Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
Path: nntp.gmd.de!Dortmund.Germany.EU.net!Germany.EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!usenet.ucs.indiana.edu!sun2!peabody.iusb.indiana.edu!mkinyon
From: mkinyon@peabody.iusb.indiana.edu (Michael Kinyon)
Subject: Re: Reviews (was: Re: IF Criticism)
Message-ID: <Dpwtsr.614@sun2.iusb.indiana.edu>
Sender: usenet@sun2.iusb.indiana.edu (USENET poster)
Nntp-Posting-Host: peabody.iusb.edu
Organization: Indiana University South Bend Computer Science Network
References: <4jnbue$3bh@phakt.usc.edu> <4jpda7$jtl@news.duke.edu> <4koo9e$er0@thor.cmp.ilstu.edu>
Date: Mon, 15 Apr 1996 15:31:38 GMT
Lines: 62

In article <4koo9e$er0@thor.cmp.ilstu.edu>,
Christopher E. Forman <ceforma@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu> wrote:
>This is the reason SPAG doesn't allow authors to rate their own games,
>and if the game's testers have those same feelings (and notice I said "if"),
>they should probably restrain themselves as well.  I'm sure many already
>do.  For instance, has anyone ever seen a review by Michael Kinyon?

An excellent example, I must say.  If anyone responds affirmatively,
I will be greatly surprised.  (I will undercut this remark shortly.)

As someone who decided long ago not to write games, but to channel his 
dedication to interactive fiction solely through playtesting, I have been 
following the present discussion with some interest.  Modulo diction, I have
found myself in agreement with the point of view expressed by CE.  Yes,
I do restrain myself from writing reviews for precisely the reasons stated.

A personal example here will serve to illustrate: a couple of years ago, 
I composed a review of one of the older releases of _Curses_.  I had
completed what I would consider to be the (final - 1)st draft, when
various work duties caused me to put it aside for a while.  Upon returning
to it, I read through it once again with a beginner's mind.  I realized
that the praise I was heaping upon the game was directly tied to the amount
of effort I had put into testing it.  There was no way I was going to be
able to distance myself from the game adequately to satisfy my own standards
of objectivity.  Thus that review has never seen the light of day (or more
accurately, the light of the Internet).  

At that point I made a conscious decision not to review games that I test.
Since I test so many games and rarely play anything else for lack of time, 
this obviously restricts my choice of topics.  Among better known games 
released within the past few months, I could in good conscience write a
review of _Shelby's Addendum_ (I choose not to, because I have nothing to
add to what Gareth said) and _Spiritwrak_ (everyone who plays it is a 
tester, and thus I would have no qualms about reviewing it).

I can also think of a couple of games where I do not think I did a very good 
job of playtesting.  If I were to review those games, I suspect I would
sing the author's praises as atonement for my sins.  That would hardly
be called quality reviewing.

Having tried my best to sound very high and mighty, I will mention that
there was one occasion when I "blurb-reviewed" some games that I had tested.
This was after last year's competition.  As most of last year's competitors
know, I playtested over half of the entries, and as a result, I did not
vote.  Shortly after the results were announced, Andrew Plotkin posted
his famous "whoo-hoo" message (so-called because his only reference to
his own game was "whoo-hoo").  I was surprised that our private rankings
of the games were so close, and I posted a follow-up with my own comments.
In retrospect, I regret having done that.  Most authors (with some 
exceptions to whom I privately apologized) indicated that they did not mind, 
but it is not something I shall do again.

None of these remarks should be interpreted as condemnation of other testers
who have reviewed games they have tested.  I certainly do not believe I am 
using a universal standard to which you should all submit; I have chosen a 
course of (in)action with which I am comfortable.

-- 
Michael Kinyon                  | email: mkinyon@peabody.iusb.edu
Dept of Mathematics & Comp. Sci.| http://sun1.iusb.edu/faculty/mkinyon/
Indiana University South Bend   | phone: (219)-237-4240
South Bend, IN 46634 USA        | fax:   (219)-237-4538
