There’s been a number of stories recently, but they’ve always been here since the beginning of this site and it’s predecessor, that are less about mind control and more about transformation. Mind control to me is about making someone do something they wouldn’t otherwise do, thoughts into actions. But if you completely alter another person into someone who would do an action as part of their new nature, that’s not really mind control, is it? Consequently, these sort of stories don’t really warrant a mark for Mind Control on the rating board, but would if there was a Transformation category included. In no way am I saying these stories don’t belong here, they do, but there needs to be a way to reward them better. My two cents.
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I understand your concern, but then we would have to dynamically replace “Mind Control” with “Tranformation” depending on the content of the story. That’s hardly feasible.
I’d just use “Mind Control” to rate the Transformation aspect if the story is focused on the TF aspect. Which is actually the reason why TF stories are allowed on GSS, since a transformation usually goes hand in hand with a change of personality, too, which is some kind of mind manipulation.
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While we’re on the topic of the “Mind Control” rating category, it always astounds me that (to judge from my story ratings at least) there’s very little reader consensus on what constitutes a good portrayal of Mind Control in a story. I would think that a “Mind Control” rating would be less subjective than, say, a “Hotness” rating, but that doesn’t seem to really be the case. It suggests to me that the gay Mind Control fetish is a very big tent attracting people who may actually have diametrically different erotic tastes.
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Personally, I’m still not even sure exactly what the ‘mind control’ rating is meant to represent. I think that ambiguity is why you see such inconsistencies.
When a story has scored highly in the ‘mind control’ category, the little tag thing says its “very hypnotic” or something. I’m like…what does that mean in this context…? How can a story be very hypnotic? Is it gonna hypnotize ME, the reader?! I don’t get it.
“Very mind controlly” doesn’t sound too good, does it?
You are free to suggest a better term. And the rating in itself is VERY important. And you of all people should appreciate it: Your “Slave Academy” didn’t get high ratings (from me) in Hot or Cumming - but it excelled in “Mind Control”. The chess scene is simply outstanding, and the perfect example what this rating stands for.
I cannot suggest a better term because I still do not understand what this category is meant to represent! 
My previous post was not a criticism, but a legitimate expression of my confusion.
What niche does the ‘mind control’ category fill that isn’t already covered by the other 4 ratings? What are the qualities needed in a story for it to warrant a high score in the ‘mind control’ rating? Like, I am honestly asking because I don’t understand.
This site is about the manipulation of the mind.
So the rating “Mind Control” is supposed to represent how well this manipulation is told.
You can say “he snapped with the finger and Joe, the hunk, suddenly behaved like a total sub”. That wouldn’t be such a great example of “Mind Control”, even though the rest of the story could warrant high ratings in all the other categories.
Your Slave Acadamy is the opposite. It’s almost perfectly written (writing 4.5/5), quite original (idea 4/5), the way people are manipulated is arousing me (hot 3.5/4), but I wouldn’t cum reading it unless I’ve been locked up for 20 days (cumming 2/5).
But it has some of the best mind control scenes ever: mind control 5/5
(These ratings are just examples… 
)
So the rating “Mind Control” is supposed to represent how well this manipulation is told.
To me, that would be the ‘writing’ category.
Okay, I think I’m starting to understand the confusion here. It sounds like you’re using the ‘writing’ category to only rate the grammar and spelling of the work, and using the ‘mind control’ category specifically for the descriptions/portrayal of the MC.
I’ve just been including all of that in the ‘writing’ rating
“Writing” is not grammar and spelling. It’s the elegance, the vocabulary you’re using, how fluent your writing is, how interesting it is to read. As a matter of fact, spelling and grammar are just technical things, important, as bad grammar would make the text hard to read and understand, but it’s not the main point of “Writing”.
All of this can be present in a story without any interesting mind control at all…
So you can easily have a rating of 5 in “writing” and 0 in “mind control”.
I always thought the meaning of each categoey was self evident buuuut I may just be a bit weird. To put it (relatively) succinctly, the categories function as follows (I think, correct me if I’m wrong please).
Hotness: Straight forward if the most flexible, this is how exciting the story is, how much it arouses you in and of itself.
Mind control: the degree to which the control is conveyed in an appealing and interesting manner.
Wanking: Not to be confused as a synonym for hotness, which denotes excitability, this defines how much it actively gets you off rather than just how exciting it is. The climax to hotness’ prelude.
Writing: the level of skill showcased in the telling. This is how good you are at telling a story versus writing a smut piece.
Idea: how novel the story is in its conceit. We all play along a similar driving point of control, but the method in which that control is asserted in each story varies. There are quite a few “I drugged you with a magic potion and now you’re my cockslave” stories, there are far fewer, say, “sentient clothing comes to life and takes over the world by converting men into dumb sluts” stories.
All of these factors are of course interrelated and affect one another, but by making these seperate categories we can more effectively denote the good elements from the ones that need improvement.
Though to be clear this shouldn’t be confused with a story being novel with being good, or a story following well worn tropes being bad. The retirement series by Edlam is a very classical story in terms of it being a traditional if enhanced “hypnotist makes guys unaware sluts” story but it’s told wonderfully.
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Can I take your text to be used in the “Help & Info” category and put a link to it on the rating panels?
I’m serious! Your description is perfect!
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Certainly! I’d be absolutely delighted if you did so!