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Housekeeping: Revised Blades of Avernum Ratings System


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I'd say to hold to the 100 words no matter what. I'm rather verbose myself, so 100 words is about the length of one of my sentences half the time, but I imagine that analyzing each aspect of the gameplay (even if it's just to say that it was awful) could occupy 100 words in itself, and suggestions for improvement (remember, this is supposed to be helpful to everyone, including the designer) could fill in whatever space is left over.

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Originally Posted By: *i
I don't understand why this is such an emotionally charged issue at the moment. I want to have this discussion now before we get into a situation that *is* emotionally charged.


To be honest, I object to one thing. The people who complain most about the reviews are people who aren't writing reviews, aren't designing, and in some cases aren't even playing the game. This bothers me.

You're right about the word limit. I went back and fixed two of my own reviews (Nephilim Mystery and Foul Hordes), and found that I was able to get a little bit more specific. TM's review should go. Whatever, it just means I write my reviews in a word processor with a word count tool now.

That's it. Now I need to see if I can finally push another scenario out the door this week.
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I would write reviews, but I already wrote reviews elsewhere when the scenarios were fresh in my mind. If I ever get around to playing them again, I'll definately give a review. I'm also working on a scenario which I hope to release by the week's end (would be earlier but I have a big Physics test coming up).

 

No matter how bad a scenario is, I don't think it deserves an insult, unless the designer is specifically trying to insult players. Of course, TM's review does get the point across that you shouldn't play that scenario.

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Ephesos, although Excalibur only made one review here, it was a very good one, plus he made many reviews on CSR, so I don't think your characterization of him is fair.

 

Anyway, I think both the 100 word minimum rule and the "only reviews with no content are stricken" rule are just fine, although I'm leaning toward the latter. Try getting a sizeable number of reviews of a scenario like "Minimialism" that have 100 words, without it becoming an exercise in pointlessness, for example. Plus the 100 words by itself is easily abused:

 

"It is very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very bad."

 

EDIT: Also, the "must have content" rule should apply to positive reviews as well. "BEST. SCENARIO. EVER! I RATE THIS SCENARIO BEST" should be stricken too.

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Originally Posted By: Enraged Slith
I would write reviews, but I already wrote reviews elsewhere when the scenarios were fresh in my mind. If I ever get around to playing them again, I'll definately give a review.

This.

I've only reviewed Incorruptible here because I recently played it and I don't feel comfortable making a review if I don't remember all the details. Sure, I remember enough to give Valley of Dying Things a favorable rating, but I don't remember a lot of the details I liked about it, in addition to the ones I would criticize.
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Originally Posted By: Duck in a Throwing Hat
Well, if you already wrote reviews for some of the scenarios somewhere else, you could just port them over here, couldn't you?


This. It's what I've been doing.

Originally Posted By: wz. As
You missed one


...I'm finding it hard to not scream, so I'm going to walk away now. Where are your reviews, good sir?
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First of all, thank you Ephesos for all of the reviews. They are very welcome!

 

As for this issue, I think we're all in agreement TM's review should go. I do see the inadequacies of the 100 word limit, and that's why I think it is best to make a "reasonable person" judgment. So here is the standard:

 

If a moderator decides a reasonable person would extract no useful information beyond the essence of the score, the review is to be stricken. To do this, the entire review is struck through and a comment is left by the moderator detailing the objection. Stricken reviews are not counted until fixed.

 

Examples of reviews that can be stricken:

 

"This scenario was bad."

"I did not have fun playing this scenario."

"Meh."

"Nice try, but needs more work. Overall mediocre."

"There are worse scenarios, but then there are better."

"Very good."

"This was by far the best scenario I've ever played. I don't know why, but I loved it. Further, I'm not going to even try to tell you why, but trust me, it was awesome!!!"

 

How does this sound:

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This is pretty lame of you, even if it was intended to be funny (and I see no signs of humour in that post, at all).

Ephesos has taken the time to contribute reviews, post new scenarios whilst *i has been busy, and put in heaps of hard work into actually making several of the communities best scenarios. Ragging on him for being a few words short is unfair.

(And, as an aside, are his reviews any better now that he's stuck a few more adjectives in them? The BA one is more detailed, but when he has to repeat himself in a review that short just to make up numbers you have to really consider if its worth it...)

Needless to say, if I can't think of 100 words, as in the case of my Nephilim Mystery review, I will not be going back to edit it. Strike it from the tallies if you wish, but if you're going to call my reviews worthless I'll have to consider whether I want to post them here or not.
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Your review of Nephilim Mystery is great, Nikki. I don't think the 100 words is going to become a requirement anyway. I like Stareye's new "no content, no count" rule just fine, and I think it does the job better than having a 100 word minimum.

 

Can we get some opinions on the NC-NC rule, please?

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Now now, I hardly think something as mediocre and unimportant as a single suggestion is really worth abandoning the new(er)CSR.

 

I detected a hint of humor in wiz. As's post, but I agree, that was a bit uncalled for.

 

I agree with *i's proposal to not count reviews that are along those lines (NC/NC if you will), although one little review shouldn't really be striking up all this fuse, imo. But maybe we should expand that to include praising a scenario, as ADoS mentioned earlier in the thread. "NICE JOB BRO!!!" doesn't tell me much about the scenario either.

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Agree with most of what everyone said and welcome everyone to post.

 

Nikki - No fear. Your review is fine and will count. 100 words is a guideline and not a strict requirement and please post more. smile

 

For everyone's benefit, if you can say everything you need to in 60 words, I don't see the point in striking that review. I see general support for the proposal. ADoS has a good title that I'm going to modify slightly. Simply put, "no details, no count".

 

As Ackrovan said, there is no need to get worked up over this one review for an author who is not around. Again, just wanted to have this debate now as opposed to later.

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Actually, Magus of Cattalon is currently up to version 1.0.3. I suppose I should provide some keywords...

 

MoC: Avernum Universe, Branching Plot (Kinda), Long (At least compared to MOST scenarios out there). There should probably be some mention of the plot twist in the beginning; you know, without actually saying what kind of twist it is since that would be spoiling it. Out-of-the-blue-plot-twist? Nah...

 

Outpost Valley: 24-Hour Scenario, Avernum Universe, Combat Heavy, Dungeon Crawl, Town Only.

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Originally Posted By: Enraged Slith
Let's not address each other's views in ratings topics as it inspires discussion in an inappropriate forum. I think it's pretty clear that we all have different opinions on what constitutes as a good scenario.

Fair enough. I removed that comment, but still...
Quote:
From the Warp Review

Finally, a note at the other reviewers. Wow. Just wow. I am absolutely boggled by the ratings for this scenario. In my opinion, this scenario does not deserve any of the previous ratings it has been given, good or bad. It's certainly not the shining standard of scenarios, but neither is it worthless garbage. Yeesh.

It just seems to me that scenario rating standards are being held either phenomenally high or ridiculously low with Warp, and there's no middle ground in-between.
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Originally Posted By: Enraged Slith
I don't think personal opinions are grounds for even more pointless debate.


I would like to point out, however, that the above controversy perfectly illustrates that nothing has changed since we moved the Ratings from Shadow Vale. People still write reviews in the greater context of all the other reviews, and it affects things. We cannot change that.
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Name: Enemy at the Gates, by Metatron.

Version number: 1.0.0

Recommended levels: 5-10

Keywords: beginner, designer-specific universe, linear, short

 

As of 2/9/10, available for Windows here or Mac here. Check out screenshots one and two here. If it's been a while since 2/9/10, try blades.nethergate.net or blades.ermarian.net.

 

Expect the sequel, DWE, before summer 2010.

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