So why don't reviews work? (as a marketing tool)

[trancejeremy]

First of all it's fairly ridiculous to complain about companies blowing out dead stock in relation to review copies. What you're seeing now is a once in a decade event because a whole lot of back stock is going to be unsellable a year from now. That is not business as usual and it really has nothing to do with whether a company is willing to provide review copies or not.

True, with the near demise of d20 and approach of 4e, there is an expiration date, although I do think that most products probably sell most of their copies early on.

My point really was that it wouldn't cost companies that had large stocks of products to actually send out copies (basically just postage), since they do have have a lot of unsold copies that are just sitting around gathering dust (and taxes). As opposed to say some companies who work on POD and so have to paid $5-6 just to print a copy of a product and then pay postage. (which can get expensive).

That said, I do feel a bit of schadenfreude seeing all the companies that blew me off when I asked about review copies, including GR, having to dump their books for crazy low prices. Call it sour grapes, but it tickles me nonetheless.


edit:

Let me make it clear that I'm not actually second guessing why most companies don't. Clearly they know what works and doesn't, especially the ones still in business. Indeed, the only company that really regularly sent me stuff, Bastion, went under last year. So while I have no idea how much my (and others) reviews of their stuff helped, it obviously didn't help them enough to stay in business.

I'm just wondering why they don't work so much in the RPG field, but apparently do in video games.

 

[C.W.Richeson]

I always found it odd that while I've gotten items to review from White Wolf I never got anything from Wizards. But then I was never light on things to review that I ever went asking them.

Wizards actually uses a third party PR company to screen potential reviewers, I suspect based on the ratings they have given products.

 

[trancejeremy]

If I were a publisher, I would send review copies to a publication, like Knights of the Dinner Table, or to a web site like this one or GamingReport or RPG.net.

Yeah, KoDT definitely, and all hard copy publications (which I think is just KoDT these days). But I was really thinking more of internet reviews when I first posed my question (since I was thinking of how Gamespot fired that guy).

There does seem to be a difference in how internet RPG sites operate than VG ones. For instance, pretty much anyone can submit a review for RPG sites. Some do have staff reviewers, but there is never any "official" review, really. They just get lumped into the same category as non-staff reviews, usually.

And RPG.net, I dunno if they actually hand out stuff. At one time I think they did, and had a place you could sign up for them, but I never actually got anything (And I have written something like 130 reviews there).

And Gaming Report, they have a hit counter and honestly, I dunno if anyone even reads their reviews. Some of theirs top at out 200 or so. Heck, my old geocities site reached those levels at times.

 

[C.W.Richeson]

all the companies that blew me off when I asked about review copies

I've yet to have anyone be rude to me from a review inquiry, and I've solicited just about everyone at some point. Some people never return my emails, but I assume the person in question is just too busy for a "No thanks." I can certainly appreciate that, returning emails is time consuming.

No matter how many reviews we write none of us will ever be entitled to review copies. If some publishers think it's a great deal for them then I'm happy to review a game, but it's not like a good reviewer is anything more than one marketing source among many for the publisher.

I'd encourage you to hope that all the publishers that didn't take you up the last time you asked do really, really well and decide it's worth it next time. It's always worth politely revisiting an inquiry in the future - you never know when someone has changed their mind or didn't even notice your original email. Besides, the more successful publishers there are the more games that are out there and need reviewing

 

[C.W.Richeson]

And RPG.net, I dunno if they actually hand out stuff. At one time I think they did, and had a place you could sign up for them, but I never actually got anything (And I have written something like 130 reviews there).

They don't now. I think way, way back they had 'staff' and such that may have, but that was when Sandy was running the site.

 

[Ghostwind]

Indeed, the only company that really regularly sent me stuff, Bastion, went under last year. So while I have no idea how much my (and others) reviews of their stuff helped, it obviously didn't help them enough to stay in business.

Just a clarification. Bastion Press has not gone under. We are still publishing new material. Bastion is now owned by DragonWing Games.

 

[Nikchick]

That said, I do feel a bit of schadenfreude seeing all the companies that blew me off when I asked about review copies, including GR, having to dump their books for crazy low prices. Call it sour grapes, but it tickles me nonetheless.

I can tell you're delighting in your schadenfreude but the two things are really unrelated.

Wanting to sell off the last couple hundred books in a print run before a new edition makes them completely obsolete is unconnected in any way from whether or not those books received reviews. In fact, several of the titles we've been offering in our "d20 Apocalypse" sale are books that were widely and favorably reviewed in their day. Book of the Righteous was the number one reviewed book on EN World for thirteen straight months, for example. It is not for lack of reviews that we're having our sale.

My feeling is that the lack of interest companies began to show in having any some particular reviewers do reviews is connected to those individuals' online persona and behavior. I mean, I know you were so personally offended by one of our earlier Freeport books that you brought it up in every forum every time the subject came up for what, a solid year? If someone is so vociferous in their hatred for a product, what possible good can come of the company continuing to invite that person to heap abuse on them? Especially if the criticisms are subjective things, like art style or layout, or the level of humor or horror, or having an index versus a table of contents, or if the reviewer spends an inordinate amount of time obsessing about "text density" instead of the content of the book? It's in those moments that many, many companies decide not only is it not worth the effort, it may actually be flat out detrimental to keep offering up products for those kinds of reviews.

 

[jgbrowning]

Reviews are very useful to me. Many companies do review copies. Few accept unsolicited reviewers. Some recruit reviewers. Strangely, after doing favorable reviews of a product, I would get other products to review, even if the next review wasn't so favorable.

There's nothing strange in that.

Most publishers publish what they consider good products. If a reviewer agrees, they're more like to get another review copy. If the reviewer then disagrees with the publisher on the next product it's easy for a publisher to accept a difference of opinion as there is at least some shared opinion. If the balance shifts towards negative, a publisher realizes that either the reviewer is a moron ()or just has preferences that aren't congruent to what they publish.

The reality is that review copies are meant to create publicity and positive publicity at that. There's only so long a publisher will continue to create bad publicity for themselves via review copies to a reviewer who's more negative than positive on their products. Review copies cost a publisher time and money so there's a big disincentive to provide them when there is no return.

joe b.

 

[pawsplay]

I don't think most publishers care if the review is positive; they just want to make sure it's mostly accurate, that it generates interest, and the reviewer is addressing the demographic they are aiming for.

 

[Cyberhawk]

I think another issue is how many enquiries the companies received. I remember a pro (I forgot exactly whom at this point) mentioned on his blog about one of the bigger cons he went too. He mentioned how many people came up saying that they were reviewers in one form or another and that if he fulfilled those requests the entire shipment would be sent off.

If this was a common experience then that may have affected the companies' responses.