| Archive for IMPACT! MINIATURES A forum for the discussion of board games and miniatures of the company (Impact! Miniatures) |
| GalakStarscraper |
Why I love the internetSo browsing through things I see I can look at all the comments on Elfball on Board Game Geek.I have one person who rated the game a 1. Now to be clear ... anyone is allowed to not like Elfball ... but to write a review when you've never actually played the game ... sigh ... yeah thanks a lot. If someone hates the game ... great ... I hope I can learn from them ... but its days like this the faceless nature of the internet ticks me off. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/view...t=1&orderby=rating&dir=-1 I searched on the poster and see that he signed up right after Elfball came out and has only left one review comment. So right now ... I'm laying odds that its someone I ticked off at FUMBBL or TBB getting revenge (or at least the most feeble thing they can come up with like revenge) for something I said or did for the LRB 5.0 or 6.0. Ah well. I just wish that systems like this where I'd love to learn from ... I cannot because its clear that the poster has never even probably seen the game played. Because one of the things that have been repeatedly said ... this game is very different strategy-wise from fantasy football. Does it share some elements ... yes ... but that is because to create a good football simulation you need to be able to pick, pass, and catch the ball along with tackle opponent. I dont' know why I'm even addressing his post ... but its just like one of those things that you wish you could write a rebutal directly in the comment section ... but I cannot .... so I vent here and then its all better. Galak Galak |
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| Dark Lord |
Why do you think it was a TBB or FUMBBLer?
My immediate reaction is a Grandma Wendy employee. 
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| Darkson |
I'm not signing up for another website, so can you post the "review" here? | ||||
| GalakStarscraper |
The one that really got me was stating I directly lifted components ... I don't believe a single piece of the B.B. boxed set is usuable to play Elfball (unless you want to count using the plastic figures for a Middle Kingdoms and option Orc team) ... however I think playing Elfball Middle Kingdoms without Ogres/Cyclops will get nasty fast (for the MK team). So the components comment really set me off as it proved he never has even actually seen the game. From having played many FF games ... Elfball is as different from fantasy football as Battleball is. And he didn't take the time to register and slam that one. I know I'm supposed to ignore this stuff ... but I did the same thing during the LRB 5.0. Its the folks that hate what you are doing that have the most you actually want to hear. You dig into it and then kick it around to see if they actually have a point or not. When its just mindless inane dribble ... its just internet trash. Galak |
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| Igor Tahavanale |
Seems like someone with a grudge to me. A review which is utterly useless unless you print it off when you've run out of bog roll. 
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| Cephalopod |
Galak, It is the people that hate what you're doing and have some constructive criticism that you want to hear from. People stating outright falsehoods and hiding behind anonymity are people that generally aren't worth listening to. I can see why it would get your goat, but honestly I'd say it isn't worth the stress to get worked up about. Now, if I can figure out how to post a damned review on that site I'll spend some quality time correcting that guy's "information". |
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| Tarota |
Posting a review on BGG is very easy. It's the actual writing that's hard, of course; I've been tempted to write an Elfball review myself, but doing a proper job takes actual effort  .
However, there is no way to link your comments to his AFAIK; personal comments aren't threads, so the most you can do is add new content rebutting his. The bright spot is the anti-shill algorithm would automatically eject this comment from ranking consideration: BGG has enough people do drive-bys like this that they discount extreme ratings from members with few overall ratings. The specific algorithm isn't public, to keep people from gaming the system (as much), but I'm pretty sure a singleton ranking of 1 qualifies... |
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| Darkson |
Without knowing what BBG is like for that, is it worth either flagging the review, or replying to it?
Really doesn't sound like they've seen the game, let alone played it. |
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| Tarota |
It's not a review, but rather a personal comment on the game. Either flagging or replying would be options for a review, but personal comments are pretty much just personal opinion, and AFAIK there's no way to remove them. Just post your own personal comments, and let the chips fall where they may. |
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| Redfang |
You think it was JJ himself 
Galak, don't worry; the way I used to use BGG was to look at the high ratings with comments, and the low ratings with comments (if there were few comments or if work was boring I'd read them all) and decide from what was said rather than the absolute/mean numbers. |
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| Stout Youngblood |
No kidding. Whenever I read any reviews, I take them with a grain of salt. The one quoted above by Tom, I would have ignored regardless. Most people with read that and realize the intent of the poster and disregard it.
I would say the same to you, Tom but I know how sometimes stupid things (or people) will get under your skin. |
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| GalakStarscraper |
Okay the comments have been edited by the 1 guy.
Definitely looks like his beef is not Elfball but with Impact! and me ... okay that helps ... now that it is more clear that it has nothing to do with the game ... it more clear that its a personal attack post. Good enough ... I like things clear. Amazed to find someone who will defend Grandma Wendy. As much as I'm doing a lot of free stuff for Grandma Wendy ... I do it only because I love the community that these types of game create and will do just about anything to improve and grow them. Galak |
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| Dark Lord |
I think everyone knows that you and I have butted heads over the silliest of things but I love board games, I love fantasy sports, and therefore I love any company that makes it easier for me to enjoy said games.
I would think that idea is simple logic, but I guess everyone sees things their own way. 
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| Tarota |
Sigh. And now there's another 1, with no comments at all. One that probably won't be rejected by the anti-shill algorithm, more's the pity.
I just don't get it. I might change the rating of a game by a point, if another game which I prefer is published in the same genre. That makes sense: my likelihood of playing the other game goes down. But rating a game at 1 for that reason? What's the point? (And if there is a point, why not say so in the comments?) |
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| GalakStarscraper |
I sent a PM to the last 1 rating and never got a response.
Sent a PM to this person as well to try and get feedback from them about what was so bad that it deserved the 1. Galak |
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| SillySod |
Hmmm, its kind of a poor attempt at passive-aggressive... not really like Shadow or Lickety-Snew... they're even worse at passive-aggressive than this guy 
On a related note.... are there any sites such at BGG that you would appreciate us signing onto to leave you feedback? PM me if so, I havent bought anything yet  but even when I have I would consider giving you honest (and hence pleasent) feedback to be a minor repayment that you have well earnt
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| GalakStarscraper |
BGG is the only site I really care about in terms of a rating. So anyone wanted to give us a rating on www.boardgamegeek.com ... well that's appreciated. We need about 40 ratings before we get a ranking compared to other games.
I have Google doing searches for mentions of Elfball for me and sending me emails if new topics show up. I go and read these comments and try to learn from each one. I honestly want this to be a kick-a** game in its own right. ==== I received a PM back from the new 1 rating person. He said he found the game too difficult to learn and was disappointed because he thought it was a light fluffy game and he felt like it played like a bad B.B. knockoff. The one comment he made that I've sent a follow-up on was his comment that the game had good rules that got drowned out by too many bad rules. I sent a follow-up email to find out what he considered the bad rules ... if I can get that information ... then I have feedback I can use. I didn't get any feedback I can really understand what his problem was from the first discussion ... but at least he is willing to talk and I'll see what I find out. Oh and Lines .... if you read this ... he said your German had a lot of spelling errors and punctuation issues. (heck I'm just happy we HAVE a German translation  ). I asked him if he had time ... if he would be willing to let me know where this were I'd try to get them fixed.
==== Bottom line ... I was serious when I said I don't mind a low rating as long as I can learn from it. This game has gotten seriously better from the folks that had problems with it with the guiding help of those that loved it. Galak |
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| Thom |
I have a BGG account but I have never figured out how to rate something. Can someone advise me? | ||||
| Tarota |
Go to BGG, log in, navigate to the page for the game you want to rate. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page. There should be a couple of pictures at the very bottom, then just above that a section titled "Your Collection". This "Your Collection" area is where you rate the game, set a few checkboxes for things like ownership and automatic notifications, and have room for personal comments. Enter your data, then press the "Submit" button at the bottom of the section. Bob is now your uncle. Or something like that .
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