Do reviews matter?

[pogre]

Reviewers - staff reviewers - are in kind of a tough predicament. Publishers send them free stuff with the hope of getting said material reviewed quickly. The most worthwhile reviews are those that come from play-testing. So the publisher wants a review that is fast and thorough (preferably playtested), while the reviewer has only so many hours in a day.

Having said all of that, good reviews do affect my purchasing decisions. It helps if I have some knowledge of the reviewer's background too. For example, Crothian does a great job as a reviewer, but our tastes do not match-up all that well. JoeGKushner, on the other hand, has gaming tastes that seem more similar to mine. Both are solid reviewers, but I give Joe's reviews more weight because of my individual preferences.

 

[bytor4232]

The only reviews that matter to me is my own personal review of the book. Before I buy ANYTHING I always go scope out a copy and look it over. Every time my purchasing decisions don't come down to the quality of the book, but rather the contents and if they will be useful to me.

Take the DMGII for example. Everyone LOVED that book, and thought it was the next best thing since the invention of sliced bread. I ran out and bought it, thinking 60 millions DND fans can't be wrong. Well, I found maby ONE good chapter that I could use, the rest was not useful to me. Was it a good book? Of course. Was I going to use it? Naa.

Its never a question to me as to if a book is good or bad, most of the time is weather or not I can use it. Take the Races series for example, I personally love each and every edition. I enjoy the insight into the minds of the Kobolds, Elves, Halflings, etc. Weather the books are good, or bad, is beyond my judgement call, they are just too valuable to me. The complete series, I simply never use them. Are they bad books? Heavens no, CW and CA are outstanding books, I just don't own them, because I would never use them.

Forgive my ranting, Just my 2c.

 

[Shadowslayer]

Yes. Yes they do.

None of the game shops around here carry much that isn't WOTC...but they can order it for you. Problem is, if you want to actually flip through it, you have to order it. And they won't get it in just for you to have a look. (not after the first time anyway)

The only clue I get as to what's in a non WOTC product is what I read here and on other review sites.

Of course I tend to go with reviewers who think in terms of playabilty and utility. Guys that spend 4 paragraphs talking about text density, margins, and art critique are not really helping me personally, though I know lots of guys seem to care about that stuff.

 

[Trickstergod]

When I was young and foolish, I paid little heed to a review before putting money down for a book. While I'm still a little young and foolish, it's not quite so bad.

Which is to say, I make it a point of reading a review before buying anything these days. If I can get my hands on a product beforehand, all the better. I don't believe in preordering, at the very least.

Although I favored Mutants and Masterminds for an upcoming superhero game I'll be running due to its d20 building blocks, I made sure to read a few reviews and look at a copy before buying it. Similarly, I'm not buying the new Justice League Heroes video game based off of the reviews.

Now, how much do reviews factor into a purchase? I dunno. I think a few people are a little too trigger happy to buy something blindly. But I make a point of reading reviews.

 

[JoeBlank]

I rely heavily on reviews for my RPG purchases.

For the first year or so of 3e, I was buying a lot on hype, and getting books they day they were released. Song & Silence cured me of that. Now I buy almost nothing until it has been out for months and I've seen reviews and/or read a good bit on EN World.

 

[Psion]

The only reviews that matter to me is my own personal review of the book. Before I buy ANYTHING I always go scope out a copy and look it over. Every time my purchasing decisions don't come down to the quality of the book, but rather the contents and if they will be useful to me.

Take the DMGII for example. Everyone LOVED that book, and thought it was the next best thing since the invention of sliced bread. I ran out and bought it, thinking 60 millions DND fans can't be wrong. Well, I found maby ONE good chapter that I could use, the rest was not useful to me. Was it a good book? Of course. Was I going to use it? Naa.

It's my beleif that a well written review should tell you enough about a product to make at least a preliminary judgement about whether it fits your tastes and needs. That's why, to me, the rating is a secondary goal, as that's mostly me applying my values to the book.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

I voted yes, but by reviews I mean both formal reviews and the aggregated opinions of the general population of these boards. The latter was crucial in my decision to buy Complete Psionic, since I found that there was probably going to be more good than bad. That impression has been confirmed, and I'm happy with my purchase. Generally, by giving weight to opinions I trust and good arguments for and against various things, I can get a good impression of the quality of a product. I actually prefer this to a formal review, because it involves a multiplicity of voices with different expectations. If a diverse crowd can agree that a book is or isn't good, it's a pretty reliable way to make judgements.

Of course, opinions change over time. Remember when everyone was saying that the warlock was overpowered? Or the mystic theurge? I'm wary of certain reactions from the mob. Calls of "broken" are usually things I want to evaluate for myself, unless someone can run the numbers to prove it.

 

[painandgreed]

Never bother with formal reviews. I rarely assume that reviewers tastes are similar to my own. I look at it in the store. Informal reviews by various people or friends whose opinions I trust, or repeated mentions in how it is a good product in certain situations will lead me to look at a product again or track it down.

 

[JustKim]

It depends on the review. The only reviews I really come away from feeling informed are those written by someone who felt strongly enough about the product to take time out from their lives and tell others about it. Semi-professional (staff) reviews often come off as phoning it in, and seldom have anything to tell me aside from the book's table of contents, in more words. It's a natural consequence of reviewing things involuntarily.

John Cooper goes too far in the other direction and likes to delve into things I can't bring myself to care about, like typos and whether a picture exactly matches a description. I wouldn't say anyone is a "favorite" reviewer because as soon as that person goes out of their way to review, their passion for any given product is going to drop.

 

[DaveMage]

Reviews do not affect what I buy.

They do affect how I use the products I buy.

For example, I use the John Cooper reviews for errata.