Forum rules question...

deluges

Well-Known Member
Dec 28, 2018
1,016
1,130
Since the thread is locked for some reason, I'll bring this up here.

I've seen now in multiple reviews where the reviewer refuses to compare a game to another game i.e.: "Another clone of a couple of well known games from the section of "Popular Games" that I can't tell because the rules of this forum" and yet I do not see anywhere in the forum rules that forbids one from doing this. The only thing I can see is:
  • Please do not advertise other games in game threads, this will often derail discussion
Which, to my understanding, does not mean that somebody can't compare one game to another whilst reviewing a game. For instance, saying Life of Kiki is ripping off Good Girl Gone Bad, and poorly, might help someone find a game that they might enjoy more. I'm just seeking some clarification here.
 

fitgirlbestgirl

Well-Known Member
Jul 27, 2017
1,140
4,264
Review Rules

Do not mention other games or other developers in your review, this is to prevent cross promotion.
It's a kind of unintuitive rule, especially the way it's worded. I got like three warning points when I started reviewing games because I was like "so if I'm not promoting the game I'm mentioning it's okay, right?"
 
  • Like
Reactions: deluges
2

215303j

Guest
Guest
For instance, saying Life of Kiki is ripping off Good Girl Gone Bad, and poorly, might help someone find a game that they might enjoy more. I'm just seeking some clarification here.
Bashing one game in another game's review section (or thread) is not fair, I think, as it doesn't give the dev a fair chance to respond. Although bashing the game in it's own review section by comparing it to a similar but better game does make sense in a way.

The other problem is that this kind of reviewing remains subjective, or even doubly subjective by referencing your subjective opinion on this game with your subjective opinion on the other game. A review should strive to be objective as far as possible.
 

deluges

Well-Known Member
Dec 28, 2018
1,016
1,130
Review Rules



It's a kind of unintuitive rule, especially the way it's worded. I got like three warning points when I started reviewing games because I was like "so if I'm not promoting the game I'm mentioning it's okay, right?"
Ah... what the hell, I didn't even see the review rules.... I feel like they could just make one main rules section instead of hiding that one in site announcements, where I would never think to look. That's all I was really looking for, so thank you. I totally agree about that wording though.
 

deluges

Well-Known Member
Dec 28, 2018
1,016
1,130
Bashing one game in another game's review section (or thread) is not fair, I think, as it doesn't give the dev a fair chance to respond. Although bashing the game in it's own review section by comparing it to a similar but better game does make sense in a way.

The other problem is that this kind of reviewing remains subjective, or even doubly subjective by referencing your subjective opinion on this game with your subjective opinion on the other game. A review should strive to be objective as far as possible.
Oh, I get that, I was using an extreme (worst case) example, but mostly I think that using other games as points of reference could be useful and it seems weird that it's disallowed. Seeing as how this is a piracy site, I also don't see what's wrong in bashing games.... especially since I see it (and dev bashing) quite often in the game threads. Sure, we should keep some measure of civility, but it's not like being negative of a game impacts the site at all. One would imagine the game leaks would continue to show up regardless, but I digress.

If I say that one game did this specific thing, let's take fairies / pixies first, comparing this game that did it after, isn't subjective, it is a fact. So if I want to compare Zoe's Temptation, The Spellbook and whatever the last game I just played was that I already forgot that had a pixie in it, I don't see the harm.

At this point, I'm not advocating anything, since I already got my answer, I'm just sayin'.
 

TCMS

Quote my posts if you want an answer
Donor
Former Staff
Aug 5, 2016
5,797
29,926
Oh, I get that, I was using an extreme (worst case) example, but mostly I think that using other games as points of reference could be useful and it seems weird that it's disallowed. Seeing as how this is a piracy site, I also don't see what's wrong in bashing games.... especially since I see it (and dev bashing) quite often in the game threads. Sure, we should keep some measure of civility, but it's not like being negative of a game impacts the site at all. One would imagine the game leaks would continue to show up regardless, but I digress.

If I say that one game did this specific thing, let's take fairies / pixies first, comparing this game that did it after, isn't subjective, it is a fact. So if I want to compare Zoe's Temptation, The Spellbook and whatever the last game I just played was that I already forgot that had a pixie in it, I don't see the harm.

At this point, I'm not advocating anything, since I already got my answer, I'm just sayin'.
Our review system very early on became an advertising galore, where people would just compare games to their favourites and directly or indirectly would say that playing their favourite game is way better than playing the game that they're reviewing. So, we had to be harsh. People can still review a game without any major hurdles with this rule so, we'd rather keep that than allow spamming/advertising.
 

polywog

Forum Fanatic
May 19, 2017
4,063
6,256
Our review system very early on became an advertising galore, where people would just compare games to their favourites and directly or indirectly would say that playing their favourite game is way better than playing the game that they're reviewing. So, we had to be harsh. People can still review a game without any major hurdles with this rule so, we'd rather keep that than allow spamming/advertising.
how about comparing a game to itself? like chapter 2 compared to chapter 1 or a remake to the original where the dev says it's a remake? or if the game is part of a trilogy? or comparing a parody game to the original movie, book etc.
theyre-more-like-guidelines-than-actual-rules.jpg
 

W65

Active Member
May 31, 2018
779
840
Well, having that sort of rule does discourage "if you like X you'll like this" and "it's the same type of game as X" style review comments. On the one hand, that sort of remark is kind of a lazy way of describing a game. On the other hand, it's a very succinct way to put your audience in touch with the type of game you're reviewing, which can be helpful when there's a genre without a well-known name but whose elements are captured or exemplified by some particular game in the genre. That is, I guess, is a verbose way of saying "it's kind of a lazy way of describing a game," so maybe I've un-made my own point.

Um... and the only example of that I can think of is the slave trainer kind of genre, where people compare things to Slave Maker or Jack o Nine or that kind of thing. Then again, the fact that I named the genre when I gave that example--

You know what, forget I posted anything.

(So why not just not post in the first plac
 

TCMS

Quote my posts if you want an answer
Donor
Former Staff
Aug 5, 2016
5,797
29,926
how about comparing a game to itself? like chapter 2 compared to chapter 1 or a remake to the original where the dev says it's a remake? or if the game is part of a trilogy? or comparing a parody game to the original movie, book etc.
View attachment 283687
We've grown lenient specially with big games about people talking about as follow ups to a big success for example. Comparisons are frowned upon between games and will most likely will lead to deletion. Comparing with external things, such as movies etc would be kind of nonsensical, unless the movies are titled "Milf moms dream about son's big dick vol. 3" :whistle:
 

anne O'nymous

I'm not grumpy, I'm just coded that way.
Modder
Respected User
Donor
Jun 10, 2017
9,944
14,546
That is, I guess, is a verbose way of saying "it's kind of a lazy way of describing a game," so maybe I've un-made my own point.
You have.

The fact is that a review is a personal opinion ; "Personally I (dis)liked this game because [whatever]". Some will agree to this opinion, while other will disagree. But to do this, they need to know what you (dis)liked and why.
When you say, "hey, you know [another game], well compared to this one, it's [whatever]", you base your opinion on the opinion you had regarding another game... an opinion that only you know. After reading such review, we know that you had at least two opinions in your life, but that's all. We can guess what were these opinions, but we don't know why you came to them, nor if they were legit or not. So, it's totally unhelpful since it taught us something about you, not about the game.


You know what, forget I posted anything.
No because by trying to made a point, you made the opposite one and did it really good.