This is a topic I had raised previously quite a long time ago and it saddens me to see that the moderation for extension reviews is still somewhat unfair and hostile to developers. Here is the situation at hand: yesterday, I released a major update of Context Search based on manifest 3. In the extension’s description on AMO, over a month ago, I had added a warning that version 6 would be a major update and asking them to backup their search engines prior to any update. I also asked users to kindly report any bugs on GitHub.
The same day that I released the update, a couple of users reported a bug here or there and I immediately sought to address them by releasing a minor update (6.0.1). One user, however, gave a 1-star rating arguing that the extension was broken and that essentially it was a terrible extension, which seriously contradicts all the other ratings! (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/contextsearch/reviews/) I replied to the review by asking the user to report any bug he or she may have encountered on GitHub, but I got no response. Therefore, I flagged the review which was thankfully removed. I appreciate that. However, today I noticed that the users 1-star rating has re-appeared and, this time around, I’m unable to reply or flag the review.
So, my question is: do the moderation team feel that they are treating developers respectfully or fairly. The moderation team should be aware that some users out there are just haters and no matter how good your extension might be, they’ll always reward you with a 1-star rating.
I don’t have an issue with a poor rating once in a while if it’s justified and if, at least, I’ve been given a chance to fix a bug if that is the source of frustration. However, I can’t accept being insulted, blackmailed or seeing my work trashed on baseless grounds.
If the moderation policy for reviews doesn’t improve, I’m sorry but I’ll retire my extension from AMO. I sincerely hope that the Mozilla moderation team will show a little more understanding towards developers.