D&D 5E Justin Alexander's review of Shattered Obelisk is pretty scathing

[Retreater]

No, his opinion is as valid as anyone else's. It just concerns me the number of people who treat his opinions like Word of God. Not his fault, but Cult of Personality is always harmful.

We used to live in a culture where expert opinions were respected, where scientists were listened to, where critics told us the best movies to go see.
Now, every voice is equal - regardless of how informed they are (or are not).
For me, when a critic has a very successful blog, is asked to write articles for major publications, and basically created the treatise on modern dungeon design, I listen to the guy about issues in gaming. I read his articles about how to improve other adventures (such as Rime of the Frost Maiden). When he goes through an adventure and rates it an F - and suggests there is essentially nothing worth saving - I listen to the guy.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

We used to live in a culture where expert opinions were respected, where scientists were listened to, where critics told us the best movies to go see.
Now, every voice is equal - regardless of how informed they are (or are not).
For me, when a critic has a very successful blog, is asked to write articles for major publications, and basically created the treatise on modern dungeon design, I listen to the guy about issues in gaming. I read his articles about how to improve other adventures (such as Rime of the Frost Maiden). When he goes through an adventure and rates it an F - and suggests there is essentially nothing worth saving - I listen to the guy.

I'm a scientist.

 

[Sparky McDibben]

I'm a scientist.

What's your field? (Personally curious). However, I believe the point Retreater was making was that expertise in a given field weights how they receive that person's opinion. So you being a scientist is irrelevant to the topic under discussion (unless your field is game design).

 

[Paul Farquhar]

What's your field? (Personally curious).

Astrophysics.

I'm actually a teacher now though, which is why I'm so keen to encourage people to think for themselves rather than listen to the latest trendy guru.

 

[mamba]

Was it not hibernating yesterday?

I guess we will never know, the text certainly does not mention it.

The hydra is just a sideshow anyway, this is not about the one hydra for me, it is about a design principle

If players ask about how it's managed to survive, the DM can make up any explanation in a matter of seconds. Chances are, the players won't ask. It's fantasy, the fantastic happens all the time.

if I need to make up and fix half the adventure myself to make it coherent, then what did I pay money for. That is what this is about, not one hydra, I already did not care about the hydra in my earlier posts, so if you want to focus on that, I am not interested

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

We used to live in a culture where expert opinions were respected, where scientists were listened to, where critics told us the best movies to go see.
Now, every voice is equal - regardless of how informed they are (or are not).
For me, when a critic has a very successful blog, is asked to write articles for major publications, and basically created the treatise on modern dungeon design, I listen to the guy about issues in gaming. I read his articles about how to improve other adventures (such as Rime of the Frost Maiden). When he goes through an adventure and rates it an F - and suggests there is essentially nothing worth saving - I listen to the guy.

I understand the point you're trying to make, but I don't know that 'a critic has a very successful blog' necessarily translates into 'that critic knows what he's talking about, always'. There are many reasons a blog can be successful, not all of them to do with mastery of the subject. Same with your other points.

If we're going to apply the scientific method, let's do it properly...

 

[delericho]

We used to live in a culture where expert opinions were respected, where scientists were listened to, where critics told us the best movies to go see.
Now, every voice is equal - regardless of how informed they are (or are not).
For me, when a critic has a very successful blog, is asked to write articles for major publications, and basically created the treatise on modern dungeon design, I listen to the guy about issues in gaming. I read his articles about how to improve other adventures (such as Rime of the Frost Maiden). When he goes through an adventure and rates it an F - and suggests there is essentially nothing worth saving - I listen to the guy.

You need to be careful with that, though - there's a gap between "listen to the guy" and simply accepting his judgement. The latter quickly becomes an Appeal to Authority.

I learned a long time ago that "critic" basically just means "someone who is paid for their opinion". Some critics are good at their job, some are bad - and there are even some that were good that I found I consistently disagreed with (because what they were looking for was simply at odds with what I wanted).

So while I respect JA's opinion, and indeed while it has been the thing to finally move me from 'maybe' to 'no' on this product, I'd still not recommend taking his word as gospel.

 

[mamba]

I generally treat dungeons like time travel movies: if you step back and think about them they just never make sense, better to just enjoy the ride!

I cannot switch my brain off entirely, so if something falls under a certain threshold it gets noticed and is detrimental. Funhouse dungeons generally do not work for me for example

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

You need to be careful with that, though - there's a gap between "listen to the guy" and simply accepting his judgement. The latter quickly becomes an Appeal to Authority.

I learned a long time ago that "critic" basically just means "someone who is paid for their opinion". Some critics are good at their job, some are bad - and there are even some that were good that I found I consistently disagreed with (because what they were looking for was simply at odds with what I wanted).

So while I respect JA's opinion, and indeed while it has been the thing to finally move me from 'maybe' to 'no' on this product, I'd still not recommend taking his word as gospel.

This is the way to treat an expert opinion in a field IMO.

 

[mamba]

I'm a scientist.

with a degree in dungeon design?