I am assuming it was that work with fewer readers would get higher ratings than stuff eveyrone was checking out...

Well, as I see it, the intention wasn't to make it so that all the same pieces get read (thus, rated) all the time. It was so that we could get reliable figures out of a variety of opinions. Granted, that isn't working because WC is too small.

Simplifying the way that ratings are calculated might cause the "highest rated writings" page to evolve more, so that people who search it will get more variety. Yet, it could also cause way too many writings to get nines, including some that don't deserve it. Maybe we could simplify the way ratings are calculated, but then also include a figure of how many people have rated the piece. It might even lead to a "most rated" and "least rated" search down the road.