Grief over a review

[Morrus]

Gabapentin, was the review posted here at EN World, or elsewhere? If the former, I'd be gratified if you would drop me a quick email.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Playtesters have gotten heat for writing reviews for products they have playtested, for several reasons. The reasons vary, but after seeing the results I decided I won't officially review any products I've playtested.

A 3rd party sourcebook drew a lot of heat from these boards a couple of years ago, drawing reviews of one star and so forth. One of the reviews (a five star) came from one of the playtesters, and this was held up to be a very bad thing.

Of course, this company treated you terribly, IMO. (Next time, if you have to post a review, use another name.)

 

[Gabapentin]

To be clear, this isn't my normal ID (protect the innocent and all that).

I appreciate all the input, its making me feel a lot better. A couple points: I playtested the book in question. At the beginning of my review I clearly stated I was a playtester for the publisher. I know this really straddles the line of appropriateness, but I felt I could give an objective review. I really don't want to "out" the company because I think they put out really great product. The intent isn't to harm to company, I just don't know if I want to associate with them anymore due to what's occured.

Psion said "Fans can smell fawnishness. A positive but discerning review is far more credible that one that recognizes no error." Exactly, that's why I think I was actually a little harder on it than I normally would be. I figured if I fawned over it, as you say, no one would take the review seriously.

jerichothebard asked
1 - did you playtest the product that you playtested? No
2 - were you paid for playtesting any of their products, whether you reviewed it or not? (and by paid, I mean any form of compensation beyond the free playtest copy and your name in the credits) No
3 - Do you feel your review was unfair? No

DanMcS said: "What were they going to do if you didn't pull the review, kidnap your kitten and send you little tufts of fur taped to threatening notes?"
No, but as I said, I've already got a bit of a working relationship with them. I'm trying to get some writing work as well. I want to make it clear no overt threats were made regarding me pulling the review. It was mainly a guilt-trip.


Cergorach said "friends on the otherhand have the oppertunity to make an appology"
I thought of this person as a friend. However, their vehemence despite my attempts at explaination, really force me to question whether this is a two-way street.

Thanks again for your input.

 

[Gabapentin]

Gabapentin, was the review posted here at EN World, or elsewhere? If the former, I'd be gratified if you would drop me a quick email.

I'm sorry Morrus, but what's your email? I tried looking in your profile and couldn't find it. Thank you.

 

[Morrus]

I'm sorry Morrus, but what's your email? I tried looking in your profile and couldn't find it. Thank you.

Bottom of every page.

It's russ@en-world.freeserve.co.uk

Thanks, Gabapentin!

 

[Frilf]

DISCLAIMER: I am a publisher

Ok. With that out of the way, let me just say that we (as publishers) love 4/5 reviews! Any publisher that takes offense at less than a perfect score needs to wake up and smell the coffee!

Frankly, there have been precious few 5/5 reviews given on EN World at all (AFAIK), and those are reserved for the very cream of the crop - as they should be! To say we are extremely proud that one of our products garnered some 5/5 ratings is an understatement. We worked like dogs to make that product as good as it could be. However, 4/5 is also a great review.

I say: re-post the review and then notify this thread of where it is so we can go read it.

Nuff sed.

 

[HellHound]

I read the review in question.

With the CLEARLY indicated "I am a playtester for this company", I'll admit that I didn't put as much weight into your review as I would have otherwise.

However, the publisher's reaction was poor at best.

When I published my first product - the first negative review I got on RPGnow was from a close friend of mine. I didn't give him hell nor change our relationship over it. I just knew that he didn't like the product, just like I don't like his choice of colas. Nothing to raise a fuss over.

 

[Morrus]

Thanks for you email, Gabapentin.

I'm not surprised at the identity of the publisher in question - they have a history of exactly this behaviour with other reviewers.

The review has no been pulled, and will not be. It is not posted under "Gabapentin", though; Gabapentin changed his username so as to remain anonymous.

 

[jerichothebard]

To be clear, this isn't my normal ID (protect the innocent and all that).

Psion said "Fans can smell fawnishness. A positive but discerning review is far more credible that one that recognizes no error." Exactly, that's why I think I was actually a little harder on it than I normally would be. I figured if I fawned over it, as you say, no one would take the review seriously.

jerichothebard asked
1 - did you playtest the product that you playtested? No

errr, umm... I meant ask, did you playtest the product you reviewed, to which you already answered 'yes'...

yeah.

...
No, but as I said, I've already got a bit of a working relationship with them. I'm trying to get some writing work as well. I want to make it clear no overt threats were made regarding me pulling the review. It was mainly a guilt-trip.

which puts you in more of a difficult position. Personally, I would prefer to hire a writer who is capable of standing behind his own decisions and opinions, and also who has a discerning enough eye to give a less-than-perfect review, than one who just fawns over my work to get something from me.



jtb

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

... I've already got a bit of a working relationship with them. I'm trying to get some writing work as well...

In my opinion, you have a serious conflict of interest if this is the case. You should choose to do one or the other.

As an aside : My life experiences have taught me that people ultimately respect me MORE, not less when I stick to my convictions.

I'm not saying this is the company in question (I honestly don't know), but it serves just as well for an example anyway : I hate it when a product or a publisher, like Bottled Imp Games has an unreasonably high aggregate rating for their products. Fanboy reviews giving a perfect rating for slightly above average product do not serve the community well, or in fact the publisher in the long term, as dissapointed consumers who have had their expectations set too high do not become repeat buyers.