I believe that no piece of work is perfect. Art is subjective, after all. Look hard enough, and you’ll find some sort of flaw. As such, I rate things based not on entertainment value or personal enjoyment, but instead on the severity of its flaws.
Here on Tyler DeWriter, I use a custom rating model, which depicts pillars in various states of disrepair. The image I use for each review will indicate my rating of the given work (left = best, right = worst), and the meaning of each numeral is as follows:
- (I) – Pristine Condition
- A stage I pillar represents a work so good, it’s about as close to perfect as you’re gonna get. It may still have defects, sure, but you won’t really notice these flaws unless you’re actively hunting for them.
- Equal to 5/5
- (II) – Wear and Tear
- A stage II pillar represents a work that’s good, but could be better. A few cracks here, a few holes to patch there, but it’s still structurally sound.
- Equal to 4/5
- (III) – In Need of Repair
- A stage III pillar represents a work with a structural flaw. Though it’s not necessarily bad, the flaws at this point are impossible to ignore.
- Equal to 3/5
- (IV) – Verge of Collapse
- A stage IV pillar represents a work with a fundamental flaw. It still has some redeeming qualities to prop it up, but it’s so unstable that removing a single one of them (say, a fan-favorite character dies or something) could make the whole thing collapse.
- Equal to 2/5
- (V) – Left in Ruins
- A stage V pillar represents a work that’s damaged beyond the point of repair. Sure, you can still learn from it, but the time and energy you’d need to fix it wouldn’t be worth it. Might as well just make a new work entirely.
- Equal to 1/5
Tyler DeWriter 