This issue has been debated time and again on just about every board.
The "problem" with the system is that you just can't prescribe a "looks number" that will suffer the scrutiny of such a varying range of beholders. Tastes are different due to a variety of reasons; One man's 6 is another man's 10 and vice-versa.
This will never be perfect. There will always be outliers wherein one gent scores a lady a 10 and another gent says WTF?!?!
Frankly, I don't believe many of the ladies (at least those on this site) relish the idea of departing a date with the feeling "well, I don't think I represented myself well, but at least I got the dough." I give the collective group of ladies much, MUCH more credit than that.
In the end, it's still MUCH BETTER than running blind, with no feedback whatsoever. Referring to the review you posted, if TER didn't exist, would he have been more disappointed, or less disappointed, in the same situation.
Bottom line: at least he knew he was in safe hands.
I saw the following real TER review (I've edited for no names and identifying specifics) is the issue of Shilling/hype/inflated ratings in reviews a real issue? I've experienced this hobbyist issue myself on several occassions.
"This is my last review. I have sadly lost faith in all of my fellow TER members. The accuracy of reviews is garbage! I dont mind spending in the $ range for a very beautiful women but what most of the members of this site consider 8 - 10 are 5-7 in my book. IS it that hard to be honest and realistic? Some of you must be rating on a 1 -20 scale. Its very sad that we cant be honest and accurate in this fictional community. The set up process is pretty easy. She was very nice and accomodating. For non VIP she is very nice and likes her job doing this but the fact is that prior reviews are all hype. She looks like she is in her mid to late 30's with leathery skin and her face is nothing to gaze at. not the young smooth beauty her pics lead you to believe. This is a real review with out hype.
As mentioned above she very nice and into her job but she looks old and weathered and not the young hottie her pics appear to be. She definately is no young hot model. I could go spend $ on a bar tab at a cougar bar and do just as well for a lot cheaper. Save your money and go with someone else. Not worth $! Wake up fellow TER members. This girl is not an 8 - 10 on looks! especially for this price! Very sad that this community is so unreliable.
Details: I finally got to her door and was greeted by a mid 30's looking cougar type. Not what I was expecting. The performance was good and she wants to please but that doenst make up for the misleading photos of a young hot blonde. So once again, she is not the young hottie pictured but she is legit and aims to please. For the price I would go elsewhere."
Both have been hashed out before, but I certainly understand the recurring frustration.
Issue 1: Misleading Provider photos / ads. - Not much hobbyists can do about this but note it in the review, which bring us to issue #2:
Issue 2: Misleading Reviews by hobbyists.
2.1: Sometimes this is willful, either to spare the provider's feelings (misguided, IMHO) or something else.
2.2: Sometimes, if performance is very high, hobbyists can be "bewitched" into thinking the lady is more attractive than a sober man would think. Early in my hobby career, I've been guilty of that myself.
2.3: I no longer believe there is any way to objectively rate a provider's appearance on a 1-10 scale. So many times I have been shocked at who other, respected hobbyists think is beautiful. Opinions just vary. Wildly.
I don't think there is a real solution to this problem. But giving up is not the solution, either.
I think people inflate number to a degree. But I also think that my 10 is another man's 8. In fact, I remember someone downgrading a provider for the very reason I would upgrade a provider.
While I felt his pain, I thought the reviewer was overreacting a bit. If you read enough reviews you will find people with similiar taste. You read those reviews. For those you feel inflate scores, you downgrade their numbers and decide of you want to risk it. This whole thing is way too suggestive to think others will always agree with you or you with them. You know what they say about beauty. . .
67dc
One thing I've been utterly stunned by since I started with this thing is just how much men's tastes vary. There are some women I've seen advertise who I wouldn't want to be with even if THEY were paying ME, yet I check their reviews and see 8+'s on looks.
So yeah, it might take an extra hour or two, but it's worth it to check out the other reviews by the reviewers of a girl you're considering to get a feel for whether their tastes match yours. It's particularly good when you find someone who's seen (and liked) several girls you also like...then you can use their other reviews as a roadmap.
I think you also learn certain terms to watch for...e.g. if I see reviewers describing a girl as "curvy" or "a real woman", or make reference to other women being anorexic, I know the girl is probably not for me =)
It's also relative to who you've seen thus far. Sometimes a woman raises the bar and makes you wish you could go back and shift down the appearance score of everyone you'd seen before her.
This issue has been debated time and again on just about every board.
The "problem" with the system is that you just can't prescribe a "looks number" that will suffer the scrutiny of such a varying range of beholders. Tastes are different due to a variety of reasons; One man's 6 is another man's 10 and vice-versa.
This will never be perfect. There will always be outliers wherein one gent scores a lady a 10 and another gent says WTF?!?!
Frankly, I don't believe many of the ladies (at least those on this site) relish the idea of departing a date with the feeling "well, I don't think I represented myself well, but at least I got the dough." I give the collective group of ladies much, MUCH more credit than that.
In the end, it's still MUCH BETTER than running blind, with no feedback whatsoever. Referring to the review you posted, if TER didn't exist, would he have been more disappointed, or less disappointed, in the same situation.
Bottom line: at least he knew he was in safe hands.
They're a putz! Everyone has their threshold. There is probably some guy that thinks Tammy Fay was hot. I don't think people are shilling... I just think that there is a wide range of tastes.
When I read reviews and look at the numbers I look more for consistency (with decent numbers) than absolute numbers.
Now, I do have an issue with the way TER puts verbiage on the performance and appearance scales. Sometimes I think folks would rate slightly differently if it was just numbers.
Why not have a 1-10 scale for:
How close to photos
Body
Face
Overall presentation
etc...
And for performance...
BJ
overall
etc...
Heck, instead of a 1-10 scale you could have little pictures of boobs and asses and pick the closest match.
Oh how I could go on...
I love the idea to use little photos of body parts to select from. If only that could work.
I'm relatively new to all of this, but I've noticed the same issues. While I know that there are wildly varying tastes out there, I assumed when I started that the majority of hobbyists would prescribe to the media/marketing driven aesthetic (young, thin, high cheekbones, unblemished, etc.) that you see everywhere on TV, in movies and in advertising. From my experiences so far it seems the opposite is true. Providers who receive consistent 8's and 9's and even a smattering of 10's for appearance are often older, thicker and much more average looking than I had expected. Too me, average is 4-7. But to me, average must mean something completely different than it does to most reviewers.
So I now pretty much ignore appearance ratings and go by provider photos on their websites. We all know these are not always accurate either, but I have found them to usually be a much better indicator than the numbers I see on TER.
Since I can't see the review in question it's a little hard to be certain what the discrepancy might be. When I'm looking at reviews I try to find a frame of reference. Hopefully the reviewer has a number of reviews and you can compare them to other reviewer's numbers. Perhaps they've reviewed someone you've seen yourself. This should give you a little more insight. Of course YMMV always holds true but someone who has a bunch of 10's (one in a lifetime) obviously inflates his numbers.
There is no one standard on rating looks and everyone has different standards and some are tough graders and some are easy graders. You can evaluate a reviewer and looking at his past reviews and study how he rated someone that you have seen and then you can get a sense of that person's standards. The provider is sometimes inconsistent in performance depending on the client and a great performance for one hobbyist may not mean a great performance for you. Believe me, I have been disappointed a number of times by highly rated providers both in looks and performance but that's part of the business that I accept.