Hello fellow gamers/GoG!

I have a question / request regarding reviews.

1. Character limit:
Coming from writing reviews on Steam it was shocked when I found out the review length is limited to 2K characters. While I normally won't be writing an essay about the game, I do like to be thorough, and I've found myself having to chop some reviews to make them fit the currect character limit, even when trying to be succinct. I think most people would agree that writing a review that does justice to a game of the depth of Cyberpunk 2077 or ArmA3 certainly warrants far longer reviews than the current limit. Is this something GoG could consider implementing?

2. Profanity censorship:
I know, we shouldn't swear. Certainly not when there are children in the room. However, I think swearing can be very useful in reviews that follow a certain style and especially when conveying anger. Now, if you're reviewing a children's game it makes sense to censor profanity, but if you're reviewing a game that contains blood, gore, death, adult content, and probably much more swearing than your review will, censorship makes no sense. Thus, my second request would be limitting review censorship to family friendly products only.

I don't know if this has been brought up and considered by the GoG team before, but hopefully my requests make sense.

Thank you for reading!

1) Yes, the character limit is very dismal. The entire GOG review system is lacking. It's been a problem for over a decade, so it's probably a backend implementation issue that they haven't been able to fix.

2) No, this one isn't correct though. One can be critical, constructive, and corrective without resorting to petty swearing. Elucidate; reach into the depth of issues. Instead of saying, "The combat is buttcheeks", you'd say, "The combat lacks refined nuance; you feel as though you are making called prayers to the dice rather than actually hitting a solid target."

3) Of course, we've asked GOG many times to improve the review system. It's very obviously bloody behind the times.

Better idea, keeping one's spawn off the internets. Need higher character limit though. This is going in my cringe collection. Now have this (you)

Gog requires you to be an adult to register here, so there shouldn't even be (officially) any children here, only 18+. As such, no swearing in reviews is... unnecessary IMO. But I see a greater contradiction in how people view speech.

People can get all upset if you say fuck or shit, especially in front of children, but have zero problem with saying offensive ideas in front of children, such as: Hitler did good things, blacks should be grateful for slavery, women shouldn't vote or gays molest kids. All of that is VERY offensive, yet such things are never banned. Focusing on "offensive" words but not offensive ideas is a simplistic approach IMO. I mean, the normalization of violence that's so common in my (US) media strikes me as FAR worse than any four letter word.

Yeah, that one is truly puzzling. These good Christian speech impediments in the name of piousness are just washing over us from the United States. I wonder how this absurd moral high ground still works out after they invade Greenland. Here they go with the "think of the children" bullshit on an adult website. When it comes to fake reviews by people who never played the game, they're all for freedom of speech, removing those would be "censorship", some invoke George Orwell's 1984 and advise us retarded heathens to use the holy filters of Antioch, but capital G God forbid somebody says fuck once in a while.

The GOG website is old and outdated. It's hardly maintained any longer. Coding player profiles into this ancient mess has brought the website to the brink of collapse. Your idea of selective censorship is great, but I don't think they'd be able to do it without a major storefront overhaul that's never coming.

I think you see this wrong. Still, i would support such a request

When you say this, are you referring to "most people?"

yes, based on the number of gamer reviews i read on the different portals that offer gamer reviews, i came to the conclusion that most people in fact don't need a lot of room. But because i myself do enjoy a good read once in a while, i would support such a request

I see. Do you think that the truth is in the reading, rather than the writing; or not? What I mean is, most people don't require or utilise the room, but would still agree that to write a sufficiently length review, more space would be warrented. In other words... most people only write short reviews because they realise the majority of people don't read long reviews.

I'm not against the idea of a good ole' surgical F-strike, I just feel it demeaning to a review and perhaps even unprofessional to waste it on reviewing of all things, entertainment products. I don't recall many well regarded movie reviewers regaling with petty swears, because at that point you have begun to swing and punch downward. At best verbal cowardice, at worst uncreative compared to more imaginative curses.

"Dealing with the controls inspired the image of pushing a camel down a well so it could drink water." - Descriptive, witty, strange.

"Dare I say it, the combat was rather like having my gonads stomped upon." Vulgar, brutal, sends the wrong signal to certain types.

"Weakass shit!" Vulgar, nondescript, describes dietary problems better than it does issues with video games.

"The only way to save this film would be to trim 86 minutes." Scathing, inciting, absolutely damning.

Rodger Ebert had a deep vocabulary; enough that of which to have a personally dedicated glossary of terms of which to describe the triumphs, failings, and quirks of film; I think to strive to be like him instead of James Rolfe when it comes to reviews, would be something to strive for.

huh?

Oh wait.....

That is a good question sir!

I think i can only answer for myself and say in order to write a 'proper' review that can be enjoyed for others you need to at least have some education or experience aimed at the field of gathering and sharing of information

I only have experience in regurgitation. Does that count?

+1

The only thing I disagree with, is the: "'no swearing in reviews' is... unnecessary" - part.

Civilized people should have no problem voicing their opinion in a civilized manner.

People, on the other hand, who can not voice their opinion, without using swear words and/or insults, probably belong exactly to the group of people, which you address above: people who have no problem, planting "offensive/wrong" ideas into kids' heads.

Children aren't allowed on GOG and won't be reading reviews anyway.

Even if there was to be censorship on reviews, make it opt-in instead of forcing it onto everyone just because _you_ don't like it.

Reviews on GOG are public - you don't have to register to view them, and children can and do view them.