Managing Criticism

[FierceKitty]

I remember one review of a UK set of rules by a US reviewer. He spent most of his time criticising the use of the word dice in the singular (roll a dice) rather than the US die for one dice. Very little about the rules just a rant about language even though dice as a singular noun is standard UK usage.

Ah. So "The die is cast" is US usage? I live and learn.

[ithoriel]

Fantasy adventuring groups which include a "rouge" is another bugbear of mine. What exactly does the inclusion of a French Communist bring to the party? 

[ced1106]

> I remember one review of a UK set of rules by a US reviewer. He spent most of his time criticising the use of the word dice in the singular (roll a dice) rather than the US die for one dice. Very little about the rules just a rant about language even though dice as a singular noun is standard UK usage.

> Worst review I ever had, published in a reputable magazine, was by someone who had never actually played the game, just pushed  few figures around his kitchen table to try out some of the mechanics...not that the review mentioned that fact.

Main problem with reviewers is that, besides some not being qualified to review your game, you don't know if they'll dedicate the necessary time to playing it. And, if you want an "influencer" to review your product, not only are you giving them the "complimentary" review copy, but you may be asked for *money* as well. Yes, I know you influencers spend a lot of time not only playing the game but producing the video, but money starts becoming a conflict-of-interest thing. The examples I quoted even answer having the *customer pay* for a review to possibly reduce bias, but they clearly show that, even as a paying customer (ie. purchaser of a magazine), you're not guaranteed a useful review.

Going back to OP (: BoardGameGeek has a "Personal Ratings" section, which allows written comments. Some are short, some are long, but by reading a wide variety of comments, I can get a good idea of the game is "right for me". Unfortunately, I don't know a wargaming database that works similarly.

[FierceKitty]

Fantasy adventuring groups which include a "rouge" is another bugbear of mine. What exactly does the inclusion of a French Communist bring to the party? 

Nah, that's a lassie made up as a fille de joie in lipstick, mascara, and of course rouge to conceal the fact that she's actually a 19th-level paladin.

[carlos marighela]

Also, some French people write “looser“ (in English) in a French sentence when they actually mean: perdant (loser) that irritates me also ...but being irritated about how people write on internet is no good for health. 

This is particularly common among our American cousins. Maybe they see some connotation between loose morals and the loss of innocence? I blame the Pilgrim Fathers, a bunch of fundy twats that everyone was glad to be rid of.

Other common stinkers include 'wargamming' [sic]. Apparently this involves playing with toy soldiers with your legs (gams) or, less likely, some form of internecine conflict between Gay Asian Males. Seems quite popular on TMP so either remains a possibility.

[ChrisBBB]

Surely the correct spelling is "looooo-ser!" (Additional Os optional. Accompanying gesticulation obligatory.)

An increasingly common one that irks me is "lead" when it should be "led". I was going to make some joke here about "led soldiers" but can't be bothered.

To the OP: I sympathise. I recognise the case of a ruleset being sufficiently unconventional that it confuses reviewers whose criticisms are unfounded because, instead of playing the rules as written, they're applying conventional assumptions they'd inherited from other rulesets. And then you get the people who really wanted to be reviewing a ruleset designed for some entirely different purpose, because they just don't like the game genre in question ...

Never mind - at least there are plenty of forums where we can find out what actual players like and dislike about rules. As ced1106 says, a rating of 8.9 on BoardGameGeek tells you something.

[Easy E]

Where I am from you are not a loser, you are a Hoser and need to take-off.

Some of these issues could just be simple Typos.  After all, I am guessing many of us are typing our posts really fast between other things on non-optimized typing devices.... like phones.   

[Cubs]

An increasingly common one that irks me is "lead" when it should be "led". I was going to make some joke here about "led soldiers" but can't be bothered.

Do you ever get excited because a once-in-a-lifetime gag opportunity has just fallen into your lap? A few years back on another forum there was a discussion about what versatile miniatures should be made in plastic and it was suggested that domestic animals such as goats would be ideal, because they can literally be used in any historical period or genre. I was so excited I could barely type as I responded, "They couldn't do them in plastic, because as you know, sheep can be driven, but goats must be lead."

It still warms me sometimes in my lonely moments to think back to that.

[fred]

I suppose there is criticism and there is feedback. Where criticism is of the level of ‘I don’t like this’ (expressed in many forms) with no explanation.

I’ve played tested a few sets of rules - and tried to feedback usefully. Sometimes as a player you just struggle to get a concept in a set of rules - and a fair bit of this is down to prior experience - but also how it is presented. Sometimes in rules there are just omissions - stuff the author and local play testers know so well, they haven’t even spotted it isn’t explicit in the rules (again likely due to prior experience).

Sometimes a set of rules just doesn't work for me - but if the author is happy with how they work - then that is fine - there are plenty of other sets out there to play. Though this can lead to local fragmentation as different people go off to do their own thing.

I’ve written quite a few mods to rules, but only one ruleset (that is only local rules still) and in writing these we attempted a write by committee option, but that rather failed due to too many voices and the difficulty of gathering and discussing areas of disagreement (which were  often quite minor).

[Elbows]

I think feedback is just a 'nicer' form of criticism.

I think the issue with the modern world (and access to public discourse methods, and the internet) is that anyone can review your game, qualified or not.  The vast majority of 'adults' are unable or unwilling to separate their opinions and likes or dislikes...with actual technical crticism of any product.

If you go back pre-internet, any review of any product was generally handled by someone hired and paid to do that task - we might even say someone qualified.  Now, if you have a cell phone or a laptop, you can create your own blog or YouTube channel and just shout into the void - bonafides be damned.

Unfortunately some people who are vastly underqualified to give opinions about...anything, have 250K subscribers on their social media, so one idiot can do a lot of damage to a product.

Ideally an adult can play a game or review a product and say "It's well laid out, reasonably priced, and well written...but I didn't enjoy it."  Instead we tend to get "this is garbage".

On the flip side we also have the modern inability to conduct discourse or debate or have any kind of reasonable critical discussion.  You may be the most qualified person in the world on a subject..but if you dislike something (for a veritable laundry list of objectively sound reasons), you're just a "hater", or a "troll".  You see that language on this very forum used for people who dislike things.

[Easy E]

  Now, if you have a cell phone or a laptop, you can create your own blog or YouTube channel and just shout into the void - bonafides be damned.

I suddenly feel attacked!   

[FierceKitty]

Do you ever get excited because a once-in-a-lifetime gag opportunity has just fallen into your lap? A few years back on another forum there was a discussion about what versatile miniatures should be made in plastic and it was suggested that domestic animals such as goats would be ideal, because they can literally be used in any historical period or genre. I was so excited I could barely type as I responded, "They couldn't do them in plastic, because as you know, sheep can be driven, but goats must be lead."

It still warms me sometimes in my lonely moments to think back to that.

Good one. I trust the admiring crowd unhitched your horses and pulled your carriage home themselves while chanting your name?

[carlos marighela]

Where I am from you are not a loser, you are a Hoser and need to take-off.

Some of these issues could just be simple Typos.  After all, I am guessing many of us are typing our posts really fast between other things on non-optimized typing devices.... like phones.

They could be and I'm as prone as the next person to typos and the odd bit of missing punctuation but when someone repeatedly uses the term looser, when they mean loser it becomes apparent that they actually believe it to be the correct term.

My grandfather used to bemoan our cousins use of the term presently when he was in the RAF. The Tin Tanks would say 'I am presently over your location' but somehow meaning to say that they are approaching that location not currently above it.

Now how does a hoser differ from a hoosier? 

[Leigh Metford]

From my third edition copy of 'The Little Oxford Dictionary' (1941), published by the Clarendon Press in... Oxford :

die, n. 1. (pl. dice) one of the cubes used in games of chance.

The misuse of 'loose' where 'lose' should appear, and vice-versa, is just one example of the rampant semi-literacy evident in writing across the social and professional spectra these days, including amongst the tertiary-educated stratum. Ignorance of the correct usage of 'there', 'their', and 'they're', the difference between 'than' and 'then', how to punctuate correctly, and how to construct a grammatical sentence number among its travelling companions. In the current virtual absence of competent editing and proof-reading even so-called professional journalists and writers churn out text that, in a more literate age, would have been sent straight back to the author liberally sprinkled with red corrections.           

[FierceKitty]

Liberally sprinkled with a biological warfare agent!