Why I don't do reviews.

[BiggusGeekus]

The only reviews I don't trust are the 5/5 ones written by someone with zero or one other previous reviews.

Worse is when it is a game company who release its first product and have their buddies write 5/5 reviews for them. You can kind of spot those. My "favorite" of these was Product X who had three 5/5 reviews in a short period of time, all supposedly written by strangers who had never done any reviewing before and they all used a rather obscure publishing term to praise the front cover. That was lame.

I wouldn't have minded at all if right up front they had said "I am a friend of the publisher and I got a free copy, here is my review". Declaration of bias is something I'm very cool with.

 

[diaglo]

It's a no win situation.

Give a good review, you are obviously influenced.

Give a bad review, your a big ol meanie who isn't giving the product a fair shake.

The fact I hear both kinds of complaints should demonstrate that both are wrong.

that's okay i think you are an influenced meanie. that's why i don't read any of your reviews.

 

[MonsterMash]

Personally I do review - but to broaden the range I'll borrow friends copies of sourcebooks for review or review adventures I've been through as a player as well as GM (again borrowing the book if I need to).

I'll admit I worry about the positive bias with stuff I've bought as it's hard to admit to yourself you've wasted your hard earned cash.

 

[Kichwas]

And what's wrong with "uping" the number of reviews on does to try to keep up with the number of products?

When I say 'up' their reviews I mean the idea that a reviewer might give a higher score than they felt a book deserved, and gloss over problems in their description of the book in order to keep getting sent free games.

As for people who simply like to review, I'm one of them. But I'm also a realist and I know people reading reviews will make assumptions about the reviewer. That much is obvious from the number fo flame wars that pop up every time a playtester does a review and does not admit to being a playtester - as soon as it finally comes out there's a flame war over ethics issues.

The same happens when a reviewer who got a free copy doesn't admit to it and it later comes out.

The ethics of these reviewers becomes suspect, and readers trust the rest of us less.

I try to avoid that issue with my own reviews by being very detailed. That helps show that yes, I did read the product, I do understand what is in it, and I will mostly just try to tell you what I saw there, with a little color in my writing to keep you interested in reading me, and the bulk of my opinion at the end.

I try to handle it with detail, to let readers make informed descisions and even if those choices run counter to my conclusion I want what I wrote to be useful to them.

The very short reviews that are all opinion - those are the ones I personally find suspect. But just look at my posting trends on boards, I'm usually rather over-verbose in an attempt to 'fully explain myself,' - I don't tend to like or trust people that give short answers or short explainations.

 

[Stone Angel]

I tend not to post reviews just because I look for different things in books. I look for more of an idea mill, I mean what may not be usefull for me may be exactly one other is, I may skip over that part. That other will not purchase the book based on my review. Then that d20 company will go out of business. And so on and so forth. Well maybe not that bad. But anyway I don't write reviews because I feel no one really knows me and why I would have that opinion. I respect a few peoples reviews but not many. Not because they don't deserve it just because I don't really know them enough to have confidence in their review.

The Seraph of Earth and Stone

 

[TheAuldGrump]

For the record I have actually bought products because of bad reviews.

If what the reviewer is complaining about is something that makes me go 'hey, that sounds cool!' then I tend to look more deeply into the product. (The example that springs to mind is Birthright where the reviewer complained that it portrayed rulers as more concerned with their own power, wealth, and privilege than with the good of their realms...What can I say? I studied history...)

The Auld Grump

 

[Belen]

I don't do reviews because I rarely have time to read through entire books. My eyes also tend to glaze over all the mechanics. Besides, I do not think it fair to review something unless I have playtested it.

d20 books also tend to be largely boring, although exceptions do apply. Too many of them read like math/ science textbooks though. Yick!

 

[Crothian]

I don't do reviews because I rarely have time to read through entire books. My eyes also tend to glaze over all the mechanics. Besides, I do not think it fair to review something unless I have playtested it.

Well, d20 has been around for around 4 years now. Surely there are a few books in your collection you've used in game and read through at this point. There is nothing wrong with reviewing books a few years old