It seems to be turning into a general thread on reviewers, at least. Sometimes, a reviewer just misses the point, and it appears to be the case here. It's something to watch out for, if you review stuff.

You know marketers often seed bad reviews on places like Amazon, right? Between the review and this thread, you might get a nice uptick in sales.

Nobody reads the articles in kodt anyway.  They're usually shit.

Let it go. Put the good reviews if possible (quoted) on your website and ignore the bad one. You can't make people like something they don't. You cant deal with someone who is determined to NOT like something and give it a fair shake.


I like the idea of your game myself. I'm just poor game designer who doesn't have a lot of cash

Quote from: Silverlion;546319Let it go. Put the good reviews if possible (quoted) on your website and ignore the bad one.

I've already been doing that

QuoteYou can't make people like something they don't. You cant deal with someone who is determined to NOT like something and give it a fair shake.

Nor do I really expect to get glowing reviews every time.  This was just the first one, and it was a pretty big source, so I guess you could say my virginity is lost, so it hits a little harder than normal

I guess a polarizing game is better than a game that everyone feels is "meh".  WotC seems to be on that track

Quote from: mhensley;546309Nobody reads the articles in kodt anyway.  They're usually shit.

I appreciate the sentiment, but I'd really rather not have this turn into a thread disparaging anyone.  It just wasn't his kind of game, obviously.

Quote from: One Horse Town;546280Sorry about it and all that, but the way the thread is going it's starting to look like self-promotion to me.

Which is fine, of course, but might belong in another sub-forum. Just sayin'

Does it really matter?

Quote from: B.T.;546354Does it really matter?

Not really. But i'm cranky that way.

Quote from: Sacrosanct;546334I appreciate the sentiment, but I'd really rather not have this turn into a thread disparaging anyone.  It just wasn't his kind of game, obviously.

Hey Sacro... I just stumbled across your game this last weekend at Rainy Day, and given that you're local I have to find out more...

But that's not why I'm going to comment.  I'm going to comment as a long time, die hard reader of kodt.  

I have yet to read a single review in KODT which I thought merited the ink spent on it.  By in large, the reviews are all positive, all quick, barely thought through.  When they aren't, they are massive cryptic rants about how bad "x" is.  Seriously, I love KODT, but I don't even bother with the reviews... I've considered doing a mad-libs boilerplate template for KODT reviews.

So, honestly, as a potential fan of yours and a strong fan of KODT, don't let this one bother you.  You have a unique idea, and most people don't get unique ideas.

-V.

Been there too and this is a bit of a pet hate for me. If you have set out to design a fast on the fly game and it is marketed as such then the critique should center on how well you have achieved that design aim. I had a similar problem with Dog Town because of its subject matter and btw it has plenty of legitimate flaws. As a reviewer you may not like a crime orientated game or the genre in general, but don't let that skew the whole review because there are people who do (like horror as well). Perhaps the reviewer is entrenched in the epic/comprehensive rpg and can't see past that.

Keep your chin up.

I feel your pain, Sacrosanct. I got my first bad review back in January. The worst part was, it was for my first publication... and it was the first review to be posted. The reviewer didn't really know how to write a review; it read more like a "flame" than anything else. Just a lot of nit-picking, bitching, whining and no attempt whatsoever to inform anyone about the content of  the product.

Then I had a talk with my publisher about getting some review copies out, and a number of positive reviews followed. A couple of months later, another (bigger!) company informed us wanted to license my book for their RPG line. That "flame" review apparently didn't affect their decision at all; and I'm fairly sure they read it.

The point is: if it's obvious the reviewer just doesn't get it, nobody is going to pay attention to his BS. Most importantly, people in the industry who are interested in your work know how to spot a bullshit review. That review says a lot more about the reviewer than it says about you, or your work. He's just made himself look bad.

Thanks everyone for the support.  I guess I just needed to rant a bit.  I do wish he would have at least went to my website, because he complained that there was no additional support for the game, and if he had gone to my website, he would have found a lot of support in the form of additional expansions, as well as free downloads for a campaign setting, adventures, FAQ, Alternate play styles, and even detailed 500 word write ups on monster ecologies (a big complaint of his as something that was lacking).

I guess I assumed a reviewer would also check out the website if there were any questions or concerns.  I suppose that was my mistake.

And now my illogical and unreasonable paranoia comes out because the reviewer is a frequent poster at TBP, and maybe I pissed him off (which is possible, because I've probably pissed off a lot of people

Quote from: Xavier Onassiss;546543I feel your pain, Sacrosanct. I got my first bad review back in January. The worst part was, it was for my first publication... and it was the first review to be posted. The reviewer didn't really know how to write a review; it read more like a "flame" than anything else. Just a lot of nit-picking, bitching, whining and no attempt whatsoever to inform anyone about the content of  the product.

Then I had a talk with my publisher about getting some review copies out, and a number of positive reviews followed. A couple of months later, another (bigger!) company informed us wanted to license my book for their RPG line. That "flame" review apparently didn't affect their decision at all; and I'm fairly sure they read it.

The point is: if it's obvious the reviewer just doesn't get it, nobody is going to pay attention to his BS. Most importantly, people in the industry who are interested in your work know how to spot a bullshit review. That review says a lot more about the reviewer than it says about you, or your work. He's just made himself look bad.

Reviewers are like any other gamers, they come from a variety of viewpoints and even the best game is going to get negative reactions here or there (just think of movie reviews). With game reviews the odds are even more wild because at least with films there are hundreds of reviews for a given movie and it kind of equalizes over time. But games tend to get a handful of reviews. When I send stuff out for review my biggest concern is whether the reviewer informs the reader about the game. Even if the person doesn't like your book (or really hates parts of it), if they explain it then the reader still has a chance to decide if the game is worth checking out.

Quote from: danbuter;546266The reviewer obviously missed the whole point of the game.

Yeah, it sounds like you said to him 'Try this, it's called an orange, see what you think', and he responded with 'Whoa! That's a really disgusting apple.' I hear you dude, but, you know, don't despair: with all games, there are them as grok, and them as don't grok. Address yourself to the former group of people and just ignore the rest.

I don't know how I missed this game, but I just placed my order for a start set.

This looks to be right up my alley.