I just read through the thread;
Critique of Psion's review of MOZ 1
And have to say I'm amused, disappointed, and apathetic about it at various points.
Couple of points come to mind;
1) A Professional Reviewer gets paid to review things. MOST D20 reviewers do it in their free time and do not get paid. This means they are not Professional Reviewers, just reviewers.
Having said that, There is a HUGE difference in HOW a reviewer reviews things. One can be a Professional ACTING Reviewer, and earn recognition, awards, kudos, what-have-you's until the cows come home, but until he is paid, he is not a Professional Reviewer.
Does this mean that a reviewer who recieves free products TO review is paid? No it does not... it is standard practice for companies desiring a review to offer their product/service/time to a reviewer... doesn't mean that all companies practice it, but there are few companies I've heard of that don't.
2) Reviews, no matter how Objective the reviewer thinks they are being, are OPINIONS . Dot, Period, End of Story.
One can TRY to be as objective as possible, but as human beings it is impossible to be 100% objective about anything. Previous experience in life, taste/touch/smell/etc have tainted us that way... Most people know what they like and what they don't like, and go with what they know.
Does this mean reviews are pointless? Not at all, one can write a review about anything if they're willing to invest the time to do it correctly... What is correctly? Learn about what you intend to review, use it, beat it up, knock it about, etc... and then report you're reactions (which most people really want from a review imo) and the FACTS of the product. Does it work? How well does it work? Does it have any design flaws? Will it float? Is it dead Bones?
3) I've done exactly 2 reviews (At RPG Reviews, sorry Morrus, Cheap Plug.
), one was a horrible score, and I explained WHY I gave it a horrible score, the other I gave a high score to... yet I still wrote about what _I_ found lacking and WHY I found it lacking. Does this make me a professional Reviewer? nope. Did I ACT professionally? Well, only people reading my reviews can tell me for sure, but I like to think I did. I didn't slam the company, I didn't slam the work put into it (Although I did akin the art work in one of the reviews to seeing an accident 'where you just couldn't look away from the horror. ;p), and I didn't 'rewrite' what I reviewed to 'fix' the problems _I_ saw with the 2 products.
4) Probably one of the biggest flaws I find in most reviews, is a simple mistake many reviewers make... 'Fixing' what _they_ think is broken... to me, that's as rude as telling the designer he's a 2 bit hack and isn't worth his salt. Hate to tell most reviewers, but that author is getting PAID to do that work, and the last thing he wants is someone 'rewriting' what they think it SHOULD be.
That said, there is nothing wrong with offering suggestions for future improvement... Constructive criticism is (most) always appreciated, and some people can even take negative criticism and convert it positive improvement.
The last thing I wanted to post _MY_ Opinion on is this...
While I respect the privacy the internet offers, there are times, when that anonymnity should be shed, and while others my decry Morrus' naming Midnight Rider, I fully agree and support his decision to do so...
I don't post very often on the boards here, prefer to read, but sometimes, things need commenting on...
As for the professionalism displayed by Morrus and crew, I have yet to see it lapse... sure, individuals have displayed temper, but it's good to know they're human and not some AI out to take over the world!
Critique of Psion's review of MOZ 1
And have to say I'm amused, disappointed, and apathetic about it at various points.
Couple of points come to mind;
1) A Professional Reviewer gets paid to review things. MOST D20 reviewers do it in their free time and do not get paid. This means they are not Professional Reviewers, just reviewers.
Having said that, There is a HUGE difference in HOW a reviewer reviews things. One can be a Professional ACTING Reviewer, and earn recognition, awards, kudos, what-have-you's until the cows come home, but until he is paid, he is not a Professional Reviewer.
Does this mean that a reviewer who recieves free products TO review is paid? No it does not... it is standard practice for companies desiring a review to offer their product/service/time to a reviewer... doesn't mean that all companies practice it, but there are few companies I've heard of that don't.
2) Reviews, no matter how Objective the reviewer thinks they are being, are OPINIONS . Dot, Period, End of Story.
One can TRY to be as objective as possible, but as human beings it is impossible to be 100% objective about anything. Previous experience in life, taste/touch/smell/etc have tainted us that way... Most people know what they like and what they don't like, and go with what they know.
Does this mean reviews are pointless? Not at all, one can write a review about anything if they're willing to invest the time to do it correctly... What is correctly? Learn about what you intend to review, use it, beat it up, knock it about, etc... and then report you're reactions (which most people really want from a review imo) and the FACTS of the product. Does it work? How well does it work? Does it have any design flaws? Will it float? Is it dead Bones?
3) I've done exactly 2 reviews (At RPG Reviews, sorry Morrus, Cheap Plug.
), one was a horrible score, and I explained WHY I gave it a horrible score, the other I gave a high score to... yet I still wrote about what _I_ found lacking and WHY I found it lacking. Does this make me a professional Reviewer? nope. Did I ACT professionally? Well, only people reading my reviews can tell me for sure, but I like to think I did. I didn't slam the company, I didn't slam the work put into it (Although I did akin the art work in one of the reviews to seeing an accident 'where you just couldn't look away from the horror. ;p), and I didn't 'rewrite' what I reviewed to 'fix' the problems _I_ saw with the 2 products.4) Probably one of the biggest flaws I find in most reviews, is a simple mistake many reviewers make... 'Fixing' what _they_ think is broken... to me, that's as rude as telling the designer he's a 2 bit hack and isn't worth his salt. Hate to tell most reviewers, but that author is getting PAID to do that work, and the last thing he wants is someone 'rewriting' what they think it SHOULD be.
That said, there is nothing wrong with offering suggestions for future improvement... Constructive criticism is (most) always appreciated, and some people can even take negative criticism and convert it positive improvement.
The last thing I wanted to post _MY_ Opinion on is this...
While I respect the privacy the internet offers, there are times, when that anonymnity should be shed, and while others my decry Morrus' naming Midnight Rider, I fully agree and support his decision to do so...
I don't post very often on the boards here, prefer to read, but sometimes, things need commenting on...
As for the professionalism displayed by Morrus and crew, I have yet to see it lapse... sure, individuals have displayed temper, but it's good to know they're human and not some AI out to take over the world!
