[Molly]

I've got to agree with Xerihae here.

And even a 10 hours playtest would mostly show the basic mechanics of the game, give a hint of the quality in the zone descs, and - given who you interacted with - possibly of the roleplay and player-base in general. A short-term review like that would basically just measure the game's level of Newbiefriendlyness.

Not that this is unimportant. If care has been taken on the design of the game in whole, the developers will also have put some care into the Newbie introduction and the easiest zones. If the experience during the first 10 hours is a pleasant one, chances are high that the rest of the game will also be well designed, challenging and entertaining.

Chances are even fair that the actual game will be a lot better than what you encounter during the first hours. Newbie zones are mostly frequented by newbies, and newbies rarely excel in roleplaying. Most Muds also grow in concentric rings, meaning that the zones closest to the core will be the earliest created, and probably the quality of the zones will have risen over time. Many Muds even leave the design of low level zones to their least experienced Builders, (which I personally think is a mistake). But in any case, the real complexity and depth of a game only unfolds after you have played it for quite a long time.

Still, I think the potential of 'professional' reviewers is a bit limited. The really knowledgeable reviews of a game could only be written by its most experienced players, since they are the only ones, apart from the Admin, that know it in depth. This is one reason why I think it's important to keep the Player reviews, and I also belong to the people who think that it shouldn't be possible for a game to turn off reviews. Even if the majority of them would be fan-boy praise or disgruntled-player flames, reading through a number of reviews still gives a hint of what you can expect in the game.

The Player reviews on TMC hold a considerably higher standard than the ones here on TMS, and I think implementing a system of the same kind here might raise the quality. If the reviewers have to use a valid e-mail, and the reviews have to be checked and approved by some Staff member before getting accepted and published, this would weed out the most blatant cases of total bias. It shouldn't weed out a review just on the grounds that it contains mostly criticism however. This too is valid information,. and if the Mudowners are given the option to respond to reviews, they could refute any blatant lies that might have slipped through the control. The people doing the initial check could be either the moderators or a separate team of members that volunteered for the task.

The more interesting things apart from the voting list that this site can offer, the better chances would be of attracting players rather than just Admin. And reviews are one of the things potentially interesting to a player in search of a new Mud.