Attention PSU: NEED YOUR HELP!

[Sir_Scud]

Hey guys! I mainly want this thread to serve as specific feedback to the review process alone. Once I get enough feedback, this shall be closed and whisked away. Now that we have a good amount of reviews here, I really want to know what everyone thinks of the current system. I really want to hear from everyone that has written a review, or those who may be interested in writing a review.


For sake of discussion, I'd really appreciate if you could take the time to list something you like about the current process, (i.e. the + and - section of the review, giving a score, titles, etc).


I would also like to know if there's something you would change about the current set-up. For example, don't like the pacing, or you think there should be a mandatory word count.


The more specific, the better. I can't go into specifics about other things at the moment, but I want to take this time to better the review process itself. Keep in mind this is only the beginning.


Another question to throw at the community is the ranking system. Does everyone like the current title system? Personally, I have no issue with trying to become a dolphin.


As stated before, I do not wish to make arbitrary changes to a system I have grown to like as a reviewer. But now is the time for those to give their opinion on the process. Do you think the current rules are too lax? Do they need to be tighter?


Just like to thank anyone who takes the time to answer each and every question to better this section. As I stated before, this is open to every member of the forum. Before I lay the groundwork to major changes, I want to hear from the community on their thoughts.

[Lethal_NFS]

I will give my thoughts. Please do not take my opinion in a negative way.

1. I think all usernames should be displayed as they are on the forum. Lethal_NFS is not lethal_nfs.

2. I am not feeling the under the water names lol. I would name the tiers something like, Wood, Zinc, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond. The whole fish and water thing just seems weird lol

3. I also feel the tiers are not spread out evenly.

Wooden Trophy (1-4 reviews)
Zinc Trophy (5-9 reviews)
Bronze Trophy (10-14 reviews)
Silver Trophy (15-19 reviews)
Gold Trophy (20-24 reviews)
Platinum Trophy (25-39 reviews)
Diamond Trophy (40+ reviews)

Again, I think Ghost did a phenomenal job with the Index. Naturally I have my own taste as to how I would have done it.

[Sir_Scud]

All feedback is appreciated. This is exactly the time to be critical. I really want this section to be even bigger, and I want it to be a collection of our thoughts.

1. Totally agree about the usernames thing. That always irked me. Think it's time to change that to reflect the way it looks on the forums.

2. Duly noted. I'm open to change. I'll see what others think. If a lot are not digging the underwater names, we will make some suggestions and put it to a vote. Think that's fair.

3. Well, the ranking and the tiers might be better suited the current way. Soon the plan is for you to rank up in many different ways than just reviews alone. Therefore, there are potentially incentives for those that reach the higher marks than those with less. Currently fiddling with that aspect.

[claud3]

I am happy with the way things are... The ranking system i have no problem with or anything else

Besides this whole DOLPHIN thing, it has got boring and stupid now and i now for sure that since i mentioned that... Someone will post a DOLPHIN to just make a joke out of it

I have no problem with the username set up or underwater set up for what ever that is.... I have no problem with the layout off anything that does not PISS me off

The staff have in my mind tried so hard to make this place suite everyone and i respect that... And yes some things are not to everyone's liking,

But for me all is great

[Ghost-Rhayne]

I will give my thoughts. Please do not take my opinion in a negative way.

1. I think all usernames should be displayed as they are on the forum. Lethal_NFS is not lethal_nfs.

2. I am not feeling the under the water names lol. I would name the tiers something like, Wood, Zinc, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond. The whole fish and water thing just seems weird lol

3. I also feel the tiers are not spread out evenly.

Wooden Trophy (1-4 reviews)
Zinc Trophy (5-9 reviews)
Bronze Trophy (10-14 reviews)
Silver Trophy (15-19 reviews)
Gold Trophy (20-24 reviews)
Platinum Trophy (25-39 reviews)
Diamond Trophy (40+ reviews)

Again, I think Ghost did a phenomenal job with the Index. Naturally I have my own taste as to how I would have done it.

Hehe My ranking system was a bit strange, I admit.

I chose an underwater theme just to make it more interesting and obtuse haha. Well, it was actually a weird amalgamation of weird and crazy design choices.

bros of the primordial ooze...characterised by being bronze colored and not having any of the caps in your name. This is where you begin, youre new to the review section, just rising out of the primordial ooze of writing. You evolved from a single cell organsim to a lil fishy here.

Denizens Of The Deep...characterised by being silver colored and getting any of the caps in your forum name. These levels are for those who are established in the forum and have written 15 reviews and more. You are now oneof the big names in the review section, a badass, no longer in the brown ooze lol.

MONSTERS OF THE ABYSS...characterised by being gold colored and having full caps. These are badass monsters. Everyone know leviathon...the megaladon is something that amazes me.



And GIANT ENEMY CRAB is a reference to the legendary PSP demo by Sony. The idea that once you had written 40 reviews you evolved further from sea predators to mythical and legendary monsters, and not just of the ooze or the deep, but of the ABYSS! The darkest depths, where only legends roam.

D0LPH1NS 0F T3H UND3RW4T3R CAV3...characterised by being light blue and having blockletter l33t speak. After going from all lower case, to capitals, to all uppercase...the only was upper case leet speak lol. I didn't really expect anyone to ever get there, so it was kind of a joke on my part lol.

Well, whether it stays or goes, I had alot of fun making this section. I felt like an artist approaching his canvas. I had a vision of what I wanted to create and I made it happen...I'm going to make a copy of the original index if it changes, and the thread can float to the depths of the CRS, but I'd like the original vision to find its rest in this section.

[upmagic]

Tiers are fine, and I don't mind the names. Maybe that index page could be tidied up a bit as it looks a bit haphazard with all the colors and the way its formatted. Sorry Ghost

As for a general layout for reviews, that should remain up to the critic. If your piece gets thrown up on the front page, I imagine the site staff would just want your writing up there and not all the overhead from your personal rubric. Your score will be used, so use a reasonable scale. Stars or whole numbers, or even forego a score and leave the writing as is. Don't let all that silly stuff distract you from what's important.

On word count, I'd say everyone should aim for ~1000 or less, not as a rule but often reviews that go on longer than that tend to be overwritten. I'm probably the worst offender as I regularly hit 1200 and my longer ones get to 1400, and that's a sign that I'm not editing my work to make it more concise and instead I'm just fixing my mistakes by writing more, which isn't fun for the reader. Not that ~1400 words is a huge piece or anything, or that it can't work, but it's just harder to hold someone's attention.

end of random input

[Sir_Scud]

^^^
This is definitely one conversation I want to bring up. I'm a big fan of loose guidelines for reviews. When I click on an upmagic review or a Lethal one, it feels like their own. The "blueprint" for Story, Sound, Multiplayer, etc would get a bit boring if everyone was doing it the same. I think all reviews should cover all those topics that are applicable, but leave it to the author on presentation.

I have the same problem as you, upmagic. Most of my reviews are more than ~1100 words, and with pictures could seem like an incredibly long read to most.

I really don't want too many rules for community reviews, I just want people write about their experiences for the chance of some cool things or making front page. Personally I'm a big fan of the + and - section for a conclusion, and a final score. How do others feel about this?

[Ghost-Rhayne]

I like + and -. It's a good way of summarising what you have just talked about and refreshes your points to help reflect your score.

[DeviousOne]

I like the + and - works for me

[Sir_Scud]

Alright guys, I can finally edit this section to where I see fit. No major changes as of now, but this thread is crucial for where this section is going.

So far one concrete changes is how the names will be changed so they are displayed how it looks on the forum. Don't worry ghost, I like the different colors for different tiers. If the community wants to stick with the underwater theme then that will stick.

[Ghost-Rhayne]

A small part of me wants all to stay the same, but the other 99% just wants the section to change in whichever way needed to help the PSU writing culture to thrive lol. If this section had a TOTAL overhaul, I wouldn't mind at all (just lemme know so I can copy the thread code and make a snapshot thread of the sections first iteration)

I don't want you to feel like you have to step on egg shells just cause I set this place up though. I handed this place over to you, it's your sandbox now,to build what you want to build.

[Lethal_NFS]

Lets tear it down and build it from scratch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!





j/k

[Sir_Scud]

Here's the deal: Right now I'm just getting some ideas of what the community thinks of the current situation. Until I talk with Adam about what we can really do with the section, there won't be drastic changes. Afterwards, there might be. I can guarantee there will be major additions to content, but whether or not I change the index and rankings are a whole other thing.

I'm a big believer in don't fix what ain't broke. The current system works well, my true contributions will come from what's in stock for the future. Which I have some really cool ideas. I think that what you have done Ghost is pretty impressive. I don't believe in arbitrarily changing things just so it's my idea. I do agree with Lethal on the way the usernames show up, so I will get to that soon.

I am probably going to change some other things around, though. Until then, I just want to hear what the people think. It's kinda like if you ever taken an art course and you do peer evaluations. Unfortunately, it's only your stuff Ghost lol.