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Valg · 02-16-2005, 03:52 PM

Anonymous, player submitted reviews are absolute trash. The overwhelming majority are either trolls from disgruntled jerks with a bone to pick, or inflated, hyped, puff pieces written by fanboys.

I spot-checked our last ten, and counted two disgruntled jerks and zero fluff pieces. I'd also say that four of them do a very good job of outlining our niche from a player's perspective. I say they aren't fluff pieces because they all mention pros and cons, and avoid hyperbole about either. One more was basically explaining why DJ#1 was spreading incorrect information (*). One was quite possibly written under the influence of potent hallucinogens, but at least it's entertaining. The last two were probably too short and vague to convey much.

We've always had decent luck like this- I think the collective impact of those ten reviews is certainly a net positive. If I had to speculate on why:

1) We don't offer bribes or rewards for reviews. You might get a brief thank-you letter from a staff member or two, but that's about it. Cuts way down on the lowest-common-denominator reviews.
2) We don't pester people who are playing to write them. (Or for anything. We have a strict policy about keeping OOC stuff like PR and RL money outside of the game environment.)
3) Professional, fair rules enforcement. Every game gets a certain quota of jerks, especially if they're like us and don't use cumbersome screening methods or financial contracts before a player can sign on. (You can essentially log onto CF 'off the street'.) If someone breaks our rules, we try to stay out of the insult-slinging and just explain the rules, punish if needed, and remove the offender silently if it's really called for.

In summary, I'd urge MUD admins to open their game to public review. It's a useful tool for a prospective player to use before making a decision about trying your game out or not.

(*): DJ #1 claimed we randomly delete characters, and the review quoted our helpfile about how our character-bot cleans out inactive accounts after X days, and explained the policy a little more. There's no human involvement in the decision to keep or remove an unplayed character.

02-16-2005, 03:52 PM	#16
Valg Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Home MUD: Carrion Fields Posts: 643	Anonymous, player submitted reviews are absolute trash. The overwhelming majority are either trolls from disgruntled jerks with a bone to pick, or inflated, hyped, puff pieces written by fanboys. I spot-checked our last ten, and counted two disgruntled jerks and zero fluff pieces. I'd also say that four of them do a very good job of outlining our niche from a player's perspective. I say they aren't fluff pieces because they all mention pros and cons, and avoid hyperbole about either. One more was basically explaining why DJ#1 was spreading incorrect information (). One was quite possibly written under the influence of potent hallucinogens, but at least it's entertaining. The last two were probably too short and vague to convey much. We've always had decent luck like this- I think the collective impact of those ten reviews is certainly a net positive. If I had to speculate on why: 1) We don't offer bribes or rewards for reviews. You might get a brief thank-you letter from a staff member or two, but that's about it. Cuts way down on the lowest-common-denominator reviews. 2) We don't pester people who are playing to write them. (Or for anything. We have a strict policy about keeping OOC stuff like PR and RL money outside of the game environment.) 3) Professional, fair rules enforcement. Every game gets a certain quota of jerks, especially if they're like us and don't use cumbersome screening methods or financial contracts before a player can sign on. (You can essentially log onto CF 'off the street'.) If someone breaks our rules, we try to stay out of the insult-slinging and just explain the rules, punish if needed, and remove the offender silently if it's really called for. In summary, I'd urge MUD admins to open their game to public review. It's a useful tool for a prospective player to use before making a decision about trying your game out or not. (): DJ #1 claimed we randomly delete characters, and the review quoted our helpfile about how our character-bot cleans out inactive accounts after X days, and explained the policy a little more. There's no human involvement in the decision to keep or remove an unplayed character.