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Senior Editor  Posts: 2274 Joined: 9 Jan 2007     | |
Senior Editor Posts: 2274 Joined: 9 Jan 2007 | New review up, from The_root_of_all_evil. Read and enjoy! |
Time Lord  Posts: 9995 Joined: 13 Feb 2008     |
Ok, calmed down now. Ta for letting me write it. :) |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 3497 Joined: 20 Aug 2008     | Well done, Root. Welcome to the club. X-COM was, is, and always will be awesome. In other news, I just got my hands on a slew of new DS releases so there will be plenty of reviews coming forth from my handy-dandy copy of OpenOffice over the next few weeks. Viva El Q4! EDIT to avoid clogging board with another post: On the first page it mentions word limits---just how many words would that be? My accepted review clocked in at about 1150, my latest at closer to 1350, is it limited to 1200? 1500? Somewhere in between? Or should it just fit on two Web pages? |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 1188 Joined: 2 Oct 2008   | I wish I could be a guest reviewer...but I don't think i'm good enough |
Vault Legend  Posts: 2202 Joined: 30 Jul 2008  |
According to the Submission Guidelines, your average spotlight article runs 1500-3000 words, so I'm guessing 1500 is the three-page mark? So, the limit's probably around 1350-1500, I'd guess. Although I'm not entirely sure... Maybe I shouldn't've tried to answer this question. That aside, anything think I'm even approaching the quality to start submitting things for Guest Review, or am I still a little too low-brow for print? I don't think I meet the quality standards you guys do, but it's tough to judge your own work. What do you guys think? |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 3497 Joined: 20 Aug 2008 |
If you're not afraid of constructive criticism, submit your review. I know from experience that Susan's not afraid to give an honest assessment of a submitter's work. As a side note, that's really the best way to improve as a writer---have people read it, whether they're professional editors or just people who know good writing when they see it and aren't the type to kiss your ass just to spare your feelings. Someone once asked Mike Krahulik (Gabe of Penny Arcade fame) "how do I become a professional artist?" and Krahulik posted on PA to say "draw like crazy and when someone gives you a job, never miss a deadline." The same applies to writing. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1188 Joined: 2 Oct 2008 |
Alright... I guess i've got my work cut out for me... |
PROBATION  Posts: 3327 Joined: 23 Oct 2007 |
The strange thing being that I haven't received an assessment for my Guest Review submission. I didn't receive one either for my Spacewar! article, which left me very perplexed to whether it was of adequate quality. User was put on probation for: Do you think you're sexually attractive?. (3 days) |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 3497 Joined: 20 Aug 2008 |
I think all the feedback you need from that Spacewar! item is that it ran and got past the editorial team. I'm reminded of the quote from Anna Karenina: "All successful families are the same but each dysfunctional family is dysfunctional in its own way." |
PROBATION Posts: 3327 Joined: 23 Oct 2007 |
I'm guessing that it's 1,500 words, same as a column.
Might as well try. I enjoyed your Cave Story review a lot, and your review writing seems to have progressed towards that point. I don't consider myself a particularly fantastic reviewer (although that could be because I remember writing my earliest reviews - and that god-awful BioShock review), but I had a shot at it anyway. User was put on probation for: Do you think you're sexually attractive?. (3 days) |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 3497 Joined: 20 Aug 2008 | Idle curiosity here, has the Guest Review feature been discontinued or is there just not enough quality in the submissions to justify having put one up over the last three weeks? |
Beat Writer  Posts: 223 Joined: 6 Dec 2007     | I think the trouble is; while I'd love to do this (I really, really would) I am constrained by time. I don't get the games any earlier than any other consumer, and there are only so many leisure hours in the day for me to play a game. And I am an average videogame player. (I had Dead Space all weekend, and was not able to finish it--I'm about 2/3-3/4ths the way through.) So while I do intend to write up a review, it has to wait until the timeliness (and thus usefulness) of that review has pretty much passed. |
PROBATION Posts: 3327 Joined: 23 Oct 2007 |
A question I had myself, because I've got a Guest Review submission floating somewhere around in the ether. I mean, I don't mind if you tell me that my review sucks, but I've had hardly any feedback whatsoever, and none of it relating to the quality of my submission. User was put on probation for: Do you think you're sexually attractive?. (3 days) |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 3497 Joined: 20 Aug 2008 |
I wonder how much of the editor team's time is taken up by working through those submissions. If a small volume of highly professional guest writers is doing the bulk of the submitting I'd figure that it'd be easy to post more material, but if they're getting bushel baskets of Crap on a Stick™ they're probably wondering "why in the world did we open ourselves up to this?" |
Time Lord Posts: 9995 Joined: 13 Feb 2008 |
From what I understand, there's a backlog that needs to be worked through. My X-Com review went in I think a month before it was finally aired. |
BANNED  Posts: 3486 Joined: 25 Aug 2008     | Eh? What's that? Fame and glory abound? I'd better get cracking and build myself a reputation big enough to get nominated... User was banned for: The Second Annual Escapist Election: Part 1: Presidential Primaries. (Permanent) |
Pulitzer Laureate  Posts: 854 Joined: 17 Sep 2008    | Curse my income for not being able to buy a next-gen console. I could do a videogames then and now segment I suppose. Sort-of like a retrospective on old very good videogames such as Legend of Zelda: OoT etc. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 3497 Joined: 20 Aug 2008 |
My last three submissions (and my likely next project) have all been DS games. Cheaper than a PS3/360, and the games are much cheaper as well. |
Pulitzer Laureate Posts: 854 Joined: 17 Sep 2008 |
You are underestimating the severity of my poverty. |
Muckraker  Posts: 343 Joined: 7 Nov 2008   | i vote for smallharmlesskitten! |
On the Record  Posts: 5490 Joined: 13 Aug 2008   | I have always considered trying to become a contributor to the magazine in one way or another, but a) I suck with deadlines, and b) my rants/reviews/etc. tecd to peter out before they reach the point where they could honestly be considered an article. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 3643 Joined: 3 Apr 2008    |
Oldness abounds. Is a classic game acceptable (secret for now. shhh). If not I can do L4D or Garry's Mod. (Garry's Mod is probably the hardest one to do). Oh and L4D would have to be a review of the demo. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 2979 Joined: 7 Oct 2008  | I'd like to write some reviews, but I've been way too busy with real life demands... Also, they'd have to be of old games, since I don't have (or want) a next-gen system. On the other hand, I do have a lot of quite obscure games that are pretty good, so I might actually be able to write a review for a game that's never had a User/Guest Review done on it. Well, I'll see if I can't get something up sometime this week or next. |
Press Junketeer  Posts: 482 Joined: 21 Apr 2008   |
i second nil |
Senior Editor Posts: 2274 Joined: 9 Jan 2007 |
A) We don't review demos, and b) we already have a review of L4D scheduled. Stay tuned! |
Time Lord Posts: 9995 Joined: 13 Feb 2008 |
Aaaaaggghhhh....I just thought that you were publishing a review of something I hadn't done...That freaked me out. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 3643 Joined: 3 Apr 2008 | Could I do a classic game instead? one that is now a cult classic, sells for 80 bucks on ebay and isnt a final fantasy? |
Vault Legend Posts: 2202 Joined: 30 Jul 2008 |
I already did Earthbound, though... |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 3643 Joined: 3 Apr 2008 |
Tombi!2 |
Paperboy  Posts: 41 Joined: 26 Nov 2008    | This sounds intriguing...problem for me is I tend to stay more towards the older PS2 games at the moment and most games are RPGs when I do buy them. I've done some reviews on another site and now that I saw that this place does them also I was thinking maybe its time I started doing some here! Couldn't hurt right? |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 3497 Joined: 20 Aug 2008 | Curious: Item #1 in Susan's original post talks of elevation to the big leagues---just what criteria are the Escapist gods looking for, or must we the Guest Reviewers toil in the dark, praying at our lighted-candle altars each evening that the gods' benevolence shall be visited upon our capitalistic pleas? |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 2166 Joined: 23 Dec 2007  | Never heard back about my Jade Empire review. My guess is that because it was complete shite, maybe because it's not obscure or classic enough. |
Senior Editor Posts: 2274 Joined: 9 Jan 2007 |
To my knowledge, we never got a Jade Empire review, so please resend. Ok, let me clarify a few key points that have been brought up relatively recently. 1. Our word limit is 850-1000 words. One of the most certain ways to guarantee that I will not bother with your review is to submit something that's 1500 words and say "I figured you could cut it." It is the writer's responsibility to submit a piece that fits within the stated limits. A few words over or under is just fine, but be reasonable. 2. At this time, we are not interested in reviews of retro games unless the game has recently been re-released in some fashion, a la Steam, XBLA, Virtual Console, etc. We have a review scheduled for the DS version of Chrono Trigger, for example. 3. Similarly, we're not particularly interested in games that are more than a few months old, unless they're hidden gems or were generally overlooked. When in doubt, ask. 4. We've run a number of Guest Reviews recently, but didn't for a while simply because we had a significant backlog of commissioned reviews that we needed to get posted. We've now worked out a schedule that allows us to run Guest Reviews more regularly, which is why you've seen more of them lately. 5. The criteria for promotion to the "big leagues" is, simply put, quality. But "quality" means many things: writing chops, the ability to take criticism and learn from it, meeting deadlines, etc. It's a common misconception that reviewing games is easy, that all you have to do is play a game and write about it. Anyone can write a review, but not everyone can write a review well. Reviewing is a skill, and few people get good at it without lots and lots of practice. To those of you who are saying you'd like to try but wouldn't be good enough, I urge you to post something in this very forum. The feedback you can get here can be very helpful and constructive. You never know how good you can be if you don't at least try. If you've submitted a review and have yet to receive feedback, please be patient...but you can assume that if the review ran, it was good enough. ;) Hopefully this answers some of your questions, but if not, feel free to PM me - I answer every single PM I get. |
On the Record  Posts: 5153 Joined: 3 Mar 2008 |
That's EXACTLY why Lord Krunk Reviews exists. See, I'm looking at a career in journalism and the field of writing in general, so what better place to practice than here? I might hone my skills for a while, write about 20 reviews, and then submit to be a Guest Reviewer. Oh, and if you like/hate my work, don't hesitate to let me know. I also just want to find out a few things: 1) I'm assuming we can only review games? 2) What games can I review? Because I wouldn't mind reviewing Jade Empire myself. 3) I'm Australian, so I won't be able to write reviews for new games before you already have one posted. You're looking at pretty much any game, right? Or are you looking at putting up Reviews that haven't been put up on Featured Content yet? |
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In theory, I prowl the review section, too, but in practice I don't get as much time to do that as I'd like. So your chances of being featured as a Guest Reviewer are much, much higher if you simply send me a sample review directly, simply because I'll have a better chance of knowing you exist.