Lot Rating Guidelines

This page lists some guidelines for lot rating.

RULE #1 of rating in general: NEVER EVER rate anything high/low because you like/dislike the person who made it. This can and has lead to being BANNED from the rating system, and having all ratings by that person wiped. This also means that you aren't allowed to unfairly rate somebody elses stuff because they unfairly rated yours. Let the admin take care of it. Otherwise /you/ will get in trouble.

OK, now that that is covered. My first rule of lot rating is that I usually allow newbies a 1 or 2 month grace period before rating a lot, unless they request a rating. Also, if somebody asks you privately for a rating, don't call everybody else to come rate it too, if they wanted everybody to rate it they could either ask on <Public> or post a message on the board.

Another thing, I almost always try to leave a comment explaining my reasons for a rating.

Things I look for:

(Note: These aren't really in any order, and many of these are the same in 'help building guidelines' on the game.)

Number of rooms has an effect on rating, depending on how much work you put into em.
FANSI is almost always a plus, or just good text @descs.

One sentence @descs are usually not good, unless maybe they're detailed.(Although I shouldn't talk)
Numerous exit aliases are a plus. (Careful not to put the same alias on more than one exit in the same room.)

Conversly it can really be annoying when you have no aliases at all and you have to type the whole exit name.
Standard Out;Ou;O exit aliases on the exits leading towards the exit of the lot. You should ideally be able to repeated type 'out' and/or 'o' and wind up back on the street.
Fully decorated exits(@DESC, @SUCC, @OSUCC, @ODROP, and possibly @FAIL if it's @locked.) is another one of the main things I look for.

Personally I'll settle for an exit parent, but I usually won't give you any bonus points either. Most people prefer individually decorated exits, even though I know personally how tedious it can be.
Interactive Objects are plus.
I usually don't look for senses myself(except sometimes on objects), but some other people do.
Dead end rooms are a big negative.(Where the only way out is to @teleport or go 'home'.) Whether they don't have return exits, or if they're @locked.
Personally, I like to see lots with cardinal directions (North, south, east, west, up, down, etc) but they are by no means required.
Some +views are usually nice.
Spelling and Grammer are important, and don't you dare use LEET.
Personally, I HATE rooms with the DARK flag. (It renders my Explorer Assistant virtually useless). Use @CONFORMAT and @EXITFORMAT if you need to.
Personally, I think a nice room parent is a good touch, to keep it from looking so dull. Or just some color in the @Desc.
If you have a large area, and you can manage it, an overhead map is a great addition.
This doesn't effect my rating much, but when the @desc says there's a command or +view and there isn't, it's kind of annoying.
This is more of a building guideline than a rating one, but standard coloring in @descs for commands is 'g', text +views are 'm', picture +views are 'gh', animations(What few there are) are 'ch', I think that's all.

Rating a 1:

OK, I believe that there are only certain conditions where a lot merits a 1 star rating.

If the lot is totally undeveloped and the owner hasn't connected in at least a month.
Most people go by the rule that if you can't get in then it gets a 1. I usually modify that with the gone for a month rule above.
If the lot is just really bad, and the negative stuff severely outweighs the positive. For example, the first room might have a pretty nice @desc, but the two rooms off of it have no @descs, and are dead-ends.

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