Topic: Reviewers wanted
Started by: Michael Hopcroft
Started on: 5/17/2003
Board: Connections
On 5/17/2003 at 9:19pm, Michael Hopcroft wrote:
Reviewers wanted
I have a new product coming out int he next couple of weeks (if all goes well) and I' going to need to have reviews published. I'm looking for reviewers with connections to established web publications who would give a diceless anime PDF a fair shake.
Contact me privately if you're interested, and provide some credentials and links to some sample articles. I've been burned by critics before and am trying to view reviews as a way to generate positive buzz and business for the new game.
On 5/17/2003 at 10:52pm, Brian Leybourne wrote:
RE: Reviewers wanted
Michael,
That's completely and utterly the wrong way to approach reviews/reviewers.
When you said:
I've been burned by critics before and am trying to view reviews as a way to generate positive buzz and business for the new game.
I read "I only want people who are going to give me good reviews" and that, frankly, is bullshit. I immediately know never, ever to bother reading a review of any of your games because I now know that they'll be biased.
There was a case about a year ago, when one of the D20 companies (I think it was Avalanche but I'm not sure now) made it a condition of reviewing their games that the review had to be positive. The bachlash against the company was (rightly) enormous and they were forced to retract it.
You want publicity, forcing good reviews is not the way to do it. That's just using reviews as a form of press, and then they're not reviews anymore.
I'll review your game for you if you like. But I'll be honest, so you probably don't want me.
Brian.
On 5/17/2003 at 11:20pm, Jack Spencer Jr wrote:
RE: Reviewers wanted
Brian Leybourne wrote: You want publicity, forcing good reviews is not the way to do it. That's just using reviews as a form of press, and then they're not reviews anymore.
The funny thing is, reviews are simply a form of press. A review, like anything else gets people aware of the product in question. IME negative reviews rarely work as warnings because people think "is it really that bad" and go look for themselves anyway. Another unit sold.
However, there is this illusion of reviews being fair, impartial and unbiased floating around out there that it's best not to break. Michael, you may wish to have someone cobble up a spiffy promo article vs. a review. Works the same, just not called a review.