? About Negative Review Ethics

I was pointed toward a podcast where the podcaster said, in short, that if he doesn't like a game that he was asked to review by a publisher, he contacts publishers and asks if they want to have a negative review published.

Is it just me, or is that the dog asking the fox if he should bark or not when the fox is about to raid the henhouse? I mean, isn't it the whole point of reviewing to...I dunno...review a game for what it is? Alert people to the pros and cons?

I'm not being hyperbolic (for once), I'm serious.

dicehateme.com/2012/07/the-state-of-game...culling-and-critics/

28:10 or so.

I'm not a reviewer, and I may be naive.

In a perfect world, I would think there would be a general understanding between publishers and reviewers any review would be based on honest opinions, good or bad. To ask a publisher permission is crap.

Everyone who has ever said anything about a game to someone else is a reviewer. Some of us are just more vocal.

I'm no more a reviewer than anyone here at F:AT, and my opinion is arguably FAR less valid. I mean, Chapel's eat, shit, and drank games for 30 years. I've only been back in the hobby for seven, if that, and of those, 3 years were dedicated almost solely to 2 games.

The only reason for this is to keep the influx of free shit coming. Oh course a publisher is going to say that they don't want a negative review.

I have no problem with them contacting the publisher to tell them that they are putting out a negative review. That way they aren't blindsided and can, you know...actually read the review for some constructive criticism.

That would be like in college if I went to my 79 year old neighbor and asked for her permission to throw a giant raging keg party that would certainly be loud, and probably go throughout the night. Instead, I would knock on her door, inform her of the party and give her our phone number so that she called us instead of the cops. I'm sure the noise still pissed her off, but she always appreciated our honesty. Plus, she never did call the cops despite having some truly obnoxious parties!

There is nothing wrong with being honest. Nobody wants their creative baby shit on, but sometimes you can make things better when people tell you what's wrong.

Well, if that is the case, then they are a reviewer in name alone. Their hobby is getting free games and talking about games rather than providing a service to the community.

Yeah, once a publisher sends you a review copy your responsibility is to the reader, not to the company. I'm pretty up front when I'm asking for review copies, I say plainly that I am not guaranteeing a review of any particular disposition. You shouldn't have to say that, but even some the larger companies like FFG do not understand journalistic integrity and impropriety.

There have been a couple of cases where I've done a negative or less-than-positive review and I've had the publisher or designer nip at me for it. That's pretty damn unprofessional, and generally a clear sign that I'll not be covering their games again...or at least not accepting review copies from them, that's not a kind of relationship that any reviewer should be in.

It's ridiculous...asking the publisher if they want a bad review...how does that serve your audience?

Anyway, it's very easy to avoid this situation. Do your homework and review only games that look interesting to you, games that have a chance at getting a positive notice. If I'm not reviewing a game, odds are I'm not interested in it anyway and won't have to ask permission to post a bad review. Geez.

Yah, I've been contacted by PMs from designers or publishers who are snippy about negative reviews--or worse, negative bits in otherwise positive reviews.

It's almost always from a smaller company; those with the most to lose, but also those who have not yet figured out how to establish those sort of professional relationships.

The larger companies (FFG notwithstanding) understand that a negative review is inevitable; that their business will carry on regardless; and that when a positive review for their product *does* emerge, it will carry more weight.

I only get publicly ridiculed. The only guys that ever contacted me privately was the Joe Magic guys, and that was because they really wanted constructive criticism. And I willingly gave it and tried to help, because I really like Mark Hanny. Guys got spunk, and I see him like the Idaho version of John Clowdus...lots of ideas, not all good, but most good, and he's not afraid to get stomped on a little.

Right after Gene Siskel died, Roger Ebert appeared on Larry King and had the following exchange:

King: Should a film critic, uh, some critics... it would appear from reading them that they don't like the medium that they are criticizing. Should, a film critic love... want every movie to be great?

Ebert: That's what Gene said over and over! He said "I'm not crazy; I wouldn't go to the movies expecting to have a bad time. Every time I sit down in a theater," Gene liked to say, "I hope to have a great time at the movies." And I feel the same way. I love movies, especially good ones. And I remember him creeping over to me in the dark about the three quarter mark of a movie called Fargo, and saying "This is why I go to the movies."

Apparently, I'm a curmudgeon who doesn't like anything, but I really don't enjoy shitting all over somebody's hard work just for the sake of it. I absolutely want to walk away from the table after every new game saying "I can't believe how much fun that was." As far as I'm concerned, and your mileage may vary a bit, but none of us would be in this bullshit, doing all this bullshit, or talking about all this bullshit unless there were a few games in your "career" that caught you right off guard with just how goddamned much fun they are to play.

This goes even for games that I expect to be fun. I had every good reason to believe Earth Reborn would be a good game. I did not, however, expect to finish up my first game with my dad and I looking at each other agape, him saying "We've got to play this again as soon as possible," and me just nodding furiously going "Yeah... Yeah we do."

Point? If you're in this business trying to sell me something, that's what you're claiming your game does. You know goddamned well I probably have a closet full of bitchin' games already, and if you really legitimately believe yours is worth me owning or playing, you're putting your shit up against some of the all-time greats.

Cool, bro. I really hope your game is that good. If it isn't, I'm going to be fucking disappointed, and I'm not going to be the least bit shy about telling anyone about it. If that hurts your business, though shit. I don't want you out of the business; I just want you to fuck off for a bit, and come back with a better game.

And that is because, if your game really is_that_good, then I am going to tell every-fucking-body that, and I will do my utmost to always describe it in terms that will make people say "You know what? We really should play that motherfucker."

I mean, I'm not a critic, but if I was, that is the only thing I would think I could offer a publisher. If your game sucks, people are going to fucking hear about it, and don't bring me your boo-hoo. If it's great, I'm going to do my goddamn damndest to get people playing it, because I want everyone else to have as good a fucking time doing this as I do.

If you ain't in the designing/publishing business to make great games, and if you ain't in the criticism business to point us to what is great and steer us away from what sucks, then do us all a favor and get lost. We've got enough cynical assholes looking to make a quick buck around here, and even more trying to grow their internet phallus off of their no-work-to-attain-it position of "authority". Thank you very much.

You know, there'd be a lot more good criticism, and fewer shitty games if everyone gave a bit more of a fuck. Christ.

[/Rant]

You know, that reminds me of a discussion I had with this guy once about some of the then-current punk bands in the mid to late 1990s. He liked all that stuff- Lagwagon, Millencolin, AFI, and so forth. He asked me why I was hating on all of that stuff and why I was so sharply critical of it and the scene around it. My response? "Because I love punk".

Some people don't get that when you are negative about a particular game, record, book, movie or whatever it has more to do with your love of the medium than it does your hate of the work. It's more about disappointment than a condemnation of someone else's effort.