The Dink Network

Generally, if you haven't finished a D-Mod, we're not going to accept your reviews. Reviews are meant to cover the entirety of a D-Mod, and when you make it obvious that you haven't finished it, that's.. not very good. This isn't currently on the rules page, but should be. Thanks

(Possible exceptions being made when an outstanding bug prevents you from finishing the D-Mod)

I just want to clarify something. So not playing the D-mod at all then reviewing is still okay? If so, it's all good then.

That's something I didn't think of, but uh, that's prohibited also

Anychance youd tell us who or what set off this announcement??...not that I am nosey or anything...

Somebody who sent in a handful of reviews in which they boasted, "Oh, I only got halfway through this D-Mod, but it was great" and so on.

Hmmm, I've reviewed a couple of DMODs where I've given up - as in the DMOD was not interesting enough, and usually buggy.

Not necessarily so buggy you couldn't continue (if you enjoy having your testicles nailed to a chair) but combined with the boredom factor I don't continue.

If a DMOD is so boring and has bugs, there should be no reason to finish it just to review it.

But I do take your point - to review a DMOD that you think is great, and not have finished it - that's kinda strange.

Wasn't going to name names but i had noticed simon and his halfway reviews... But he is correct all of them were crap anyway

Ahh... eh... I'll contemplate those when/if I get the dictatorship.

Simon K is right, if it is a bad DMOD you shouldn't have to finish it if you want to give it a bad review. But you should only give praise if you've actually finished it

(That way impossible games get no positive feedback )

or you could just NOT REVIEW IT if you are so quick to deem a dmod as unworthy of your time without even giving the author so much as the respect to PLAY IT.

If I can't (or don't) finnish playing a dmod, I don't review it. (Although I am way behind in sending in some reviews, I will have to replay some dmods as I forget what they were about )

Hm, that didn't cross my mind initially, but I'll have to agree with it.

I'd add a comment here. Sometimes, even when you haven't finished a DMOD, you can tell that it is excellent. I'm thinking particularly of Pilgrim's Quest and FIAT. I didn't review them but wanted to - just didn't have the time. I'm also not qualified to judge programmers, except by user's results.

I'd suggest that reviews which are substantially negative should not be allowed until the reviewer has completed the game. In such case, the reviewer should own up that he hasn't finished it yet.

If a player runs into some bugs, couldn't he give a "conditional" review? I.e., he'd say, "I haven't finished this DMOD, but here are some of the glitches I've encountered." And, of course, he should include any praise that he can honestly give, too. This kind of input can still be helpful to the author, even if the reviewer hasn't finished yet. He can always add an addendum to his review when he has done so. It would be particularly helpful, I'd think, for these people to mention how far they'd gotten into the game, too.

Maybe having two kinds of reviews would help? A full review, from those who have taken the game to killing the final boss, and conditional reviews from those who have only gone partway through the game. A partial review could still have some value, especially for the author, I should think, as long as it is constructively intended.

Now that I've finished both Pilgrim and FIAT, my opinion of both remains the same - they're both superb. But I already knew that for sure halfway through each of these games. There's no missing fine craftsmanship, and you don't have to play either one long to know that the stories are well thought out, rich, and with interesting complexities. Next time through, I might make notes about any of the small flaws and glitches I've encountered in them.