RPGNow paid reviewers

[Starglim]

But in reading a review, if the person doesn't specifically say they bought it or they got it for free; how can you tell which is which?

See, I don't believe you get things for free. Either the reviewer paid money, or he chose to spend time finding and downloading it and perhaps giving his attention to the vendor's product line (in either case he is a consumer) or the vendor provided him a copy in return for the expectation of valuable service (which is a different thing).

 

[Crothian]

To expand on this, there are at least two significant differences between a buyer and a (non-customer) reviewer.

• The buyer has chosen to seek out the product because she has a direct use for it in her game. This means she has a specific and positive expectation of what it ought to deliver, rather than what the author might have felt like writing.
• The buyer has every right to make a harsh response if she finds the product's value is inadequate, for whatever reason, where a reviewer has a somewhat more friendly relationship with the vendor. Again I absolutely don't refer to a financial relationship.

A buyer review is not better - in many cases they are biased and unfair - but it's a perspective that I find more useful.

Reviewers do at time seek out products they want. Just because a book was given to me does not mean that I didn't want. Most reviewers are gamers to, so the big new relkeases we have expectations on as well.

Why doesn't a reviewer have the right to a harsh review? My relationship matters not when I do reviews. There have been reviews that I ripped something specifically a good friend was responsible for in the book. Reviewers shouldn't let anything get in the way of an honest review.

 

[Vigilance]

It isn't better. But it would be a mistake to present the latter as the former.

The staff reviews will be marked as such, they will not be indistinguishable from customer comments.

But again, the reason the site is doing this is to generate more reviews. This is the reason I send my products to the staff reviewers here at ENW. I get more reviews if I do so than if I wait and hope they buy my latest Legends book.

And I think we can all agree that more reviews is better yes?

 

[Starglim]

But again, the reason the site is doing this is to generate more reviews. This is the reason I send my products to the staff reviewers here at ENW. I get more reviews if I do so than if I wait and hope they buy my latest Legends book.

And I think we can all agree that more reviews is better yes?

Certainly.

 

[philreed]

I feel that a review by someone that bought the product is always more useful than a review from a person that was given a product.

1. The person that bought the product has an interest in, and possible use for, the PDF.

2. The person that was given the product, in my experience, will usually write the review in order to get more free product. Whether or not it is a subject/game they have any interest in or knowledge of.

 

[jaerdaph]

As an RPGNow customer, I would prefer to see comments from actual customers only hosted on the RPGNow site. Comp copy and paid reviews should be clearly marked as such and only submitted to independent sites, like EN World and RPGNet. Otherwise, it has the appearance of conflict of interest.

Edit: But by all means, publishers selling on RPGNow should continue to link to outside reviews in their product description pages and in their press releases.

Just my opinion.

 

[Morrus]

One wonders why they link RPGnet reviews at the bottom of RPGnow products, but not ENworld reviews.

James mentioned it to me, but the technical stuff on this end was beyond me.

 

[jaerdaph]

Okay, I just noticed that people can now "rate" other people's comments at RPGNow as to whether or not they are useful.

I try to leave comments* as often as I can at RPGNet to provide feedback to publishers and let other customers know what I found useful in a product, but honestly, I'm not going to be inclined to do so anymore if I have to be "rated" now.

*EDIT: changed "reviews" to "comments", because these aren't reviews.

 

[jmucchiello]

Okay, I just noticed that people can now "rate" other people's comments at RPGNow as to whether or not they are useful.

I try to leave comments* as often as I can at RPGNet to provide feedback to publishers and let other customers know what I found useful in a product, but honestly, I'm not going to be inclined to do so anymore if I have to be "rated" now.

Amazon does this as well. It is very common practice to review the reviewer.

 

[jaerdaph]

Amazon does this as well. It is very common practice to review the reviewer.

I'm not a reviewer. I'm leaving comments.

And, no offense intended, you guys aren't selling anywhere near the volume that amazon does. Everyone's complaining they aren't getting enough reviews (or comments or whatever). Now you all have one less person saying anything.

Edit: If RPGNow wants to allow rating comp copy and paid reviewer reviews only, I have no problem with that.