After giving more thought, I decided to at least start auditing the beta process so we can make the decision based on them. Maybe the problem is a lot worse than I'm thinking. If the issue is confirmed, we'll take some action.

@kazk

Will do.

@dwyafon

I'm all for raising standards, clarifying/refining/streamlining the docs, and helping people to lift themselves up in the process of learning together.

Thank you. Your point of view will be extremely helpful. Please let us know your thoughts, especially if anything is unclear, at https://github.com/codewars/docs.

Also, I edited my comment above to remove profanity.

Thanks.

I'm so sick and tired of users who will never give a new Kata a chance.

Yes, I can tell that. And the other side is sick and tired just like you are. Both sides have valid, but conflicting views and that's the problem. We need to maintain the quality without being too exclusive. I hope we can at least agree that we shouldn't approve any kata.

I do agree that some users need to be careful with their choice of words when leaving feedback though. I don't know if it's intentional or accidental from translation. There are certain words to avoid when doing code reviews to minimize the emotional overhead and that should apply here as well.

I'm not taking sides and I'm here to help. All I want is to improve Codewars.
What do you think of the work that's been done? Any suggestions?

The kata hasn't been abandoned. Yes, much of the initial feedback I received felt like a weird mix of frustration, discouragement and a desire to help -- feedback that is, at best, vaguely aligned with the Codewars 'Community Code of Conduct'. Much of the initial feedback was a strange cocktail indeed. But given all of the useful insights shared above/below, I have a better understanding of the history and current state of things here at Codewars, and I have a better understanding of the various frustrations aired here. I'm listening, even to those whose frustrations (and other struggles) get in the way of being patient and communicating clearly and politely; I'll keep what's genuinely useful and leave the rest (like throwaway/discouraging comments about my level of experience, which are just as toxic for the people making them as they are for the people receiving them). I'll continue listening and contributing. Regardless of the level of my kyu, I can make helpful contributions -- and that includes kata and feedback to help shape a healthier Codewars based on a consistent and clear foundation of fundamental requirements, on relatively unambiguous docs and systems that support everyone involved. I'm looking at the discourse for this kata, as a whole, and there's a lot here that is useful -- I see the potential for better support all around, including for those who have met those future clearer (and more strenuous) requirements for katas and still need constructive and encouraging feedback from others.

No, Taste Sensations has not been abandoned. I haven't let others' projected struggles discourage me, and I haven't given up. I've un-published it, and I'm going to continue working on it as I go back to familiar and unfamilar docs (thanks again, @hobovsky) and keep learning what I can despite the limitations (mine, as well as those in the Codewars docs and systems). I've gained a lot from being here, solving katas and learning from others with more (typically much, much more) knowledge and experience than me. In large part, creating and publishing Taste Sensations was my way of giving back, of offering something in particular to those with less knowledge and experience than me. And I'm going to keep doing that, as I seek to raise the standard of my katas and tests. I'm all for raising standards, clarifying/refining/streamlining the docs, and helping people to lift themselves up in the process of learning together. My goal is to keep using Codewars as a resource for my lifelong growth as a programmer -- all the way to 1kyu, and beyond. I would love to get to the point where I am contributing here as a moderator -- for me, that would be a significant mile-marker of my development not only as a programmer but as someone committed to others' growth as well.

Well.. @Kazk, @JohanWiltink, you got what you wanted. The Kata has been abandoned.

Also, I edited my comment above to remove profanity.

I'm so sick and tired of users who will never give a new Kata a chance. It's not enough that they rate it low; they have to come here and spread the poison to make sure the Kata doesn't survive. They use word like "it's useless". It's the Codewars way, I guess.

There are guys who are disliking every kata and giving 8 kyu even if it's way way way harder and you are telling me that it is just their constructive feedback and they want the best for CW.

No, that's definitely not what I wrote.

I wasn't denying they exist (there will be always someone misbehaving in a community above certain size), but I'm only aware of very few long time users that ranks 8kyu all the time. I don't know their intentions, but I do feel that their votes are heavily skewed. To be honest, I don't like the difficulty ranking to begin with and I don't think it'll ever be reliable. If I was making Codewars, I'd use something based on data and combine that with feedback from users like what they needed to know to solve.

For not providing any feedback, I know many are simply tired of low quality kata being published and doesn't want to spend the time to write them anymore. Or they're tired of getting downvoted when giving valid feedback. They should explain and leave feedback as much as they can, but it's currently not enforced by the system.

Just to be extra clear, I'm not denying that the problem exists at all. Also, I had "these old stones" in mind when I wrote above, so I didn't consider possibilities like throwaway accounts.

If a user is constantly abusing and they refuse to communicate with you, let the mods know so they can either try to resolve by communicating with them or escalate to me. I still think we need to have the official guidelines to convince them though.
The community moderation team is still pretty new and we have a lot to do. We can start auditing these things to gain insights if necessary.

If you have any suggestions, feel free to open an issue at https://github.com/codewars/codewars.com as well.

There are guys who are disliking every kata and giving 8 kyu even if it's way way way harder and you are telling me that it is just their constructive feedback and they want the best for CW. Sry bro I can't share that opinion with you :(
But I understand that it is hard to fix for you and your team

You're misunderstanding the problem. It's not about disliking the kata. The kata simply does not meet the requirements they believe a kata should meet, while it meets yours. Same with rankings.

The problem is users having different sets of standards because of how Codewars evolved organically without leadership. Not the users themselves. They are not breaking any rules at the moment as long as they're staying civil and providing constructive feedback.
I believe most of them are doing what they think is best for Codewars. Remember that many of them have invested a significant amount of time and energy on/for Codewars over the years. Why would they want to make it worse? Unfortunately, things have changed a lot and they're not aligned well because Codewars didn't provide the guidance they needed.

Disagreements are unavoidable and it's fine, but we can't proceed when we disagree at the fundamental level. We need to define the official minimum requirements first and minimize ambiguity, so that everyone is expected to review the kata based on them and provide additional feedback on top.

Like I wrote above, I understand the frustration, but it's not that easy to "fix" as some of you might think.

do something against those guys who are disliking every new kata!

@KenKamau

Please keep your comments constructive and respect others. I understand the frustration from over the years, but don't take that out like this. You've been warned.

If you haven't noticed, we're working to improve the situation. I wanted to do this sooner since I took over the project few years ago, but it wasn't possible being overwhelmed with the technical issues. I'd recommend getting involved with defining the official guidelines by giving feedback on them instead.

@KenKamau Thanks for your support. I'm not going to give up on this kata -- in developing it further, there will be opportunities for me to keep learning. BTW, I've learned a lot by solving your katas.

@B1ts @hobovsky I'm grateful for your taking the time to consider and respond to my thoughts and questions with your insights. Extremely helpful. These are all juicy ideas, and this feels more like a useful conversation, more like the community for which I signed up. Thanks for the links as well -- very helpful, though I can see now, too, how the docs neeed further development.

The lesser experienced of us need support from those who can help clarify things without exasperation and without making judgements and declarations about our lesser knowledge and experience. Even with a higher barrier of entry and clearer support in the docs, even after doing what one needs to do to get a kata to a particular standard before publishing it, there still needs to be safe space to make mistakes and learn new things after publishing.

.

Solved it right now, good kata IMO :)