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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sir Whiskers" data-source="post: 395595" data-attributes="member: 6941">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, artwork3) 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 review5) a general recommendation, including the factors which influenced that recommendationFar 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.</blockquote>

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