Censored review

[Muramasa0]

Last Saturday I left descriptive review for the game "What a Legend!", leaving also a low score. The review wasn't very different from all the other low score reviews you can find around the community, and I tried to be respectful, also pointing the things I think are possitive about the game.
This was the review:

Notice: Review is about v0.5

This game has excellent art and good music. The story is meh, pretty average, but still will enjoy it, mostly cause the jokes in it are pretty good.

Why only 1 start then? Pretty simple. Maybe the development resources are not being focused on the right way, since evey new entry takes forever and adds very little new stuff to do.
And after such a long journey, there's still almost no content inside. Especially when it comes to actual porn content, which is what we all are here. Otherwise we wouldn't be looking for games on F95.

This would be a great demo for a complete, finished game. But as THE whole game, as it is, is just not worthy yet.

Two hours later, said review was deleted for being considered "inappropriate". Since then, I've been sending messeges and asking for a clarification about this topic, but sadly I never got a single reply.
I would like to have a proper explanation about why this review is wrong enough to be deleted without giving me a proper excuse.

 

[Hagatagar]

It could be because this part...

Why only 1 start then? Pretty simple. Maybe the development resources are not being focused on the right way, since evey new entry takes forever and adds very little new stuff to do.

...is not a review of the game itself, but of the development of the game, especially because you associate the 1 star rating directly to it.

 

[Muramasa0]

It could be because this part...

...is not a review of the game itself, but of the development of the game, especially because you associate the 1 star rating directly to it.

The review is about the game. I also included a comment about my thoughts for that manner but the score is not because of that at all. I could not write anything about the development and the score would still be 1 star because there's basically no sex content on a sex game that's posted on a sex games website. That's the main issue I find with the game.

 

[Lyem]

I may be wrong but i feel the wording accusing the dev of not using his resources the right way might be what caught it.

According to this:
Review/Rating Rules [Updated 2021-05-31]

Review rule 4. The review should only be about the game, not the developer (pricing, update times, etc).

Why only 1 start then? Pretty simple. Maybe the development resources are not being focused on the right way, since evey new entry takes forever and adds very little new stuff to do.

I don't think this is it but it's the only idea i have, hopefully someone else explain it to you better

 

[Muramasa0]

I may be wrong but i feel the wording accusing the dev of not using his resources the right way might be what caught it.

According to this:
Review/Rating Rules [Updated 2021-05-31]

Review rule 4. The review should only be about the game, not the developer (pricing, update times, etc).


I don't think this is it but it's the only idea i have, hopefully someone else explain it to you better

So it means that, by deleting this line:

Maybe the development resources are not being focused on the right way, since evey new entry takes forever and adds very little new stuff to do.

I should be able to post the review again and not having it deleted, right? After all, that's the only thing related to the development.

 

[Alcahest]

So it means that, by deleting this line:

I should be able to post the review again and not having it deleted, right? After all, that's the only thing related to the development.

No, pretty much all you say except the first line where you praise the game relates to the game development being slow. You are saying this is a great game, if it were longer, and then give it 1 star. That is not reviewing the game as it is -- it is reviewing the development. And this game takes time to develop.

I have seen many reviews mentioning slow development as a negative and reason for a low score, but mods can't be everywhere to clean things up when it happens.

 

[anne O'nymous]

No, pretty much all you say except the first line where you praise the game relates to the game development being slow.

Exactly. The only thing that talk about the game is the eight words regarding the art and music.

A review should talk about the story, the game mechanism, the global default(s) (like "there's choice but they aren't kept in memory, what mean that the characters will sometime talk about things you decided to not do"), and things like that. But he talk almost exclusively about the development and the lack of sex ; even expecting that anyone is here only for it.
You can give one star only, as well as you can be harsh with a game, as long as you are talking about the game itself and explaining why you're harsh. Therefore, you should review about facts, and only about facts.

But here, he review about the impression he have regarding the development speed. He don't know how many time the author need to create the art, how many free time he have to do this. Yet he wonder that "perhaps the development resources are not being focused on the right way". It's an opinion, not a fact.

I have seen many reviews mentioning slow development as a negative and reason for a low score, but mods can't be everywhere to clean things up when it happens.

And those mentions can be perfectly valid, it depend why and how the problem is addressed.
By example there's a game, that I'll not name because it's a good one despite this problem, that will have 52 in-game weeks. But so far, after three years of development, only two in-game weeks have been released. Saying in your review something like, "the development is too slow in regard of the planed content. At this speed, the game will need near to 75 years to be finished, what is way too long", is stating a fact, and therefore valid in a review.
But obviously, if what you write looks more on the side of, "just two in-game week after three years of development, this game is way too slow", it's not the same. You aren't putting your opinion in perspective with the game itself, just saying that it's slow in regard of what yourself expect from a game.

And it's the problem with his review. All is focused on what he expect from a game, and nothing more. And this even include the first sentence. The art and music are good, but we don't even know why. Is it because the arts visually fit the story ? Because they are pleasing to see ? Because they aren't too aggressive ? Is it because there's animations and they are smooth ? Or is it just because, personally, he just like them ?

 

[Muramasa0]

The actual problem here is not what y'all are mentioning.

I left a comment on that game's thread (aside from the review), and a few guys attacked me with insults because "I was messing with the game", so mods deleted their messages AND mine as well because of all the fuzz they made. Then, after that, my review was also deleted. Not before, but after.
I sent several messages to the mod that deleted it, asking for clarification, and never got a reply. I even sent him other revies around here that kinda exactly the same as mine (for that game and others) as an example and I can confirm those are still there.
I even left a message on his profile asking asking if he could reply my questions but it was deleted because of, and I quote, "Trolling".
If this were just another review deleted out of the blue, y'all may be right. But thing is, it's not.
As GRasputin mentions, mods can't be everywhere. It's just a funny coincidence that my review was deleted after some folks got angry about my different opinion, and when I asked why, was simply ignored.

But to what anne O'nymous said, I don't agree. If a rule is there, it must be applied equally. So either every single review in this forum is hammered when talking about development or none is. There can't be "good ways" to bend a rule, cause that's not stipulated, so it comes to the judgment of each mod if it's ok or not, and he/she may simply delete an actual good review cause it's giving a game he/she likes a bad review, or a good one to a game he/she hates. You either allow it to everybody or to nobody.
But also, it's kinda dumb not to allow reviewing development when you are pointing something obvious and beyond speculation (in this particular case or any other). Games don't come out of nowhere, people is making them, and is making them with different tools and across a time schedule, things they decide themselves. And money in coming in for them, being through sales, Patron or whatever. So, for example, when people complain about Cyberpunk 2077 for all the bugs and promised content that's not there, they don't say "Damn game, make yourself better", they say "Damn CD Project, make the game better".

 

[Hagatagar]

I know, that's not something one wants to hear if one feels to be confronted with injustice, but this site has only 20 staff members with over 20K users at the same time, new posts and even more DM every few seconds. They just can't spent too much time with complains and questions.
And to be honest, this behavior...

I sent several messages to the mod that deleted it, asking for clarification, and never got a reply. I even sent him other revies around here that kinda exactly the same as mine (for that game and others) as an example and I can confirm those are still there.
I even left a message on his profile asking asking if he could reply my questions but it was deleted because of, and I quote, "Trolling".

... won't get you any goodwill. Give those complains a little bit more time before you press on, if it's nothing severe.
And no, I'm not defending the decisions of the mods and also not the fact that F95zone is kinda understaffed.

But also, it's kinda dumb not to allow reviewing development when you are pointing something obvious and beyond speculation (in this particular case or any other).

That's kinda true, but it still doesn't really belong in a game review (if it's not about bugs and similar), which should be about the game and not the circumstances around it, especially if it affects the rating.
A game can still be good, even if the dev is a major dickhead and the updates are practically non-existent.


I assume the mods are so strict against certain kinds of reviews because so many users keeps plugging their reviews repeatedly with complaints about the dev or the game development. And something like that leads to a zero tollerance stance.

 

[anne O'nymous]

But to what anne O'nymous said, I don't agree. If a rule is there, it must be applied equally. So either every single review in this forum is hammered when talking about development or none is. There can't be "good ways" to bend a rule, [...] You either allow it to everybody or to nobody.

It's not a question of bending the rules, but at the opposite of following them: "Try to be objective, describe your reasoning and highlight what key aspects of the content were good or bad."
It's precisely the difference between the two examples I gave. The first one is objective and argued ; the development is too slow because at this speed the game will need 75 years to be finished. While the second is just an opinion based on the sole taste of its author.


And this is also why your review was removed:

• "This game has excellent art and good music."
  As I already said, excellent in which way, and why do you find them excellent ?
• "The story is meh, pretty average, but still will enjoy it, mostly cause the jokes in it are pretty good."
  Ok, the story is enjoyable because of the good jokes, but why is it pretty average ?
  Is it because it's a setting seen hundreds times ? Is it because the writing isn't good enough ? Is it because the story feel flat, being the day by day story of a no one doing almost nothing ? Is it because the whole feel like a bunch of scenes put one after the other without almost no link between them ? There's so many reason for a story to be "pretty average".
• "Why only 1 start then? Pretty simple."
  filling content.
• "Maybe the development resources are not being focused on the right way, since evey new entry takes forever and adds very little new stuff to do."
  The delay between two updates can also, among many other possibilities, be due to the fact that the dev have two jobs to supports his unemployed wife and two children. As for the limited content added, it can be because the author still care about the players, and want to give them at least little something every now and then.
  You're just giving your interpretation, and it's based on nothing except your own opinion.
• "And after such a long journey, there's still almost no content inside."
  I don't know the game, so I can't say for sure. But there's many games that are far less empty than the average player think. And this isn't always due to a design flaw (missing an important trigger because you made 'the wrong choice'). The game can be intended to be played in a certain way (dominant MC, NTR, sub MC, futa) while having a neutral path because the author want to share the story with more people. But obviously, only the main path will have significant lewd content, while the neutral one will mostly just contain the story part.
  Therefore, here it could have been an objective point, if it was argued, explaining what path was followed, and why you think that there's almost no content.
• "Especially when it comes to actual porn content, which is what we all are here. Otherwise we wouldn't be looking for games on F95."
  Ok, here there's an argument. But it's a pure personal opinion based on your own reason to be here. There's a reason why, among the many tags a game can have, there's one for games with no sexual content.
  You could have, at least, gave an estimated ratio story/lewd for the reader to be able to make is own opinion regarding the possible lack of content.
• "This would be a great demo for a complete, finished game. But as THE whole game, as it is, is just not worthy yet."
  This could be a valid end for a review. After all, I already wrote one that finished by (from memory) "for those reasons, this game don't worth to be played, at least yet, there's way better out there". But it was a (probably near to) 30 lines long review explaining point by point the flaws of the game, and why they were a flaw, what isn't at all the case of your review.

In the end, the main problem is that you didn't reviewed the game, but vented the frustration you felt after paying it.
But it's not what reviews are for. They shouldn't be wrote in regard of yourself, but to the attention of the future readers. That's why you have to explain your thoughts, in order for them to be able to build their own opinion in regard of their own taste.

 

[Muramasa0]

But it's not what reviews are for. They shouldn't be wrote in regard of yourself, but to the attention of the future readers. That's why you have to explain your thoughts, in order for them to be able to build their own opinion in regard of their own taste.

This is the only part of your message that I think it kinda makes sense, since everything else is simply your opinion against mine, and we can be forever discussing that.
As you mention, reviews are to help other people find if a game is a good fit for them or not and why. If you are going through Metacritic or Steam and you have to make a decision about buying a game or not (especially the expensive ones), then you do wanna go in depth about different aspects of said game, even more those with MP elements.

But this is F95. While people do wants story, plot, gfx, music and everything that builds up a good game, they aren't paying a single cent for games here, so they really don't care if games are that bad cause you can simply delete the from your PC and download new ones and keep trying like that. In the end, the main and ultimate reason we all are here for is because of the lewd, fapping material.
If, after lots of updates and a long time, a game still has little to no porn content, I'll put that in a review, because that's mostly what people wants to know. I'm sorry, but that's just how it is. If someone comes here, is looking for porn games WITH other elements on top of that, not the opposite.

So, after closely following the game and its development for ages, believe me when I say that my review was as objetive as "Try to be objective" can be.
Again, if you don't like my text in particular, then it's your own opinion. And that's great. But I don't review for developers, I review for the players.

 

[lemonfreak]

But to what anne O'nymous said, I don't agree. If a rule is there, it must be applied equally. So either every single review in this forum is hammered when talking about development or none is.

Your other arguemnts have been reputed thoroughly so I'll focus solely on this, the false equivalence you draw between rules not being effectively enforced and rules not being enforced equally. If you're driving on the freeway at 90mph, you are breaking the law. If a police officer catches you doing this you will get a ticket but, if there is no police officer present then you won't; this does not mean you didn't break the law, it simply that you got away with it.

Similarly, if a review on this site breaks the rules and a mod doesn't see it, that does not mean the reviewer didn't break the rules, it simply means the reviewer got away with doing so.

You got caught, just admit it and move on with your life.

 

[Carpe Stultus]

Holy moly. The review violated review rule 4 and either a mod happened to see it, which is doubtful, or it got reported, which is way more likely.

Its amazing how people always get butthurt when their stuff, that violates rules, gets deleted and claim that rules don't get applied equally instead of reporting shit that violates rules.

 

[Muramasa0]

Your other arguemnts have been reputed thoroughly so I'll focus solely on this, the false equivalence you draw between rules not being effectively enforced and rules not being enforced equally. If you're driving on the freeway at 90mph, you are breaking the law. If a police officer catches you doing this you will get a ticket but, if there is no police officer present then you won't; this does not mean you didn't break the law, it simply that you got away with it.

Similarly, if a review on this site breaks the rules and a mod doesn't see it, that does not mean the reviewer didn't break the rules, it simply means the reviewer got away with doing so.

You got caught, just admit it and move on with your life.

I wasn't refering to my review especifically when I replied last time, please double check carefuly before replying.

 

[lemonfreak]

I wasn't refering to my review especifically when I replied last time, please double check carefuly before replying.

Ssh

 

[Muramasa0]

Besides, anothe thing that's wrong with this particular system is not being able to review a game after a previous review was deleted. I'm now banned from reviewing "What a Legend!".
If this weren't censoring, you should allow people to send a new review after fixing what supposedly was wrong on the first one.

 

[Toweke]

I for one don't see anything wrong with your review. You said the game was good quality but lacked content & that's why you didn't think it was worth playing. The comment about development time is valuable in a review as well because it lets other people know whether it's worth continuing to pay attention / watch the title in the future. It's the same reason games are marked abandoned.

If this review violates F95's rules, then there would be millions of Steam reviews for games that wouldn't meet F95's rules too. And not because the reviews are invalid or unhelpful. So think of that what you may, but the possibility that the rule is too strict does exist

If you're driving on the freeway at 90mph, you are breaking the law. If a police officer catches you doing this you will get a ticket but, if there is no police officer present then you won't; this does not mean you didn't break the law, it simply that you got away with it.

This analogy might work if we ignored that probably at least 80% of the other reviews on this site wouldn't satisfy all the conditions laid out in anne's reply, and that the mods clearly don't care that much about it.

The better analogy would be some obscure law that is practically never prosecuted for and is almost actively ignored by the police. Kind of like being prosecuted for jay-walking randomly when millions of people do it every day, right in front of the cops, and they don't typically care.

 

[Muramasa0]

I for one don't see anything wrong with your review. You said the game was good quality but lacked content & that's why you didn't think it was worth playing. The comment about development time is valuable in a review as well because it lets other people know whether it's worth continuing to pay attention / watch the title in the future. It's the same reason games are marked abandoned.

If this review violates F95's rules, then there would be millions of Steam reviews for games that wouldn't meet F95's rules too. And not because the reviews are invalid or unhelpful. So think of that what you may, but the possibility that the rule is too strict does exist


This analogy might work if we ignored that probably at least 80% of the other reviews on this site wouldn't satisfy all the conditions laid out in anne's reply, and that the mods clearly don't care that much about it.

The better analogy would be some obscure law that is practically never prosecuted for and is almost actively ignored by the police. Kind of like being prosecuted for jay-walking randomly when millions of people do it every day, right in front of the cops, and they don't typically care.

Tho what you are saying is completely correct, the problems in my particular case, and the reasons to why I used the word "censored" on the title, are what I described earlier:

I left a comment on that game's thread (aside from the review), and a few guys attacked me with insults because "I was messing with the game", so mods deleted their messages AND mine as well because of all the fuzz they made. Then, after that, my review was also deleted. Not before, but after.
I sent several messages to the mod that deleted it, asking for clarification, and never got a reply. I even sent him other revies around here that kinda exactly the same as mine (for that game and others) as an example and I can confirm those are still there.
I even left a message on his profile asking asking if he could reply my questions but it was deleted because of, and I quote, "Trolling".
If this were just another review deleted out of the blue, y'all may be right. But thing is, it's not.

Besides, anothe thing that's wrong with this particular system is not being able to review a game after a previous review was deleted. I'm now banned from reviewing "What a Legend!".
If this weren't censoring, you should allow people to send a new review after fixing what supposedly was wrong on the first one.

So, as you said, is a case where rules are not applied equally, or because of the reason they should at all.
My review was clean. Of course other developers would say it wasn't, they don't like being criticized even if it is constructive and with respect. Of course other players will react, because they like the game and don't want others pointing to its flaws.
So, of course mods will act unevenly to avoid players and developers complaining about negative reviews.

 

[Muramasa0]

Just bumping to avoid the thread being closed, since the problem hasn't been solved.

Still haven't received an answer from the mod that deleted my review, despite all the messeges I sent to him.
Still haven't received an answer about why my public attempts to reach the staff were deleted and marked as "trolling".
Still haven't received an answer about why I'm not allowed to send another review for the same game.

 

[Hagatagar]

Just bumping to avoid the thread being closed

That's not a thing here. Threads won't get closed because they are too old.