Warning: Tongue in Cheek Reviewers on Amazon

'Sup? Just caught a cold from the little one. My throat is on fire :(

Playing on My Life's Soundtrack:  Major by The Asteroids Galaxy Tour

Okay, so in the world of the internet it's a well-known rule that you can't take everything you read at face value. At least it should be (and it should be the first question on any future tests for licensing internet users). But I have the sneaking suspicion that most people don't follow that rule much when it comes to product review sites.

When visiting, for example, Amazon, all but the newest products have consumer ratings, presumably by people who have used the product. They are there to gauge customer satisfaction and to allow the potential buyer to guage what the product might be like without actually seeing it in the real. There are some interesting and often useful comments for most products. If I'm looking to buy something off Amazon I'll often read a selection of the 5star, 3star and 1star reviews to get a well-rounded feel for the product. But how often do we just look at the star rating and say 'oh, 4.5 stars, that must be pretty good?', and go no further. Or we see that the 5stars heavily outweight the other ratings so figure it must be good? Often, I suspect.

But are all the reviews real?

Those of you who know me, know I'm a bit of a gamer. Specifically, I enjoy Starcraft II, action-RPGs and MMOs. I also enjoy watching some of the popular gaming channels on Youtube. Today, I was checking out Jeff (MaximusBlack) of the Canadian duo LifesaglitchTV (LAGTV) as he played through a Street Cleaning simulator (yes, that's correct) developed by Astragon and published by Excalibur Publishing. Here's the video if you're interested (warning, some bad language).

I've shown you this video primarily so you can get an idea for yourselves of what the game is like (I also think its very funny, but that could be me). Jeff mentioned that he paid $40CAD for this and I was so surprised I had to check it out.

Now, for anyone looking forward to playing this, it is actually available on Amazon for under £10. But what immediately struck me was the high star ratings for the game. Out of 27 reviews, there were twenty-four 5 stars. Yes, 24! Either there was something greatly missing from Jeff's video, or there was something weird going on with the reviews.

You may have guessed, it was the latter.

 Some of the shorter reviews read like the following:

Whackaday!

Don't buy this if you want to have a life for the next three weeks. The most addictive game on the market BAR NONE. Don't want to give too much away as the plot is scintillating from start to finish. At times, I forgot what was reality and what was simulator.

Mr. J. Proudfoot

I enjoyed this a lot, a great way to pass the time while I waited for my operation. I think games like this should be taken more seriously. Very good fun, my only concern was that they did not include Mercedes Benz Econic 1823LL CRC which is my favourite garbage truck.

D.C.Brown

This is certainly one of the most intense games I have played in quite a while. Not since my ZX81 and "text" adventures have I had so much fun. A mate of mine insists that "Bass Fishing" is better, I disagree ,the man is an idiot. My only small criticism is the lack of strategy guide, I would gladly pay £30+ if one is ever published. Although at least there is Wiki [...]

All of these gave 5-star ratings and are quite clearly tongue in cheek reviews. In fact, the gamer community has reacted with so much sarcasm that there is now a video extolling the 'wonders' of the game (btw it came to gamers' attention when it receive a very rare 'abysmal' rating from Gamespot).

I, personally, don't mind this. I think it's a very creative response by the gamer community. However, it's important to be aware that this exists and that not all reviews and ratings are realistic. Clearly, in the case of this game, unsuspecting parents could buy this game for Christmas and be very incredulous when their kid trades it to a 4-year old for a bag of M&Ms.

So consider yourself warned. Caveat emptor (but this time not from the sellers).

Incidentally, if you are actually interested in this type of game, Astragon has released over a dozen other simulators, ranging from Garden Simulator, Bus Simulator 2, and Pro Fishing, to Surgery Simulator. Have Fun!

Insight and longevity.

Do Supergirls Dream of Blue Spandex?

'SUP? Adjusting to a new schedule *again*

Playing on My Life's Soundtrack: Clockwork Angels by Rush

Here's the official reveal for my Rockethub project: Echoes of the Past, the first book in the Do Supergirls Dream of Blue Spandex?: Altered Destiny Trilogy. Check it out, there are some great rewards for funding, including collectors' edition signed hardback books and the option to create your own superhero for inclusion in the next book.

And also check supergirldreams.com or Destiny-City.com for the first chapter, background information on the story, a list of supporters, and how to acquire the book when it's released. More webpages will be released after each 25% of funding is reached.

Do Supergirls Dream of  Blue Spandex: Altered Destiny is a dramatic, romantic, sometimes comedic, superhero series that follows the adventures of three women in Destiny City (please note, there are adult relationship themes, so it's not for minors). Echoes of the Past, the first book of the trilogy, follows the exploits of Charlene Stanfeld, a.k.a. Starshine as she tries to stop a series of strange thefts, avoid unwanted advances from her boss, and resist the charms of hot villain she's been wrestling.

Yes, it's a bit of departure from my usual sci-fi, but not that far, after all, it is superheroes. However, more than the cliche hero/villains, the stories in Destiny City explore relationship themes in a superhero context, using this window of hyperbole to view common interpersonal conflicts more clearly. The nice thing about this vehicle is that it can lend itself to humour even while revealing truth.

I wrote the first draft several years ago and hadn't planned on doing anything further with it. But with everything happening lately I thought it would be best to pull out some of my older works, like Supergirls, for revision, rather than try and concentrate on finishing something new (although, of course, with my short attention span, I still have several stories in early writing / outlining stages--but that discussion is for another post). I've found that 'revision', in my case at least, typically mean reworking the entire story. However, I do believe my stories are better for the extra work.

If Echoes of the Past goes over well, I'll finish the trilogy and possibly write some other stories set in the same city (I already have a few ideas). And, of course, there's the web site to update, and the video trailer to make... best get back to work!

Insight and longevity.

Road to Publication - A New Gatekeeper

STATUS: sexy and I know it (lmao)

Music:  Mr. Saxobeat by Alexandra Stan

I think most serious amateur authors are quite aware of the publication options that currently exist, and what is required for each. I referring, of course, to: Traditional (agent/publisher), vanity (honest company with quality services), self (knowledge/time/printer/distribution hub). Both vanity and self-publishing have been altered greatly by the advent of the internet, as has traditional publishing primarily through the advent of the e-book. However, a new player has recently entered the game: crowdfunded publishers.

At this point many readers are saying crowdfunding's not new, kickstarter has been around for years and they are right. There have also been many notable success stories for writers on kickstarter. But kickstarter is not a publisher. They are a crowdfunding platform that allows authors to raise money for self-publishing, marketing and distribution. Now, however, one company has gone a step further.

Unbound.co.uk is a crowdfunding site specifically for authors. It's not completely open, like traditional crowdfunding sites, however (yes, I already dare use the phrase 'traditional crowdfunding'!). For example, authors don't just log-on and put up a project. They must pitch their book idea to the people at Unbound (electronically, but it's still pitching). If Unbound accepts the idea, they make a project for the author, complete with pre-set funder rewards.

Don't worry, crowdfunders will recognize some of these rewards as pretty standard for successful book funding: £10 gets an e-book, £30 gets a print hardback copy, £50 is a signed hardback copy. Higher rewards are interesting and require further commitment by the author: £150 invite to book's launch party (+book copies), £250 pub lunch with author (+book copies). The higher levels are also author-customized to some extent.

At first glance it looks just like an author-specific crowdfunding site. But once the realization comes that Unbound are the publishers and organize some of the other events, it quickly becomes apparent that they are, in fact, a new model of publisher. Essentially, they select a range of novels they are intersted in publishing then use public interest (voted for with £) to choose which books to actually produce.

I think this is a very interesting idea and is addressing the stagnant and celebrity-dominated nature of the current publishing industry and this can't be a bad thing. The only thing I would hope for at the moement would be more clarity for authors on their site. They give very little information regarding what happens after the book is written, i.e. how long are the print runs, how much royalty does the author make, who owns the rights, etc. If the print run is only for the number of funders, then the offer is not terribly good, unless there is some kind of after-publication deal or services.

I am in the process of trying to get more information from them and will post when some of the questions have been clarified. However, in general, I think this is a great, forward-thinking idea and I hope it works well.

Insight and longevity.

Pet Peeves - No Dates

 STATUS: dog tired

Music: Gangnam Style

The modern internet has been around almost 20 years now. Recent statistics suggest there are 150,000 new URLs per day and 350,000,000 registered domains. In 2008 google indexed 1 trillion unique URLs. Viva the information age.

With the massive size and scope of the internet, any and all information can be found and the information content of the net makes an encyclopedia look like a kid's book. If I need to find anything, I run immediately to google. Medical, cooking, parenting, cars, gardening, anything you need to know about can be found on the net.

Of course, because anyone can post a website claiming anything, good search techniques and a discriminating mind must be used to discern which information to trust. And that brings me to my pet peeve. Because, in addition to learning how to separate the real from the deceptive or downright fraudulent, it's also important to realize that information expires.

It's obvious when you think about it, any kind of medical or scientific information will become outdated to a degree and will need updating regularly. This could be expecially problematic with regards to drugs or self-diagnoses (which is apparently becoming very common). Product information, especially on software (and definitely fan sites on games) need regular updating as products come and go and change so quickly in the modern world. So, part of good internet technique is checking the date on the information provided.

Unfortunately, it seems many sites do not realize the importance of dating their sites and end up doing a great disservice to their viewers by potentially providing out of date information. I've long since lost count of the number of times I've found a page with the information I wanted, only to be unable to find a date, and thus unable to just the validity of the information. In such cases, the page and all content on it become useless to me.

I can hope that, like record and movie companies using outdated financial models, this is just another sign of the times changing more rapidly than our thoughts. But I feel it's a potentially very dangerous one. Sure people digging up a chocolate chip cookie recipie from 10 years ago is not going to be a problem, but old exercise or diet information could be harmful and old drug information could be deadly.

So please, if you are a web master, ensure that all your pages, and all articles posted by contributors, have accurate dates included in the header. After all, the date is as important a piece of information when judging validity as the content.

Insight and longevity.