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Valg · 08-14-2004, 01:21 PM

(The Armageddon thread was starting to go off-topic, so I'm starting a new thread to blunt that.)

Some recent opinions on player reviews from people that dislike them:
"Why don't they bother letting every bitter, immature, 12 year old nimrod with internet access have an easy, free method to libel them? Do you actually have to ask this?" - Threshold

Regarding rating reviews: "Or you could just ignore them given that they have no value as reviews."- the_logos

"Player reviews are almost never helpful and are generally either libelous or obsequious. Both types are worthless." - Threshold

Regarding follow-up content: "Unlike here where there ARE many posts, but they're largely noise. I mean, I learned more from one of Bartle's posts on Mind's Eye than I ever have here"- the_logos

"Player reviews are absolute garbage."- Threshold

I'm not sure what their experience is with reviews, but I've often found ours to be well-written and useful to someone who has not played our game before. Part of this might be that Carrion Fields tends to draw an older and more mature playerbase than many places- it's a complex game run by a staff that probably has an average age of 30+, and our style draws a certain demographic. But lots of games get these kinds of reviews, sprinkled in with the less useful ones.

Some examples from our own:

All of these give specific points about the game that they like. In other words, why they play. Some also identify negative points (e.g. it's a difficult game, can be too big to get a grip on, etc.). All of this is useful.

Now, not all reviews are all that useful. We have some reviews (positive and negative) that don't tell you much at all about the game:

I suppose we could ask to have the negative kind removed as per TMS policy, but I think any player who is going to appreciate our game will see these types of reviews for what they are, and keep moving. We have close to 50 reviews anyway, and there are plenty of informative ones to balance out the less useful ones.

Why are these useful?

Positive reviews have utility as advertising. People like our product and want to tell others. That much is obvious. But they also tell us why we're successful. We keep track of what people cite as our best points, and use that when planning future developments.

Conversely, when a negative review comes in, it's usually more than "This mud suxxors!". The reviewer generally has specific things they didn't like. These aren't necessarily weak points of the game (like the guy who didn't like the mandatory RP... that's just a niche we've chosen, and we advertise it openly so people know before trying), but sometimes they are, and that also tells us where to focus our efforts.

Most importantly, none of this has to effect your game. You can turn them off for your game, not read what people post about other games, and go back to making forum posts about how wonderful you are, or however else you as a TMS reader spend your spare time. That's your decision, and a courtesy extended to you by the site ownership. (One could argue a courtesy that is not necessarily expected, since the reviewer may not wish to be silent, and then it's a question of who has the authority.) You can also allow reviews, and request the removal of anything libelous, per the site policies.

But it's not really your business whether or not we want reviews, so please stop campaigning to stop us from doing so.

08-14-2004, 01:21 PM	#1
Valg Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Home MUD: Carrion Fields Posts: 643	(The Armageddon thread was starting to go off-topic, so I'm starting a new thread to blunt that.) Some recent opinions on player reviews from people that dislike them: "Why don't they bother letting every bitter, immature, 12 year old nimrod with internet access have an easy, free method to libel them? Do you actually have to ask this?" - Threshold Regarding rating reviews: "Or you could just ignore them given that they have no value as reviews."- the_logos "Player reviews are almost never helpful and are generally either libelous or obsequious. Both types are worthless." - Threshold Regarding follow-up content: "Unlike here where there ARE many posts, but they're largely noise. I mean, I learned more from one of Bartle's posts on Mind's Eye than I ever have here"- the_logos "Player reviews are absolute garbage."- Threshold I'm not sure what their experience is with reviews, but I've often found ours to be well-written and useful to someone who has not played our game before. Part of this might be that Carrion Fields tends to draw an older and more mature playerbase than many places- it's a complex game run by a staff that probably has an average age of 30+, and our style draws a certain demographic. But lots of games get these kinds of reviews, sprinkled in with the less useful ones. Some examples from our own: All of these give specific points about the game that they like. In other words, why they play. Some also identify negative points (e.g. it's a difficult game, can be too big to get a grip on, etc.). All of this is useful. Now, not all reviews are all that useful. We have some reviews (positive and negative) that don't tell you much at all about the game: I suppose we could ask to have the negative kind removed as per TMS policy, but I think any player who is going to appreciate our game will see these types of reviews for what they are, and keep moving. We have close to 50 reviews anyway, and there are plenty of informative ones to balance out the less useful ones. Why are these useful? Positive reviews have utility as advertising. People like our product and want to tell others. That much is obvious. But they also tell us why we're successful. We keep track of what people cite as our best points, and use that when planning future developments. Conversely, when a negative review comes in, it's usually more than "This mud suxxors!". The reviewer generally has specific things they didn't like. These aren't necessarily weak points of the game (like the guy who didn't like the mandatory RP... that's just a niche we've chosen, and we advertise it openly so people know before trying), but sometimes they are, and that also tells us where to focus our efforts. Most importantly, none of this has to effect your game. You can turn them off for your game, not read what people post about other games, and go back to making forum posts about how wonderful you are, or however else you as a TMS reader spend your spare time. That's your decision, and a courtesy extended to you by the site ownership. (One could argue a courtesy that is not necessarily expected, since the reviewer may not wish to be silent, and then it's a question of who has the authority.) You can also allow reviews, and request the removal of anything libelous, per the site policies. But it's not really your business whether or not we want reviews, so please stop campaigning to stop us from doing so.