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As I prepare to write my next adventure, I am finding the reviews on gamerclubhouse offer interesting insights as to what DMs and players do and don’t enjoy about particular adventures. Frankly I’m surprised that there aren’t many more reviews, particularly seeing that some adventures have no feedback at all.

I would encourage everyone (particularly if you’ve run an adventure) to jump on and contribute a review or two. I promise that at least some, if not all, writers are reading what you have to say.

And while I’m at it, SPEC1-3 P1 has three reviews and SPEC1-3 H3 none! Is Dave K paying you people? Actually, now that I read the third one…maybe not. In any case – if you have an interest in LFR adventures being “better”, then this is a good way to contribute imho.

Cheers,
Joe

DRAG1-2 author
SPEC1-3 H3 author
DRAG2-3 author
...and other stuff

The gamerclubhouse reviews are one liners, and without context it is hard to determine what did and did not work in an adventure. Some reviews make no sense at all.
For reviews to give avluebale input you need a bit more than "this sucks" or "great treasure" or 'total railroad' - especially when the comments do not make sense at all...

Gomez

Jan 21, 2010 -- 10:37PM, gomeztoo wrote:

The gamerclubhouse reviews are one liners, and without context it is hard to determine what did and did not work in an adventure. Some reviews make no sense at all.
For reviews to give avluebale input you need a bit more than "this sucks" or "great treasure" or 'total railroad' - especially when the comments do not make sense at all...

Gomez

If you log in and check "see spoilers" in your profile, you can see more than just the one line. Sometimes the authors of the reviews didn't write anything useful. Sometimes they put a fair amount of analysis into the spoiler section of the review.

Ah that helps.
Allows me to get a better insight in comments and seperate the occasional irrational rant from the actual feedback.

Gomez

There are certainly irrational rants on there but they are easy to spot. Mostly, this comes from player-only reviews - see SPEC1-3 H3 where the reviewer panned every encounter bar one for being "tedious condition fests", yet everything in the one so-called "fun" encounter was explicitly designed to make it a total conditions fest.

I guess I asked for it, since I solicited for feedback!

I like the site because the reviews are tied to specific adventures, allowing writers to take what would otherwise be a generic comment like "I hate it when enemies are immune to terrain features and PCs aren't" or "skill challenges should be set up to cater for more than just one or two obvious skills" examine the comment in the context of a specific encounter and work out whether that could be improved. YMMV.

I like it as well, but it would work better if you get to see mutliple reviews by people who played it at different tables. I read rants about adventures while I and my players had a really great time with the same adventure or where players somehow missed all RP encounters.

Jan 21, 2010 -- 6:18PM, Surgebuster wrote:

Is Dave K paying you people? Actually, now that I read the third one…maybe not.

I make it a habit of paying people to whine incessantly about one of my mods. I'm just cool like that.

Jan 22, 2010 -- 7:22AM, Surgebuster wrote:

There are certainly irrational rants on there but they are easy to spot. Mostly, this comes from player-only reviews - see SPEC1-3 H3 where the reviewer panned every encounter bar one for being "tedious condition fests", yet everything in the one so-called "fun" encounter was explicitly designed to make it a total conditions fest.

*shrug*.  I walked through the bolder, and tried to slow it down from the safe side.  I guess I should have mentioned that the other players did find that encounter to be a total conditions fest.

I wasn't aware of this website as a review tool.  I don't think there's a solid central location for feedback - I've seen discussion threads on specific adventures in the forums (under the LFR adventure section), and assumed that was the main venue.

A lot depends on the DM.  a LOT.  DMs can read things right, wrong, decide they love/hate an adventure before playing it (and through that bias give the players the same experience).

I ran SPEC1-3H3 but never played it.   My players had a great time, but it was at a major CON, we had a 6-hour slot, and I had prepped it very well (i.e. spent hours reading it several times through).  They enjoyed the opening encounter, because I had fun playing it out.  Some fights are more interesting than others - but I think that's usually a function of the table balance/composition.  I loved the final encounter:

Does anyone else think this is the most hillarious power ever: 

Voice of Solemnity:  ..... In addition, the target truthfully answers any question the baelnorn asks.

Seriously, ANY question?  Oh the humiliations.  "how often do you touch yourself?"  "have you ever had inapropriate relations with an elf/dwarf/goblin/warforged?"  "do you think i'm pretty?"  "murder, marry, kill:  Player 1, Player 2, Player3?"  the list goes on and on.....

Jan 22, 2010 -- 8:16AM, dkay807 wrote:

Jan 21, 2010 -- 6:18PM, Surgebuster wrote:

Is Dave K paying you people? Actually, now that I read the third one…maybe not.

I make it a habit of paying people to whine incessantly about one of my mods. I'm just cool like that.

HEY, where is my check!

Jan 22, 2010 -- 2:23PM, grandpoobah wrote:

I wasn't aware of this website as a review tool.  I don't think there's a solid central location for feedback - I've seen discussion threads on specific adventures in the forums (under the LFR adventure section), and assumed that was the main venue.

The forum is a better tool if you want to discuss an adventure, or want to see how others dealt with potential pitfalls. After all, you can not post replies on the website. The website on the other hand is a good tool to check what adventures are available and how some of the players liked the adventure.

I've started posting reviews to both sites so it can create discussion but also have some chance at providing that lookup value.

I just went to review Drag 1-7 Crafts, but it appears to be missing from the database.

Jan 25, 2010 -- 11:36PM, Elder_basilisk wrote:

I just went to review Drag 1-7 Crafts, but it appears to be missing from the database.

So it is.

btw, regarding your review of CORM 1-1 -- you're factually wrong; the module does explain what happens in the final encounter if the party makes the decision you refer to. 

Jan 26, 2010 -- 5:00AM, Thanlis wrote:

Jan 25, 2010 -- 11:36PM, Elder_basilisk wrote:

I just went to review Drag 1-7 Crafts, but it appears to be missing from the database.

So it is.

btw, regarding your review of CORM 1-1 -- you're factually wrong; the module does explain what happens in the final encounter if the party makes the decision you refer to. 

Now that you say that, it does appear to be there--buried at the end of the various tactics sections. I'm not surprised that my DMs didn't find it, or that I didn't find it when I read through it without knowing it was there.

So, I guess I'll have to wait for an edit option and fix my review when I get one.

Jan 26, 2010 -- 12:48PM, Elder_basilisk wrote:

Now that you say that, it does appear to be there--buried at the end of the various tactics sections. I'm not surprised that my DMs didn't find it, or that I didn't find it when I read through it without knowing it was there.

>_<

Admit you didn't read it, or admit you missed it, but please don't sideways blame someone else for burying it. It is in black and white.

Jan 26, 2010 -- 1:06PM, tirianmal wrote:

Jan 26, 2010 -- 12:48PM, Elder_basilisk wrote:

Now that you say that, it does appear to be there--buried at the end of the various tactics sections. I'm not surprised that my DMs didn't find it, or that I didn't find it when I read through it without knowing it was there.

>_<

Admit you didn't read it, or admit you missed it, but please don't sideways blame someone else for burying it. It is in black and white.

I did read the adventure. I'll assume my judges read the adventure--they generally seemed to know what they were doing. If several judges (I can't remember exactly how many times I played it, and I only know that the judges who ad-libbed reasons for Darkskull not to accompany the party probably missed it) missed it and I also missed it when I read it, then it is obviously not communicated clearly enough. That is a legitimate (if minor) criticism of an adventure.

It's marked as a player review so perfect accuracy shouldn't be expected anyway.

Now back off.