with love ❤️ source 20260921Z101500
~ fupl
~ previous version (release-20260921Z095345)
the rating scale
originally made for rating movies. films are all about storytelling.
trs rates anything with a story: movies, networks, tools, ideas. give each criterion a score of -1, 0, or +1 — at least 5 criteria — then normalize it. the insight: we suck at giving scores. even 5 stars is too granular. do it in parts.
the axes
the movie criteria that started it:
- science (weight 2) — skeptical science. published online, replicated multiple times, approved by the skeptical community. by far the biggest criterion.
- consistency — don't fall down on its own weight.
- ending — a badly executed ending ≠ an open one.
- plausible — bring the fiction into the real world, philosophically.
- tagline — a clear message across. stories exist for messages. ("punchline" fits better, but the acronym would fall apart.)
- international — a story anyone can be told.
- caring — the story should care. for people.
his examples
the scores behind the system, in his words:
- science +1: interstellar — "probably no better reference this century, except maybe the martian". -1: prometheus — a piece of crap here caps the whole rating at 12.
- consistency +1: back to the future — "ripple waves on timespace done as a masterpiece". -1: lake house — time travel without thinking about the physics.
- ending -1: inception — "it's just stopping to tell the story in the middle". +1: 12 monkeys, matrix.
- plausible +1: stranger than fiction — "we do shape our universe". -1: divergent — "nope. won't happen ever. ever."
- tagline +1: bedazzled — "just freaking be yourself and live the moment!"
- international +1: chaplin — "make it dialog free". -1: saw — very culture specific.
- caring +1: forrest gump, the little prince, little miss sunshine — "so touching". 0: brave — "can't really tell if it cares".
normalization
16 points = 2 x (2 + 6). each criterion contributes -1, 0, or +1; science counts double. the raw sum runs -8…+8; add 8 and you get 0…16. percentage = score / 16. for instance, 15 makes 93.75%.
the first version scored up to 24, out of bad math, now lost to forum history. this second version survived since 2016: 534 imdb titles rated under stars, 69 of them tens — trs halves that list, on purpose.
worked example: epic movie
0/16 = 0% — "a piece of crap, guaranteed", tagged [sceptic]. "they try too hard to land the jokes while doing way too much exposition of the jokes… unless you're really into trash movies with good production, save yourself from watching this piece of crap."
beyond movies
any story rates. the [fupl](/fupl) rating and the [flovur](/flovur) rating — telegram, irc, signal, matrix scored on the axes worth publishing — both build on trs.
reposted and adapted from the 2016 original (redirected here; preserved in git history).