Iv'e been playing for quite some time now and I must admit that most of the posts on the forum are critical or controversial.
So for a change, I'd like to say thank you. Thank you to the mods who do a great job, to the players and first of all to the uploaders. Without you there wouldn't be any WTM. It would be an empty shell.
Thank you too to all the players who rate shots, but a very special thank you to the « positive » raters. That is to say to those who understand that WTM is a game. There is nothing to gain : no money, no power, no fame. Of course a bad shot can get bad rates sometimes, but what is strange is when nearly all shots are systematically downvoted by some players, even awsome uploads or shots in a contest (which is even more pointless). I must admit I don't get it. Playing is about pleasure, about fun. And fun is just like freedom : enjoy yours just as long as you don't spoil the others'.
What would be the difference is the best shots were rated 9 and the « worst » 6,8 ?The rate span would be the same and I think the uploaders would be happier and maybe there would be more uploaders too. These days, even SOTD are often given 7,2. The logic fails me. Of course everybody can rate as they want, blah, blah, blah , but what is the point of giving a shot a fav, shouting it's a great shot and giving it a 6 ? Where is the logic? What is worth 9 or 10 then ? I really wonder. (Would you go the « best » restaurant in town if it was rated 3,6 on Trip Advisor ? If it is the best then it deserves a better rating !)
Once again thank you to all the players who keep posting, come hell or highwater, who keep rating positively (which doesn't mean giving everyone a 10) and who keep congratulating others. You keep the game alive, nice and worth playing. Have a nice day everyone !
Hello ! Totally agree, 99% of the time, my worst votes are 6. My standard is 7, and when i like it, i put 8, when i really find it good and interesting 9 +/- fav, and i reserve 10 for times to times or for my shots... And when i really don't know or i'm not inspired i don't vote.
But I think everyone who post deserve a 7, because like you said, without posters, no game.
But in the other hand I also understand people who say that there is a range between 0 to 10, so you have to use it. That's why i find difficult to complain. Everybody is free to vote as they want. I accept others don't vote like me :)
Yes a big thank you to all the players! Posting, rating, solving (or at least trying to! :D)
I try not to read into the ratings too much, even when a shot doesn't go through, that's part of the game and at least a few people maybe had that little dopamine bump for solving it before it was lost to the void. :)
I am surprised by the severity of the assessment of particularly difficult shots, However, I wanted to thank the moderators, all players, old timers and new ones. This website exists only thanks to us and, despite many breaks, I love coming back here and participating in this great fun for several years now.
I've been too exasperated by the low and wrongful average rating lately.
I used to think, but I may be wrong of course, that the mid-low raters are the "ghost" players who only solve and rate shots, with these criterias : I don't solve it => 6- I don't know the movie => 6- I don't like the movie => 6- Thus, mainly outside of any objective regard about the shot itself.
That's to say, difficult shots from bad, unknown and unappreciated movies are likely to get the lowest rating :D
For my part, I've almost stopped rating, except for very good and outstanding shots, which I give 8+, and sometimes for dupes or shots too close to other ones, which I usually give a 4.
Thank you all for joining the conversation. Glad to know I am not the only paranoiac in the game. A few remarks to add fuel and confirm what you say: shots from "easy" movies definitely get better ratings on the whole, as well as color shots, which is utterly unfair and pointless. I know the movie 7+, I don't know it -6. A possible explanation is that more and more players (and not only on WTM) don't want to play, they want to win. So if they don't they get frusrrated and rate "revengely". On the other hand some players systematically rate 10 if they firstsolve, which is strange to me. What if the shot is a total failure, ugly, pointless? Again, why not? "funny" thing is, since I started this discussion my three last shots were possibly given the lowest rates for a vey long time. Did I hurt a few players, hit the bull's eye? Have a nice day everyone. Be cool and fair and above all ENJOY! Take PLEASURE! Discover new movies.
@aigle1 I agree with using the whole range from 1 to 10. This is not a problem. the problem comes when some players ( and believe me you get to know them) SYSTEMATICALLY downvote. Nothing pleases them? The other problem, to me, is when you systematically downvote but you NEVER post any shot. A bit too easy if you ask me. I don't cook but I criticize all the meals when invited. What if we were all a bit happier, if only to set an example?
Since this thank-you note has shifted into a discussion about ratings, I thought I’d share my thoughts.
What The Movie seems to suffer from an identity crisis, which complicates the ongoing discussion about ratings far more than it should. As the moderators have repeatedly emphasized, WTM is, at its core, a movie quiz. The uploading of shots is meant to support the quiz, not to serve as a competitive element. It’s supposed to be about recognizing and solving shots, plain and simple.
However, the reality is that uploading shots comes with too many incentives to ignore its competitive nature. Beyond the collectible shiny memorabilia, there’s also the website’s leaderboard for top uploaders, placed right alongside the list of top solvers. Then there’s the Snapshot of the Day (SotD) feature. Despite the moderators’ intentions, for many uploaders, these elements have become goals in and of themselves. It’s no longer just about helping a community of movie enthusiasts or keeping the quiz alive with new shots to solve; it’s about earning recognition for finding shots that are visually striking or cleverly obscure.
If these rewards were removed, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a significant drop in uploads. It’s hard to reconcile the moderators’ message—that uploading isn’t a game—with the existence of mechanisms that clearly gamify it. The formulas for SotD, Snapshot of the Month (SotM), and Snapshot of the Year (SotY) are deliberately kept secret to prevent users from gaming the system. To me, this underscores the fact that these features, implemented by WTM itself, have made uploading inherently competitive. Instead of just contributing to the quiz, people are striving for recognition and status.
If WTM truly doesn’t want uploading to be seen as a game, then the solution is simple: stop making it one. Eliminate the rewards and see what happens. Only then can the focus return to what the platform is ostensibly about—celebrating a shared love of movies through the challenge of recognizing and solving shots.
@yippiekayay Thanks for joining and giving you opinion. First, as you remind us WTM is a quizz, a game and I don't think you need many incentives to make a game competitive. It is by essence. Whether you play « hide and seek » or Monopoly » you try to win and if you have ever experienced playing with someone who doesn't care about winning, it's just a bore ! I still think what keeps uploaders uploading is mainly fun and pleasure and I have always insisted on these two things, never on competition even if some kind of competition is involved. It takes time and attention to choose a good interesting shot. Thus, uploaders have to take into account the players appreciation. Why would you upload if only a few of your shots made it to FF? (how would you get to FF without rates?)
Besides, what you say about the uploaders (It’s no longer just about helping a community of movie enthusiasts or keeping the quiz alive with new shots to solve; it’s about earning recognition ) goes for the players. Do they care or even think about the uploaders and their « work » or about their own « position ?
I totally disagree with « earning recognition » and I think this reproach is unfair. What recognition do you get for uploading titles, title shots, character shots, genres, extracts, trailers ? None ! Uploaders do it because they care for the game. And they keep uploading in spite of bad ratings. Many thanks to them again.
Why aren't there more uploaders if it allows so much recognition ? Because it's time consuming with not much to win, except the personal pleasure to find the « good » shot.
I'll make another parallel with food (probably because I'm French!). When you cook, there's nothing to win and sometimes you don't feel like it but you do. You expect nothing but if someone dares a little « It's quite good ! », well it makes your day! That's all. It's not winning, it's not gratitude, it's just the little satisfaction of not having done all this for nothing. And if no one ever says anything you easily get weary.
@yippiekayay Hi! While reading your contribution again something strikes me which I didn't see at first and totally disagree with (in a friendly way!): you oppose on the one hand, many uploaders now only interested in recognition (the "selfish individualists" if i caricature) and on the other hand the community enthusiasts (the "good happy" chaps!). This too seems unfair to me, all the more as these "enthusiasts" should show really more enthusiasm!
What applies to me doesn’t necessarily apply to everyone else, and I like to think I chose my words carefully to acknowledge that I could be wrong. These are just my thoughts, of course.
Perhaps every uploader is indeed motivated purely by the desire to contribute. However, many of the things you mentioned—like uploading character shots and alternative titles—are rewarded with WTM bucks, which influence your rank in the WTM set hierarchy. I can only speculate about motivations, but to claim there’s no reward is inaccurate. The WTM bucks and memorabilia exist explicitly to celebrate and incentivize certain behaviors.
As for why there aren’t more uploaders despite the potential for recognition, I can’t say. But if the sole motivation were the pleasure of finding a "good" shot and contributing to the quiz, there would be no need for a Snapshot of the Day (SotD). Moreover, there wouldn’t be heated discussions about SotD if these were the only things people cared about. I’ve seen users complain about ratings even when their shots go directly to the quiz, as though that alone isn’t enough. A shot with a 7 that goes into the quiz doesn’t stop you from contributing to the platform, but it might prevent you from earning SotD—that’s pure recognition at play.
I’ll be the first to admit that for me, recognition has always been a major motivator for uploading. Competing for SotD and collecting memorabilia that acknowledges my contributions has been a driving force. I’ve even watched some terrible movies just to find a good shot, and I’m not ashamed—this has been incredibly fun for me. If you’re wired differently, I fully respect that. However, if SotD disappeared and the memorabilia shelf vanished tomorrow, I believe it would signal the end of WTM. I can’t prove this, but I think it’s a hard point to argue against.
Regarding your cooking analogy, I appreciate your passion for food. Though I understand your perspective, to make the analogy fit WTM’s context, you’d need to include certain dynamics. Imagine you’re cooking for a group that rates your dish before it’s accepted (or rejected) to move to the next group for consumption. Now imagine there are others competing to have their dish selected, and every day a "best dish" is chosen. If your dish gets highlighted to the entire group and you receive trophies for achieving this repeatedly, the analogy becomes more reflective of WTM’s setup.
In fact, your analogy reinforces my point. By removing the reward system, all that’s left is intrinsic motivation to contribute. That’s a noble idea, but I'm not convinced this is reflective of how WTM currently operates.
In response to your last comment: I don’t see people striving for SotD or other rewards as selfish individuals. During my uploading days, I was one of them, and I still see myself as a "good, happy chap", as you say. I also contributed in other ways, like making friends, complimenting others on their shots and acknowledging their efforts in finding hidden gems. On top of that, I supported the platform financially.
I don’t divide people into two opposing camps because I think the reality is far more nuanced. There’s no judgment from me at all—I genuinely believe everyone should be free to have their own motivations, and I’m not particularly interested in policing them.
What I wanted to do was explain why I believe WTM is currently experiencing an identity crisis. There seems to be a disconnect between how the moderators and the users perceive the game and its purpose, and I wanted to analyze that gap.
And no worries, Lezard—you don’t need to tread carefully with your words. I know you’re coming from a good place, and I trust you understand that I am, too. After all, we’ve both been part of this community for a long time!