FastForwardGames & Reviews: The Confrontation

[philreed]

Why doesn't he stop? Every post he makes these days just digs the hole deeper.

The professional thing to do would be to move on.

But what the hell would I know about being a professional in the game industry? Hell, there are a few people who push my buttons just right and drive me insane.

 

[Leopold]

i wish there was an I am with stupid emoticon on this board. IF not just apply it to the above statement

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I would say that if one placed no credence in the criticism one sees on the internet, one should simply ignore it. Responding to it gives the impression one does, indeed, place importance on it.

 

[Dextra]

gotcha!

Why doesn't he stop? Every post he makes these days just digs the hole deeper.

That's because Jim Ward is the biggest troll ever, and everyone here is falling for it.
That's the only rational explanation I can come up with. The man is laughing at all of us. The guy gets his name mentioned on the front news page of the most popular d20 site every time he posts one of his 900word pieces. He can't actually be serious about what he's saying, it's too ridiculous for someone as intelligent as he claims to be, so it's a huge troll.

 

[Cergorach]

Re: gotcha!

That's because Jim Ward is the biggest troll ever, and everyone here is falling for it.
That's the only rational explanation I can come up with. The man is laughing at all of us. The guy gets his name mentioned on the front news page of the most popular d20 site every time he posts one of his 900word pieces. He can't actually be serious about what he's saying, it's too ridiculous for someone as intelligent as he claims to be, so it's a huge troll.

The other possbility is that he isn't as intelligent as he claims to be...

 

[Psion]

Re: Re: smileyed if you do, smileyed if you don't

Other designers act like its dirty pool to review their peers, but Monte does it all the time and it's fine.

Actually, Monte hasn't done many reviews lately, so "all the time" may be a bit of a reach.

That said, Monte isn't the only designer to review. Consider that Steven Creech is one of the lead reviewers with d20 magazine rack, and that Jeff Ibach of DMHaven has contributed to some AEG fantasy products. Reviewers like Justin Bacon grew into designers.

This isn't really all that surprising. Well heeled reviewers and designers have a lot of the same talents.

But this is not without problems. Conflict of interest is a constant bugbear. If you design games, are you really the one who should be critiquing your competitors? Some keep their competitive feelings in check. Some don't.

At any rate, an obvious and blatant conflict of interest is reviewing a product you wrote or playtested. Those aren't reviews. Those are promotions.

 

[Blacksad]

Re: Re: Re: smileyed if you do, smileyed if you don't

At any rate, an obvious and blatant conflict of interest is reviewing a product you wrote or playtested. Those aren't reviews. Those are promotions.

I challenge you to find a promotion from someone who playtested the ELH

 

[Bulletproof]

Re: gotcha!

That's because Jim Ward is the biggest troll ever, and everyone here is falling for it.
That's the only rational explanation I can come up with. The man is laughing at all of us. The guy gets his name mentioned on the front news page of the most popular d20 site every time he posts one of his 900word pieces. He can't actually be serious about what he's saying, it's too ridiculous for someone as intelligent as he claims to be, so it's a huge troll.

It does seem like he's trying to be controversial, particularly by his subtle references to ENWorld reviewers, just for the web site hits it generates. I had never been to his site before I saw it on the front news page.

Free advertising.

 

[jmucchiello]

Re: Re: Re: smileyed if you do, smileyed if you don't

But this is not without problems. Conflict of interest is a constant bugbear. If you design games, are you really the one who should be critiquing your competitors? Some keep their competitive feelings in check. Some don't.

This is why I don't do reviews. I'd like to review some things but I don't trust myself to keep certain biases in check.

 

[Turjan]

I like reviews that express at least a bit of emotion. Of course, the review has to get the facts straight, otherwise it isn't worth the time I need for reading. But a bit of a bias, if it's clearly denominated as such and explained, often helps more than a detailed but lukewarm discussion which leaves me with the impression that the reviewer just feels forced to fill another page about a product he couldn't care less about.

That said, I go with the notion that sees those "900 words" columns as free advertising. And as a simple customer I'm not really interested whether FFE products are OGL-compliant or not; this is nothing a player is concerned about and, therefore, this has nothing to do with the question if a product is good or bad, although I can see why other publishers get upset.

Of course, I want to know whether the products comply with the standard d20 rules, and that's why I consult reviews. Products that are clearly aimed at the standard D&D players but do not meet standard levels of power and treasure in D&D campaigns don't do it for me and, therefore, IMO deserve a lowered rating in reviews.

On the other hand, these personal attacks via websites and messageboards don't really affect my buying habits. It's more like a soap opera - it's nice to take a few looks while doing other things, slightly entertaining, but not really important. I bought "Orcfest", btw, for a friend who wants to start with D&D. But this one got good reviews .