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There are plenty of games I've played on GOG or own the original CD/DVD/disks for games that are on GOG but haven't purchased again on GOG. There are some good old games I didn't get to play the first time they were "new" and I go to the Review section for a game to only find the first half-dozen "helpful" reviews are just nostalgic posts that evaluate the game through rose-colored (or a rare bad experience) glasses from the PAST.

I want to know if the game will run properly on Windows 7/8 without DoxBox shenanigans (i.e. Privateer 2 or Invictus). I want to know if the game is fun in the present (not in the past) or was perhaps one of those unique games that did some game mechanic first. I want to know what key things make the game still fun today that is similar/different from current games in the same genre.

I don't need to know that you sat on Daddy's lap as you played your first FPS and it was fun so I should get the game ,too, but now on GOG. That isn't helpful for the product I am thinking of purchasing: "Oh, this guy had fun with this game at age 7 on his dad's lap so I guess I should buy this game". Not helpful. I mark NO for not helpful.

Maybe GOG needs a special section for a game where people can wax poetic in nostalgia for a game they played over ten years ago but it should NOT be counted as a review of the game. A Review is one where a person currently purchased the game on GOG, somewhat recently, and played it. Then they are giving their evaluation of the game as it is TODAY, not in the past.

I ask all readers to consider marking nostalgic "reviews" as Not Helpful and perhaps we can help filter these otherwise useless game posts passed off as "reviews" from real, current and helpful reviews. Thanks.
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Technojedi: There are plenty of games I've played on GOG or own the original CD/DVD/disks for games that are on GOG but haven't purchased again on GOG. There are some good old games I didn't get to play the first time they were "new" and I go to the Review section for a game to only find the first half-dozen "helpful" reviews are just nostalgic posts that evaluate the game through rose-colored (or a rare bad experience) glasses from the PAST.

I want to know if the game will run properly on Windows 7/8 without DoxBox shenanigans (i.e. Privateer 2 or Invictus). I want to know if the game is fun in the present (not in the past) or was perhaps one of those unique games that did some game mechanic first. I want to know what key things make the game still fun today that is similar/different from current games in the same genre.

I don't need to know that you sat on Daddy's lap as you played your first FPS and it was fun so I should get the game ,too, but now on GOG. That isn't helpful for the product I am thinking of purchasing: "Oh, this guy had fun with this game at age 7 on his dad's lap so I guess I should buy this game". Not helpful. I mark NO for not helpful.

Maybe GOG needs a special section for a game where people can wax poetic in nostalgia for a game they played over ten years ago but it should NOT be counted as a review of the game. A Review is one where a person currently purchased the game on GOG, somewhat recently, and played it. Then they are giving their evaluation of the game as it is TODAY, not in the past.

I ask all readers to consider marking nostalgic "reviews" as Not Helpful and perhaps we can help filter these otherwise useless game posts passed off as "reviews" from real, current and helpful reviews. Thanks.
Especiallu among certain games. Compare the most helpful review of Ultima 4:

http://www.gog.com/game/ultima_4

Yes he said the game aged badly but he did not really go into detail as to why unlike my review where I practically deconstruct the game:

http://www.gog.com/forum/general/i_have_beaten_ultima_iv/page1
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Technojedi: There are plenty of games I've played on GOG or own the original CD/DVD/disks for games that are on GOG but haven't purchased again on GOG. There are some good old games I didn't get to play the first time they were "new" and I go to the Review section for a game to only find the first half-dozen "helpful" reviews are just nostalgic posts that evaluate the game through rose-colored (or a rare bad experience) glasses from the PAST.

I want to know if the game will run properly on Windows 7/8 without DoxBox shenanigans (i.e. Privateer 2 or Invictus). I want to know if the game is fun in the present (not in the past) or was perhaps one of those unique games that did some game mechanic first. I want to know what key things make the game still fun today that is similar/different from current games in the same genre.

I don't need to know that you sat on Daddy's lap as you played your first FPS and it was fun so I should get the game ,too, but now on GOG. That isn't helpful for the product I am thinking of purchasing: "Oh, this guy had fun with this game at age 7 on his dad's lap so I guess I should buy this game". Not helpful. I mark NO for not helpful.

Maybe GOG needs a special section for a game where people can wax poetic in nostalgia for a game they played over ten years ago but it should NOT be counted as a review of the game. A Review is one where a person currently purchased the game on GOG, somewhat recently, and played it. Then they are giving their evaluation of the game as it is TODAY, not in the past.

I ask all readers to consider marking nostalgic "reviews" as Not Helpful and perhaps we can help filter these otherwise useless game posts passed off as "reviews" from real, current and helpful reviews. Thanks.
Maybe it might be a better option to have some sort of form with structure much like reviews used to have (everyone seems to write a lot of fluff and little substance in reviews at times - as if waxing lyrical throwing words will win a reader over ) - it Graphics,Audio,Story, etc know what i mean?. It wouldnt get rid of the nostalgic reviews but would at least give reader something proper to follow..if u look ....the best reviews on gog are generally those where people have bothered to go into detail...regardless of when they bought/played the game
I don't think there's anything wrong with posting a nostalgic review, as long as the author clearly states that that's what they're doing. That being said, I also don't think there's anything wrong with marking said reviews as "not helpful" so that more contemporary reviews float to the top.

So, um, carry on, I guess?
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Azilut: I don't think there's anything wrong with posting a nostalgic review, as long as the author clearly states that that's what they're doing. That being said, I also don't think there's anything wrong with marking said reviews as "not helpful" so that more contemporary reviews float to the top.

So, um, carry on, I guess?
*begins "glenn miller medley" again

I hate being a one man band here!
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Niggles: Maybe it might be a better option to have some sort of form with structure much like reviews used to have (everyone seems to write a lot of fluff and little substance in reviews at times - as if waxing lyrical throwing words will win a reader over ) - it Graphics,Audio,Story, etc know what i mean?. It wouldnt get rid of the nostalgic reviews but would at least give reader something proper to follow..if u look ....the best reviews on gog are generally those where people have bothered to go into detail...regardless of when they bought/played the game
I agree a form would help. In this way, the reader will have "something proper to follow" as you stated. Before anyone says "Who will check to see that the form was followed before it is posted?" I think the rating system as it is will help filter those that don't follow the form. I don't want to purchase off of nostalgia (especially from someone else) but from substance I use to purchase current games that range from $50-$70 a game. Thanks for the reply.
I don't mind them so much. Usually I can get a good idea from the review itself if it's going to be helpful to me. Sometimes I even like reading about someone's experience with a beloved classic.

In aggregate, I can usually get an idea whether or not a game is for me, based on reviews and impressions. I'd never base my decision on just one review. So it doesn't bother me as much when someone really gushes about a game. In fact I like these types of "reviews" 1,000Xs more than the ones that go like this

"1 Star. This game sucked."

End review.
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Ixamyakxim: I don't mind them so much. Usually I can get a good idea from the review itself if it's going to be helpful to me. Sometimes I even like reading about someone's experience with a beloved classic.

In aggregate, I can usually get an idea whether or not a game is for me, based on reviews and impressions. I'd never base my decision on just one review. So it doesn't bother me as much when someone really gushes about a game. In fact I like these types of "reviews" 1,000Xs more than the ones that go like this

"1 Star. This game sucked."

End review.
"10/10 I need therapy. Would read again."


Edit: its a further example - as the sale has brought out the wierdos!
Post edited November 23, 2014 by Sachys
I think the real problem here is that all those reviews come in on day one and then those are the ones that are visible to the people later on in most cases. So, you have reviews that are of little or no value being placed where people see them and the ones where the people actually took some time to play the fucking game before reviewing them get buried.

Kind of reminds me of all the unkind things said about me for giving WL2 a low score because the distribution method made it incredibly difficult to download. I think to date, I've used about 100gb of bandwidth downloading it, the "patches" and the various failed downloads. But, that's "not helpful" because apparently everybody else has really good connections and doesn't need to worry about the logistics of downloading such massively oversized files.
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Ixamyakxim: I don't mind them so much. Usually I can get a good idea from the review itself if it's going to be helpful to me. Sometimes I even like reading about someone's experience with a beloved classic.

In aggregate, I can usually get an idea whether or not a game is for me, based on reviews and impressions. I'd never base my decision on just one review. So it doesn't bother me as much when someone really gushes about a game. In fact I like these types of "reviews" 1,000Xs more than the ones that go like this

"1 Star. This game sucked."

End review.
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Sachys: "10/10 I need therapy. Would read again."

Edit: its a further example - as the sale has brought out the wierdos!
does that often happen during sales or is this a special occurance ?
Reviews maybe need some additional fields like these:
- played GOG version: yes \ no
- playthrough status: completed \ almost finished \ only half \ only first part \ no
- your age: (range)

With GOG Galaxy these could be auto-filled with also play date&time and game version.
Post edited November 23, 2014 by phaolo
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Sachys: "10/10 I need therapy. Would read again."

Edit: its a further example - as the sale has brought out the wierdos!
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snowkatt: does that often happen during sales or is this a special occurance ?
just on every damn one. have you not noticed the "weird traffic" about - aside from the leechers.
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phaolo: Reviews maybe need some additional fields like these:
- played GOG version: yes \ no
- playthrough status: completed \ almost finished \ only half \ only first part \ no
- your age: (range)

With GOG Galaxy these could be auto-filled with also play date&time and game version.
I guess the more detail the better. Enough for customer to make an informed decision. doesnt help when opinion is divided on a given game though :).
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Sachys: "10/10 I need therapy. Would read again."

Edit: its a further example - as the sale has brought out the wierdos!
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snowkatt: does that often happen during sales or is this a special occurance ?
Oh it happens regularly. Game gets released. Someone posts up a review within half hour of the launch bashing the game (not even a critical review) ie - "Too expensive" "This game is crap" "Dont bother wasting your time".. with decided lack of details as to why....really sucks for the game if people buying rely heavily on the reviews .
Post edited November 23, 2014 by Niggles
On the contrary I find such reviews very helpful. They compare the games to the games current at the time they was released which tells me a lot about how the game is. I'm here for old games and comparing them to newer ones seems odd.
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phaolo: Reviews maybe need some additional fields like these:
- played GOG version: yes \ no
- playthrough status: completed \ almost finished \ only half \ only first part \ no
- your age: (range)

With GOG Galaxy these could be auto-filled with also play date&time and game version.
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Niggles: I guess the more detail the better. Enough for customer to make an informed decision. doesnt help when opinion is divided on a given game though :).
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snowkatt: does that often happen during sales or is this a special occurance ?
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Niggles: Oh it happens regularly. Game gets released. Someone posts up a review within half hour of the launch bashing the game (not even a critical review) ie - "Too expensive" "This game is crap" "Dont bother wasting your time".. with decided lack of details as to why....really sucks for the game if people buying rely heavily on the reviews .
actually i meant the stream of weird topics
because this forum is at its best a bit anarchaic ( V would be proud )