Denina's Morrowind Forums

Toccatta · Administrator Joined: 26 Jun 2007

While there are a number of mod sites that allow members to rate mods with some sort of rating system - either a 1-10 scale or multiple stars - none of them really do the modding community justice.

Often the votes end up turning into a popularity contest or there are a bazillion mods which are rated a 10 on a scale of 1-10 because the people voting have little or no idea how to review a mod and the reviewing process has virtually no oversight or guidelines. Also, a single rating, whether it's a number or group of stars, provides an incomplete picture of a mod's strengths and weaknesses.

So to correct that, we're going to try to create a mod review section here and start off by establishing a few guidelines.

1) Mods will be graded in up to five areas.

Concept

Lore Accuracy

Design

Attention to Detail

Technical Achievement

A mod should be graded on its own merit and not upon its compatibility with any other mod unless that compatibility was expressly claimed by the author. e.g. don't reduce the grade on a mod because it isn't compatible with something else you like to use or because "there are too many mods in Balmora" or some such.

Including a list of known mod incompatibilities in the review is welcome, but should neither be graded nor affect the grade except as described above.

Note that not all mods will necessarily be graded in all five areas. If you don't think a particular area applies to a mod or if you don't think you're qualified to rate a mod in one or more areas, just leave those out. It isn't necessary to include them and leave them blank or rank them as n/a.

2) Instead of rating each area with a number of stars or a numeric rating, please select one of the following grades, and then explain:

3) Each thread should be used for only one mod. If you want to add a new review, just post in the appropriate thread. If you want to review a new mod, make a new thread. Mods which contain multiple .esp files to allow for user selection or which have relatively minor revision changes are still considered to be one mod. A revision update which significantly alters the capabilities of a mod may be treated as a new mod at the reviewer's discretion. However, the revision number needs to be included in the thread title to differentiate it from the previous version.

4) Some modders may not wish to have their mods reviewed, and DMF will respect that. Review threads will be removed at the request of the mod's author, subject to the following two rules

5) Any section of a review which contains significant factual errors or which the reviewer is obviously unqualified to review may be deleted. Please be fair... If you haven't actually played with a mod, you shouldn't be reviewing anything other than concept, and if you don't have a good grasp of the abilities and limitations of the construction set and Morrowind's game engine, don't review a mod's technical aspects.

6) Compliments are welcome, but constructive criticism is also appropriate and often more helpful. Also, we always prefer reviewers to explain a given grade, but a rating of "unplayable" requires an explanation.

7) To avoid conflict of interest, and in the hopes of maintaining objective reviews, modders are prohibited from reviewing any mod in which they contributed significantly to its development. They may; however, post that the mod is released for reviews with description and link(s) and reply to comments in existing reviews. Also, be sure to check that your mod has not already been posted before you add it. Someone may have already beaten you to it.

Also, when modders submit a mod for review, they should provide the same information that a reviewer would normally provide in the first post of a new review. Reviewers responding to the submission don't need to provide this information, so they should begin with the actual review in the second or later post.

8) Reviews of adult mods are welcome; however, it should be clearly marked in the subject or description line that it is an adult mod. Please don't use internet shorthand or abbreviations like NSFW (not safe for work) or NSS (not school safe) as not all members will be aware of what they mean. That way, our members and guests who are at work will not click on something that could potentially get them in trouble with their employers.

9)Mod authors are encouraged to post a rebuttal in a review thread if they believe a review contains a significant error or misunderstanding. If the reviewer chooses to edit the review to correct the error or misunderstanding, the rebuttal will be removed to keep the reviews clear of unnecessary clutter.

However, reviewers are under no obligation to edit their reviews in response to a mod author's rebuttal. If the reviewer chooses to disregard it, both the review and rebuttal will remain in the thread to represent differing viewpoints.

Toccatta · Administrator Joined: 26 Jun 2007

The format of the review should be set up in a way to make it easy for the reader to skim to get a general idea, but also to be user-friendly to those interested in a mod to read in depth as well.

When making a new thread for a mod not having been previously reviewed here, please provide the download link and copy the description into the first post so we know what you're talking about. It would be very frustrating to start reading reviews of mods when you've never heard of them and then have to switch between windows to find out and then read the reviews. The first post should only be the download link and mod description. It's generally preferable to link to a download page than to link directly to a file. It's more courteous, and it allows the mod host to offer the most recent revision and available patches without requiring the link to be updated on our end.

As mentioned in the previous post, if the mod has been submitted by a modder for review, this initial post should already exist and reviewers should skip this step.

Make your review in the second post.

For the review itself, at the beginning, please specify whether you are reviewing based on whether you've used the mod for a long time or if you just downloaded it to test it out. A review from a long-time user of a mod and a review from a one-time test are likely going to be different. A one-time test review will not be any more or less valid than one from a long-time user, but the insights offered will help readers gain a better understanding of the mod itself in deciding whether to test it. Plus, sometimes those one-time tests reveal things that may have been overlooked by a more in-depth review, and obviously vice versa. Also, if your review is done with a new test character or a minimal set of mods to avoid incompatibility issues, you may want to note this at the beginning of your review as well.

If you're reviewing a poorly done mod, avoid flaming and insulting the mod author. Any review which contains insults will be deleted and the reviewer will get an official warning. The rules of the forum apply here as well. If you're incapable of being constructive in your review, do not post. The intent of this section is to provide a fair and balanced approach to mod reviews that emphasize strengths and weaknesses. Posting "This sucks" or even "This is awesome!" without additional commentary is not acceptable. Compliments can be included in the review if you wish, but there is no reason to be a jerk if you don't like a mod you're reviewing.

Reviewing mods is not easy nor should it be. It requires thought and time to provide the mod authors with constructive feedback to help them improve. This is an excellent way to contribute to the community if you love mods but are not a mod maker yourself or just want to help in some small way but do not know how. Constructive feedback is a modder's best friend because it helps them make better mods in the long run, extending the life of the game we love.