Thanks for all the replies!
Will we allow comparison threads?
Objective comparison threads, yes, absolutely. Will we find any?
...I do not think that it would be prudent to disallow replies on reviews. I think that if there were strict rules set on the replies then they could remain corgil and informative. I find whenever I write a review something always ends up getting pointed out me that changes the way I think about that particular vape. I think we would lose alot by not allowing replies.
Perhaps there could be an implementation of a "Junior Mod" position which have the ability to moderate the review section alone to lighten the possible load on the main staff.
...in terms of reviews, I think that you should definitely allow discussion within the review post. I believe listening to other FC members critiques on your review, like Centizen said, helps you see it in a different light.
I have mixed feelings about the review section. I always felt like they belong in the discussion of the vaporizer. I am not sure splitting reviews up in to individual posts in a new section is worth wile. I do worry that reviewing the reviews from the thread might slow down the conversation abut the device in the thread. Often times reviews bring up pages of good discussion on what ever points have been brought up. I think separating the "good reviews" into another thread will pull some of the momentum out of the original topic.
All good points. Discussion is of the utmost importance and we don't intend on stifling it. I didn't do a very good job of explaining the details, but I think that the way the process will be set up should alleviate these concerns. Every submitted review will require staff approval before it's visible. That process will be unforgiving by most people's standards and unfortunately many submissions will be rejected - probably even the majority. "Rejected" is the the wrong word, really; it just means that they belong as posts in the model thread as they exist now because they're more opinion posts than objective reviews. There's nothing wrong with that - they are what they are. Objective reviews should be able to stand on their own because they're factual.
What do we mean by "objective review"? A well-written, thorough, and thoughtful account not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts, undistorted by emotion or personal bias, and based on observable phenomena. Basically heavy on science and light on opinion. Of course there will be some opinion, but it will and must be stated as such.
Who is qualified to write an objective review? In general I'd say someone who has enough ownership experience with a given model to know all of its ins and outs, as well as the same level of experience with similar products. Years of experience with vaping in general and ownership of multiple vaporizers would be par for the course. We probably wouldn't even consider accepting reviews until a product has been in production for a few months. Who would be the judge of this all? Our staff, who I believe have the ability to determine whether or not a review meets these criteria.
I can understand the feeling that discussion should be allowed even if this is the case and initially this was my feeling as well. You can blame the change of heart on max, and I'll quote him here. It should be said that
constructive discussion of an accepted review will of course be possible in the relevant model's thread.
Some reviews (if in thread form) would produce endless arguing (making more mod work necessary), and newbies would flock to the review threads with their endless questions, increasing the bloating even more. Comparison reviews involving 2 or more models are especially 'hot topics'. A good A/B/C review, like Gonzo did on the CRZ, HI, and UD models, is gonna be especially welcome, but also the most likely to provoke endless discussion and arguments. Some of these fat threads would end up detracting from the actual vape thread in Vaporizer Discussion.
That's the reality, unfortunate as it is. It's a trade off but a necessary one IMO.
newVaper420 said:
how would this operate? Would it be a separate review section for each vape? Otherwise page 1 of reviews might be one vape and then more reviews for that same vape are on page 4 of the thread list. This can be confusing when trying to find all the information you can about a particular vape.
It would be a new section with each review being a thread. While possible, I don't think we'd see 20 back-to-back reviews on the same vape. Reaching four pages of reviews would take a long time as well.
SliM said:
What if there was a way to make the review posts within a thread different. Maybe change the background color... put something in the thread. If it is redeemed as very valuable then it can be marked as so and made easy to see as you are scrolling through. That way someone scrolling through the 600 page thread can look for the posts that are marked "important" or "review" or what ever you want to call it.
That's a good idea. It would be neat if the software let us do something like that, or even made posts with a certain number of likes stand out. However it would still require going through a 600 page thread. Not a problem for the real vapeheads but we are in the minority. More and more people are just getting into vapor and most of them can't or won't read through even a 50 page thread, let alone 20 big threads when they're trying to figure out where to start. It's easy to forget how confusing everything must be to a newbie, it's a completely different world. Hell, the landscape has changed tremendously even in the last year. I know I have trouble keeping up at times. Easy access to comprehensive and objective reviews would be a massive help to newbies, and maybe even useful to seasoned vaporists.
...the FC forums is it's one of the only forums I've been to where all the discussion about a device is in one dedicated thread. It makes it much easier to find the information you are looking for if all of it is in one thread. So by separating out the reviews, you are making different places for information when it can be all in one place. I kinda think that's one of the strengths of FC. When I want to read about the Pax, I don't have to go to multiple forums or subforums or review section, I just click the Pax thread, and the information is there. All 100+ pages of discussion or so, LOL :-). It's a lot of information, but I like that it's all in one place. People's reviews, problems, hates, discussions, etc.
You read threads in entirety before posting in them? Bless your kind soul.
Unfortunately you're in the minority and there's no way around that. We've even considered a semi-strict "you must read the last x pages or x posts in a thread before posting in it" rule. It's just not realistic. The great discussion in the model threads is what makes this site worth visiting. I agree, and wouldn't want to change that for anything. That's one of the reasons to not allow replies in the review section.
I would also like to hand out a big "thank you" to the staff for all of the janitorial and pest control work that has been going on lately around here. Great job
An extra special thanks goes out to a certain hawk-eyed staff member.
I think reviews should stay within the relevant model thread. A way of keeping the reviews accessible could be to provide links to review posts in Vaporpedia, which I think is an underutilised resource.
I think putting our wiki to more use would provide a ton of benefit. Unfortunately that requires a good deal of effort, and most people lack the motivation or ability to help. I'd like to do more to reward those who have done such a fantastic job at putting together some truly incredible articles. The caliber of reviews we're aiming for will also require effort and ability, but I have a feeling a review system is more likely to accomplish this specific objective.
slightly different topic, but concerning a new sub-forum ... how about collecting all the DIY threads from Vaporizer Discussion and putting them into its own DIY titled sub-form. i suggest putting DIY at the same level as Discussion, General, Ask, and Lounge, rather than under Discussion.
my thought is a little more visibility for DIY might generate more discussion.
Reorganizing the forum sections is long overdue. It's on the todo list and we're going to try to make it fun. Stay tuned.
(now where's that "beating a dead can of worms" graphic...)
