Crappy responses to reviews

[Niven42]

Just wanted to say: if someone takes the time to review a course, and has something helpful or insightful to share with the community, then you do everyone a disservice when you click the "no" on the "was this review helpful to you?" box. Lately, it seems that there are people who are just clicking that "no" out of spite, or just plain hate. Don't be a hater - you end up driving people away from what is possibly the coolest sport in the world.

If you have to be that critical, then stick to clubs and balls, and go play on a course where you have to wear a shirt with a collar.

-Just my 2 cents.

 

[scarpfish]

Just wanted to say: if someone takes the time to review a course, and has something helpful or insightful to share with the community, then you do everyone a disservice when you click the "no" on the "was this review helpful to you?" box.

Agreed when the reviewer made a conscious attempt to share their insight. OTOH, people who give their home course a five star, two sentence review (and I use the word sentence very loosely), I think a no vote is quite justified.

FWIW, I've never given anyone's review an up or down vote (and never will) as I have better things to do than critique a critique. If I have plans to visit a course and someone whose played it in the past has share their opinion about, I will definitely read it, therefore it is always helpful in some way.

Lately, it seems that there are people who are just clicking that "no" out of spite, or just plain hate. Don't be a hater - you end up driving people away from what is possibly the coolest sport in the world.

This is true. DGCR is starting to have some clique mentality develop, but that unfortunately an unavoidable phenomenon in most any community, whether it be online or the brick and mortar variety. Still, its cool of you to call it out.

I have seen some outspoken people on here have less than fabulous scores on their reviews for seemingly nothing more than being outspoken in the forums. If people are going to use the "helpful or not" feature, they have to remember to grade the message, and not the messenger.

 

[Keokuk Discer]

Just wanted to say: if someone takes the time to review a course, and has something helpful or insightful to share with the community, then you do everyone a disservice when you click the "no" on the "was this review helpful to you?" box. Lately, it seems that there are people who are just clicking that "no" out of spite, or just plain hate.

But what if a review truly isn't helpful. We have the obligation to let others know that the review doesn't necessarily contain info that is useful to the disc golfers going to that course.

For instance, on the Lemon Lake review, in the cons area, we all expect the wind to be a problem, especially in the spring and fall. Does it blow constantly during those times or all the time? Then say that, otherwise it's not that big of a deal. Mosquitoes and ticks aren't big deals either. Most of us expect to be eaten by mosquitoes and have a few ticks riding on us when we go out. What did you not like about the course? Too long, too short, not enough things to get in the way, too much stuff in the way? Too many people? Poor maintenance?

Add more about the actual course and less about the ammenities. Any there really good or bad holes? Any problems you faced while playing (like poorly made signs that were confusing, areas that eat discs, things like that)? Anything that made you not want to come back or makes you want to return again and again?

I know that I don't have the best reviews, but I have found out that those are all reasons for a "not helpful" review. The best thing to do is to ask someone that you trust and admire to read your review and ask if they found it helpful or not. Make sure they have no idea what the course is like, because that could cloud their judgement. You eventually see you reviews getting better ratings.

 

[Niven42]

...Add more about the actual course and less about the ammenities. Any there really good or bad holes? Any problems you faced while playing (like poorly made signs that were confusing, areas that eat discs, things like that)? Anything that made you not want to come back or makes you want to return again and again?

I know that I don't have the best reviews, but I have found out that those are all reasons for a "not helpful" review...

After playing at places that have good support around them, I've realized that I personally enjoy areas that are "not too far off the beaten path". Amenities are important to those of us that have to travel long distances to play. If you're not lucky enough to have a course in your home town or backyard, it's good to know what you'll find when you get there. But I can see now that information like that is secondary to determining rating.

And of course, as some of the recent discussions have highlighted, not everyone will share your opinion on a course, and it's easy to tick-off some "local fanboy" who doesn't like you bashing his favorite course. Ross Hills is a perfect example for me, locally, as there are plenty of people who absolutely love the course. But it's a relatively remote course. "It is what it is", and I'm not gonna tell you how awesome it is after your favorite disc bounces off a tree and ends up at the bottom of a 50 ft. hole.

Thanks guys! It's nice to see that my post was taken seriously, and that you took the time to reply in a thoughtful manner. I'll certainly keep your pointers in mind while writing subsequent reviews...

I hope to get back up to Lemon Lake next weekend and I'll be looking at those very things.

 

[solomon.trenton]

there is a lot og HBB going on and theres no way to stop it. i think that when there is a 10 word 5 star review it should obviously be not helpful

 

[Mando]

I suspect that a high % of "not helpfuls" are coming from trusted reviewers...

 

[magictenor1]

After playing at places that have good support around them, I've realized that I personally enjoy areas that are "not too far off the beaten path". Amenities are important to those of us that have to travel long distances to play. If you're not lucky enough to have a course in your home town or backyard, it's good to know what you'll find when you get there. But I can see now that information like that is secondary to determining rating.

And of course, as some of the recent discussions have highlighted, not everyone will share your opinion on a course, and it's easy to tick-off some "local fanboy" who doesn't like you bashing his favorite course. Ross Hills is a perfect example for me, locally, as there are plenty of people who absolutely love the course. But it's a relatively remote course. "It is what it is", and I'm not gonna tell you how awesome it is after your favorite disc bounces off a tree and ends up at the bottom of a 50 ft. hole.

Thanks guys! It's nice to see that my post was taken seriously, and that you took the time to reply in a thoughtful manner. I'll certainly keep your pointers in mind while writing subsequent reviews...

I hope to get back up to Lemon Lake next weekend and I'll be looking at those very things.

I always take into account amenities and what is there when I review a course. i believe you should always give your honest opinion about a course. we don't all like the same things so views will differ.

 

[cc0049]

I suspect that a high % of "not helpfuls" are coming from trusted reviewers...

Why on earth would that be the case? For the most part, the trusted reviewers on this site are those that have taken the most time to write reviews that will be helpful to the disc golf community. The little medals that show next to your name are cool, but that is an awfully small thing to do a whole lot of work for.

I appreciate this site because it allows me to find out a lot about a course before I invest the time and energy to make a trip to play it. That is only made possible by decent reviews and accurate ratings.

If anyone is giving thumbs down on reviews out of spite or to try to make their little medal club only for a small group, then shame on them.

Seriously, if you take some time on your reviews and share some decent insight into what you thought about a course, then you will get mostly thumbs up. There is always going to be haters out there...stop worrying about them and just do the right thing yourself.

 

[solomon.trenton]

Why on earth would that be the case? For the most part, the trusted reviewers on this site are those that have taken the most time to write reviews that will be helpful to the disc golf community. The little medals that show next to your name are cool, but that is an awfully small thing to do a whole lot of work for.

I appreciate this site because it allows me to find out a lot about a course before I invest the time and energy to make a trip to play it. That is only made possible by decent reviews and accurate ratings.

If anyone is giving thumbs down on reviews out of spite or to try to make their little medal club only for a small group, then shame on them.

Seriously, if you take some time on your reviews and share some decent insight into what you thought about a course, then you will get mostly thumbs up. There is always going to be haters out there...stop worrying about them and just do the right thing yourself.

agreed and that is why i enjoy reading other TR reviews because i know that they put as much time and effort into their reviews as i do mine.

 

[sumner420]

feedback?

I would appreciate a feedback box for the not helpful votes, to let me know how to improve in the future.
I have never been sure what about my reviews was unhelpful, or helpful for that matter, it is just my opinion of a course.
I have not yet reviewed enough to be a trusted reviewer, but i hope my voice is still heard and useful to someone out there.

 

[bettsjc]

I agree with Sumner...I have only ever written one review, and it was a few weeks ago, http://www.dgcoursereview.com/reviews.php?id=556&mode=rev. The last I checked, it showed 2 out of 2 found it helpful, which leads me to believe I did well on my review. And if I were to have recieved negative feedback on my review, I would know where I had to improve on my reviews. But I do appreciate the good feedback and look forward to reviewing other courses in my area.

 

[Adam Schneider]

Niven42, if I had to guess why you've gotten thumbs-down votes on your Lemon Lake review, it might be that you've given the course 5 stars but haven't really said why; what makes it better than 99% of other courses? You said that it's an "awesome course" and it's "well-maintained," but I think maybe people want to see a little more supporting evidence for the highest possible grade. (A lot of frequent DGCR users think 5-star ratings are handed out far too easily.)


By the way, about feedback: there is now a link that you can click to send a PM when you give a thumbs-down ("To send any notes/comments to the reviewer, click here"). I think that's a relatively new feature.

 

[Mando]

(A lot of frequent DGCR users think 5-star ratings are handed out far too easily)

AKA trusted reviewers.
5 stars = unhelpful

 

[Fore]

Why on earth would that be the case? For the most part, the trusted reviewers on this site are those that have taken the most time to write reviews that will be helpful to the disc golf community. The little medals that show next to your name are cool, but that is an awfully small thing to do a whole lot of work for.

I appreciate this site because it allows me to find out a lot about a course before I invest the time and energy to make a trip to play it. That is only made possible by decent reviews and accurate ratings.

If anyone is giving thumbs down on reviews out of spite or to try to make their little medal club only for a small group, then shame on them.

Seriously, if you take some time on your reviews and share some decent insight into what you thought about a course, then you will get mostly thumbs up. There is always going to be haters out there...stop worrying about them and just do the right thing yourself.

I agree with this post.


I'll take a five star rating from a known TR that has played multiple courses in various states over the paragraph long fives from the homeboys anyday!

 

[tomschillin]

AKA trusted reviewers.
5 stars = unhelpful

not at all dude...not every course is a 5 star course...in fact, very, very few courses are 5 star courses...if someone does a great job on a review, and gives it a 5 star with some very legitimate reasons demonstrated in that review, i would find that helpful, although i might not agree that it's a 5 star course...where as, if someone rates a course as 5 star, even if it's Flip City or Renny or De La, and they give a 2 line reason for why it's 5 stars, i find that to be not helpful and i click thusly...basically, you can't have 10 courses under your belt and declare 3, 4, 5 of them to be 5 star...it's impossible...

 

[BrotherDave]

The more you say in a review the better. I don't mind negative reviews if they are justified. Sadly though, most of the time they are not. They are 3-4 sentences stating basically, "too many trees, too hard." That is an unhelpful review and I'll point it out as so every time. That being said, being able to leave feedback would be nice for people aren't naturally gifted reviewers. I don't hand out 5's like candy either. I point out amenities, good holes, bad holes, likes, dislikes, etc. Am I a trusted reviewer? No, not yet anyway but I try to make my reviews informative, justifiable for the rating I give, pleasant to read, and somewhat humorous if the opportunity presents itself. There is no course that I feel I have a cult like following for either. But the first review on this course here is a bad review and must be pointed out as so. Especially on courses that are relatively new/have few ratings because every rating is weighted more.

 

[Dave242]

The more you say in a review the better.

I disagree with that. I give up trying to read a lot of reviews here in that they are repetitive and tell me things that are immediately obvious when looking at the course info page/tab and the course pictures.

If a picture is worth 1000 words and there are 18 pictures, cut your review down from 18,250 words to 250 words please.

 

[BrotherDave]

I disagree with that. I give up trying to read a lot of reviews here in that they are repetitive and tell me things that are immediately obvious when looking at the course info page/tab and the course pictures.

If a picture is worth 1000 words and there are 18 pictures, cut your review down from 18,250 words to 250 words please.

As long as you are precise and succinct then to me the more you say the better. No offense Dave242, but I find your reviews a bit laborious to read b/c of your unique grading scale. I don't flag them down as unhelpful b/c to me they're not, more like less helpful which is far too subjective for me to negatively respond to. I agree that reviews can be repetitive (ticks, mosquitoes, amenities, etc) and I try not to go into too much detail with the exception of new courses with few reviews. You have to agree though that The Fleez review of Anderson Park, NC is uninformative and unhelpful though, c'mon.

 

[BrotherDave]

It can be hard to gauge scale from pictures of holes on here though, never mind the fact that pictures taken of courses in Winter look far more open than the same course in Spring and Summer when everything is in bloom.

 

[DiscChick]

Why on earth would that be the case? For the most part, the trusted reviewers on this site are those that have taken the most time to write reviews that will be helpful to the disc golf community. The little medals that show next to your name are cool, but that is an awfully small thing to do a whole lot of work for.

I appreciate this site because it allows me to find out a lot about a course before I invest the time and energy to make a trip to play it. That is only made possible by decent reviews and accurate ratings.

If anyone is giving thumbs down on reviews out of spite or to try to make their little medal club only for a small group, then shame on them.

Seriously, if you take some time on your reviews and share some decent insight into what you thought about a course, then you will get mostly thumbs up. There is always going to be haters out there...stop worrying about them and just do the right thing yourself.

I agree too.

I usually just skip the vote when I don't think the review is helpful. Only when it is decidedly unhelpful, like they didn't even try, do I go ahead with the thumbs down. There has been a lot of talk about the real short reviews, but sometimes (not often, but sometimes) there will be a kernel of info in those 4 sentences that no one else had thought to mention. I'll give that person a thumbs up.

What gets me is when the reviewer has played a course once, about five years ago, and they give a blah review. I have to wonder if they even remember the course. This site didn't exist 5 years ago so they couldn't review it right away, but maybe that means they should let it go. The course could have changed dramatically in that time.