Get that thing off your chest... Now...

[Blane Doyle]

Personally I think it is better to release a bad game, learn from it, and then improve and continue to make better games than never release one at all. But that's just me. Bad is also HIGHLY subjective. Some people judge bad on overall quality. Some people judge bad by one thing, like the visuals, And some people judge bad by "ewwww the main character's a girl this is shit" (which, personally, I think is ridiculous).

Though I agree that creators SHOULD pay attention to his reviews, not just the ones for their games but all of them. As I said before, even though I don't agree with his personal opinions sometimes and don't like his harsh tone, he has some honest and important feedback in his reviews that can be quite helpful. I do think they are overly negative (and by that I mean he barely notes anything positive more than in passing so the negativity outshines it), but that doesn't mean they have nothing important to offer in them.

I don't think it is a good idea to ignore ANY negative feedback at all. Unless it is personally directed at you (ur stoopid), vague and unhelpful ("this game is awful" and nothing else), or too subjective to really help ("all stories that have a female main character in college suck" isn't really good critique), in which case... yeah, that's not helpful at all. But that's more a negative comment than real critique in my eyes.

To sum up my thoughts on this from my three posts:
His reviews are harsh and mostly negative but are good for getting feedback in ways that some may not want to give you. It may be hard to take the criticism but he's more or less outlining the negatives he sees and not outright saying a game is bad for listing these negatives. I wish he would give more positives but I doubt that's going to happen. There is good negative feedback (that tells you why they thought it was bad) and bad negative feedback (just insults and no explanation). I think, despite his harsh tone, he falls into the first category and that he really is trying to be helpful. Also, make your games, bad or good, and listen and learn from feedback so you can make better ones. It's better to make a bad one first and improve than never make one at all.

[Donmai]

When someone starts a review with the words "surprisingly decent", he is telling a lot more about himself than about what he is reviewing.

[Taleweaver]

If you read the reviews dispassionately as a "here are things I noticed" rather than a "this is why it's shit" and judge for yourself whether those things would make a game unplayable for you, you'll have a very different experience than if you're trawling the blog looking for an unequivocal thumbs-up.

My main gripe with these reviews is that there doesn't seem to be any VN he's played that he actually liked, just for the fact that it appealed to him. The most positive review he seems to be capable of is "this wasn't too bad, even though this aspect and that other thing and this thing too were crap". His most enthusiastic monikers are "tolerable", "surprisingly not awful", "fairly entertaining" and "a bit bland by modern standards".

By pointing out in detail what's wrong while hardly saying a word or two about what actually felt good to him, he makes it look as though there are hardly any reasons to play the VNs he describes. His reviews lack balance - I really couldn't say what he's actually looking for in a VN from what he writes. I agree that his style of critique may be useful as feedback for the game-makers - but really, look at his reviews and give me one title, just one, he recommends to me as a possible player. I can't find one. Well, except for Hierofania, but that one didn't get his "Best VN of 2012" award. It somehow doesn't fit.

[Obscura]

lol I've seen those reviews. His tastes differ so fundamentally from mine, I feel like I'm reading a car review that goes:

"This car drives decently BUT LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THE 1,023,492 THINGS THAT REALLY BUGGED ME LIKE THE FACT THAT THE INSIDE OF THE GLOVE COMPARTMENT DOESN'T MATCH THE REST OF THE CAR AND IF YOU FLIP THE ASHTRAY UPSIDE DOWN THERE'S THIS WEIRD THINGIE THAT OBVIOUSLY HAS NO PURPOSE, WHAT A HUGE DESIGN FLAW"

I don't have a problem with negative reviewers, but again, my tastes don't match with his at all. He focuses on things that I could really care less about, and doesn't say nearly enough about things that actually keep me reading a VN (i.e., compelling story, well written dialogue). I have never been able to get through a couple of the VNs he's actually liked, so I can't necessarily rely on his positive reviews either.

All in all, it comes down the fact it's one person, and like I've said before, I never put all my faith in a single reviewer when it comes to whether or not I play a game.

*edit: for a troll blog it's pretty good though.

** also, I think the dude is on this board. have fun playing my game, man

[Sapphi]

All I'm saying is that creators should pay more attention to anonl's reviews rather than call them overly negative and ignore them, because he's being honest about his experience reading the game. His opinion matters too -- and more often than not he isn't the only person with that opinion. I'm quite glad he reviews things the way he does, because he ends up saying a lot of things that I don't have to.

Yeah. I for one enjoy his reviews.
In fact they usually make me laugh... (I'm a bad person)

He has a high standard, but I don't think it's unrealistically high. It doesn't discourage me, personally... in fact it makes me motivated to try and see if I can get a good review out of him someday!

[Carassaurat]

but really, look at his reviews and give me one title, just one, he recommends to me as a possible player. I can't find one. Well, except for Hierofania, but that one didn't get his "Best VN of 2012" award. It somehow doesn't fit.

OELVN Recommendation Chart v1

I think the balance, for him at least, is on a macro scale; if you want to read the positive things, the threads on these forums have that in ample supply. He's merely trying to fill the void. In addition to being a major cynic, I'd imagine.

I, for one, would be very happy if he took a look at my works in the future.

Edit: I second Obscura, please play her demo!

[Deji]

I'm under the impression his reviews are more for players than for creators, in any case.
EVN devs are still green and immature, so to speak, so what *we* (as devs) need the most is good feedback aimed at *us* instead of reviews aimed at players.
I think you can find good feedback in reviews like that, like others have mentioned, but it's not made specifically to help EVN devs get better, so you won't find advice or pointers on how to improve things there.

I personally thing EVNs are not inherently bad, but they are *full* of flaws. I don't play most of them, and I wouldn't judge against JVNs nor other kind of games because they just don't have much of a chance.
But that's okay.
As I mentioned above, we're still "growing up", we're not mature yet as a... uh... industry, movement, whatever. We are doing our best without knowing exactly what we're doing and trying to find our way. We're all pretty much amateurs here, afaik, despite the years of experience ones may have over the others. And that's okay too.
I do think the games done now are better than the games made in the past (for the time I've spent lurking here) and that we'll keep evolving and getting better and eventually we'll know what we're doing and make stuff that'll be liked outside the niche on a regular basis, instead of the occasional fluke.
So yeah, don't expect others to not review EVNs negatively because EVNs *do have tons of flaws*.

It'd be nice to have more... uh... experienced reviewwers that review other kind of games or JVNs point out what we're doing well, though; I mean, we already know we're not good at this or that, no need to point it out all the time, haha. There must me *something* we're succeeding at in some degree, compared to the "mainstream market"? ^^;

[Blane Doyle]

I don't have a problem with negative reviewers, but again, my tastes don't match with his at all.

All in all, it comes down the fact it's one person, and like I've said before, I never put all my faith in a single reviewer when it comes to whether or not I play a game.

Yes, I have admit my tastes don't match his much either. This is why I said I disagree with many of his opinions despite finding his feedback valuable, our tastes just don't seem to mesh very well (though I rarely find a visual novel I can't enjoy on some level so I do like the few he had many positive remarks for).

I also agree it is not a good idea to put faith in a single reviewer either. A broad range of opinions and critic is always better than a single opinion and critique, both as a player and as a creator.

@Deji Good points all around. And if someone can't find anything positive (personally I think we're improving at a steady pace too and that we're pretty ok overall), we at least don't have really bad DRM. I don't mind DRM but always online or requiring an internet connection or having a completely separate program to manage your games is ridiculous. We also have far less pointless nukige that's just bad and our stuff, in my opinion, reads a bit less silly in the wording (unless it is on purpose in which case it is generally overblown to the point of intended hilarity).

The only other person I know who reviews VNs specifically (and doesn't just review them by chance) is the guy who runs VNsNow. By glancing they seem far more positive and longer as well. May be a good place to look for a comparison?

Aaaaand, I am done with this topic, now I promise.

[Obscura]

Edit: I second Obscura, please play her demo!

Given how diametrically opposed his tastes are to mine, I'm pretty sure he's going to hate it, with or without the

giant servings of cock.

The only other person I know who reviews VNs specifically (and doesn't just review them by chance) is the guy who runs VNsNow. By glancing they seem far more positive and longer as well. May be a good place to look for a comparison?

Just a personal thing--but that guy's tastes are even harder for me to understand than anonl's, lol. If we like the same game, it's for entirely different reasons.

AND YES I'M CRITIQUING CRITICS. WHAT OF IT

And just to belabor the point, I always saw LSF and 4chan about as far apart as you can go in terms of positive and negative feedback. A place like Reddit is probably a better barometer (and more balanced one) of what the public at large thinks.

[Blane Doyle]

((I LIED AND I AM HORRIBLE FOR IT)) Critiquing critics, could be a new prospect! But in all seriousness, I don't think it's possible to completely match another person's taste so that is understandable. ... I don't know if I have ever seen Reddit feedback. I should probably take a look.

In other news (and the real reason I replied again), is it just me or is it unusually warm for April? I don't think 85F is a normal temperature for this time of year near the East Coast of USA. Did we skip spring altogether because winter decided to stay late?

I'm a worry wort and while my laptop usually sits at around 84F it got up to over 95F. I had to put in my air conditioner early to keep it from overheating and to keep me from being miserable.

I wouldn't be worried or ranting about it if it wasn't APRIL. APRIL. This is not normal!

[Amorphous]

In other news (and the real reason I replied again), is it just me or is it unusually warm for April? I don't think 85F is a normal temperature for this time of year near the East Coast of USA. Did we skip spring altogether because winter decided to stay late?

It is pretty warm for April (I'm in NJ, by the way), it's 70-80 where I live. Although I've heard that it might swing down to something a bit cooler later this or next week, so not entirely sure. And frankly, I'm not too surprised about the weather; we've managed to swing from snowing in April to 80s, so anything goes, really. This is just one of the warmer years then.

As for me personally, I'm still not done with my Nano project, mainly because insane Amorphous ended up writing 20,000 words before realizing that there's only one month and one full member of the team. It's already been more than a week after the deadline and I still have a bit of work to do to release it...I really have a problem with writing short stories. I think I'm doing okay and suddenly I have too many words >_<

[ThisIsNoName]

In other news (and the real reason I replied again), is it just me or is it unusually warm for April? I don't think 85F is a normal temperature for this time of year near the East Coast of USA. Did we skip spring altogether because winter decided to stay late?

It is pretty warm for April (I'm in NJ, by the way), it's 70-80 where I live. Although I've heard that it might swing down to something a bit cooler later this or next week, so not entirely sure. And frankly, I'm not too surprised about the weather; we've managed to swing from snowing in April to 80s, so anything goes, really. This is just one of the warmer years then.

*Looks at thermometer... 35 degrees*
I freaking hate you guys.

[SusanTheCat]

It's 10 degrees here -- shorts weather! (I am not kidding, my husband and I are currently in shorts)

I should mention that I'm Canadian.

And I should also mention that is in degrees Celsius. (50 degrees in Fahrenheit).

Susan

[KittyKatStar]

Pretty much. Anything hovering around 15 C is considered nice weather here.

Now anything above 25 C I'm pretty much melting and over 30 C consider me dead. x_X

(Yes, I can't endure hot weather at all. x.x )

Canadian here, too.

[SundownKid]

In NYC it should be going up to 80 F tomorrow.. seems like a heat wave.