Reviewing Reviews: A Guide to Helpful Reviewing Practices

I'd like to talk a bit about my views and opinions on reviewing products like games and books, from my perspective as someone who has written a lot of reviews and also designed and developed a lot of products and books. This shouldn't be read as a chastisement or argument, it's just me talking about the things I do and don't find helpful in a review, and why I feel that way. So let's get into it.

Why Are Reviews Important?

If you spend much time around creatives (virtually or in person), it's likely that the topic of reviews will come up. This is because there's often no better marketing tool than word of mouth, and reviews posted on a product page are one of the most visible ways that word of mouth happens. A product with bad reviews will probably still sell more copies than a product with no reviews at all, if only because people are going to get curious about whether or not the product could actually be that bad. Sure, bad reviews will ultimately shorten the sales life of the product and might have other repercussions, but at least people are talking about the product and, hopefully, providing the creator with some insights on how to make the next product better.

Some Reviews are Better Than Others

If you ask a product creator about reviews, they'll generally encourage you to write one whether or not you liked the product and regardless of your intended rating. This is largely for the reasons mentioned above, and because content creators don't want to scare off potential reviewers. There's a relatively small portion of any given customer base who are inclined to write reviews in the first place, and the people who are inclined to write reviews skew towards the negative, which is just human nature. But the reality is that there are some reviews that are actually helpful and some that aren't; contrary to what you might assume, the difference between a valuable review and a review that is less helpful has very little to do with the actual rating and a lot to do with the content of the review itself.

Less Helpful Reviews

Reviews that are less helpful to content creators are reviews that don't contain any actionable information or descriptions. A 5-star review that says "Loved it, great product!" lets the creator know that someone appreciated their work, which is nice, but it doesn't tell them what they did right or what they should be replicating to make more products that people will enjoy. Similarly, a 1-star review that says "Hated it, absolute garbage" is also not terribly helpful, since it lets the product creator know that someone didn't like their product, but not why or what the content creator could improve on. A good review has actionable data, so let's talk a bit about what that means next.

Actionable Data

Knowing whether the reviewer considers a product good or bad is a start, and some might say the foundation of a review, but it shouldn't be the destination. The more information you include in your review about why you did or did not like it, the more valuable the review is going to be to the content creator. Saying "I disliked this product because I felt the product was poorly written or edited" is stronger than "I disliked the product", and "I disliked this product because I noticed frequent errors in grammar and spelling throughout and I felt the difficulty of doing the things the product wanted me to do was too high for the experience I was hoping for" is stronger still. The more detail and explanation you include in your review, the more valuable it is to the content creator and anyone considering purchasing the product. From a personal perspective, I won't factor any review that doesn't include specific details about how the reviewer arrived at their rating into my decisions to buy a product; I don't care that your grandma and brother thought your product was great any more than I care that some slack-jawed racist thought your product was "standard SJW crap".

Facts and Opinions

Strong reviews are high on facts, low on opinions, and include a clear statement from the reviewer about their biases. This can be a hard thing for a potential reviewer to execute well, because many people aren't aware of their inherent biases and may feel that their opinions are facts. Self-awareness is a big component here and it's not necessarily something people will know how to advertise unless they spend a lot of time talking to a diverse group of people and reading other reviews by experienced reviewers. It will always be a work in progess task for a potential reviewer, but the better you become at it, the stronger and more useful your reviews will be for potential purchasers and content creators alike. Some examples for reference-

• "This adventure was too hard and the writer didn't know what they were doing" is a less valuable review. The reviewer hasn't explained why the adventure was too hard, and by attacking the writer directly they're telling that person that they (the reviewer) are a jerk and thus their opinion is one the reader should put less stock in.
• "My group thought this adventure was too difficult for the following reasons" followed by a detailed list of the reasons (such as "the enemies were too high level", "the particular composition of the enemies was unusually challenging for a group of our composition [then describe the group composition]", or "the organization of this adventure made it difficult for me to understand how to run it") is a stronger review that can make it clear to potential purchasers why the reviewer thought the product was subpar so that they can draw their own conclusions, and it conveys to the writer where they failed to hit the mark for the reviewer.

It's also extremely helpful to clarify what some of your personal stances are as you launch into a review, particularly if that review is going to give a particularly high (e.g. 5/5 stars) or low (1/5 stars) rating.

Disclosing Your Bias

To disclose your bias, you need to know what your biases are, and as previously mentioned, that can be difficult. Biases are typically developed environmentally, and they're a part of how you think that you may not recognize as being a variable across a wide group of people. Some examples of biases in the context of tabletop RPG adventures-

• "I don't like 'railroad' adventures." It might surprise some reviewers to realize that this is a bias, but it really is. For every 1 person out there who just hates it when they realize that the adventure is pointing them in a specific direction, there's at least two more who appreciate having clear directions on where to go and what to do. What this tends to come down to is a difference in preference between stories with clearly defined plot points and "sandbox" adventures where the players determine what the story is and where it goes. Acknowledging your preference for one type of adventure over the other helps contextualize your review for the reader so they can determine whether they might share or disagree with your opinion (in the case of a potential purchaser) or let the content creator know that they might benefit from better advertising the target audience for the adventure.
• "I prefer high fantasy power games / high lethality 'gritty' games." Some people just want to feel like Big Damn Heroes for a couple hours, swashing a few buckles, rescuing a few damsels or dudes, and punching a few dragons in the snout. Other people want a dangerous adventure where any of the characters might die at any time to a couple bad dice rolls and the setting itself assumes that the heroes aren't much different than someone from the real world. Both types of gamers are often buying their products from the same source, so specifying which type of game you prefer will help content creators and potential purchasers decide how your review should influence their decisions.
• "Political" Inclinations. This is a potentially difficult subject, so I'm going to keep it short and sweet. If someone's product includes queer representation, or skews heavily towards POC, or anything else that basically comes down to representation of a minority group, they probably did it on purpose and if they didn't, it's because their worldview doesn't see those people and that representation as abnormal. Every time some reviewer dabs the tears from their eyes with their neckbeard and laments how "their" hobby is being ruined by "SJW propaganda", the content creators are probably smiling to themselves knowing that every person turned away by the review is a toxic community member they don't have to deal with, who will almost certainly be replaced by two or three more people who respect the author's vision and bought the product specifically because of the representation included therein. So to everyone bitching about "SJW propaganda" while stamping a 1-star review on a product, thank you. You're the best marketing TTRPGs have gotten since the Satanic Panic of the 80s told rebellious youths that the best way to rebel was to play Dungeons & Dragons.
• Length of Play. Some people like long games (a year or more of regular weekly sessions), some people like short games (1 to 4 hours of content played in a single session). If you have a preference here and your rating of the product will be affected by that preference, you should mention it somewhere in your review, preferably towards the beginning.

So, at this point this probably feels like a lot. You might even be thinking "Oh man, maybe I just shouldn't write reviews since I don't feel like I'm 'good enough' to do them right." Please don't feel that way, and please don't let it be your takeaway. If the only thing you have the inclination to do is a star rating and one or two sentences about your general inclinations towards the product, do that. Something is better than nothing. But if you're looking to improve the value your reviews bring to a community, consider some of the points above and maybe even see what other reviewers are doing. I'll cap this off with some links to some reviewers I think do a great job of reasoned reviews where they talk about the pros and cons of the product while making their personal preferences pretty clear up front.

• Jessica of d20 Diaries https://d20diaries.com/
• Thilo Graf aka Endzeitgeist http://endzeitgeist.com/
• Game Geeks RPG https://www.youtube.com/user/pugknowspro?feature=

Who are your favorite reviewers? Who do you look to for advice on your gaming purchases? What kind of info do you look for in a review? Thinking about the answers to these questions can help you become a better reviewer whose reviews help a larger portion of your community.

PAX Prime '15 Discoveries- Southlands: Adventures Beneath the Pitiless Sun

I hadn't heard of "Southlands: Adventures Beneath the Pitiless Sun" until I stumbled across it at PAX. I'd somehow completely missed the Kickstarter, hadn't heard it mentioned or seen any reviews, and yet it leapt right off the shelf at me.

3ppT: 5/21 Recap

This week we tackled the adventure "Dance Macabre" from Four Dollar Dungeons. Our party roster for the adventure was:

Mirrabillis, a halfling nightblade. The nightblade class is the featured in Ascension Games' "Path of Shadows", and is a roguish class that utilizes shadowy magic.

Makao, a half-orc lunar guardian druid. The lunar guardian archetype is also featured in "Path of Shadows".

Theravald, a human daevic. The daevic is the newest pending release in Dreamscarred Press' "Akashic Mysteries" series.

And that was it. Convention season is in full swing, so attendance is riding a bit low right now.

3ppT: 3/26 Recap

So, last night we started our new adventure, "The Midnight Mirror" by Sam Zeitlin. The party consists of:

• Avarlene Tertheniel - the elven Battlelord made a recurring appearance for "The Midnight Mirror", bringing skilled coordination and deadly archery back to the table.
• Thurlavald Turnipnose - this gnome Metamorph was so cool, I couldn't let him wither unplayed, so he was recovered from the "Twin Crossings" reject pile and given a second chance.
• Morek Twiceborn - this forgeborn Tactician from Dreamscarred Press' "Ultimate Psionics" was both the party's communications hub thanks to his Collective Telepathy, and their thug, dropping the big hits with amazing accuracy thanks to his Roshan's inevitable strike power. I learned two things from Morek: Tacticians rock, and forgeborn are not the best race for the class. I brought it together, but it's a good thing Morek doesn't need to worry about the later game and leveling up, because there's all of like two Strategies that don't rely on Charisma.
• Watler - this ratfolk Momenta was a last minute add to the line-up; there was supposed to be a fetchling synergist, but while I was working on Watler for another project, I realized he really needed to be part of this group.

3ppT: 3/19 Recap

I have to start by apologizing; unfortunately between job hunting, wedding planning, and various other mandatory activities, I didn't get last week's articles up in a timely manner, so now you're getting last week's recap and this week's recap, one right after the other.

Last week we ended up finishing the Twin Crossings adventure, with our original cast of characters returning (though the role of Avarlene was played by a new player, as the previous was unable to make it in). For reference, that's Avarlene the Battlelord, Gruff the Shadow Assassin, and Morgan the Magi.

ReRoll Vs Respawn, Part I: Reemis the Braised

Our Reign of Winter Campaign suffered it's first player character loss in a recent session. While helping the grieving player roll a new character, a thought occurred to me. Most video games offer death as a means of encumbering the player, and hence, those deaths carry little weight. Tabletop games like Pathfinder and D&D approach death from a very different perspective. Sure, resurrections are possible, but they can be hard to come by. They are notoriously expensive to buy and the spell level puts them out of reach for low to mid level characters. Death is a more serious fear to a tabletop player. Let's examine these two perspectives, shall we?

Ultimate Awesome

I feel a certain need to preface the following review by saying that I am currently employed as a freelance writer by Dreamscarred Press working on their Akashic Mysteries project, a re-imagining of the 3.5 Dungeons & Dragons subsystem introduced in the book Magic of Incarnum.

That being said...

The Hardest Thing: Looking For Group

I've been very lucky. I've been part of a really stable group for a few years now. Wesley and I had struck up a few conversations with a couple we kept running into at PAX, and as luck had it, they happened to be live fairly close to us. Mike and Morgan quickly became part of our regular game group and two of our best friends. Sadly, they'll be moving further away soon, and I'm left in the position of looking for a new group of players.

It's a position I've found myself in more than once over the years. Finding a good group can be hard enough, but avoiding a bad one can be even more difficult. For every decent group there are a dozen terrible ones. There are a few things you can do to avoid getting stuck with one of these horror story groups. First, it's important we be able to recognize a few of types of bad groups.

Magic of Incarna Comes to Pathfinder

We here at Somnambulant Gamer are big fans of Pathfinder. None more so than Michael Sayre, known to you as Sslarn. Mike has an encycopedic knowledge of tabletop games, particularly the OGL (Open Game Licence) system that provides the backbone for Pathfinder, and D&D 3.5 before it. It's his kind of brain that you want attached to your tabletop game, even if his characters routinely blow everyone else's out of the water. We've been really lucky to have Mike not only as a regular part of our gaming crew and writing staff for Somnam, but as a really awesome friend. That's why I am so excited to announce that for the past few months, Mike has been working with Dreamscarred Press to adapt one of his favorite 3.5 sourcebooks to Pathfinder. The first playtest of  Magic of Incarna is live.

Thanksgiving Gaming Traditions

Image credits: Reddit User jodycb

Today is Thanksgiving. There's a turkey in the oven, various other assemblages of food in various states of preparation lie strewn about the kitchen. MST3K is on in the living room. The DVR's red light assures us that it's recording the football game. Pre-dinner Thanksgiving is chaotic from every angle, and while some harbor ill feeling towards the holiday altogether, it's always been one of my favorites. If not for the food and time with friends and family, then for the games that have become traditional after dinner entertainment.

Tabletop Ruts

I love tabletop games. Pathfinder has been our game night staple for almost two years now and we've all had a number of different characters in that time. If you're familiar with Pathfinder or any other tabletop roleplaying game, then you're probably no stranger to some of the common issues faced by regular groups. Scheduling, module selection, DM rotation, all these things can end disastrously if not handled well. I think there is a more dangerous problem common to groups everywhere. Let's talk about comfort zones

Playtests, People, and Pathfinder

As you may have already read, our little group of friends has been actively involved in play-testing the new Pathfinder 3pp (or 3rd Party Publisher) material being crafted by the mad wizards over at Dreamscarred Press. Specifically, the classes for their new Path of War product which takes the material from the old Dungeons and Dragons v3.5 book Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords and brings it into the current Pathfinder setting with a few updates and new twists on it.

We decided to conduct one of our play-test sessions by running the module "The Ruby Phoenix Tournament," a module for 11th level characters set in an Asian themed martial arts tournament. We play-tested both of the new classes currently available from Dreamscarred, the Warlord, and the Stalker. (To read some of our running commentary on the progression of these classes, check out the Paizo forum thread here.) We ran them side-by-side with some of the classes from the Pathfinder main product line, the Ninja, the Cleric, and the Bard. We had a blast.