I definitely read and consider reviews. The best reviews, of course, explain why the reviewer liked or disliked the product, and what other well-known products are to his taste. Then I can compare and contrast my values and the reviewer's and get a good idea about whether I want to buy the product -- especially if I'm going to be buying it sight-unseen over the net.
Do you listen to reviewers?
- Thread starter JoeGKushner
- Start date
Acmite
First Post
In general I read only reviews on books I have at least some interest in already, and I haven't heard enough about to come to a decision.
I try to read most of Psion's reviews since he gives a nice overview so even if his review is negative or average, I have enough information to make a decision on my own.
Having said that, I usually agree with Psion's reviews. I purchased the Shaman's handbook by Green Ronin based on his review and subsequent conversation with him on the boards.
It was a very good choice. So, the one time I purchased a product based entirely on a reviewer's opinion, it was spot on!
I try to read most of Psion's reviews since he gives a nice overview so even if his review is negative or average, I have enough information to make a decision on my own.
Having said that, I usually agree with Psion's reviews. I purchased the Shaman's handbook by Green Ronin based on his review and subsequent conversation with him on the boards.
It was a very good choice. So, the one time I purchased a product based entirely on a reviewer's opinion, it was spot on!
JeffB
Legend
JeffB
Do I read them? Yup...
Do they influnece my purchases? Yup...
But not the way you think...
I have found that the vast majority of D20 reviews on this site and others focus on stuff I could care less about...mechanics..rules..extra feats...that kind of stuff..... I tend to stay away from those types of products....so they influence my decisions there most definitely!
I also find that my tastes are about as opposite as can be compared to the vast majority of the 3E/D20 internet community...so I take a poo-poo review as a sign to go check something out...generally I will like it...for example..everyone said how much Fast Forwards stuff "sucked"....I've always liked Jim Ward's material, so I went out, took a look at Treasure Quests, decided I could care less about what people were griping about, and found the book quite useful...Same with some reviews I had seen of the Star Wars D20 space Combat system (in the first edition)...people were complaining left and right..I bought the book, and liked the abstract combat system...When the Revised book came out and I read the new rules, it felt like I was reading a Star Fleet Battles rulebook...yet the majority of D20 SW fans love it..go figure...
I really don't care or think a product is poor when a company breaks a "rule" of the D20 system, yet so many reviewers rip a product apart for that...I don't get bothered when a feat or PRclass has a class requirement (instead of the "proper"BAB requirement) or if a undead creature has a constitution score... big deal...If it needs fixing I fix it, if not...so be it...As a DM I think the ideas presented are the most important thing..not the underlying rule/mechanic...
So the reviews definitely steer me away from the products I have no use for..or towards products I might just like...just in a different way...
Do I read them? Yup...
Do they influnece my purchases? Yup...
But not the way you think...
I have found that the vast majority of D20 reviews on this site and others focus on stuff I could care less about...mechanics..rules..extra feats...that kind of stuff..... I tend to stay away from those types of products....so they influence my decisions there most definitely!
I also find that my tastes are about as opposite as can be compared to the vast majority of the 3E/D20 internet community...so I take a poo-poo review as a sign to go check something out...generally I will like it...for example..everyone said how much Fast Forwards stuff "sucked"....I've always liked Jim Ward's material, so I went out, took a look at Treasure Quests, decided I could care less about what people were griping about, and found the book quite useful...Same with some reviews I had seen of the Star Wars D20 space Combat system (in the first edition)...people were complaining left and right..I bought the book, and liked the abstract combat system...When the Revised book came out and I read the new rules, it felt like I was reading a Star Fleet Battles rulebook...yet the majority of D20 SW fans love it..go figure...
I really don't care or think a product is poor when a company breaks a "rule" of the D20 system, yet so many reviewers rip a product apart for that...I don't get bothered when a feat or PRclass has a class requirement (instead of the "proper"BAB requirement) or if a undead creature has a constitution score... big deal...If it needs fixing I fix it, if not...so be it...As a DM I think the ideas presented are the most important thing..not the underlying rule/mechanic...
So the reviews definitely steer me away from the products I have no use for..or towards products I might just like...just in a different way...
BiggusGeekus
That's Latin for "cool"
I do, but I bear in mind that reading a product (what reviewers almost have to do) is not the same as playing it.
The classic example is 7th Sea (not the d20 version). It inolved a diced mechanic that had dice moving around the table a lot. The idea was to give the player the feeling of swashbuckling and likewise jumping about. However, it read like VCR instructions. So it got panned. But reviewers who went back and played it had a much funner time.
I also get nervous when I read a review that pans the flavor text but laudes the feats and prestige classes of a given d20 product. There's a lot of those out in circulation already. If the flavor text can't support the PrCs then I'll just pass. Along a similar vien, if the reviewer slams the production values of a product, I'll skip over that. Bad art won't break my game, bad rules will.
Of the reviewers, I read Psion's the most. I've read a lot of his posts and I typically have a good feel for where he's coming from. so I know what I'm getting into.
The classic example is 7th Sea (not the d20 version). It inolved a diced mechanic that had dice moving around the table a lot. The idea was to give the player the feeling of swashbuckling and likewise jumping about. However, it read like VCR instructions. So it got panned. But reviewers who went back and played it had a much funner time.
I also get nervous when I read a review that pans the flavor text but laudes the feats and prestige classes of a given d20 product. There's a lot of those out in circulation already. If the flavor text can't support the PrCs then I'll just pass. Along a similar vien, if the reviewer slams the production values of a product, I'll skip over that. Bad art won't break my game, bad rules will.
Of the reviewers, I read Psion's the most. I've read a lot of his posts and I typically have a good feel for where he's coming from. so I know what I'm getting into.
Voadam
Legend
I've picked up Mongoose's necromancy book because I'm interested in the subject matter and the reviews I read lead me to believe I would like it. Similar with Librum Equitis and Fey Magic.
I like reading the reviews, it gives a sense of what's out there from a non-ad perspective, I prefer in-depth reviews listing contents and what the reviewer found good and poor about the product and why they did.
For one of my reviews, the only commenter said he found it useful in deciding whether to purchase it or not, so that was gratifying.
I like reading the reviews, it gives a sense of what's out there from a non-ad perspective, I prefer in-depth reviews listing contents and what the reviewer found good and poor about the product and why they did.
For one of my reviews, the only commenter said he found it useful in deciding whether to purchase it or not, so that was gratifying.
Psion
Adventurer
And y'know what... that's great. I'll be the first person to admit that not everyone's values will line up with mine. But I do try to give you enough information that if you do have values different than mine you can still make a determination as to whether the product appeals to you.
Some "commenters" get all uptight if my final "number rating" disagrees with theirs. I consider the number ratings to be a weighting of some rather personal values in games, so one should not be surprised if what you want in a game product differs from what a reviewer wants and you have different perceptions of the product.
That said, I do think that there are some BS criteria that some reviewers levy in their reviews. Like complaining that a book that uses a standard D&D cosmology does not fit your very specific cosmology.
Psion
Adventurer
Anyway, from the other side of the fence, I am going to pick up NPC essentials tonight on GameWyrd's recommendation.
However, caveat emptor. It's always a good idea to get all the facts and understand the tastes and criteria that a given reviewer uses. I ordered something a while back based on a review, and was quite surprised that the book I got was quite a bit skinnier than I expected; for the price I expected something much larger and more substantial. I found myself saying "that's it?"
However, caveat emptor. It's always a good idea to get all the facts and understand the tastes and criteria that a given reviewer uses. I ordered something a while back based on a review, and was quite surprised that the book I got was quite a bit skinnier than I expected; for the price I expected something much larger and more substantial. I found myself saying "that's it?"
JeffB
Legend
A little Paranoid, aren't we? 
Psion, my cooment was not about you specifically, I regard your reviews highly. Not that I agree with you all or even a mjaority of the time, but I also do technical reviews of products in my main hobby (note my few casual ENworld reviews are admiitedly crap in comparison..more like a stream of conciousness moreso than a review) and I find that you do a very good job of the process of reviewing.
My comment regarding "broken" rules and whatnot was geared to the majority of internet reviews on D20 products, whether they are here by reviewers who are both "staff" and "non-staff", on RPG.net, SWRPGNETWORK, or a host of other sites.
JeffB
Psion, my cooment was not about you specifically, I regard your reviews highly. Not that I agree with you all or even a mjaority of the time, but I also do technical reviews of products in my main hobby (note my few casual ENworld reviews are admiitedly crap in comparison..more like a stream of conciousness moreso than a review) and I find that you do a very good job of the process of reviewing.
My comment regarding "broken" rules and whatnot was geared to the majority of internet reviews on D20 products, whether they are here by reviewers who are both "staff" and "non-staff", on RPG.net, SWRPGNETWORK, or a host of other sites.
JeffB
Psion
Adventurer
JeffB said:
Bet that as it may, you did mention things that I do complain about, e.g., CON scores for undead (I'd go so far to call it a pet peeve! Though the "automatically take 20" bit is becoming my new pet peeve, as it is showing up with as much regularity as the "undead with CON" used to.
)But it's not a death sentence to me. Jade Dragons and Hungry Ghosts got a 4 from me despite the "undead with con scores".
Wolfen Priest
First Post
As for me, I find reviews supremely useful. I'm not going to stand at the game shop and try to read an entire book, or figure out if the rules make sense (but don't get me wrong, I knew immediately that Rings of Power, among other d20 books, were not for me). Thus I read reviews. I'd dare to say almost every d20 product I've bought has been precluded by a review (ok, well maybe half 
~ I can afford to be a little impulsive).
Psion, I read your reviews almost to the exclusion of all others (I do read others, if they are reviewing a new product I'm interested in, of course); I also read Monte's, but he only gives one per month.
On the subject of 'grade-inflation' with regard to d20 products, yes, I really think there is some of that. It's almost gotten to the point (for me, anyway) that a product with a 4 is really not worth buying, unless it's something I really wanted.
~ I can afford to be a little impulsive).Psion, I read your reviews almost to the exclusion of all others (I do read others, if they are reviewing a new product I'm interested in, of course); I also read Monte's, but he only gives one per month.
On the subject of 'grade-inflation' with regard to d20 products, yes, I really think there is some of that. It's almost gotten to the point (for me, anyway) that a product with a 4 is really not worth buying, unless it's something I really wanted.
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