Publishers and Reviews

[sotterraneo]

"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 not a publisher, just a reviewer (and a retailer) but I thought it could be useful give some ideas from the 'other side'.

I read reviews, yes, but I'm always careful about the place where I read my reviews. For example, if I should read now a review about a Fast Forward product in the pages of Games Unplugged magazine or any advertiser's products, I'd not trust such a review for obvious reasons. Ditto for Game Trade Magazine
with its "Buy! Buy! Buy! Cool! Cool! Cool!" tone. I place much more trust in reviews in places such as RPG Net or Enworld because, simply, it's hard to 'buy' them (I hope!) and reviews are written by fans that, having bought the products reviewed and so invested personally, have a deep committment to describe, analyze and if needed criticize a product.

Various years ago I did a lot of reviews 'on request'. I had a dream about becoming a professional writer, so I chased every writing gig I could find - reviews included. I actively contacted Italian and US publishers for review copies, too. But my reviews often were a product of the need to write, not about a real interest in the products themselves. More, my policy about not being too 'rude' with publishers imposed a sort of 'auto-censure' to avoid being blacklisted so losing possibile writing avenues and free review copies. My harsh reviews were so 'reserved' for minor publishers...

Yes, I had the psyche of a real journalist 8-]

Now, it's different. I have another job in the gaming industry, retailing, so I am free from the obsession about chasing writing gigs and being 'blacklisted'. The only 'professional' work I do beside retailing is translating, for the pleasure of it and the need to better protect Italian language from some horrors I have seen in certain books... More, owning and managing a retail store gives me a lot of feedback about products from paying customers: this is a really valuable input in my opinion, not always right but surely useful.

More, when I now write a review it's only because I have bought a product for personal interest. I don'ask for review copies (the magazine, www.kaosonline.it does, but we are separate operations) so I'm free to write anything I want. Surely I'll not be always right (but a review is an opinion, after all), but I have no qualms in stating my opinions and defending them from authors (I remember a brief discussion with Phil Masters, a British author I respect a lot, trashing my GURPS Atlantis review on RPG Net and my defense of the review itself).

Just my two Eurocents

 

[Frilf]

I read and enjoy reviews about our products and other folks' products. I especially like the staff reviews here on EN World and the folks over at GameWyrd. They tend to have fair and balanced reviews for the most part. (All except for that Joe G Kushner guy, he's just plain mean - or so I've heard )

Cheers!
Ian

Obvious Disclaimer for the Humour-Challenged: Joe isn't really mean. That was a joke. Ha ha

 

[ced1106]

I'd like to see more roleplaying game designers review their own products on RPGnet ( www.rpg.net ). RPGnet is unusual in that the reviewers are "amateurs", namely, non-staff gamers. As a result, RPGnet has, AFAIK, one of the largest databases of reviews, sometimes multiple reviews of the same product, and, unfortunately, a variable quality in reviews. (Same applies to BoardGameGeek for German-style boardgames.) RPGnet also allows designers et al. to review their own games; in submitting the review, the designer checks a box mentioning that he is the designer.

The style of an RPGnet review focuses primarily on product content. Considering that most marketing blurbs for a product are but a paragraph long, that's fine with me. A review by a designer also allows him to add designer notes, which some gamers enjoy reading. A review is also accompanied by a forum, which allows gamers to ask questions about the product (or even critique the review!).

FWIW, I'm a regular reviewer on RPGnet, and am looking for good introductory low-level d20 adventures, as well as city settings. Feel free to email me at ced1105(at)aol(dot)com if you have a product you'd like reviewed!


Cedric.
aka. Washu! ^O^

 

[Sir Whiskers]

To your question, yes, publishers read reviews of their products. While I only work with one publisher, I suspect a majority watch for reviews of their work and read all of them. From what I've seen, however, many reviews are of no use to publishers.

To be fair, we need to keep in mind that reviews are written for the benefit of the (potential) consumer, not the publisher. The reviewer's primary audience will be those individuals considering a purchase, and information which helps them make good buying decisions are always valued. This same feedback can be helpful to a publisher, but usually in a tangential manner - for instance, if a review says that the product desperately needs an index, a smart publisher will listen.

For the buying public, a good review will include the following elements:
1) an overview of the product - what is the product's purpose (new spells, new races, etc.)
2) analysis of the product's presentation - appearance, readability, organization, artwork
3) analysis of the material, the "crunchy bits" - how useful, original, usable, accurate, etc.
4) a specific example of the use of the material - show the audience that the reviewer actually tried to use the material, instead of just skimming the manual and writing a review
5) a general recommendation, including the factors which influenced that recommendation

Far too many reviews skip most or all of the above, consisting of simply "This sucks" or "This rocks", both of which are useless to reader and publisher alike.

For the publisher, a reviewer can include further information:
1) a discussion of problems encountered in using the product, e.g., not being able to find necessary information because the product was badly organized and lacked an index; inaccurate examples of npc's, monsters, or combat; or applying the 3E rules incorrectly.
2) any problems encountered in acquiring the product, e.g., the file size is too large, or the server kept resetting (for downloads), smeared text or difficult-to-use maps/handouts (for print).

Many publishers who distribute via the web can easily incorporate fixes to their products, if the reviewer takes the time to point them out. In this manner, a reviewer can not only help other gamers make good buying decisions, but also improve actual products. Of course, publishers should catch all those problems before an item goes on sale, but things do happen, and we don't live in a perfect world. If a publisher continues to have the same problems in future products, by all means, include that in your review.

One last suggestion for reviews - proofread, proofread, proofread. I've lost count of the number of reviews I've read where it is obvious the author never bothered to check his own work. Anything which detracts from the substance of the review reflects badly on the reviewer and, by extension, the review. If the reviewer can't take the time to proofread his own review, why should I assume he's put in the effort to actually use the product he's reviewing?

Hope this helps a bit - I look forward to reading your review of any product I'm involved with.

 

[Crothian]

Hope this helps a bit - I look forward to reading your review of any product I'm involved with.

What company and products are you involved with? I enjoy doing reviews and I'm more then happy to try to review products when asked. I've had two publishers ask for reviews, so while my style is still a little rough I like to think people are reading them.

 

[Frilf]

Crothian,

Sir Whiskers works with Silverthorne Games (i.e., with us) and is a fine editor and friend (he asked us to respond, so that's why you're hearing from me, BTW). We'd love to have you review our products. Drop me an email and we'll make arrangements to get the goods to you.

Have a great one!
Ian

 

[Crothian]

Crothian,

Sir Whiskers works with Silverthorne Games (i.e., with us) and is a fine editor and friend (he asked us to respond, so that's why you're hearing from me, BTW). We'd love to have you review our products. Drop me an email and we'll make arrangements to get the goods to you.

Have a great one!
Ian

That would be great. What's your e-mail address?

 

[Dextra]

teensy rant

I read the reviews. They're a great way of gauging what we did right, what we did wrong. Many of the comments get taken into consideration when we create our errata. As a primarily Internet based publisher, the online community's opinion of us incredibly important.

Two pet peeves, though:
1. Reviewers not posting any potential bias or conflict of interest up front, for example, I work for company X, or I hate Splatbooks. It's dishonest and doesn't give the reader an accurate and complete picture of the product.
2. What really gets my goat is reviewers taking free product and then not reviewing product in a timely manner.
Yes, I know we're all busy.
But what's the point of me handing out a free copy of a book the week it is released, only to have it reviewed six months later? Or having the copy of the book I gave to a reviewer get lost?

As a consumer, if I want to buy a book, dagnabbit, I want to read reviews on it as soon as it comes out, or at least within a month of its release.
As a publisher, if I'm going to give away free stuff, I'd like to see a return on the investment. I don't expect glowing reviews just because I gave out free stuff. I expect glowing reviews because the product rocks. But I'd like to see a review appear soon enough to impact sales.

 

[Crothian]

Those are good points. I'm trying to review more of the newer stuff. I have been sent one pdf to review and that went near the top of the list. I had promised another author I'd get to his book a while ago, so was already obligated to that. So, I'm not even a staff revieweror anything like that and I already have a backlog, athough not a very large one. I can't imagine what would be on Psions or Simon Collins to be reviewed list.

 

[Krug]

*sniff* but what about poor ole me?
Actually I approached a publisher and he gave me a hard time. I then went ahead, bought his product, and ended up liking it so much I gave it a very good review. Irony.