previous subscores, where a 2.5 of 5 was a bad score.

I've amended this today, and basically we'll be grading on a curve from now on (or at least closest we can) where C is an average score. This will only apply for reviews completely today and beyond... so the next few days of reviews will not be up to date.

BTW, I'm also going to be releasing the grade criteria by tomorrow (the link right now goes to the old sub-score criteria). It will explain in some detail how we judge the grades. The Best Porn - Ultimate Consumer Guide to Porn
Porn Users - Porn Review by the People
Ranks.com, Inc., Chief/Founder

08-20-09  12:15am - 5565 days #26
asmith12 (0)
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Amount of information is impressing, and with (phew) enough attention to the content (as probably everybody knows, I'm kinda crazy for comments about content, opposed to technicalities :-)).

Unfortunately, currently (for the v2.0 reviews) it became completely unclear how the site rating is calculated. If it's just some function of Grades (D/L Speed, Downloads, Streaming, Interface, Vid Count, Vid Quality), it would be a REAL pity (it would be like game review site throwing away "playability", leaving only very formal criteria like resolution, supported OS etc.). Motto: "All niches except for boring one!"

08-20-09  12:35am - 5565 days #27
badandy400 (0)
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There is still one thing that they have not listed yet, the size of the site. Which means my little trademark has not been stolen! I guess when they reviews go to a site they still are not downloading the whole damn thing.

I still think numbers are important though. After all, those guys can not and will not review every single site out there. There will be sites listed with no information at all. Also they are speaking of updating the top sites at least once a year which still leaves a lot of time in there for things to change. Updates from us will still be useful. We can not possibly expect TBP to keep all the site facts perfectly up to date except perhaps for the very top sites because they are probably downloading them for their own collections.

Which leads me to a question. Does the staff here read our reviews on PU when considering joining a site for personal business? "For example, badandy400 has taken it upon himself to become the one man Library of Congress for porn with a collection that surely will be in Guinness Book of World Records some day." ~Toadsith~

PU Interview

08-20-09  12:38am - 5565 days #28
badandy400 (0)
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The A-F scale I would think would work a lot like our 50-100 scale here. If you think a site gets a 96 than give it an A. If you think a site gets a 69 give it a D+. Or simply stick with the familiar 50-100 scale.

Can we give an F- to Incredible Pass for being evil? "For example, badandy400 has taken it upon himself to become the one man Library of Congress for porn with a collection that surely will be in Guinness Book of World Records some day." ~Toadsith~

PU Interview

08-20-09  09:23am - 5565 days #29
Rick (0)
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Originally Posted by asmith12:


Unfortunately, currently (for the v2.0 reviews) it became completely unclear how the site rating is calculated. If it's just some function of Grades (D/L Speed, Downloads, Streaming, Interface, Vid Count, Vid Quality), it would be a REAL pity (it would be like game review site throwing away "playability", leaving only very formal criteria like resolution, supported OS etc.).


The final score is pretty much fully up to the editor's discretion (much like the reviews here at PU). The editor takes everything into consideration, but has full control over the final score. This is completely by design.

The problem with the sub-scores was that it somewhat crippled the editor's ability to improvise. As we know, it's the overall package that counts. Our old sub-scores were like training wheels. A good guide to prevent a fall, but prevents the freedom to fully ride as intended. The editors are big boys and girls now. :) The Best Porn - Ultimate Consumer Guide to Porn
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08-20-09  09:39am - 5565 days #30
Rick (0)
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Originally Posted by badandy400:


There is still one thing that they have not listed yet, the size of the site. Which means my little trademark has not been stolen! I guess when they reviews go to a site they still are not downloading the whole damn thing.

I still think numbers are important though. After all, those guys can not and will not review every single site out there. There will be sites listed with no information at all. Also they are speaking of updating the top sites at least once a year which still leaves a lot of time in there for things to change. Updates from us will still be useful. We can not possibly expect TBP to keep all the site facts perfectly up to date except perhaps for the very top sites because they are probably downloading them for their own collections.

Which leads me to a question. Does the staff here read our reviews on PU when considering joining a site for personal business?


Gotcha, so you talking about like the total amount of GB of video for the entire site?

That's probably where it goes beyond our capability and where the user reviews really play a big role. The editors at TBP don't get to experience the site the same way as you guys (this goes for any review site like TBP):

-They will only have time to download/view a sample of the content, versus download all the content.

-They don't technically purchase (or cancel) a membership, so they don't have the capability to judge the actual billing process.

-They don't experience the site over a full month period (or longer) which sometimes leads to other subtle goods and bads about each site.

We'll be the first to admit that it's a weakness of TBP reviews and most professional review sites in any industry. With 1000's of sites (or products), you only have a limited time to judge. Only the real consumers can tell the full story and it's why we built PornUsers. To me, the user reviews a lot of times outshine our own because of this. With that said, I think our new reviews are now the best in the biz (minus the content previews) and a huge improvement over the former. The Best Porn - Ultimate Consumer Guide to Porn
Porn Users - Porn Review by the People
Ranks.com, Inc., Chief/Founder

08-20-09  09:57am - 5565 days #31
asmith12 (0)
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Originally Posted by Rick:


The final score is pretty much fully up to the editor's discretion (much like the reviews here at PU). The editor takes everything into consideration, but has full control over the final score. This is completely by design.

The problem with the sub-scores was that it somewhat crippled the editor's ability to improvise. As we know, it's the overall package that counts. Our old sub-scores were like training wheels. A good guide to prevent a fall, but prevents the freedom to fully ride as intended. The editors are big boys and girls now. :)

I see, thanks for explanation. Now I'd like to make two suggestions (essentially quite minor):
a) to explain this policy (replacing link from "Grade criteria", which currently leads to "Scoring criteria", which are completely obsolete by now if I understand what you've said correctly)
b) to add a few more "grades" so "grades" won't be only about technicalities, but also reflect how good the content itself is. Would it be too much to ask for 2 new grades (which BTW were present in original review criteria): "Entertain" and "Originality" (which should include "Exclusivity")? Site with the very best "D/L Speed, Downloads, Streaming, ..., Vid Quality" won't be worth a dime (at least for me) if it's utterly boring; also for at least some of us "Originality" is a key factor in decision too. Also (though it's not about content), "Updates" could also deserve their own grade. Motto: "All niches except for boring one!"

08-20-09  10:16am - 5565 days #32
Khan (0)
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Originally Posted by asmith12:


a) to explain this policy (replacing link from "Grade criteria", which currently leads to "Scoring criteria", which are completely obsolete by now if I understand what you've said correctly)



If I'm understanding your remark correctly, Rick's touched on this in post #25 (above)

"BTW, I'm also going to be releasing the grade criteria by tomorrow (the link right now goes to the old sub-score criteria). It will explain in some detail how we judge the grades. "

... perhaps you missed it. Former PornUsers Senior Administrator
Now at: MyPorn.com

"To get your ideas across use small words, big ideas, and short sentences."-John Henry Patterson

08-20-09  10:27am - 5565 days #33
asmith12 (0)
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Originally Posted by Khan:


If I'm understanding your remark correctly, Rick's touched on this in post #25 (above)

"BTW, I'm also going to be releasing the grade criteria by tomorrow (the link right now goes to the old sub-score criteria). It will explain in some detail how we judge the grades. "

... perhaps you missed it.

Yes, I've missed it, but also it would be great not only to explain "how we judge the grades", but also to have an explanation that "final score is pretty much fully up to the editor's discretion"; currently it's completely unclear (and also is VERY different from other review sites, which
makes it even less clear).

Also about "a few more content-related grades" - do you think it's possible? Motto: "All niches except for boring one!"

08-20-09  10:35am - 5565 days #34
Rick (0)
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Originally Posted by asmith12:


I see, thanks for explanation. Now I'd like to make two suggestions (essentially quite minor):
a) to explain this policy (replacing link from "Grade criteria", which currently leads to "Scoring criteria", which are completely obsolete by now if I understand what you've said correctly)
b) to add a few more "grades" so "grades" won't be only about technicalities, but also reflect how good the content itself is. Would it be too much to ask for 2 new grades (which BTW were present in original review criteria): "Entertain" and "Originality" (which should include "Exclusivity")? Site with the very best "D/L Speed, Downloads, Streaming, ..., Vid Quality" won't be worth a dime (at least for me) if it's utterly boring; also for at least some of us "Originality" is a key factor in decision too. Also (though it's not about content), "Updates" could also deserve their own grade.


I'll have the grade criteria up today. In a previous post, I mentioned I was linking to the previous scoring criteria for now. I should have had that up from the beginning, but it slipped through.

"Entertain" is so tough to put a grade on, it comes down to personal preference. It also usually requires hours and hours of watching video, which the editors just don't have time for. Fact is a lot of these sites that the reviewers are judging aren't even to their personal taste.

"Originality" means so many things. Does it mean innovative site features? Which I reserve for "Interface". Does it mean original models? Does it mean exclusive content? I guess the latter could apply, but again really tough to judge. Even when the site screams they have exclusive content, a lot of times later we learn that it's not. Exclusive is usually a yes or no answer also. So with all that in mind, we moved that to the "Site Details" section, under "Exclusive".

"Updates" also we just decided to keep with the site facts and site details sections. This is one that could be added to the grades still, but I tried to keep the grades limited to what we felt the most important functions/features were.

I'd be open to adding "Updates", would be interested to see what others thought on this. The Best Porn - Ultimate Consumer Guide to Porn
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Ranks.com, Inc., Chief/Founder

08-20-09  04:32pm - 5565 days #35
Rick (0)
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Just a heads up, the grades criteria page is uploaded (and linked):
https://www.thebestporn.com/criteria_grades.html The Best Porn - Ultimate Consumer Guide to Porn
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08-20-09  04:50pm - 5565 days #36
Wittyguy (0)
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x Edited on Apr 20, 2023, 11:44am

08-20-09  06:28pm - 5565 days #37
Rick (0)
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Originally Posted by Wittyguy:


Just glancing at the grade criteria it's pretty subjective as I expected. Like I noted before, if this is all the standards include (no hidden cheat sheet) then I think you're going to find lots of A and B level grades being handed out without a lot of rhyme or reason; ultimately diminishing the usefulness of the whole grade system. I think most people just take the total site score into consideration but if the individual grades are to be an added bonus then I guess they need some work.

Applying the rule of unintended consequences (Damn, I've been reading way too many political/econ blogs recently since I've been taking a porn downloading vacation), the effect of loose grade standards could also inflate the overall score of a site by the reviewer depending on how they assemble the final score. If the reviewer applies the principle that an "A" is in the 90 to 100 range, a B in the 80 to 90 range, etc., then if the reviewer tallies up the grades handed out as a means of determining the final site score you've suddenly got a pretty subjective foundation for reaching the all holy final number.

This observation has been debated quite a bit in the "What Should a PU Review Include" thread and several other threads from 2008: should one's general impressions guide the scoring system or should that score be more reflective of the technical aspects and other hard numbers of a site.

I'm not saying that your system is fundamentally flawed, just pointing out that that your grade criteria are pretty squishy as they currently exist. Like they say, somewhere, "Squishy in, squishy out" (please insert any bad porn commentary people feel is appropriate).


Final score will be "general impression" of the site versus technical aspects. Just to clarify once more, the grades have no direct impact on the final score. The reviewer can give a site a 75, even if the grades may average a B+ (or vice versa). It's up to them.

Grades will be "A+ = Best Possible, F = Worst Possible". C will be an average grade. This was redefined yesterday. I think this is the right decision.

Don't put too much judgment in the 2.0 reviews that have recently been released. Grades are too high, Site Details don't include the latest additions (like Pic Dimensions). I think you'll see our best efforts and newer guidelines applied to reviews released next week and beyond. The Best Porn - Ultimate Consumer Guide to Porn
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08-20-09  09:46pm - 5564 days #38
badandy400 (0)
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I think the point Rick is trying to make is that things will straighten out over a little bit of time. Right now they are trying to do things different from the way they have been doing them for a while now. It takes a little time to get everyone on the same page, and worse when something is new because it is continuing to change.

I agree with the final grade not being controlled by each little detail. A site that has really good navigation gets a 10/10 but what about a site with truly exceptional navigation. Some times a site does not have everything a great site should have but there is just something about it that makes it great that is hard to quantify. Other sites do good at pretty much everything but still manage to annoy me somehow. That final score is a little way to account for things that normally would not be accountable.

Besides, no one ever said we had to judge a site solely on the final grade. If we find we do not agree with scores than simply read the reviews themselves and make the decision that way. "For example, badandy400 has taken it upon himself to become the one man Library of Congress for porn with a collection that surely will be in Guinness Book of World Records some day." ~Toadsith~

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08-20-09  11:51pm - 5564 days #39
asmith12 (0)
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Originally Posted by Rick:


"Entertain" is so tough to put a grade on, it comes down to personal preference. It also usually requires hours and hours of watching video, which the editors just don't have time for. Fact is a lot of these sites that the reviewers are judging aren't even to their personal taste.

I see your point, but on the other hand:
I think it's a BAD THING (at least for me) if I come to the review page, see all the grades as "A+" and then see that the site is not exclusive and is utterly boring. It is even worse as this grade list as it's currently implemented, is the most eye-catching item in the whole review, so if this list appears to be misleading (in a sense that site with all "A+" isn't too good), it will significantly undermine the value of reviews and site in general. I know it's a challenging task to evaluate "Entertain" value, but on the other hand, in other areas review sites do sometimes manage to evaluate it; for example, old-days GameSpot had a category named "gameplay", which for me was FAR more important for making decision then any other category or overall rating; sure, it was subjective, but it
still was EXTREMELY useful.

I think it's a pity that otherwise EXTREMELY good idea has the appearance of going the way of the other review sites, towards easy-to-judge technicalities, and away from content issues. As it's just the appearance and reviews themselves DO mention content-related issues, it's not too bad for me, but I think it could be even better by adding a few content-related categories. Motto: "All niches except for boring one!"

08-20-09  11:58pm - 5564 days #40
asmith12 (0)
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Originally Posted by badandy400:


Besides, no one ever said we had to judge a site solely on the final grade. If we find we do not agree with scores than simply read the reviews themselves and make the decision that way.

I still think that scores and grades are VERY important, just because at least personally I don't have time to go through ALL the hundreds of various reviews looking for what I'm interested in (in other words, I prefer to spend time watching porn, not going through porn reviews one by one). Motto: "All niches except for boring one!"

08-21-09  12:36am - 5564 days #41
badandy400 (0)
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You would not need to go through them all, just the ones for the site you are interested in. If you are looking to join a specific site than it is not a big deal to read the review.

I do understand what you are saying though. I get my first impression of a site from the score. I do not think the scoring will be way off though. Giving them a little room for their opinions can be beneficial to us. After all, reviewing sites is what they do. I do not imagine they would tally up the pros and cons to find a site earns a B- and give it an A just because, or an A site receiving a D. It does leave a little room for the sites who do what they do and do it very well to get a little extra for it. A site normally B might get a B+ for exceptional navigation or tons of video options. It would not change things dramatically.

Another point to remember is that they are scoring the site anyway when they give it a 4/5 for picture quality and so on. It is a judgment call no matter what.

When I do reviews I do not have a set system I score by. I give it what I feel it earns overall. "For example, badandy400 has taken it upon himself to become the one man Library of Congress for porn with a collection that surely will be in Guinness Book of World Records some day." ~Toadsith~

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08-21-09  12:57am - 5564 days #42
asmith12 (0)
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Originally Posted by badandy400:


If you are looking to join a specific site than it is not a big deal to read the review.

Sure, but what if I'm looking just for SOME site (within a niche) to join? Reading a few dozens reviews in detail is a pain in the ...ahem... neck, it is so much easier to make a quick look at the site rating and then at the site grades. BTW, from you other comments I don't think we have any significant disagreement here :-).

Originally Posted by badandy400:


Giving them a little room for their opinions can be beneficial to us. After all, reviewing sites is what they do.

I don't have ANY objections over giving them some room for reviews :-). My only significant problem with current system that (as I think) current set of grades does NOT give reviewers enough room to express their feelings about CONTENT. Granted, it should make it into overall score, but if they would have grade like "Entertain", or "Content", it would be MUCH easier to filter out what I really need; I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who doesn't care that much about DL speeds, DL limits, encodings etc. (as long as they're within reason :-)), preferring original CONTENT and it's VARIETY over all the technicalities. While I know that some people are obsessed with technicalities (and I don't blame them - we just have our different "cups of tea"), I think it's kind of unfair to dedicate ALL the grades to technical issues, ignoring original CONTENT. Motto: "All niches except for boring one!"

08-21-09  01:10am - 5564 days #43
asmith12 (0)
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Originally Posted by Rick:


"Originality" means so many things. Does it mean innovative site features? Which I reserve for "Interface". Does it mean original models? Does it mean exclusive content? I guess the latter could apply, but again really tough to judge. Even when the site screams they have exclusive content, a lot of times later we learn that it's not. Exclusive is usually a yes or no answer also. So with all that in mind, we moved that to the "Site Details" section, under "Exclusive".

I think I can define "Content Originality"; I'd define it as "How different the site feels from the rest of the industry?" While obviously subjective, personally I'd not have much difficulty in grading sites according to this criteria (for example, sites whose complete content can be found for free on PornTube, would get an "F", and sites, which are not only 100% exclusive, but represent an original idea which can't be found ANYWHERE ELSE - such as UltimateSurrender or NakedNews - would get an "A" or "A+").

And another content-related grade I'd like to see (instead of "Entertain", which is indeed difficult to define), is "Content Variety", meaning "How different are scenes within the site?". Again, personally I would not have much difficulty grading sites according to it (for example, if the site has 2 black guys+1 latino girl doing oral, anal and then DP in the very same room, it probably would be a "C-" or "D", even if models are different every time, and site which has different settings, different M/F combinations, and different actions all the time, would be an "A+"). Sure, not everybody is looking for variety, but that alone shouldn't prevent from having such a grade (I don't look for D/L Speeds, but I don't mind having such a grade). Motto: "All niches except for boring one!"

08-21-09  09:36am - 5564 days #44
Rick (0)
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What do you guys think of a grade simply called "Content", which would cover the following:

-Exclusivity (as best we can tell)
-Originality (does it stand out from the rest)
-Entertaining (overall, how interesting it is)

"Entertaining" part of the grade would require the reviewer put themself (as best as they can) in the mind of a user who would normally enjoy that specific content.

Definitely not an easy grade to assign, but something I think the reviewers can give a good shot at. Anything else they should consider for this grade?

Just curious, where would you guys grade the following popular sites for this score?

1. Videobox
2. Naughty America
3. abbywinters
4. BangBus
5. Rachel Aziani

Thanks again for your feedback. The Best Porn - Ultimate Consumer Guide to Porn
Porn Users - Porn Review by the People
Ranks.com, Inc., Chief/Founder

08-21-09  12:11pm - 5564 days #45
Wittyguy (0)
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x Edited on Apr 20, 2023, 11:44am

08-21-09  12:29pm - 5564 days #46
Rick (0)
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Originally Posted by Wittyguy:


Just as a curious aside, do the four reviewers work full time for TBP reviewing sites or is this just something they do mostly on a part time (nights, weekends, coffee breaks) basis? I was just wondering since it give us an idea of how much time is actually spent reviewing sites.


To answer this question, they do work full time for TBP, but they spend about 3-5 hours per day on reviews (otherwise serious burnout) and have other small tasks they are responsible for to fill the rest of their work day. The same 4 individuals have been with us since the day we started writings reviews, all the way back to 2003. The Best Porn - Ultimate Consumer Guide to Porn
Porn Users - Porn Review by the People
Ranks.com, Inc., Chief/Founder

08-21-09  01:59pm - 5564 days #47
turboshaft (0)
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I think a Content rating is an idea that could be tested, say, for a few months, to see if it is any good. But Wittyguy is right: the originality and entertaining aspects are so objective that they are virtually impossible to judge, at least with a numerical rating or grade. If you spent long enough with a site, you could argue that it really is not that original, even if done quite well, as I have read with Met Art. And couldn't all sites be entertaining in some way or another? As long as a site fits within a loose definition of porn, then this could be difficult to rate.

Rating content might be best left up to PU and those members who review their favored tastes can maybe give a better view of these two areas, as they can compare them to other sites in the same categories.

Back to the exclusivity rating, this could be a problem because you have to take a lot of it on the good faith of webmasters and their watermarks (sounds like an interesting topic for an essay: 'Of Webmasters and Watermarks: Honesty in 21st Century Internet Pornography' :) ). Plus, wouldn't a whole slew of sites automatically get a O in this category, such as VideoBox mentioned above? Unless they offer a studio's videos that could not be found anywhere else, they are out of luck here.

To use a couple of sites mentioned in Rick's post above:

VideoBox:
-Exclusivity: F; there is none as far as I know.
-Originality: B or C; there are numerous other sites that do the same thing, just maybe not for the same value.
-Entertaining: A to C, I do not honestly know how to grade VB here. Some videos are awesome, others disgusting (okay, still awesome), and some just plain put me to sleep.

Abbywinters:
-Exclusivity: A; really, who else has their content?
-Originality: A or B, maybe even C; again, lots of girls-only sites, but how many are just amateur, girl-next-door Australians?
-Entertaining: B, as I think this site attracts fans who just want to watch down-to-earth girls, with no presence of any guys anywhere, and are not necessarily looking for tons of action, while the hardcore fans would probably give it a failing grade. "It's incredibly obvious, isn't it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hardcore Commie works." - Gen. Jack D. Rippper, Dr. Stranglove

08-22-09  02:00am - 5563 days #48
asmith12 (0)
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Originally Posted by Rick:


What do you guys think of a grade simply called "Content", which would cover the following:

-Exclusivity (as best we can tell)
-Originality (does it stand out from the rest)
-Entertaining (overall, how interesting it is)

Obviously, if this is the only thing we can get for subjective content grade, it would be SO MUCH better then nothing :-). On the plus side, as this is the only purely subjective grade, it might be said (though it's not necessary) that this grade includes everything which made it into the subjective score, but didn't make it into the other (objective) grades.

Originally Posted by Rick:


Just curious, where would you guys grade the following popular sites for this score?

1. Videobox
2. Naughty America
3. abbywinters
4. BangBus
5. Rachel Aziani

Thanks again for your feedback.

As I understand, you've asked for one "Content" rating, so here goes (IMHO):
Videobox: C+ (representing exactly average state of things across the adult DVD industry, which is IMHO just a tiny bit better then an average adult site out there; all other advantages of VideoBox are because of quantity and technicalities, so they don't belong into "Content" grade)
Naughty America: A- or B+ (not sure, never been a member)
Abby Winters: B
BangBus: A- or B+ (while they were the first, now there are too many sites exploiting the same idea, which IMHO reduces 'originality')
Rachel Aziani: B- (not sure, never been a member)

These are among the best sites out there, and on the other end of the spectrum there would be sites like:
Russian Teens Club: D- (bordering 'F')
Digamour: D- (bordering 'F')
Sex Vids On Pod: D+
etc. Motto: "All niches except for boring one!"

08-22-09  05:51pm - 5563 days #49
morgentau (0)
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I disagree with the score for Videobox being only a C+. Indeed, their average quality may be only C+ but this would only be a problem if there was no way to tell the good stuff frum the rubble. This can be a real problem for sites that don't implement a proper rating system but I don't think Videobox has issues in this area.
If Naughty America opened a new category "wonders of hibernation" that included only the most sleep inducing porn ever made, would you decrease their content rating? =)

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