Publishers and Reviews

[Crothian]

Do publishers read the reviews of thier products and the products of other peoples? Do you place any creadence in these reviews? Do you just read certain reviewers?

I'm just curious as I've started doing reviews and I've been reading more of them. They seem to be mostly geared to other gamers.

Thanks for your time.

 

[2WS-Steve]

I probably shouldn't, but I do read reviews of my products as well as others. It gives me an idea of what the customer wants and areas that need work in a book. I also like to try out experimental things in my books so reviews help me figure out which experiments worked which didn't.

I weight reviews by track record. I give more credence to reviewers who have posted a large number of reviews and who have a fairly even spread of rating assignments. 16-20% 5 stars or higher, perhaps up to 50% four stars or higher (though I'd like to see it down around 40%), and the rest being 3 or lower give me a better idea of how the reviewer feels about a book in relation to other books than more liberal scoring. That said, the text in a review by someone who hasn't yet established a track record can make a real difference in whether or not I'll pay attention to their reviews in the future.

I like it that the reviews here are written by gamers, for gamers. They convinced me to spend $40 on a big book about paladins, BotR , that I wouldn't have bought otherwise and now I'm looking forward to seeing it.

 

[MEG Hal]

I read reviews of my stuff and others as well. I NEVER review but like the gamer's perspective and check ENWorld's reviews daily and read/skim most titles that I own or may want to pick up. So yes read 'em all, so keep the reviews going.

 

[Crothian]

I read reviews of my stuff and others as well. I NEVER review but like the gamer's perspective and check ENWorld's reviews daily and read/skim most titles that I own or may want to pick up. So yes read 'em all, so keep the reviews going.

The reviews are populiar so I doubt they are ever going anywhere. I've participated in many threads talking about the reviews and I've noticed that it was mostly fans talking about them. So, I wanted to get some of the publishers opinions on them.

 

[Pramas]

I do read reviews, both of our stuff and that of other companies. It can be frustrating sure, but it's some of the most immediate feedback you get. It's also an easy way to keep up on the competition (since actually buying all those d20 products is not something a d20 publisher can afford!).

 

[Brian K. Moseley]

Hello,

I read every review that I see for Darkfuries products, and I read most of the reviews posted at ENWorld.

Reviews are an important avenue for consumer feedback. They help me, as a publisher, to design my products based upon what the consumer wants.

All the best,

 

[jmucchiello]

I was going to write something longer but all my points have been hit. Reviews make it possible to know what the other pubs are doing, get instant and detail feedback on my stuff, and when they're good they are satisfying.

 

[Mangrum]

Do publishers read the reviews of thier products and the products of other peoples?

I do, sure, both to get a feel for audience tastes and for the old fashioned reason -- to see what products I want to pick up as a DM. My "I'll buy one of everything to support the OGL/D20L concept" philosophy didn't last very long.

Do you place any creadence in these reviews?

Depends.

If I'm reading a review for someone else's product, then I do what everyone has to do with reviews: find a reviewer who expresses himself well and whose opinions are generally compatible with my own -- or at least are consistent enough for me to be able to reflect my take against theirs.

When I'm reading a review for one of my products, I'm generally looking for reviews that A) aren't swamped by the reviewer's prejudices and preconceptions, and B) don't mangle the facts.

Seeing a well-written, accurate review of something I've worked on is like getting a present -- even when the review is negative.

As soon as the reviewer starts mind-reading, however -- namely, telling me what I was thinking when I wrote the material or speaking on behalf of all gamers in general -- I tune out. These claims tend to be way off base about 95% of the time, at least from my point of view. In these cases, I suspect they're just projecting, which doesn't do me any good.

Do you just read certain reviewers?

I pay more attention to some than to others, yes, for the above reasons.

 

[Fearsome Monkey]

Review

I definitely read all the reviews, or at least those I can find. Personally I find them very helpful and have taken the comments to heart in the evolution of the company. I just wish reviewers would drop us an email when they post a review on one of our products. Some do, some don't. Since we like to link our product pages to the reviews (whether good or bad), I have to search the net to find them. EnWorld does a good job tracking many of them down for us (thanks guys) but they do miss a few. Anyway, sorry for the rant.


David K Hurd
MonkeyGod Enterprises
www.monkeygodenterprises.com

 

[der_kluge]

I write for MEG/TG and I read reviews of their products, and I also read reviews of competing products. As a writer, I find them valuable to see what people like/dislike about the stuff that I've worked on (to date, Bluffside, only so far). I had some input into Interludes, and appreciated the comments on those reviews as well.

Some of the reviews, I think, have to be taken with a grain of salt. Like, "I'm a huge fan of Scarred Lands, so imagine my surprise when I picked up _blank_. I love it!" You know they are probably going to be biased towards the product even before they review. So, there is certainly some of that out there. I respect the staff reviewers opinions quite a lot. There are a few other unbiased reviewers.

Since I am affiliated with MEG/TG it kind of slants my opinion towards those products, which is unfortunate, since I'd like to have an unbiased opinion. I usually view all other D20 companies as "the competition" rather than "more stuff for me to make my game great", so I could never entrust myself to write a partial review on anything. And, those things that I would review, would be things that I'd purchased so it would end up getting a good review by the nature that it'd already passed my in-store review.

But, I'm digressing.