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What is a fair Review
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As a casual gamer I don't intent to author missions (had enough of programming) but love doing reviews of other peoples work.
My problem is trying to be fair in my reviews. I just finished "Tides of Change" and gave it a 4 star because I liked it, being short and with enough variety. Admittedly there were some minor issues but what drew me to the mission was the 1 star it had received by another reviewer.
So my question is, was I being fair or am I just a soft touch and not critical enough to be a good reviewer?
My problem is trying to be fair in my reviews. I just finished "Tides of Change" and gave it a 4 star because I liked it, being short and with enough variety. Admittedly there were some minor issues but what drew me to the mission was the 1 star it had received by another reviewer.
So my question is, was I being fair or am I just a soft touch and not critical enough to be a good reviewer?
Post edited by Unknown User on
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If you liked it, 4 seems fair. Remember too that the one star might have been for anearlier version of the same mission. Maybe it was originally unfinishable or something along those lines.
In my opinion, the more important part than the star rating is any constructive feedback you give tha author so they know what worked and what didn't.
5 = You love it (Amazing)
4 = You like it (Good)
3 = It was ok (meh)
2 = You didnt like it (Bad)
1 = You hated it (Terrible)
So pick whichever of those statements most accurately describes how you felt about the mission.
What I'd expect to see in a review is a narration of the impressions the reviewer had when he/she played through the mission. Then a list of good and bad points and finally the rating the reviewer felt the mission deserved. However, as game reviews have already proven, they are subjective and so is their fairness.
My advice, don't beat yourself over it too much since your review is yours and if you ask around you'll probably find just as many people who think you're fair as those who think you're not.
It is unfortunate that we have a very small section for reviews. In light of this, I suggest posting or P.M.ing a more detailed evaluation for those of us that care to participate in these discussions.
I think any review is fair if you actively think about what you liked and disliked and form your opinion on that.
If a glaring grammatical error annoyed you to no end, it did so and can lead to a worse rating. It's how you felt about it. If you loved the storyline so much that a boring and tedious ground combat didn't bother you at all, that's how you felt. You are not making an objective statement here.
A mission that functions well gets 3, a mission with a compelling story that made me care gets 4 and something I haven't seen or is a new application or something else that makes it extraordinary gets 5 stars in my book.
Let me get back to you on that.
4-5 stars liked it
3 stars - never really use that one
2 stars - urggg
if it is a one star, I just don't rate it.
If it is a work in progress....half done, I don't rate it
But that is just me
meow
Anyways, the few missions I have reviewed the star rating will depend mostly on how well the mission works though the story has something to do with it as well. So in other words, it's basically a measure of the completeness of the mission and whether or not the story meshes or not.
I haven't really given any 5 stars. That's typically reserved for something that has truly wowed me, in other words, I actually got to enjoy myself during the mission instead of being on my toes looking for this and that for the author to improve upon. But I typically give 3-4 stars. I don't believe in giving anything lower since that will only discourage people from reviewing the missions themselves. And getting reviews for missions seems like a herculean task in itself.
Though I am interested in at least doing a review for some of the bigger name ones. Though that's more of a litmus test to see whether or not I am as thorough and to see if I am too tough on people.
What happens when dStahl's monster hits Holodeck and there are 100 new missions published every day? Most people will naturally rush to play the ones with 4/5 star ratings and probably miss a few great budding authors