A rant about D20 Magazine Rack

[Henry]

Why the heck do people value a rating score over the actual review, anyway? The review tells you the "meat and potatoes" of the actual product anyway, and one can usually tell from what a good reviewer says whether the product will be useful to you. If the review itself is honest and factual, then one shouldn't be surprised with the contents of the d20 product itself.

Speaking of which, I need to get into this "review game" myself, but I consistently have trouble logging in on the reviews section itself.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Eh. While I agree that d20 MR's ratings are a bit generous, I don't agree with this notion and think that some people bank WAY too much on the scoring system and don't think it should be the basis of removal of some creidible and insightful reviews.

That, perhaps, d20 MR needs to be split into its component reviewers is a bit more of a pressable point though.

I have posted MANY times as comments to individual reviews that D20 MR needs to break their reviews into different logins. I have been ignored every time and now when I bring it up I am accused of being a troll.

Gee, wonder why I dont want to go to THEIR forum to make my complaints.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Why the heck do people value a rating score over the actual review, anyway?

Simple.

How many people want to wade through every review reading it carefully to determine if that product might be what they want.

I read some reviews and when I get a feel for that reviewer I can make some rough estimates based on seeing what rating they give a product.

D20 MR kills this by giving a vast majority of products a "4" while at the same time lumping a dozen or so reviewers (all of course with their own biases and preferences) under the same review name.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

I usually try to stay out of potentially trolling insults, but when it involves an attack on myself, my site, or my staff, then you can bet I will get involved.

Don't feel a company is worthy of its average rating? Write a few reviews yourself giving them the scores you feel they deserve. Being a reviewer is much harder than most folks realize when you take into account how much time is spent writing one. Some feel that our presence on these review boards may unfairly skew the top 20 list or a company's rating. Since both scores come from an average, our reviews will really have little effect unless no one else reviews those products.

First you call me a troll.

Then you suggest people do something that is very specifically AGAINST the rules of product reviews. The rules very clearly state that a review is not to be put up if you are only doing it to offset what you think is a poor review from somene else.

 

[Ghostwind]

I read some reviews and when I get a feel for that reviewer I can make some rough estimates based on seeing what rating they give a product.

D20 MR kills this by giving a vast majority of products a "4" while at the same time lumping a dozen or so reviewers (all of course with their own biases and preferences) under the same review name.

The name of the reviewer is the first thing thing on the review itself. Are you saying that merely hitting the "Back" button after seeing a name of a person you don't like is too much effort?

First you call me a troll.

Then you suggest people do something that is very specifically AGAINST the rules of product reviews. The rules very clearly state that a review is not to be put up if you are only doing it to offset what you think is a poor review from somene else.

First off, I said "potentially trolling". I did not call anyone a troll. Secondly, when the title of the thread is "a rant about D20 Magazine Rack" it is a reasonable assumption that unkind things may be said. Thirdly, I am not suggesting you write a review to offset the score, I am saying that if you honestly feel it is a bad review you are more than welcome to post your own with the score YOU feel it deserves. I have seen on more than one occasion where certain individuals scream for the deletion of a review just because it doesn't meet their own conception of the quality of the product. EN World reviews are a community forum. You don't like the style of the reviews being presented? Then encourage more members to get involved and write reviews of their own. After all, the more reviews that are posted from a diverse selection of members, the better sampling you have of a product's overall quality.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

If the review itself is honest and factual, then one shouldn't be surprised with the contents of the d20 product itself.

Agreed!

Now if only all of the professional reviewers were attentive and diligent about their fact checking...


Wulf

 

[Henry]

How many people want to wade through every review reading it carefully to determine if that product might be what they want.

Only those who want to be absolutely certain that the product they buy is one that they will use.

In my experience, no reviewer hits a mark 100 percent of the time, especially in their estimation of a product. The most important ability of a reviewer is to factually report the content that is there, and how useful said content would be for not only their style of campaign, but others' as well. I've never seen a score system, not even d20MR's, that can accurately reflect the usefulness of a product. However, seeing a reviewer take the time for explicit descritpion of the types of material included gives the reader the knowledge they need for a product.

A score of "4" or "2" or "5" does not automatically tell me that a product focuses on warrior-type rpestige classes, or that the classes in question are very high-powered compared to the classes in the core rules; or that the publisher's new rules on warfare are very skimpy and do not give you enough to fully stat out an army and play engagements. Only be reading the review itself does the reader get a true feel for the product on a case-by-case basis. It does not even take reading pages of reviews: Just reading one or two fully detailed reviews can give the reader the opposing opinions needed to determine if such a product is right for him or her.

 

[Darkness]

Henry & others:

If the number ratings don't count for much, and can be freely ignored (or randomly assigned) by reviewers and readers, why use them at all?

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Agreed!

Now if only all of the professional reviewers were attentive and diligent about their fact checking...


Wulf

Yeah, then maybe we won't see books on dwarves get plinked in reviews because they are too dwarvish.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Yeah, then maybe we won't see books on dwarves get plinked in reviews because they are too dwarvish.

Heh... Well, that's not what I'm talkin about but, yeah... I suppose naming the series DWARVES, HALF-ORCS, ELVES, etc. could be a bit misleading to the buyer...

Seriously though, I think (I hope) that after three books, most of the reviewers are on board with what the series is all about.

I just hate to see a reviewer pull a fact to support a particular criticism, and then proceed to get the facts wrong. Drives me up the wall.


Wulf