Bad/Homer Course Reviews

[aclay]

He is the course designer.

I wondered if that were the case, but I didn't know and didn't want to make assumptions.

 

[Jimb]

He is the course designer.

Why do they do that???? I just don't get it. Sigh... :\

I know nothing about the course, but seriously?

 

[BogeyNoMore]

I suspect a bunch of these homer 5.0's are thrown out there simply because it's free advertising for their course, and reality is a 5.0 simply gets moar attention than a if they gave a more objective rating.

The 'ol any publicity is good publicity sort of thing. "Who cares if people think my review/rating is F.O.S.? It got them to look at the course."

 

[itsRudy]

I suspect a bunch of these homer 5.0's are thrown out there simply because it's free advertising for their course, and reality is a 5.0 simply gets moar attention than a if they gave a more objective rating.

I can't tell the number of times I went to Google reviews just to find a restaurant or other place is either 1 star or 4/5 star with no real middle ground. A dead mall near me rates 4.x stars and 75% of the storefronts are empty plus a food court where only 3/10 booths actually operate. And it's not due to old reviews inertia, it was a dump the last 20 years and still gets 5 to this day. Hometown bias is strong.

Review sites of all types need to start giving experience reviewers scores more weight than 1-offs (along with some other algorithms). I think someone that reviewed 500 courses should have more weight than someone who reviewed 50 (me, almost) than someone that has reviewed 5 and so forth up and down the line. Not elitism, just perspective and experience.

DGCR specific, but I think they should also operate a quick review score system for people not looking to spend too much time on a write-up - have a quick 0-5 star pop up when they list a course as "Played" and keep it seperate from combined review scores.

Newer or newer updated reviews need to also count a bit more than something 15 years old. My last review was a course whose score was being still heavily punished for a bad period back in the previous decade. It's heavily played but because it has 47 reviews, and only 7-8 of which newer than or updated since 2016 as after a certain point almost no one bothers writing up what many said before.

 

[blake833]

not really about a specific review, but if you spam the front page with reviews to where you hold 8 out of the 10 spots, I'm still probably only voting on one of them. partially bc after you vote, there's a 5 minute timer where you can't vote for the same person again and I'm not going to sit here for 40 minutes to vote on all of them, and partially bc I am unlikely to go back to vote after i've looked at the review (if i look at all of them) a second time just to vote.

I'm partially being cranky, but I mainly want to know what's the consensus thought on this? is it really poor etiquette or am I just being a grumpy gus?

(ftr I didn't have any review get knocked off like that, but I would definitely be irked if I wrote a well-thought-out review to have it bumped off within an hour)

 

[elmexdela]

not really about a specific review, but if you spam the front page with reviews to where you hold 8 out of the 10 spots, I'm still probably only voting on one of them. partially bc after you vote, there's a 5 minute timer where you can't vote for the same person again and I'm not going to sit here for 40 minutes to vote on all of them, and partially bc I am unlikely to go back to vote after i've looked at the review (if i look at all of them) a second time just to vote.

I'm partially being cranky, but I mainly want to know what's the consensus thought on this? is it really poor etiquette or am I just being a grumpy gus?

(ftr I didn't have any review get knocked off like that, but I would definitely be irked if I wrote a well-thought-out review to have it bumped off within an hour)

viewing older newer reviews are one click away

 

[DiscGolfCraig]

not really about a specific review, but if you spam the front page with reviews to where you hold 8 out of the 10 spots, I'm still probably only voting on one of them. partially bc after you vote, there's a 5 minute timer where you can't vote for the same person again and I'm not going to sit here for 40 minutes to vote on all of them, and partially bc I am unlikely to go back to vote after i've looked at the review (if i look at all of them) a second time just to vote.

I'm partially being cranky, but I mainly want to know what's the consensus thought on this? is it really poor etiquette or am I just being a grumpy gus?

(ftr I didn't have any review get knocked off like that, but I would definitely be irked if I wrote a well-thought-out review to have it bumped off within an hour)

A good review is a good review, regardless of who writes it. There might be some credence to your concerns if the reviews were UDisc quality. As for these, Kevdiv48, thank you for your time and effort contributing to the site.

 

[ru4por]

not really about a specific review, but if you spam the front page with reviews to where you hold 8 out of the 10 spots, I'm still probably only voting on one of them. partially bc after you vote, there's a 5 minute timer where you can't vote for the same person again and I'm not going to sit here for 40 minutes to vote on all of them, and partially bc I am unlikely to go back to vote after i've looked at the review (if i look at all of them) a second time just to vote.

I'm partially being cranky, but I mainly want to know what's the consensus thought on this? is it really poor etiquette or am I just being a grumpy gus?

(ftr I didn't have any review get knocked off like that, but I would definitely be irked if I wrote a well-thought-out review to have it bumped off within an hour)

I think it boils down to...........whom are you really writing reviews for? If you are genuinely writing them to increase the value of the DGCR database or for use by other players, then I don't think the above makes any difference.

If you are writing reviews for the accolades, badges, votes or to level up....well, the above is probably bothersome.

 

[kevdiv48]

not really about a specific review, but if you spam the front page with reviews to where you hold 8 out of the 10 spots, I'm still probably only voting on one of them. partially bc after you vote, there's a 5 minute timer where you can't vote for the same person again and I'm not going to sit here for 40 minutes to vote on all of them, and partially bc I am unlikely to go back to vote after i've looked at the review (if i look at all of them) a second time just to vote.

I'm partially being cranky, but I mainly want to know what's the consensus thought on this? is it really poor etiquette or am I just being a grumpy gus?

(ftr I didn't have any review get knocked off like that, but I would definitely be irked if I wrote a well-thought-out review to have it bumped off within an hour)

A good review is a good review, regardless of who writes it. There might be some credence to your concerns if the reviews were UDisc quality. As for these, Kevdiv48, thank you for your time and effort contributing to the site.

Grumpy gus for sure .
I admit as a long time user and lover of this site I have been severely behind in the disc golf course reviews, hence the seeming spamming of reviews of courses that I have played and recall well enough to make educated reviews on.
The little medal next your name is nice but it ultimately is a benefit to others looking to learn more about courses. In the age of UDisc and its lack of rigorous reviews and rating I find it even more valuable to have the more thorough ones listed on DGCR.

 

[Countchunkula]

^Thanks, Kevdiv. I haven't played all of the Peoria area courses yet, so your reviews will help as I prioritize what's left.

 

[DFrah]

I agree with the consensus that in the end it's about increasing the value of DGCR and the course database. The reviews in question are helpful and for me, while yes I would be mildly annoyed if I had written a review just before that it would still be worth getting bumped down to have more helpful reviews on the site.

But yes Kevdiv, if you are gunning for silver level you may consider tweaking your timing Thank you for your contributions either way!

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Sometimes people just write reviews when they have the time. If that happens, expect them to pump a bunch out in fairly rapid succession.

No, they won't get as many total thumbs, but if the content's there, that's really all that matters, and eventually, the thumbs may come.

 

[NDABRUSH]

A good review is a good review, regardless of who writes it. There might be some credence to your concerns if the reviews were UDisc quality. As for these, Kevdiv48, thank you for your time and effort contributing to the site.

Yea but UDisc has the market cornered when it comes to reviewing portalets. Of course no tips on navigating a course. I have seen more than 1 mention that it's hard to find the next hole.... but they never mention how they wound up finding it so as to save the next poor disc golfer some time and trouble:thmbdown:

 

[pmay5]

I can't tell the number of times I went to Google reviews just to find a restaurant or other place is either 1 star or 4/5 star with no real middle ground. A dead mall near me rates 4.x stars and 75% of the storefronts are empty plus a food court where only 3/10 booths actually operate. And it's not due to old reviews inertia, it was a dump the last 20 years and still gets 5 to this day. Hometown bias is strong.

Review sites of all types need to start giving experience reviewers scores more weight than 1-offs (along with some other algorithms). I think someone that reviewed 500 courses should have more weight than someone who reviewed 50 (me, almost) than someone that has reviewed 5 and so forth up and down the line. Not elitism, just perspective and experience.

DGCR specific, but I think they should also operate a quick review score system for people not looking to spend too much time on a write-up - have a quick 0-5 star pop up when they list a course as "Played" and keep it seperate from combined review scores.

Newer or newer updated reviews need to also count a bit more than something 15 years old. My last review was a course whose score was being still heavily punished for a bad period back in the previous decade. It's heavily played but because it has 47 reviews, and only 7-8 of which newer than or updated since 2016 as after a certain point almost no one bothers writing up what many said before.

I haven't seen anyone comment on this idea, at least recently. I would be for this, and probably keep it as a separate "Quick Review" score.
And instead of popping up just after marking the course "Played", you have to do that AND update the course conditions. Then, you could enter a few things to look for. (But of course those would disappear when the next person updates the conditions.)
Another slippery slope.

 

[aclay]

I think it boils down to...........whom are you really writing reviews for? If you are genuinely writing them to increase the value of the DGCR database or for use by other players, then I don't think the above makes any difference.

If you are writing reviews for the accolades, badges, votes or to level up....well, the above is probably bothersome.

I think very few people fall exclusively into one category or the other. I am somewhere in the middle. I certainly want to contribute to what I think is a very worthwhile site, but I am not altruistic enough for that to be my only motivation; I like being recognized for my hard work. As I approached each TR level, I worked harder and faster to try to reach that level. Then there was a natural slow down before I geared up as I approached the next level.

 

[enragedmullet]

I think very few people fall exclusively into one category or the other. I am somewhere in the middle. I certainly want to contribute to what I think is a very worthwhile site, but I am not altruistic enough for that to be my only motivation; I like being recognized for my hard work. As I approached each TR level, I worked harder and faster to try to reach that level. Then there was a natural slow down before I geared up as I approached the next level.

When I first started playing/reviewing it was solely for adding content. Then I had the bug for thumbs and medals for a while. I lived in areas that had lots of courses and some of them didn't necessarily NEED a review at the time. It was just me adding my 2 cents and not much else just for the stats. Now I find myself coming back around full circle since I live in an area that doesn't have many courses and there are new/unkwown ones that I'm finding, so I'm enjoying fleshing out my part of Maine in regards to reviews.

 

[nothinbuttree]

I always leaned to the helping other folks side of doing reviews since I have been helped so much from others' thoughtful reviews. One thing I noticed though is about 95% or more of thumbs come within a few days of posting the review, mostly from other trusted reviewers. Appreciated? Absolutely. But it does make one wonder if anyone is reading these reviews to help make a decision down the road. Is it that hard for someone, after reading a review, to answer the simple question at the bottom: "Did you find this review helpful?" yes/no.

In this social media world it would seem 'liking' a review you found helpful would be 2nd nature. Maybe no one is actually reading them to make a decision. Maybe they are, and no one likes them--too wordy, not UDISC-y enough...IDK. Just some random musings...

What are other folks' recent experiences with thumbs? Getting any after the first few days or so of a review?

 

[Monocacy]

What are other folks' recent experiences with thumbs? Getting any after the first few days or so of a review?

Thumbs are rare once a review drops off the front page. Human nature, I suppose.

When I travel to an area I often thumb reviews that I found most helpful in planning the trip, whether the reviews are new or a few years old.

 

[nothinbuttree]

Thumbs are rare once a review drops off the front page. Human nature, I suppose.

When I travel to an area I often thumb reviews that I found most helpful in planning the trip, whether the reviews are new or a few years old.

That's exactly what I do too. I guess I thought that was kind of the normal thing to do, but then again no one ever accused me of being normal!

 

[Crooow]

Thumbs are rare once a review drops off the front page. Human nature, I suppose.

When I travel to an area I often thumb reviews that I found most helpful in planning the trip, whether the reviews are new or a few years old.

Very true but when I read a review from the front page, I often read the next several as well. This can result in thumbing a review that was written a while ago.