Unpopular Opinion: People Shouldn't Review Adventures They Haven't Run

[R_J_K75]

5 star reviews are the ones paid for by the seller. 1 star reviews are the ones who couldn't figure out how it worked or ordered the wrong thing. 2-4 star reviews are the ones that actually tell you something about the product.

I dont put much stock in any of them because I dont know who these people are. I saw something on the news regarding people being paid for reviews. Are these 3rd party sellers paying people for 5 star reviews, heres $5 to review the Knit Wit or the Amazing Popeet?

 

[Morrus]

I dont put much stock in any of them because I dont know who these people are. I saw something on the news regarding people being paid for reviews. Are these 3rd party sellers paying people for 5 star reviews, heres $5 to review the Knit Wit or the Amazing Popeet?

What do you mean by 3rd party sellers in this context?

 

[R_J_K75]

What do you mean by 3rd party sellers in this context?

Sometimes Amazon has 3rd party sellers that advertise their product and they either do their own selling and shipping or it is sold by a 3rd party seller but shipped by amazon. Similar to how Noble Knight Games sells through ebay at times.

See here. Sold by Energy Electronics and fulfilled by Amazon

 

[Morrus]

Sometimes Amazon has 3rd party sellers that advertise their product and they either do their own selling and shipping or it is sold by a 3rd party seller but shipped by amazon.

I’m sorry, I can’t quite parse that sentence. 3rd party sellers whose products are sold by 3rd party sellers but advertised by a third party seller? What does 3rd party mean in this context?

 

[R_J_K75]

See the picture in my last post.

Sometimes when Ive ordered off Amazon it says under the add to cart button "sold and fulfilled (shipped) by 3rd party seller", or "sold by 3rd party seller and fulfilled (shipped) by Amazon. Im sure in either case Amazon takes a percentage of the sale, and Amazon Prime and shipping times and rates may or may not apply. Sorry if Im not more clear but I cant really think of any other way to explain it. Might be an option only when you order from the States.

 

[macd21]

I’m sorry, I can’t quite parse that sentence. 3rd party sellers whose products are sold by 3rd party sellers but advertised by a third party seller? What does 3rd party mean in this context?

A 3rd party seller is someone who sells something via an online trader (usually Amazon), but is not actually Amazon. So you (the consumer - the 1st party) go to Amazon (2nd party) to buy a Widget-3000. Amazon links you to 4 sellers of Widget-3000s. Each of those is a 3rd party seller. Amazon is basically advertising their products and facilitating the sale for a cut of the profits.

I think the problem being alluded to above is that those sellers sometimes arrange for their product to be spammed with loads of fake 5-star Amazon reviews.

 

[S'mon]

Playtest reviews are definitely more useful, but I don't think non-playtest reviews are completely useless.

The usual problem I find is that non-playtest reviewers tend to be overly influenced by:

The company's existing reputation & their opinion of it.
Surface patina, eg art

And they miss stuff like terrible stat blocks, nonsensical links, and other problems that only emerge in play. Eg Gary Gygax's Necropolis was terrible IME at least as a 3e adventure, but it came from well-regarded Necromancer Games & Gygax, so no one told me the problems.

 

[aramis erak]

I agree, but it's not going to stop. People want things now. They want to know if they should buy the shiny new thing while it's still shiny and new, not weeks or months later.

I think the same thing should apply to roleplaying games and supplements as well. There is a whole mess of opinions, but until you have experience using something in play you really do not know anything meaningful about it.

I agree with both of these points...

however, it's quite possible to make a reasonable assessment without having played... but one should state whether or not the review is pre-or-post play.

EG: I was dubious on reading Marvel Heroic RP, but once i got it to table, I realized the math that I hadn't mentally processed on read... It felt different in play than it looked like it would.

Many adventures can have issues that become clear on first read - like missing stat blocks, or unclear writing, and so a pre-play review can be useful.

Rulebooks can be reviewed for intelligibility, organization, basic overview of mechanics, setting content, art, and a number of other factors...

 

[R_J_K75]

A 3rd party seller is someone who sells something via an online trader (usually Amazon), but is not actually Amazon. So you (the consumer - the 1st party) go to Amazon (2nd party) to buy a Widget-3000. Amazon links you to 4 sellers of Widget-3000s. Each of those is a 3rd party seller. Amazon is basically advertising their products and facilitating the sale for a cut of the profits.

I think the problem being alluded to above is that those sellers sometimes arrange for their product to be spammed with loads of fake 5-star Amazon reviews.

Think you put into words what I couldnt. Its worth clarifying based on the nature of the conversation that the thread went to. If we are speaking to reviews then, you, being the consumer, should be aware that its not always coming from where you think it is.

 

[amethal]

There's a place for all sorts of reviews. If people only reviewed what they had run, there'd be far less reviews. And the tenfootpole review site would not exist, which would make me sad (or not, I suppose, since I wouldn't know about it anyway).

To take an extreme example, there's no way I'm ever going to run Marauders of the Dune Sea, because it has a stream in it. Only people who don't care it has a stream in it would be able to run it and write reviews. And people who don't care that a Dark Sun adventure has a stream in it are not going to write reviews that I would find helpful.