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Ive had a quick look through the FOW gallery this evening and one thing lept out at me:

The scores are very, very low. There is some solid stuff there and few examples of really good stuff but its scored far too low.

Is this because alot of people here dont understand what they are looking at and are judging things to a 28mm standard?

Do they understand how small a 15mm figure is?

Or is it because its not GW realated their not interested and give it a low score?

It's possible. There's generally a couple points off anything that isn't 40k here, even WHFB.

I've noticed it too, and I find it extremely frustrating.

Now, I'm not trying to talk myself up and I hope this doesn't come off as conceited, but in the interest of comparison, I'll use myself and Col Hammer as examples.

I've posted quite a bit of my completed Flames of War stuff, and while admittedly some of my stuff is not that great (and some of the photos aren't exactly flattering), I do think I have some decent tabletop or even a little bit above tabletop quality stuff. Having said that, it's hard for me to break a score of 5 and some of the stuff that I think is my better work gets rated even lower (like 3 or 4). I'm not saying I think I deserve 10s (or 7s, 8s, or 9s for that matter...), but I do find it frustrating that I have fully painted and based stuff that is getting scores of 3 or 4, while there is 28mm stuff that isn't even fully painted or based that scores higher than that!

Looking through the gallery, it becomes really evident that the scores are messed up when Col Hammer's SS Panzergrenadiers, which are very nicely painted with camouflage, Litzen, and immaculate bases are mostly rated UNDER 4 and his single highest score is currently just above a 6! His stuff is easily an 8 in my book, and I think it would be hard to justify anything less than 7 with most of his stuff. What I'm saying is, his stuff is way better than mine, and most of it is rated even lower!

I really think it's a combination of the factors that you suggested, Aldramelech. As this is a board dominated by people who paint 28mm minis, I'm willing to bet that a lot of the voters really have no idea how small a 15mm figure is or the kinds of techniques used to paint them. I do think the 15mm stuff is being judged at a 28mm standard, which really isn't realistic or fair...it doesn't even make sense. I also think there is probably not as much appreciation for 15mm and non-GW stuff in general, so that could tend towards lower scores. Those are just theories though...there are not enough comments on the FOW gallery to really know.

The low scores really would not bother me at all if there was more feedback. The problem is, I see the low scores of others and myself, and I wonder what the paintjobs would have to look like to get a 7, 8, or 9 average. I wonder what I could do to improve my score and wonder if it's even feasible at 15mm. I mean really, if Col Hammer's Panzergrenadiers get scores of 3 and 4, I want to see what people think is a 10! It would probably be so awesome I'd crap my pants.

It would be nice if we could raise some awareness on this issue and at least get a bit more feedback.


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Oh, and one other thing. If you want to improve the quality and accuracy of the FOW section, and if you think the current scores aren't very accurate, the best thing you can do is vote! I would encourage everyone to vote in general, but if FOW is your interest, then vote on as much Flames of War stuff as you can so it gets more exposure!

Agreed. I would advocate historical stuff being put in a seperate gallery that people choose to browse rather then being lumped in and voted on by people who clearly have no understanding of what they are looking at. There seems to be a more general problem here where lots of people are looking (judging from the Views) and not voting at all. Also very few comments, if your going to rate something under a 5, at least offer some advice. It must be very off putting for new painters.

The problem with separating it from the rest of the gallery is that it would get viewed and voted on even less than it is now. You can still search for Flames of War stuff if you want to, and there's a Flames of War gallery link on the Dakka gallery main page. The better (and admittedly more difficult) solution would probably be to just post more 15mm stuff and try to get more exposure of the minis and the painting style so people in general are a bit more aware when they're voting on it.

This hinges on us and the other posters who paint 15mm stuff painting more and posting more photos, of course.

Working on it! lol

Coolminiornot have the exact same problem - people simply dont understand the models are a different scale and rate lower. Larger models suffer the opposite - people think they are 28mm and rate higher.

The best way to increase the score/understanding is to put something which shows scale in with the photo (like a 0.01 coin, or unpainted space marine model).

Also, expanding awareness of the actual size and range would go a long way too.

I think part of the problem is also that what some people would consider a higher ranked 15mm unit other people would consider just far too busy.

That said, getting more people to rate them would probably make the numbers a bit more meaningful.

That could be duncana, but even taking assuming people are scoring lower because they think some of the nicer 15mm units are too busy, I don't think that warrants some of the scores of 3 and 4 out of 10 that are in the gallery currently.

I agree that more ratings in general are probably what's needed more than anything. Let's all get out there and vote!

Hordini wrote:That could be duncana, but even taking assuming people are scoring lower because they think some of the nicer 15mm units are too busy, I don't think that warrants some of the scores of 3 and 4 out of 10 that are in the gallery currently.

I agree that more ratings in general are probably what's needed more than anything. Let's all get out there and vote!

True the perceived busyness is more likely to move an 8 to a 6 rather than to a 3 or 4. It would also be good, I think, to add a 3rd rating for the quality of the photography. I see quite a few pictures that may (or may not) be of good paintjobs but they are blurry, out of focus or have a huge flash flare.