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Post by Sinistral on Aug 3, 2005 7:51:45 GMT
Just to ask what you guys think of the reviews section of this site, Not many people seem to write anything these days (it has been over 2 months since a non-staff member wrote anything) is there any reason in particular for this? Anything people don't like about the form etc? Only reason I ask is that reviews were something many people asked about for ages, now the system is pretty under-used.
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Post by Stan on Aug 3, 2005 14:59:02 GMT
I was wondering about this too. We had several a month or two back, but they were generally bad so they all got deleted. People, first off when you write, unless you don't have a good command of English SPELL CHECK. Second, DO NOT use box text for the opening as these texts have already been used for the game information. Third, write THOROUGHLY. I can't tell you how many reviews I deleted that started out great for the first two or three parts and then by the end had only one sentence responses. Music was good. Come on. We're not going to approve that, and pretty much ALL of the reviews I was seeing were just like that. Plus, without contact information for the reviews you write, I can't let you know that we want more, so keep this all in mind.
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Post by playgeneration on Aug 3, 2005 16:34:20 GMT
For a lot of games it must be pretty hard to think of anything to write about their music or controls if those parts are just really average. It would be good if the reviews had a final score, aswell as individual scores for graphics, gameplay etc. as it would make it easier to quickly compare games.
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Post by Stan on Aug 3, 2005 18:00:54 GMT
Well, that's what we want though, nice detailed explanations for other gamers who are interested. If the music is "just average" there is still a reason why you think so. Maybe a theme repeats too much, is written in the wrong scale for the rest of it, or whatever, there is plenty of space to write and if it takes time that's the idea because we want quality.
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Post by Sinistral on Aug 3, 2005 20:48:41 GMT
For a lot of games it must be pretty hard to think of anything to write about their music or controls if those parts are just really average. It would be good if the reviews had a final score, as well as individual scores for graphics, game play etc. as it would make it easier to quickly compare games. To be honest I think you must write something about everything, what is the point in reviewing half of a game, talking about the graphics and game play for ages if your not going to mention the sounds? As Stan said - if the music/sound are really that bad then say why. The controls all you really have to do is describe what each button does and how easy the game is to control, how it responds etc - that isn't hard is it? As for the final score thing - I never liked the idea of this, I think I said this before, but I'll say again anyway - I don't believe in ANY games that sound/graphics matter half as much as the game play, so creating an average score by combining these would seem to artificially raise some scores, or on games with really poor graphics and sound but with great game play it would have a negative effect. This is just my line of thinking, I'm always here for the game play, I always thought people thought similar - I'd like to get some other peoples opinions on this before changing anything.
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Post by ShadowAngel on Aug 4, 2005 22:45:17 GMT
Anything people don't like about the form etc? Only reason I ask is that reviews were something many people asked about for ages, now the system is pretty under-used. Yes it's kinda sad with the review section The form and everything is fine, i like it and it is easy to use but it is really hard to think about what to write. In the last months i started several attempts to write some new reviews but i couldn't cause i really didn't know what i should write, like a blockade or something (maybe because it is way easier for me to write in German than in English) ;D But maybe i give it another try, since my vacation begins soon and its nearly 1 year since my last review This is just my line of thinking, I'm always here for the game play, I always thought people thought similar - I'd like to get some other peoples opinions on this before changing anything. I agree with you. The game play is way more important than graphic or sound. I don't think there is a need for a final score, the system is fine how it is
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Post by Sinistral on Aug 6, 2005 4:19:34 GMT
Thanks for the reply ShadowAngel. It is odd however that there are 49 hits on this thread, yet only two members reply. Please people - let us know if anything is wrong - we cant fix it otherwise!
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dezanuebe
Sonic the Hedgehog
Master System, the best of all times...
Posts: 2,177
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Post by dezanuebe on Aug 6, 2005 12:27:03 GMT
well, to me it´s pretty obvious, we lost freedom of expression, i made my last review about 4 months ago, and i had to made several changes in order to be placed (Land of Illusion), and if it´s true that some of the changes required were necessary, the truth is that i believe you´re asking too much at the same time and that scares people. It´s essencial to have standarts and requirements but if they are too high people won´t write because we all have something in common, lack of time. I Wrote all my reviews after playing the game in 1 hour on dega, at night, i don´t have the time to play a game for a week before reviewing it and i can´t remember everything about a game and believe that we can´t tell everything in the review, because we must give OUR impression of the game, and open a door to let the other gamers interested in it.
P.S Sorry for the opinion, but that´s my opinion, nevertheless i will try and post a review in the next 2 weeks, because i really like this site and feel, like i believe evry member does, responsible for it´s existence.
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Post by ShadowAngel on Aug 6, 2005 15:41:03 GMT
It´s essencial to have standarts and requirements but if they are too high people won´t write because we all have something in common, lack of time. I Wrote all my reviews after playing the game in 1 hour on dega, at night, i don´t have the time to play a game for a week before reviewing it and i can´t remember everything about a game and believe that we can´t tell everything in the review, because we must give OUR impression of the game, and open a door to let the other gamers interested in it. I don't know, writing a (good) review isn't something you do in 5 minutes. It takes a lot of time and i don't think you need to remember everything from a game, just the essential points and then write a interesting review, but don't explain everything so the readers can discover most of the game themselves. As for the guidelines: I don't think they are too hard. I'm at a german site, were you can write reviews and they have much harder rules, for example write at least 200 words (and then try to write a review about tetris ), watch your language and if they deny a review, they don't even write why. Here you have a lot of freedom, how to write a review and they even accepted my reviews, so it can't be that hard ;D
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Post by snowblind on Aug 6, 2005 15:54:59 GMT
The form is fine, it allows every aspect to be covered and in an orderly way. I'll submit a few reviews on Monday.
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dezanuebe
Sonic the Hedgehog
Master System, the best of all times...
Posts: 2,177
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Post by dezanuebe on Aug 6, 2005 22:14:58 GMT
It´s essencial to have standarts and requirements but if they are too high people won´t write because we all have something in common, lack of time. I Wrote all my reviews after playing the game in 1 hour on dega, at night, i don´t have the time to play a game for a week before reviewing it and i can´t remember everything about a game and believe that we can´t tell everything in the review, because we must give OUR impression of the game, and open a door to let the other gamers interested in it. I don't know, writing a (good) review isn't something you do in 5 minutes. It takes a lot of time and i don't think you need to remember everything from a game, just the essential points and then write a interesting review, but don't explain everything so the readers can discover most of the game themselves. As for the guidelines: I don't think they are too hard. I'm at a german site, were you can write reviews and they have much harder rules, for example write at least 200 words (and then try to write a review about tetris ), watch your language and if they deny a review, they don't even write why. Here you have a lot of freedom, how to write a review and they even accepted my reviews, so it can't be that hard ;D mybe i~m being a bit harsh, but that´s my line of opinion...
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Post by ShadowAngel on Aug 6, 2005 22:40:04 GMT
mybe i~m being a bit harsh, but that´s my line of opinion... Of course and i have no problem with that. I justed wanted to say what i think about und like i said i don't think the guidelines are to hard or it is impossible to submit a review and btw. i liked your reviews
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Post by Sinistral on Aug 8, 2005 1:56:16 GMT
I know what you mean Dez, I know you had some trouble with one of your reviews, the solution would seem to be to allow members to log-in and alter their own reviews, but this would take a good deal of time to implement, and I'm not sure it would be time well spent considering how little the system is used at the moment. There are also other things to consider such as security, opening up our database to anyone who submits a review could be quite dangerous.
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dezanuebe
Sonic the Hedgehog
Master System, the best of all times...
Posts: 2,177
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Post by dezanuebe on Aug 8, 2005 2:03:24 GMT
yeah, i believe security is of the outmost importance in order to prevent reviews like the ones we see in certain sms sites, and i also believe the right members are taking care of such an important subject, nevertheless, to me it looks obvious that since the rules become tighter, the number of reviews droped. One thing positive about this thread it that some members are compromising and assuming that they will sent some reviews ASAP.
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Post by transbot on Aug 8, 2005 2:08:14 GMT
The reviews section is the best part of the site, I'm not sure why it isn't that popular. I doubt there's a boycott due to issues with the form or what have you, just maybe people can't be arsed. Speaking for myself, I can easily write a load of irrelevant toss (evidently), but I find it difficult to make proper critical analyses of stuff - particularly things I love - as it's not really something I feel I want to do. As you can see from my Game of the Week® posts, I tend to give very little space to judging the game's constituent parts - and it's worth pointing out that I've never witten any reviews, for any games, on any sites. I doubt I'd match the exacting standards going on here, to be honest. I do enjoy reading good reviews, though, by others who've clearly had fun writing them. I don't really like dull, methodical appraisals of these games - I like to see expressiveness, a real affection for the thing, and a sense of humour on display. Accuracy of spelling and grammar doesn't bother me in the least; a shambolic piece can be more interesting and entertaining, and filtering everything so thoroughly can take a bit of the spark out of writing. And if you can't swear, I aint there. ;D I think praps if you slacken it a little, let some things slide, people will feel they can write into it more freely. When you have a decent number of reviews there, then you can set about with the quality control, deleting this and that - but why not just put them up for now? If you've got some 12-year old saying "Tihs game is Teh BOM!!!!1111", at least it's a heartfelt recommendation, and sort of an amusing and sweet one at that. Anything offensive or utterly irrelevant should be deleted, but sometimes little errors and whatnot can be quite charming. Anyway, whatever. About the final score thing, I reckon it'd just make it more like the good old reviews I remember, in the Sega mags of yore - it doesn't need to be the exact average of the other component scores, just a well-judged evaluation of the game overall. If you can pluck a fair figure out of the air like ' 8' for graphics, then you can choose one for the game as a whole. A percentage, even - I give this game 74%. It isn't calculated mathematically, you just make it up as you go, like a true maverick. And noticing the new forum that's been added, I wondered if you could put a 'respond' feature on the actual review? It could link you straight to that section, or maybe even better, put your comment just under the original review - like a brief second opinion. If people began abusing it, then start vetting the responses before allowing them. I'm not sure that the new forum section you've added will be too busy, I could be wrong. I imagine if you make a public appeal for reviewers on other sites like SMSPower, and so on, you'll get a few in no time. If you build it, they will come.
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