I do not mind rating stories. I only wish that this could be done in a more user friendly way. I tend to take the story offline and go through it at a more leasurely rate. If I find that story extremely interesting then I will go out of my way to return to the story and then to rate it. If I find the story a very great turnoff then I would still return to rate it. If the story caught my attention but did not appear to be very good or very bad then I would not return to rate the story. I would suggest that there be some way to email the rating back into the forum so that it would go to the author. I think that I would be more willing to give a rating and an explanation with that. I certainly hate to give a not so good rating without being able to support my position. There are many stories that are well written and well assembled that would rate a comment that I woulld want to make as a completely opinionated comment and not a judgement on the author.