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

[DEFCON 1]

the price might be too high for that however, and if they want me to just take set pieces and run with them, there are better formats for that

Absolutely. The Obelisk book is $60, and so quite easily might not be worth it to you if you only find some parts useful. Especially if you already own Lost Mines (as that is half the book duplicated).

My comment was more in the general sense where posters who make the "What am I paying for?" complaint seem to imply with their statements that nothing is worthwhile in a product if they have to make any changes whatsoever. Which is what I was arguing against, as I find that repetitive complaint too easy for people to just throw out there like it has any meaningful weight. A little more nuance is more meaningful and doesn't make them sound as sniffy (or whiny, if I'm being too uncharitable.)

 

[Charlaquin]

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.

Think for yourself, absolutely. Also, listen to others’ perspectives. And when trying to make a purchasing decision, read reviews from multiple sources with diverse preferences, and pay attention to what they say they like and dislike and why, and compare these takes to your own preferences.

That’s what we’re doing here, regarding Justin Alexander’s review. If your tastes differ from his, or if you think something he asserted in his review is inaccurate, please share. If all you have to contribute is “think for yourself!!” you’re not bringing anything new to the table. That’s what we’re already all trying to do.

 

[Charlaquin]

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.

Who exactly is taking his word as gospel? I have seen a lot of people express concern about this, and no one express that they’re actually doing so.

 

[darjr]

Who exactly is taking his word as gospel? I have seen a lot of people express concern about this, and no one express that they’re actually doing so.

There are a couple few early on in the thread. At least it seems as if they do.

 

[Parmandur]

Think for yourself, absolutely. Also, listen to others’ perspectives. And when trying to make a purchasing decision, read reviews from multiple sources with diverse preferences, and pay attention to what they say they like and dislike and why, and compare these takes to your own preferences.

That’s what we’re doing here, regarding Justin Alexander’s review. If your tastes differ from his, or if you think something he asserted in his review is inaccurate, please share. If all you have to contribute is “think for yourself!!” you’re not bringing anything new to the table. That’s what we’re already all trying to do.

On that front, it is worth noting that thime review is riddled with falsified, either based in ignorance of the text or malice. I will give him the benefit of the doubt and assume thwt he is not a careful reader or writer...which is why I don't normally pay him any attention, because this is basically my experience of everything he has written.

 

[Parmandur]

Who exactly is taking his word as gospel? I have seen a lot of people express concern about this, and no one express that they’re actually doing so.

Taking his word as Goapel is strong, bit people should be aware that the review is incorrect on basic points of fact.

 

[Clint_L]

I'm currently playing through it with my beginner campaign, but so far we are still in the original starting area which is pretty much the same as before, except with a few added teases that something is up with some weird looking goblins. And some of the encounters are written as slightly tougher, but much as with any published adventure you always wind up tweaking the encounters to suit the size of your party, so that doesn't matter much.

My main feedback thus far is that it is great to have all the maps integrated onto DDB!

 

[Yalım]

It feels draining, reviewing something like this. No wonder Bryce is so mad all the time. And Alexander has been positive on other WotC products like Radiant Citadel.

For what it's worth, I'm a huge fan of your reviews. Gitp scrubbing them is actually what got me to dig up my old enworld account.

I was recently talking with another RPG reviewer who told me that they didn't want to write negative reviews: You don't feel good, you give the author bad press in an industry that's mostly fighting over pennies, and you invite the ire of a lot of angry fans (see: the mod warning just a few posts up). It's just not worth it, so some reviewers stick to praising the release or just don't say anything at all. And while I get that, it also suuuuucks as a potential buyer that these folks are incentived to release uncritical, surface-level reviews, because I can't actually use them. What good is a reviewer if they never grade something below a 3 out of 5? (looking at you, IGN...)

All this to say, I'm grateful to have folks who are willing to be critical, to give those 1, 2, and 3-star reviews when they think it's appropriate. So I really appreciate what you do.

 

[Zaukrie]

Next up- Justin Alexander reviews White Plume Mountain.

WHAT IS THIS???!!?!?? F------.

I don't love the guy, like I said earlier, I'm 50/50 on him.....but haven't dungeon designs changed over the last 30 years, and aren't our expectations different? When I read ENWorld, that's what I see.....but maybe that's me only remembering certain things posted here.

I agree with an earlier poster, a review is one person's opinion, and if you use reviews you should search out more than 1 (unless somehow you find a reviewer you agree with a lot).

The old and new adventures aren't tied together at all. There were so many ways to do so, and none of them were taken. That's a massive miss for me. The changes to the old stuff make it more deadly at low levels, which from what I read is not great for most tables. The new stuff is lacking something, but that's mostly fluff/story/story decision, not design issues, so that's a matter of opinion and I'd have to write a long review to discuss that.

I'll say this, the reviewer sure brings out strong opinions and feelings for some people!

 

[Umbran]

I guess we have different expectations for adventures, also it is one thing if I want to make changes vs when I have to

In the context of an entertainment game product, "have to" is merely a "want to" that's on the road to hyperbole.