Briar Rose
Who does the ratings on the review page here on Aeclectic? Is it the person listed that wrote a review? Does that mean the number of stars is one sided? If so, why bother to have any stars?
Tarot Decks and their ratings
Laura Borealis
The owner of the site, Solandia, does the star ratings.
SunChariot
I have always checked here at AT before buying a deck. If it has less than 4 stars I never buy it. That being said, I suppose ratings are subjective. What is a good deck for one person may not be for another. And I think we all know decks here that others say they can't read with that work great for us. Or decks that we can't read at all with that work well for others.
I did notice here that one of my favourite decks (which is now OOP) The A King's Journey Tarot did not get anywhere near as many stars as I thought it deserved. So in that sense, this thread did make me wonder, since I do base a lot of my buying on that star system....
Babs
missy
I do not go only by the star rating system here. I put great stock into Solandia's opinion, but as with anything else, my likes will not always match up with someone else's likes.
So I find that while I check the star rating, it is only a jumping off point for me. I don't buy decks based on it alone.
So I find that while I check the star rating, it is only a jumping off point for me. I don't buy decks based on it alone.
Carla
The star rating is not important to me. I have found that some 4 and 5 star decks I have loathed. And some 3 or even 2 star decks I've loved. So, I just look at the images and take reviews with a grain of salt. I make choices based on my personal response to the images.
missy
Yes, this is what most often sways me to purchase a deck. Although hearing about other people's experiences with the deck can also influence me (if I like the images).
For example, I just learned more about the production quality of an oracle I have been interested in, and hearing that it can be read intuitively, along with viewing the images, makes it more of a purchase priority. That and I learned the cards are borderless.
So I start with connecting with the imagery, and then other factors can come into play.
Richard
The ratings are just one person's opinions. One of my four top decks is 2½ stars (recently upgraded from a dismal 2 stars), while a certain silly deck which I absolutely loathe is 4½ stars. This merely means that the criteria for the ratings are not compatible with my preferences. People apparently enjoy the ratings, so there they are, for what they are worth. I have no problem with them, and on occasion they can be helpful.
Zephyros
Sometimes I agree with the ratings... sometimes I don't. Solandia sees thousands of decks, so I respect her opinion as a very informed one, but up to a point. Do people really need to be told it is an opinion, and not the result of some complicated algorithm spitting out a deck's intrinsic worth?
If I saw it on the Internet, it must be true!
If I saw it on the Internet, it must be true!
