Opinion Responses

Kaji01 · Post by **Kaji01** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 2:19 am

I've heard on a few occasions creators griping because the introduction of the star system cut down on the number of ops people were handing out, offering a cheaper alternative instead...thoughts?

Flint the Dwarf · Post by **Flint the Dwarf** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 8:53 am

godix wrote:Hey Arigatomyna, just a reminder to not op anything of mine. If you only give one sentance like/dislike it type reviews then I don't need it.

I think she's already said her reviews are 800+ words.

Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate (and respond) to any op and I'm glad some people have enjoyed my videos. However they've already told me that with their star rating, I'm sure people have better things to do than go out of their way just to tell me that yet again.

Maybe star rating is too anonymous for some people and they believe that a personal thanks will have much more impact on the creator, which it usually does. Star rating means nothing. People have said before that they just give out random scores, so that's a pretty bad reason not to reply to "thank you" reviews. If someone enjoys a video and wants to tell the creator it's only polite to acknowledge, at the very least, that you saw their thanks and did appreciate that they liked your video.

Zarxrax · Post by **Zarxrax** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 9:34 am

Kaji01 wrote:I've heard on a few occasions creators griping because the introduction of the star system cut down on the number of ops people were handing out, offering a cheaper alternative instead...thoughts?

Personally I've been recieving a lot more ops since the star system was introduced... maybe twice as many...

godix · Post by **godix** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 11:51 am

flint_the_dwarf wrote:I think she's already said her reviews are 800+ words.
I know, but she specifically mentioned one line reviews in her comment and that's what I replied to.
If someone enjoys a video and wants to tell the creator it's only polite to acknowledge, at the very least, that you saw their thanks and did appreciate that they liked your video.

I think you've misunderstood me, I have replied to every review I've been given and I will continue to. I also do appreciate it and I'm not trying to imply I ignore or disparage those reviews I get. My comments were on me giving reviews, not recieving them. I refuse to give out one line 'i like it' reviews, especially for videos that already have enough ops to appear in the top listing, even if it does mean that others won't review my videos.

godix · Post by **godix** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 11:54 am

Hmmm, I guess I just learned a lesson above previewing my posts. Whoops.

)v(ajin Koji · Post by **)v(ajin Koji** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 12:00 pm

I've been getting ops for as long as the star system has been in place so I don't know any different...

:¬ ?

fyrtenheimer · Post by **fyrtenheimer** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 12:24 pm

Beowulf wrote:
SarahtheBoring wrote:It all depends on your attitude as a creator... if you think your "audience" is here to serve you and you're superior to them, then you wouldn't stoop to addressing them unless they're important enough for you. But if you think you're a fan just like them and appreciate the time they put in to watching and reviewing... you answer.
FACT:

This is stupid and over-simplified generalization.

ohhh, that's hilarious coming from you

Arigatomina · Post by **Arigatomina** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 1:28 pm

godix wrote:The star system is there to rate how well you liked the video so reviews aren't for that. Hmmm, I'm drawing a blank here, other than trying to point out specifics of what the person can improve or what you thought were their strong points what else is there to reviews?

Well, the star scale tells me whether people liked a vid (the more stars, the more likely they are to be legitimate stars - discounting the ones who give lots of threes without really thinking about it). But they don't tell me *why* a person liked or disliked a video. You have to remember, my main reason for putting weight on reviews is because it determines whether or not I share my amvs. I want to know why people liked or hated my videos - If a fan reviews something of mine and says he liked it because of the characters, or the story, then that is constructive feedback - it tells me why they liked it. I love to get reviews where people name their favorite parts in a video because I can look at those and think..."I loved that part myself, we have something in common, maybe I should look at your videos - you probably have amvs I'd like as well since we have common interests". Or if someone dislikes a video because of a few scenes, then I know that those scenes failed to have the effect they did on me - I failed to achieve the effect I'd hoped for because I misunderstood my target audience.

Star scales tell whether someone liked or hated something, but they don't tell why. I look at a vid that starts out with 4.08 stars and know some liked it, and then I see it drop from a few 1 stars and I'm left wondering - did those people hate it for the pairings, the editing, the characters, the songs? I have no idea why they didn't like it. Reviews tell me this - they tell me *why* a person liked or disliked a video. As someone who joined this site for the sole purpose of sharing things I enjoy, I want to know why others liked those as well, or why they disliked those. I can't figure that out just by looking at the star scales.

I doubt it, I imagine those with more than 8 reviews still pay attention to the star rating. How does this relate to ops though?

Because the star rating is a yes/no feedback - it tells no details, no opinions, it's too close to what Phade wanted to begin with - a "thumbs up/thumbs down" ultimatum. It doesn't explain any of the why's - it tells me nothing except that some people gave it this number and others gave it that number - it doesnt' tell me why they gave what they gave. And I want to know what parts of the video worked for my viewers, and what parts flopped. I'm a writer - knowing your target audience is very important for that - and it remains true with amvs. I want to know how my videos effected people, not just if they think it was 'good/bad' for some unknown reason.

Hey Arigatomyna, just a reminder to not op anything of mine. If you only give one sentance like/dislike it type reviews then I don't need it.

No, I take reviews on the 'improvement' theory - I try to find anything that might possibly help people. I like to be helpful, it makes me feel useful. But I always include at least a paragraph explaining whether I *liked* the video, and if so, what parts of the video made me like it, which parts turned me away from it. I combine the personal view of the video as a whole with the score breakdown. Sure, I may not be able to help MexicanJunior when I con him into doing a forced op exchange with me, but I sure as hell do my best to point out anything he might have missed - and if I can't find many technical aspects to improve, then I'll go into detail on how the video affected me as a viewer. I think that's my favorite part of leaving reviews - telling how I as a viewer saw the amv.

And I didn't mean to sound pompous about not wanting to review things for you - I just only review videos that get listed on my free op threads in the 'Op Exchange' - so unless a person posts there, I don't review (aside from some friends who always get reviews from me eventually - namely the ones I've been following since they first started - it makes me feel very happy to watch their improvement and to know that I was there in the beginning and get to be one of the few to see exactly how excellent they have become.). Other than those - if someone asks for a free review, I give it. So now that I know you only see reviews as a way to get on the top 10 list, I'd rather not review your videos. I just don't score that way - I aim to help, and to be honest about my feedback on the video I watched - that can be disastrous for someone who's only aim in getting reviews is to make it to the top list.

So as long as you don't request a review in one of my free op lists, you don't have to worry about getting a review that doesn't match your idea of what reviews *should* be - scores to push a vid into the top list.

Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate (and respond) to any op and I'm glad some people have enjoyed my videos. However they've already told me that with their star rating, I'm sure people have better things to do than go out of their way just to tell me that yet again. If you (or anyone reading this for that matter) have nothing more to say than that then save yourself some effort, just click the appropriate star and move on. On the other hand if someone tells me how I can improve then I keep it in mind next time I load premiere and hopefully make my next video better because of it. That's the type of op I try to leave and really enjoy recieving. I still don't see the point of any other type.

Yeah, that seems to be a common outlook around here. ^_^;; I've seen a lot of people who think that way, so you're not alone. I just cannot relate to that. I *love* to review videos where I know I can help the creators, and I enjoy reviewing videos for good creators where I know they probably get little detailed feedback about how the videos affect the viewers (aside from the scores). So my reviews have a mix of both - for the newbies it's helpful with the technical aspects, for the experts, I give them insight into their audience's response. I don't believe in doing one or the other - technical scores should only be broken down if a person intends to include his personal view of the video and it's impact on the viewer. That's my belief.

So I get annoyed (disheartened, frustrated, not angry) when I see people disregard the personal feedback and see reviews as nothing more than grades and scores and advice.

[PS, sorry if this comes out hard to follow - I'm having technical difficulties at the moment... ~_~ ]

)v(ajin Koji · Post by **)v(ajin Koji** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 2:41 pm

One other thing, I really dislike the:

Good: (See Below)
Bad: (See Below)
General: [OP GOES HERE]

It just comes off as lazy to me and yet so many people do it.

:¬ \

Arigatomina · Post by **Arigatomina** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 3:23 pm

)v(ajin Koji wrote:One other thing, I really dislike the:

Good: (See Below)
Bad: (See Below)
General: [OP GOES HERE]

It just comes off as lazy to me and yet so many people do it.

:¬ \

Heh, I know exactly what you mean. I think it's an attempt to keep from being repetitive. My way around that is to use the good section to name sections that I thought were good (capture quality, action sync), and then to list my favorite parts of the amv. My 'bad' section is where I list areas that I think need some work - and I add a "more on this below" because those 'bad' parts are usually mixed with good parts as well.

It's the general breakdown that lets me explain the scores - why some parts were 'bad' in my opinion, how they could be improved, and why they aren't so bad as to be very low scores - I usually find good and bad aspects for almost any section of the 'scores,' and I go into detail with that in the general section. I just think it looks bad when a person gets a review where half the review takes up space in the 'bad' section - there's no need for that. If the capture quality is bad, say that in the 'bad' section, and use the general section to explain how the person can make it better. After all, advice doesn't go in the 'bad' section - it's general tips and pointers.

I still end up repeating myself a bit when I list the problems in the 'bad' section and then expand on those in the general section - and the same with listing my favorite parts in the 'good' section and then explaining *why* they were my favorites in the 'general' section. But I'm stuck on that style of reviewing - I rather like it. ^_^;