A little thing called Generating Reviews.

[TheLe]

Hey, a 3/5 says you did OK.

Of course, if I'm next on his list, I feel like Peter Parker in the first Spider Man movie where he's walking up to the wrestling cage with Bonesaw, and they're escorting the previous wrestler on a stretcher, while he screams "My legs! I can't feel my legs!"

Yes, it was 3/5, but I personally have never been a fan of a final ratings system.

While customers will appreciate 3/5 final rating, the actual text of the review feels more like a 1/5.

I am far more concerned with the core message the review gives rather than the final rating. Sure, a 5/5 would be great, but I want to know why a book should be 5/5.

`Le

 

[Crothian]

I'll give you a million ruples if you send my books to someone other than the one that reviewed Unorthodox Fighters.

Man, it was brutal.

But, I guess that is the price for sending review copies. Take the good with the bad. And I guess it was fair enough.

But man, it was brutal.

~Le

Just to let you know, products goto reviewers based on what the need is and what they like. I can't be limiting who gets what based on if they were tough on your product or not. However, the idea is that different reviewers will get products from the different publishers so while one reviewer might be a bit harsh, another can easily be more favorible.

 

[Jdvn1]

I'll give you a million ruples if you send my books to someone other than the one that reviewed Unorthodox Fighters.

Do you even have a million ruples to give?

 

[philreed]

I am far more concerned with the core message the review gives rather than the final rating.

The review seemed well-written and balanced to me. Do you feel the review was innaccurate in any way?

I'm not seeing anything there that would make me even consider not asking that reviewer to review my products again. He obviously read the material and thought things through. I prefer guys like that writing reviews of my products to someone that gives a 5-star review with no real meat.

 

[Cathix]

I prefer guys like that writing reviews of my products to someone that gives a 5-star review with no real meat.

Exactly. With so many pdf's to choose from out there, I look at a review as a more in-depth preview for potential customers.

There's a risk a reviewer might see something with his or her 'fresh eyes' that you or your editor missed, but that's also another opportunity to then fine-tune the product and re-release it.

 

[TheLe]

Just to let you know, products goto reviewers based on what the need is and what they like. I can't be limiting who gets what based on if they were tough on your product or not. However, the idea is that different reviewers will get products from the different publishers so while one reviewer might be a bit harsh, another can easily be more favorible.

I know. I was kidding about the ruples. I trust your judgement concerning who you send out your reviews too. I also fully accept the final judgement that was given to U.fighters. I may not totally agree with his review, but I do find that overall it was fair.

I guess it was the little things that bothered me, like "non-standard save progressions are a personal bugbear of mine", and " particularly noticeable due to how many classes got abilities that allowed them to ignore the AoO rules entirely". My own personal feeling is that the reviewer would have prefered a cookie-cutter fighter book that is very close to the original fighter with only 1 or 2 modifications. Or maybe something closer to the Quintessential books. Whereas the whole point of the Unorthodox Series is to take a core class and twist and bend it to make it more interesting, even if it means breaking the rules a bit. I dunno. My biggest concern is that all the unorthodox books uses non-standard progression charts and has little things that breaks the normal rules. In other words, why send someone to a horror movie knowing that they hate horror movies?

I dunno. And frankly I don't care. It's still a hell of alot better than the jack ass who said, "Negatives: it's a d20 book." I'll take Capellan's review over that any day.

A review is still a review, and getting any of those at all is gold in my book. By all means, send him more of my books. I trust your judgement. And frankly, I trust his judgement too.

~Le

 

[TheLe]

Do you even have a million ruples to give?

I dunno. Isn't that like .50 US cents?

 

[MonsterMash]

Let me just say that what Crothian does is nothing short of remarkable. Amazing, really. Publishers should really what he does it an awful lot of work, for basically little reward.

At least in my experience, PDF reviewing is very tricky, because you have to spend tons of time at the computer - both for reading the product, and writing the review. Print stuff, you can at least read in bed or while sunbathing or at least, not being glued to a screen. (Even if he has a laptop, it's still quite a lot of computer time)


(No real point to this posting, other than y'all should really apreciate him. I've been working on some PDF reviews I somewhat foolishly agreed to do, and I'm quite late on them because these days I spend most of the day outside, enjoying the summer, and when I'm in with the computer, I'd rather either browse the net or play a computer game. Thus my admiration for Crothian. I don't think most people realize quite how much effort is involved.)

I usually do most of the review of a pdf by printing a hard copy to do the majority of the reading from - just use the pdf for things like screen clarity, bookmarks, cut and paste restrictions, etc.

I could probably do about one pdf review per month starting from August as that means I can get the couple I'm trying to complete out of the way.

 

[philreed]

My biggest concern is that all the unorthodox books uses non-standard progression charts and has little things that breaks the normal rules. In other words, why send someone to a horror movie knowing that they hate horror movies?

This took me some time to comprehend and fully understand when I first started designing D20 supplements. The point is that there are standard progressions for a reason -- game balance -- and it's learning to work within those standards to create a new, original product that is a challenge. A lot of phrasing and core systems in D20 are standardized and sticking to those standards is something a lot of customers are looking for when they buy a new product.

It gets back to the entire "mastery of the system" issue that has made D20 products more difficult to write for those that really know the game (and who tend to be the ones most likely to buy PDFs, in my experience).

This is probably something that should be its own thread.

 

[Jdvn1]

I dunno. Isn't that like .50 US cents?

Not after tax!