Poorly written reviews - why?

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Poorly written reviews - why?

Postby Replicant » Aug 6th, '07, 17:15



[rant]

Actually, I think I know at least one of the reasons: blatantly transparent attempts to gain access to the secrets area.

I'm very sorry to post this, but it's been bugging me for a while now (and I need a rant to get it off my chest!). I've noticed a lot of very bad reviews recently and some of them serve no purpose other than to clog up the boards. Don't get me wrong, I have only written a handful of reviews myself but I won't write one unless I can pretty much give an entensive opinion of the effect in question. I am by no means the best reviewer in the world, but why bother "reviewing" an effect if it's just a few words along the lines of "great item, add to cart!!!" It's just a waste of time and makes the forums a mess.

And don't get me started on duplicate review threads! Hopefully, my indexes will reduce this a little but I ain't holding my breath. (It's a real shame duplicate review threads cannot be deleted or just merged with existing reviews - we need a good spring clean!)

I do enjoy coming to TM and I really appreciate the vast knowledge and experience that is present here. I have learnt so much since joining TM and also made some great purchases based on some of the reviews here. I just feel it's a great shame that some people feel they need to make endless, mainly unhelpful posts to make themselves known here.

And I'm not directing this rant at anyone specific - just letting off some steam, that's all. So, please, don't anyone get paranoid.

[/rant]

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Re: Poorly written reviews - why?

Postby seige » Aug 6th, '07, 17:17

Your rant is justified, and thanks on behalf of everyone for your sterling work on the indexing system. I personally thought you'd have given in by now, but your calibre is thoroughbred un-selfish, which is an honourable trait, sir.

Thanks!

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Postby Replicant » Aug 6th, '07, 17:21

Either that or I need to go to that place they call "outside" more often! :D

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Re: Poorly written reviews - why?

Postby Major Tom » Aug 6th, '07, 17:21

Bicycle808 wrote:[rant]

And don't get me started on duplicate review threads! Hopefully, my indexes will reduce this a little but I ain't holding my breath. (It's a real shame duplicate review threads cannot be deleted or just merged with existing reviews - we need a good spring clean!)

[/rant]


If someone has moderator rights this can be done, I used to run a phpBB board for a group of players in an MMO but rarely had to do this as it wasn't a public board and as such there was a lack of 'tards.

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Postby Tomo » Aug 6th, '07, 17:27

Bicycle808 wrote:Either that or I need to go to that place they call "outside" more often! :D


You mean... where "others" are? :shock:

I agree, there have been a few really badly thought out reviews, as if the writer just copied the blurb off the back, and in some cases, it's looked suspiciously like ad copy.

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Re: Poorly written reviews - why?

Postby Replicant » Aug 6th, '07, 17:29

Major Tom wrote:If someone has moderator rights this can be done, I used to run a phpBB board for a group of players in an MMO but rarely had to do this as it wasn't a public board and as such there was a lack of 'tards.


I could be mistaken, but I'm sure I read elsewhere on these boards that merging threads is not possible. One of the mods will confirm this (or not), I'm sure.

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Postby Mandrake » Aug 6th, '07, 17:31

Sadly this version doesn't seem to allow merging. We can split and we can edit/lock/delete but not merge, sorry.

The incidence of poorly written reviews is puzzling because there's template and guidelines at the start if each section, there are plenty of well written existing reviews so all folks have to do is follow those examples. Oh yes, and check first that there isn't an existing review in which case, add their review to that thread!!! Rest assured that any duff posts don’t count towards Restricted Area admission, the process is very variable and is based on an overall impression of each person. Some will never make it no matter how many posts are made :wink: .

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Postby dat8962 » Aug 6th, '07, 19:18

People enjoy writing reviews - why else would they bother?

I agree that some are better written than others and in terms of writing about the content then it's often easier to copy from the box. However, the real review begins in under the review heading, assuming that you're using the template.

You have to remember that people write in many varied styles and there are also different levels of ability, just as there is in performance. I do believe that it's right to be patient and let someone express their opinion, as long as it's not for blatant self promotion which we've seen a fair share of.

Perhaps the solution to improvement is not to stop or delete poor reviews but to offer some constructive critique.

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Postby Replicant » Aug 6th, '07, 20:20

dat8962 wrote:People enjoy writing reviews - why else would they bother?


See the first line of my initial post for one possible reason.

dat8962 wrote:You have to remember that people write in many varied styles and there are also different levels of ability, just as there is in performance. I do believe that it's right to be patient and let someone express their opinion, as long as it's not for blatant self promotion which we've seen a fair share of.


I concede that different people have different styles of writing, but some reviews are just plain lazy. I'm not suggesting that everyone should write epic reviews along the lines of someone like, say, Tom Lauten, but you have to draw the line somewhere. Indeed, I have no problem with concisely written reviews but you'd be hard pressed to call some submissions a "review", whatever style or level of ability the contributor possesses. At the very least, people could use the review template to keep things consistent if nothing else.

dat8962 wrote:Perhaps the solution to improvement is not to stop or delete poor reviews but to offer some constructive critique.


I agree that I may have been a bit hasty in suggesting that duplicate or poor reviews be deleted. I admit that the search function is not perfect and does not always bring up existing reviews. This does depend, I think, on the search words you are using. Generic words like "deck" will just show up pages upon pages of matches and is not much help. Searching for a word like "fantastica", however, is likely to yield more relevant matches.

Anyway, I digress.

My point is that some duplicate reviews are posted through no fault of the reviewer. It is a limitation of the system that threads cannot be merged and some searches (assuming a search was carried out in the first place) will inevitably be more successful than others. With any luck, people will actually look at the review indexes before starting a new review thread. Having said that, the vast majority of reviews are in the main review room, which does not yet have an index. I was going to start an index for this room, but it is on hold at the moment pending further discussions with the mods as to how best to approach this mammoth task.

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Postby connor o'connor » Aug 6th, '07, 20:39

Bicycle808

May I copy seige in saying thanks a lot for all your work. I have personaly found your indexing of great help and it has resulted in my being able to quickly gain the info I require. I always use your threads before I delve into the somewhat offbeat search function.

This may have been stating the blooming obvious again. But efforts like yours blooming deserve it. Thanks.

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Postby HenryHoudini » Aug 7th, '07, 00:12

This is very true. People seem to just want to make a mess for mods

Sometimes you see reviews that just say something like.

Svengali deck is really really good

10/10

It doesnt help anyone, and people should realize that secret places thingy access is hand picked not from the amount of reviews. or posts, or anything.

anyway thats enough.

IF YOURE GOING TO WRITE A REVIEW, WRITE A REVIEW, NOT A SENTENCE!

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Postby bananafish » Aug 7th, '07, 09:07

Maybe then if the review is very poor we should remove it?

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Postby seige » Aug 7th, '07, 09:14

bananafish wrote:Maybe then if the review is very poor we should remove it?


Agreed.

Of late, the Mods have been removing useless posts. This might be a good idea with reviews.

There's certain conditions, however, which are grey areas:

1. Duplicate reviews
2. Reviews by the author/affilliate (i.e. unfair)
3. Reviews which have been poached from elsewhere

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Postby Lord Freddie » Aug 7th, '07, 09:16

I certainly think inarticulate chavs and teeenage americans who just say 'dood, this is AWESOME' should be discouraged from writing reviews.
Quite a few of them try to, you know.

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Postby Replicant » Aug 7th, '07, 10:35

seige wrote:
bananafish wrote:Maybe then if the review is very poor we should remove it?


Agreed.

Of late, the Mods have been removing useless posts. This might be a good idea with reviews.

There's certain conditions, however, which are grey areas:

1. Duplicate reviews
2. Reviews by the author/affilliate (I.e. unfair)
3. Reviews which have been poached from elsewhere


If the review is that bad, then yes, perhaps it should be deleted. However, if duplicate reviews are good enough, I think they should remain; it just seems a waste to delete a well thought out review just because another one already exists. At least they will appear next to each other when I've added the duplicate to the appropriate index.

If a product is reviewed by the author/affiliate then it will naturally be biased and, dare I say it, misleading. But you can't prevent people from posting under pseudonyms so I don't know how you would distinguish between a review from a genuine customer and a not-so-genuine one (review, not customer!).

[slaps wrist]As far as poached reviews are concerned, I was guilty of posting one myself recently.[/slaps wrist] In my defence, it was a flippin' brilliant review, the item for which did not feature on TM's review pages at the time! Personally, I would not have a problem with my review being 'copied and pasted' on another forum for others to make use of, but that's just me. I don't think it's practical to go hunting people down to ask their permission to have their reviews listed on TM and, frankly, I imagine you mods have better things to do with your time. Maybe it's best, then, to just delete poached reviews as and when.

If it was up to me, though, I would just leave poached reviews and hoped "they" didn't notice.... :wink:

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