I’d like to ask you a favor. The next time (or ideally every time) you buy an RPG product, leave a short review. You might not think your opinion is that important, or that a line or two on a Drivethrurpg review is any use. But I promise you, it really helps in a lot of ways.
For those of us creating the product (be they writing, art, editing, layout etc) seeing a review means we know someone actually read it, or at least had a flick through. We are all as guilty as each other of impulse buying, or grabbing a book for the one character class we might use. So even if sales figures show a product is popular, it’s not really a guide to whether anyone has read it, or liked it. Now I’ll grant you, the money is nice. Don’t stop buying games for god’s sake. But we make them for people to read and enjoy, and it’s much nicer to hear that’s going on.
In some cases you may have emailed the company to say how great a book is, or tell them how much it sucked. That isn’t a bad idea (done politely) and the company certainly needs to know what the customers think. But most of the writing and art team are freelance, so they never get to read these comments. We might hear from the boss that ‘people liked that last book’ or ‘lot of folks hated that adventure’ but only if we happen to catch up with them at a con or the like. For the most part, unless we see a review online, the writers and artists won’t have the faintest idea whether anyone liked it.
To illustrate the point, I used to run the Victoria line for Cubicle 7. We did see the odd review and that was cool, but only one or two. But when forums asked ‘what Victorian era RPGs do you recommend’ Victoriana barely got a mention. Sales seemed ok, so we carried on, but it did feel like no one was really playing the game. Maybe they were using the material for something else (although that’s cool). Sales were good enough to do a new edition and we sold a good pile to distributers. But a week afterwards one UK distributer made another large order. We quickly checked they’d actually had the original order, thinking they couldn’t possibly have got through that many books. But they had, people apparently loved the game and were extremely eager for the new edition. It seemed Victoriana was a game plenty of people played, just no one talked about!
In this way, feedback can sometimes make the difference between a line carrying on, or at least how it is prioritized. If people are talking about something, a company is going to assume that this is the game they want more of. Even if sales are good, you may think twice about pushing a product line that doesn’t seem to make much of a buzz.
For we freelancers, it’s a vital way to hear what we are doing right or wrong. You’ll notice I’m not asking just for good reviews. They are nice, but constructive criticism is also good. Reviews are one of the few ways we get to hear when we’ve hit the mark, or when we’ve not delivered what people want. We all play RPGs in different ways, and what may be obvious to one group may never come up for another.
In part, the lack of reviews for some products is due to the expectations we now have. The bar for RPG production is incredibly high these days. If you find a game with gorgeous art, great layout, clear text and inspiring writing you may well just think ‘yup, that’ll do’ and not think it needs further comment. It takes a truly incredible game to make people sit up and notice because RPGs are just so damn good. But even if we haven’t knocked your socks off, it’s good to hear we didn’t suck, or at least delivered to this standard.
Now, this applies less to the latest D&D book, Star Wars guide or Onyx Path supplement. The really big players do get noticed and their larger sales often ensure a few more reviews, although it’s not always the case. But small games from small companies sometimes get no reviews at all, and that is also a shame because those companies need it most. Reviews are advertising to a large extent. Even a bad review might intrigue someone to check out a product. For these games few people have heard of, reviews are a lifeline to spread the word and reach their audience, especially when they are competing with much bigger fish. When you are making a purchase, which game do you buy, the one with a couple of even just average reviews, or the one with none at all?
So, whatever you think of a new game, please remember to leave some sort of review. It only needs to be a couple of lines and those of us making games really appreciate it. Just tell us what you liked, maybe what you didn’t and what you think we missed. Not only does it help us improve the products we create, but it also allows a writer to know that out there, somewhere, someone at least read it and maybe even enjoyed it.
This article was contributed by Andrew Peregrine (Corone) as part of EN World's Columnist (ENWC) program. If you enjoy the daily news and articles from EN World, please consider contributing to our Patreon!
For those of us creating the product (be they writing, art, editing, layout etc) seeing a review means we know someone actually read it, or at least had a flick through. We are all as guilty as each other of impulse buying, or grabbing a book for the one character class we might use. So even if sales figures show a product is popular, it’s not really a guide to whether anyone has read it, or liked it. Now I’ll grant you, the money is nice. Don’t stop buying games for god’s sake. But we make them for people to read and enjoy, and it’s much nicer to hear that’s going on.
In some cases you may have emailed the company to say how great a book is, or tell them how much it sucked. That isn’t a bad idea (done politely) and the company certainly needs to know what the customers think. But most of the writing and art team are freelance, so they never get to read these comments. We might hear from the boss that ‘people liked that last book’ or ‘lot of folks hated that adventure’ but only if we happen to catch up with them at a con or the like. For the most part, unless we see a review online, the writers and artists won’t have the faintest idea whether anyone liked it.
To illustrate the point, I used to run the Victoria line for Cubicle 7. We did see the odd review and that was cool, but only one or two. But when forums asked ‘what Victorian era RPGs do you recommend’ Victoriana barely got a mention. Sales seemed ok, so we carried on, but it did feel like no one was really playing the game. Maybe they were using the material for something else (although that’s cool). Sales were good enough to do a new edition and we sold a good pile to distributers. But a week afterwards one UK distributer made another large order. We quickly checked they’d actually had the original order, thinking they couldn’t possibly have got through that many books. But they had, people apparently loved the game and were extremely eager for the new edition. It seemed Victoriana was a game plenty of people played, just no one talked about!
In this way, feedback can sometimes make the difference between a line carrying on, or at least how it is prioritized. If people are talking about something, a company is going to assume that this is the game they want more of. Even if sales are good, you may think twice about pushing a product line that doesn’t seem to make much of a buzz.
For we freelancers, it’s a vital way to hear what we are doing right or wrong. You’ll notice I’m not asking just for good reviews. They are nice, but constructive criticism is also good. Reviews are one of the few ways we get to hear when we’ve hit the mark, or when we’ve not delivered what people want. We all play RPGs in different ways, and what may be obvious to one group may never come up for another.
In part, the lack of reviews for some products is due to the expectations we now have. The bar for RPG production is incredibly high these days. If you find a game with gorgeous art, great layout, clear text and inspiring writing you may well just think ‘yup, that’ll do’ and not think it needs further comment. It takes a truly incredible game to make people sit up and notice because RPGs are just so damn good. But even if we haven’t knocked your socks off, it’s good to hear we didn’t suck, or at least delivered to this standard.
Now, this applies less to the latest D&D book, Star Wars guide or Onyx Path supplement. The really big players do get noticed and their larger sales often ensure a few more reviews, although it’s not always the case. But small games from small companies sometimes get no reviews at all, and that is also a shame because those companies need it most. Reviews are advertising to a large extent. Even a bad review might intrigue someone to check out a product. For these games few people have heard of, reviews are a lifeline to spread the word and reach their audience, especially when they are competing with much bigger fish. When you are making a purchase, which game do you buy, the one with a couple of even just average reviews, or the one with none at all?
So, whatever you think of a new game, please remember to leave some sort of review. It only needs to be a couple of lines and those of us making games really appreciate it. Just tell us what you liked, maybe what you didn’t and what you think we missed. Not only does it help us improve the products we create, but it also allows a writer to know that out there, somewhere, someone at least read it and maybe even enjoyed it.
This article was contributed by Andrew Peregrine (Corone) as part of EN World's Columnist (ENWC) program. If you enjoy the daily news and articles from EN World, please consider contributing to our Patreon!
