Calling All Reviewers!

[Bluestone]

We need some more candid reviews from consumers in FF's Candid Review Forum!

This forum is meant to help customers to decide what are great bargains and what are stinkers! The reviews are not limited to the producer-advertizers on this site. For example, I'd be interested what customers think of offerings from such producers as Horror Variety Theatre, Brutal Tales, Against Her Will, Inshadow, etc. There was only one review posted with respect to a Horror Variety Theatre video, and it had to be taken down, because it was posted by an agent for the producer. We want to hear what the customers have to say... good or bad.

So, take a stab at it, if you really have something to share about any producer in our genre.

Blue

[Algenon5]

I'll have a new review up in a day or so.

Al

[Algenon5]

I wasn't going to mention this, figuring the old adage about sleeping dogs still makes a lot of sense. What changed my mind was I posted a lengthy review the other day, and just now when I saw how few hits it has received, it reminded me why I and probably others have lost some enthusiasm for review writing. The sad truth is the review forum no longer is popular. I can post a dozed screen caps from an eight-year-old, discontinued video in the Image Forum, and within a few days to a week they'll have a thousand hits. If I post an in-depth review profusely illustrated with caps in the Review Forum, it will take four or five months to collect five-hundred hits, even though it remains prominently high on page one. This wasn't the situation a year ago. Why has the membership lost interest in the Review Forum? There probably are some economic factors at play, but mostly it is the administration's fault for letting the Review Forum become a disorganized free-for-all that often is of little value to members looking for info on videos to either purchase or avoid.

At the top of every Review Forum page there is a box that says, in big letters, "FORUM RULES." Click on this box, and you'll find a list of very sensible, basic rules for running a well ordered and useful review section that is of real value to potential video buyers. Here are some of these regulations:

"1. Any member can start a thread to review a video, video producer or even a mainstream movie (provided it contains a necro element); however, in the subject line, for video or video producer reviews, the reviewer and video or producer MUST be stated. For example, "Bluestone reviews 'Shot In The Dark' by 'New Kid Videos!', or "Bluestone reviews 'New Kid Videos'" or "Bluestone reviews 'Shot In The Dark'.
2. The following minimum information MUST be provided by the reviewer:
a) The sub-genre of the video. For example: Shooting, Asphixia, Stabbing, etc.
b) What specific factors caused the reviewer to either love or hate this video or video producer's work;
c) A rating (subjective though it may be) on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is very poor, 5 is average, and 10 is excellent quality;"

There are additional sensible rules, such as producers are not permitted to review other producer's videos, et cetera. The problem is, with the exception of myself and a few others (who are no longer posting reviews), nobody is following these simple regulations. On page one of the Review Forum, every one of these rules has been violated multiple times. In addition there is at least one review that looks suspiciously like it has been ghostwritten. I won't point the finger directly, but will leave it up to others to decide if my suspicions have some merit.

Administration's response to this situation has been to ignore it. If the administration doesn't have enough interest in the Review Forum to enforce its own rules, how much interest is the membership likely to have?

Let the yelling begin.

Al

[Bluestone]

HI AL,

CAN YOU HEAR ME? I'M YELLING AS LOUDLY AS I CAN!!!

Actually, I have to take full responsibility and fall on my sword. I agree that the rules put into place were a very good plan, mainly because I received input from the members and followed some very good suggestions, including sugestions from seasoned reviewers. So, the basic set-up was excellent, and for a while the reviews were coming in so quickly that I couldn't keep up with the Index that I had started. Perhaps, this would be a good time to update that index and make it easier to find reviews.

Here are some questions for everyone:

1. Would the completion of an Index of posted reviews help people to navigate the review forum easier?

2. Should I create a subforum where historical reviews of Defunct Producers such as KHP would be relegated, since they would only have limited value, for example for people who wanted to purchase a CNB membership and wanted to see who this KHP feller was?

3. Should I create another subforum where reviews that do not follow the rules from a content standpoint would be relegated as "Comments"?

4. What else should be done to re-energize this forum, and how would more reviewers be encouraged to contribute?

Well, I'm willing to do my part, if others are willing to do theirs. So, let the suggestions and further yelling continue.

Blue

P.S. If anyone wishes to convince me that the serious rule, that a producer or his agent are not permitted to review that producer's work, has been broken, kindly email or pm me. Thanks

P.P.S. I started work on some of the above suggestions, to show members what it would look like. Comments please?

[Algenon5]

Sullen mobs have gathered in the streets. Torches are lit in preparation for storming Castle Bluestone. Workers of the world unite! You have nothing to loose but your chains! Liberté, égalité, fraternité! Long live the revolution! …er, hold on a sec. What's that you say? Tsar Blue has agreed to redress all the proletariat's grievances? Okay everybody, douse the torches. Madame Defarge, drop the knitting needles. The revolution is called off. Phew, that was close!

Okay, okay! Enough already! Thanks, Blue, for your immediate response backed up by actions. Here is my two-pence worth:

I'm sure a review index would be of some value to some members and visitors. But how would it be setup? By producer? By title? Either way, I don't know if the utility of such an index would be great enough to be worth all the effort needed to create and maintain it. I certainly wouldn't want the job.

I'm not crazy about the idea for setting up a separate forum for discontinued videos. Would the discontinued videos from currently active producers be included? If so this would likely cause confusion, since some of these videos are put back into circulation. I think the prominent notices of unavailability you placed on the KHP reviews are enough.

I'm all for a separate forum for on-topic and off-topic mainstream movies. I would be happy to contribute to this forum, because recently a number of outstanding classic films have become available as free, high-quality downloads.

hmmm… that was only one-and-a-half's pence worth. I'll mail you the change.

Al

[Algenon5]

Peace & Reconciliation, Part 2

Okay, so I forgot to include this:

The idea for a comments forum is a non-starter. If a member can't include a few, simple elements like, genre, producers name, a numerical grade and why they liked or disliked a video, they aren't competent to write reviews. Comments belong in the Producer Advertising forum. The Review Forum is a no-tweet zone.

How to energize the Review Forum? Encourage reviewers to include a few basic screen caps with their reviews. It's easy enough using the VLC or GOM players. (I'll repeat for the umpteenth time that if anyone needs help in getting started, PM me.) And of course, enforce the forum rules.

I just noticed this will be my five-hundredth post. I need a drink.

Al

[Bluestone]

I'm sure a review index would be of some value to some members and visitors. But how would it be setup? By producer? By title? Either way, I don't know if the utility of such an index would be great enough to be worth all the effort needed to create and maintain it. I certainly wouldn't want the job.

I'm not crazy about the idea for setting up a separate forum for discontinued videos. Would the discontinued videos from currently active producers be included? If so this would likely cause confusion, since some of these videos are put back into circulation. I think the prominent notices of unavailability you placed on the KHP reviews are enough.

I'm all for a separate forum for on-topic and off-topic mainstream movies. I would be happy to contribute to this forum, because recently a number of outstanding classic films have become available as free, high-quality downloads.

Hey Al,

I actually started a Review Index, but it is a lot of work to set up, and a bitch to maintain. I favour a separate subforum for each producer who is reviewed. At least that way, all of the reviews for each producer would be gathered into one place. Thoughts?

I created the "Defunct Producers" forum. I visualized just including defunct producers, not discontinued videos, since these can always be re-released, if the producers are still in business.

I also created a Mainstream Movie subforum and started to move such reviews into this forum.

I noted a great review by JohnM of a UKSG-Bluestone video, which I thought I moved quite a while ago. It offends the forum rules for two reasons. Firstly, producers are not allowed to review our community's death fetish videos. Secondly, Bluestone videos should not be reviewed on the Candid Review Forum, since Bluestone Silk Videos already has it's own forum. I therefore moved this review and one other Bluestone review to the "What's New at Bluestone's Silk Videos" forum.

Well, I'm open to more suggestions as well as feedback on the initial changes. I will do whatever can reasonably be done to re-energize this review forum which could easily become one of the best informational resources for our community.

Blue

[Algenon5]

Blue, I completely agree with you regarding the Review Forum's potential, and I'm up for anything that works. However, from the level of response this thread has generated, it looks like you and I have bored the hell out of three-thousand members.

Al