Rater Guidelines.

What is a Rater?

A Rater is a trusted member of the community who scores pieces in the collection. We don't use public upvotes — they're too easy to bot and they reward popularity over quality. Instead, a small jury of Raters evaluates every piece, and those scores determine what gets promoted and what gets buried.

The system is deliberately small. Every Rater is a real person who has been vetted. Every vote is blind: Raters don't see each other's scores, and curators don't see who voted on what.

How Voting Works

Every work page has a locked Curator Rating box. Raters enter their secret key and submit a score from 0 to 100. That's it. There's no comment field, no "why" — just a number.

Scores are aggregated into an average. The average is the piece's rating. It updates continuously as new votes come in.

The voting is entirely blind:

• Raters cannot see other Raters' scores.
• Curators do not know who submitted which score.
• Creators never see individual votes — only the aggregate average.

Who Can Be a Rater?

There are two paths:

• Automatic eligibility: Anyone who has a piece hosted on the site is automatically eligible to be a Rater. If you've shipped a work here, you've earned a voice in the jury.
• Open application: People who don't have a piece on the site can apply to join strictly as a Rater. Applications are reviewed occasionally.

Being a Rater is a responsibility, not a perk. If you abuse it, you lose it.

The Scoring Scale

The scale is intentionally generous at the top. A 90 should be rare. A 50 means "this is fine." Below 50 means the piece doesn't meet the bar for the front page.

The 50% Threshold

If a piece's average score drops below 50%, it is automatically pulled from the main feeds and moved to the Asset Graveyard. It remains playable and downloadable — it just doesn't get promoted.

This is not a permanent death sentence. If a creator significantly updates a graveyarded piece, curators can re-submit it for a fresh round of voting.

Code of Conduct

Raters are expected to:

• Vote honestly. No strategic voting to boost friends or bury rivals.
• Play the piece. Don't vote on a file you haven't actually run.
• Keep keys secret. Sharing your rater key is grounds for immediate removal.
• Disclose conflicts. If you helped build a piece, abstain from voting on it.

Violations are handled by committee. There is no appeal process for key sharing.

Apply to Become a Rater

If you have a piece hosted on the site, you're already eligible — just ask in Discord. If you don't, you can apply through the same channel. Applications are reviewed by committee on a rolling basis.