GBATemp review team?

[Ryukouki]

Taking ZenZero's topic here, why don't we make this more formal and make a certain group of prestigious reviewers on the Temp part of their own category as a review team?

Opinions?

 

[Overlord Nadrian]

Except for Guild, there's pretty much no one that frequently reviews stuff, so I don't see the need.

 

[prowler]

Except for Guild, there's pretty much no one that frequently reviews stuff, so I don't see the need.

If GBAtemp was going to do a review team, rather than a solo job like Guild does, I'm sure people would join in.
If this does happen, I'm in.

 

[SixtySixHundred]

I like the idea of this. I would happily do some reviews if I thought anyone would read them. I play a lot of games and I get a lot of info from here at the 'temp so it'd be nice to give something back!

 

[SubliminalSegue]

I've done a few reviews on here, and expect to do more in the future, and would be honored to be on that team, if I was invited.

 

[Sterling]

I'd like to think that though my reviews are far and few in between, they are on par (maybe less than) with Guild's. I would definitely make more reviews if given the chance to be on a team like this.

 

[Ryukouki]

Maybe it doesn't have to be all about games. Maybe it can be about uhhhhh... flashcarts, electronics, random toys?

 

[emigre]

I'm fairly interested in this actually. But more details will be needed on how this is going to work.

 

[Ryukouki]

Well, let's say you've been doing reviews of whatever for a long time. Maybe if staff notices and likes it, and this idea in general. maybe they can request for your presence on the review team, and provide proof? I dunno, actually. I really liked the idea and was considering posting this a long time ago

 

[Sterling]

I'm fairly interested in this actually. But more details will be needed on how this is going to work.

Maybe a ranking system. Three or four ranks that show the strong points of the reviewer. Say rank one would be someone who is fairly good at stating his or her opinion on the game, but are less observant. Rank two would be someone who is very good at reviewing games, but isn't on target with harware reviews. Third rank would be someone who is very good at reviewing, and has good hardware reviews as well.

A reviewer would "rank up" when approved. Also some sort of application system for people who aren't GBAtemp established reviewers.

Not sure who, or what group would enjoy taking a bit of extra workload, but this seemed like a good idea in my mind.

EDIT: I should also say this group would be a different edition of mag staff. Maybe with minimal mod powers for the USR section. If that doesn't sound like a good idea, then just forget I even mentioned it.

 

[emigre]

Well I was thiking on how this practically work. How many members do we need for it? Do we need to make sure the review team can cover a variety of consoles? How often should reviews be put out? THat's what I'm wondering about.

 

[Ryukouki]

I'm fairly interested in this actually. But more details will be needed on how this is going to work.

Maybe a ranking system. Three or four ranks that show the strong points of the reviewer. Say rank one would be someone who is fairly good at stating his or her opinion on the game, but are less observant. Rank two would be someone who is very good at reviewing games, but isn't on target with harware reviews. Third rank would be someone who is very good at reviewing, and has good hardware reviews as well.

A reviewer would "rank up" when approved. Also some sort of application system for people who aren't GBAtemp established reviewers.

Not sure who, or what group would enjoy taking a bit of extra workload, but this seemed like a good idea in my mind.

Wow, I honestly just thought of the same thing!

But hmmmmm... what happens if you specialize in only one field, like uhhhh... flashcarts? Seems like your scale only applies to hardware.

 

[Sterling]

It was just a starting suggestion. Feel free to modify it. What I am suggesting are that only the people who are well rounded reviewers should get in. If you review flash cards, then who's to say you can't review DS games? Or, a list of systems in your profile that you can review. Or status updates if you're taking suggestions.

 

[Ryukouki]

True, true. I review mostly anything.

This should sort of be a mini branch to Magazine Staff.

 

[SixtySixHundred]

I think the whole idea is a good one. I am going to show my support by writing a review of a DS game.
Hopefully this idea will take off and there will be some review staff here at the 'temp. I do enjoy reading Guild's reviews and a whole team writing quality reviews can't be a bad thing.
Even if there's no 'official' team, there's no reason why a group of people couldn't get together on IRC, discuss what needs reviewing, then do it. Sounds like a plan to me..

EDIT: Been looking through the rules for posting reviews and all of them have to go through staff anyway, I forgot this prior to writing my reply. My thoughts on this; I'm sure the staff have better things to do than read reviews submitted by people. They may be better off delegating the task to a dedicated team who are here solely for reviewing reviews.

 

[Sterling]

I think the whole idea is a good one. I am going to show my support by writing a review of a DS game.
Hopefully this idea will take off and there will be some review staff here at the 'temp. I do enjoy reading Guild's reviews and a whole team writing quality reviews can't be a bad thing.
Even if there's no 'official' team, there's no reason why a group of people couldn't get together on IRC, discuss what needs reviewing, then do it. Sounds like a plan to me..

Having a group tag would bring more attention to the reviews.

 

[SixtySixHundred]

I think the whole idea is a good one. I am going to show my support by writing a review of a DS game.
Hopefully this idea will take off and there will be some review staff here at the 'temp. I do enjoy reading Guild's reviews and a whole team writing quality reviews can't be a bad thing.
Even if there's no 'official' team, there's no reason why a group of people couldn't get together on IRC, discuss what needs reviewing, then do it. Sounds like a plan to me..

Having a group tag would bring more attention to the reviews.

I agree. It would also suggest a level of quality within the review.

 

[EpicJungle]

I would join, my I need more practice on making reviews...
My DSi Review is obviously made by an amateur

 

[Tux']

I would like to join this if this were to happen, it seems like a really good idea! Would be awesome if it actually was created.

 

[Another World]

GBATemp reviews are about the "hacking" industry not the scene. We review Flash Kits, mod chips, and handhelds. Other reviews such as games, homebrew, cheats, guides, etc have never really had a place as “official GBATemp reviews.” As Head of Magazine Staff I have wanted to expand some areas of the site, and having more reviews hit the front page would be a good thing. However, I would not simply promote just anyone to write the reviews. I have a standard of excellence that I would expect all users to adhere to. I would also require a certain level of education, writing ability, etc. Anything that would be "official" to GBATemp would represent GBATemp and required to meet certain standards.

The questions I have are what would the expanded reviews cover? I simply would not allow multiple reviews of the same items (2+ R4 1:1 reviews, 2+ gamename.nds reviews, etc). I would expect each review to be unique. Each item would need to have enough content to be considered a "review". I also would not allow the reviews to go off-topic from the “theme” of the site, IE: posting official reviews of PC games, electronics, toys, pens, vacation spots, etc.

I have many more issues about this topic, issues I have been discussing with certain members of the GBATemp staff for a very long time. The best solution has been to allow users to submit their own reviews. If a review is up to the standards of an official review that review will then get moved to the appropriate section and receive a front page post.

JPH tried to get the community involved with his news wrap-up posts. He would include a review of a Homebrew or DS game in each edition. It worked out pretty well but the big problem he ran into was the lack of support. Users simply get bored of these types of projects much too quickly. He also had serious issues with quality of writing. Before release time he would rewrite certain sections, edit, or format user reviews to make them fit into the GBATemp standards. I do not have the luxury of free time needed to micro-manage an entirely new set of “staff” members.

I can see that many of you are gun-ho about an idea like this now but it takes a certain someone to keep up with it for 2-4 years of weekly or bi-monthly reviews. A full review is not an easy task and can take anywhere from 30-200 hours, depending. User would never get paid and would be working on a volunteer status only!

If some of you are VERY serious about being full time volunteer reviewers then I ask you do to the following...

1) Get together as a group. I would recommend 8+ people as multiple things could be reviewed per week.
2) Write up a formal outline complete with a mission statement. Include all pertinent information (who, what, where, why, when, and how) and then submit it to me.
3) Start an IRC channel on the GBATemp IRC network after users on onboard for such a project.

From that point I will know your thoughts and will join to discuss it further. I have no problem spending some time each month keeping you all on track, as head of magazine staff, but I would not lead such an endeavor. You would need to find your own leaders who are responsible for staying in constant and direct contact with me. In the end I would have the final say on what gets posted and what does not get posted. I will never give front page permissions out. Users would need to submit their highest quality work that is formatted by my standards and up to the quality that the leader of this project deems appropriate for GBATemp.

I’m sorry if these comments sound a bit totalitarian. I’m not trying to rule over your ideas, yet those same ideas would need to appeal to me, and I have a certain mindset on how I think something such as reviews should be done.

An alternative idea would be to get the GBATemp Recommends going again. I have wanted to do this for a while and I have a great idea on how to keep it interesting and fresh while still being GBATemp, GBA, DS, and Wii related. I would be very lax on what is allowed to be covered as long as the writing was well done and users submitted on-time, spellchecked, and properly formatted.

Users who kept up such a project for a length of time (6 months) would have a very good chance of being worked into some type of “official” review category made up of non-staff GBATemp members. After working with me for 6 months I would better know your abilities, strengths, weaknesses, personalities, attitudes, work ethics, etc.

If some of you are really, and I mean REALLY serious about writing for GBATemp, and perhaps reviving the GBATemp Recommends, get in touch with me.

-Another World

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