I just won 3rd in the Christmas contest, and I'd love to leave reviews for the products. Is there any way that I can leave a review for a product that wasn't purchased, but rather won through R'osity? BTW, I love the new rating system!

If you received them as a gift, and they were downloaded through the Renderosity MarketPlace, then yes, you can leave a Product Review. If you go to your "Purchase History/Downloads" page you will see the "Product Review" links for these items. Thank you for taking the time to let us know how much you like the new rating system! Best regards, LillianH Marketing & Promotions

I like the idea for the new rating system but you must also remember that you are only going to see the extremes. People that are motivated to rate a product are going to do so because they either really like it or they really hate it so you will get either 5 stars or 0 stars as the most common rating for a product.

Certainly some will like something two or three stars worth of a product as opposed to absolutely no stars at all.

I hate to be the sourpuss on this, but I think it puts undue pressure on the marketers to get a high rating. At what cost? Asking clients or recipients of "gifts" to rate the product up? And should the product be less than ideal, the lower rating is simply dismissed by the seller, leaving no warning to the potential buyer. It has a bad taste and is not necessary. A voluntary review should suffice. And honest merchants will get a noose off their necks.

IMHO, those who receive a product as a "gift" should probably not be allowed to rate that particular product unless such reviews, and the respective ratings, are not figured in to the overall rating. As already suggested, that would allow sellers to artificially "up" their rating simply by giving gifts. Further, sellers should not be allowed to offer free products or services in return for a review unless those reviews and ratings are treated similarly, i.e., not counted. I think this is a good idea only if those who actually put their money down for the product get to rate the seller's product (the ratings that count), and as I don't have so much money to waste as a consumer that I worry all that much about putting "undue pressure" on sellers, I think it is about time to have something like this for those of us who actually spend our money here. I know most R'osity sellers don't make that much, but surely they are not doing it simply and only for the money, and why shouldn't R'osity sellers have to compete for my hard-earned cash on the same basis as the rest of the world?

I think the problem is the buyers don't do ratings. I don't sell so much but for my complete store I only got one rating. Why ? Even if a buyer dislikes the item I would like to know. In the past I got some nice comments but no ratings. I don't feel so easy with the idea of a "rating gift" but we have to motivate the buyers somehow. And I agree with gator141. You only see extrems. I never saw a product with one or two stars.

I think feedback is essential for us merchants, but they need to be motivated somehow. It's like registering software. I do that, to get the updates not just for fun. I don't think that the star system is of any use, like Holli and gator141 said.