Something should be done about reviews! - Progressive Rock Music Forum

It is important to realise that Octavarium is not the only album people are reviewing too. The problems are much deeper than you expect.

When the sticky thread regarding Dream Theater appeared, telling that all pseudo Octavarium reviews have be deleted, I was happy.

I was hoping that this would not only be a single act to stop the DT flood, but also meant that moderators would begin to actually spend time clearing up all other mess, which, I'm afraid, is 20% of all reviews, at least.

Unfortunately, that was merely a single act. It was aimed at DT fans who are too lazy to write a review, at people who don't know how to write good reviews and at bandwagoner websites("hey look, dudes, look at this site, go there and give [album] [score]". And that was it. Bad reviews keep being submitted, and the moderators not only stop looking for them, but even avoid the reviews that are reported multiple times(!) in the 'report abuse' thread.

I am very disappointed in this website. It is not as balanced as we we would all want to: you see an album that gets only 5 star reviews, in which people claim this is the best thing ever and buy to hear generic crap, while good albums die after a few "terrorists" give them 1 star reviews and get away with it.

To somehow challenge those terrorists, this must be done:

1. Moderators should be more active.

2. Users should be willing to contribute and report every review that doesn't match the standards(which, I point out, is not just a number of symbols, but the actual way of reviewing something).

3. And finally, those standards for reviewers should be made.

I am posting this in the general forum, to get more attention of the users, to describe the problem to those who do not see it yet and discuss it.

Cheers,
Ronnie.

Edited by Gentle Ronnie

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Gentle Ronnie Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: March 17 2005 Status: Offline Points: 540	Posted: July 05 2005 at 15:20
	It is important to realise that Octavarium is not the only album people are reviewing too. The problems are much deeper than you expect.


MikeEnRegalia Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: April 22 2005 Location: Sweden Status: Offline Points: 21816	Posted: July 05 2005 at 15:18
	I think the real problem is that the reviewers are rating the genre, not the band or even the ALBUM. When I browse the Octavarium reviews, I see people bashing LaBrie, prog metal in general, the lack of emotionality in Petrucci's playing compared to David Gilmour, Portnoy's dense playing compared to Collins ... 90% of the Octavarium reviews simply lack maturity. The ability to write objectively. I don't have any problem with subjective elements of reviews ... as long as the reviewer at least TRIES to be objective.
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Gentle Ronnie Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: March 17 2005 Status: Offline Points: 540	Posted: July 05 2005 at 14:37
	When the sticky thread regarding Dream Theater appeared, telling that all pseudo Octavarium reviews have be deleted, I was happy. I was hoping that this would not only be a single act to stop the DT flood, but also meant that moderators would begin to actually spend time clearing up all other mess, which, I'm afraid, is 20% of all reviews, at least. Unfortunately, that was merely a single act. It was aimed at DT fans who are too lazy to write a review, at people who don't know how to write good reviews and at bandwagoner websites("hey look, dudes, look at this site, go there and give [album] [score]". And that was it. Bad reviews keep being submitted, and the moderators not only stop looking for them, but even avoid the reviews that are reported multiple times(!) in the 'report abuse' thread. I am very disappointed in this website. It is not as balanced as we we would all want to: you see an album that gets only 5 star reviews, in which people claim this is the best thing ever and buy to hear generic crap, while good albums die after a few "terrorists" give them 1 star reviews and get away with it. To somehow challenge those terrorists, this must be done: 1. Moderators should be more active. 2. Users should be willing to contribute and report every review that doesn't match the standards(which, I point out, is not just a number of symbols, but the actual way of reviewing something). 3. And finally, those standards for reviewers should be made. I am posting this in the general forum, to get more attention of the users, to describe the problem to those who do not see it yet and discuss it. Cheers, Ronnie. Edited by Gentle Ronnie