Review Queue

[MassChAoS]

If a reviewer's choice to waste his time or not... obviously maps that are crap won't be frequently chosen for reviews (the exception being Mr_Prophet's spurts of zeros).

As far as map that the author doesn't want reviewed... just because no one requests the review doesn't mean the map won't be reviewed. Its best to send me or Hourences an email with the map title of your map that you don't want reviewed so we can ensure that.

 

[Ironblayde]

Every once in awhile, you see a map and the urge to write a ridiculous zero-point review is just too strong to overcome. But they only take about 15 minutes instead of the long process of assessing a map that's actually playable, so the waste of time isn't too great.

 

[Zlal]

Tough. You dont want the chance of your map being reviewed, dont submit it to a review site

 

[Aggressor]

Well, I'm not really fond of this "multiple request" thing - one can get his clan mates to request some.. err.. "clan map" (get it?) review and this way bad maps get in front of other, possibly good maps. I think date of submission is still the best vriteria for which map to review first, apart from a couple of known "blockbusters" from time to time.

 

[Bot_40]

hmm had another idea. How about allowing the author to re-request a review say, every week or so (but other users can only request once). I just imagine there's quite a few random people out there that submit a map, request a review, then disappear into the abyss and didn't really need a review that badly. Dunno, it might annoy if maps are in the review queue forever because the author keeps requesting it.

 

[Zlal]

Well, I'm not really fond of this "multiple request" thing - one can get his clan mates to request some.. err.. "clan map" (get it?) review and this way bad maps get in front of other, possibly good maps. I think date of submission is still the best vriteria for which map to review first, apart from a couple of known "blockbusters" from time to time.

We can still choose, so no clan maps (unless we want to, that is)

 

[MartinW]

Why does such a useless map like DM-OMGthisUBERcrapisfilledwithRedeemers get reviewed 1 week after it was uploaded whereas other maps, serious maps, like my DM-BoneMill do not get reviewed even after months have passed since a review was requested?
*me is confused*

 

[ArcadiaVincennes]

Why does such a useless map like DM-OMGthisUBERcrapisfilledwithRedeemers get reviewed 1 week after it was uploaded whereas other maps, serious maps, like my DM-BoneMill do not get reviewed even after months have passed since a review was requested?
*me is confused*

Each reviewer treats the review queue differently. I tackle my personal reviews first and then go to the general queue.
That map was in my personal queue this week and that upset me. So I reviewed it and followed it up with this thread...

http://forums.beyondunreal.com/showthread.php?t=155741

To answer your question more directly, The reason why is a combination of the users who request the maps, and how reviewers handle the review queue.

 

[:[lol]:Squid75]

Heck my map has been in que for almost a year
DM-LargeLegos
http://nalicity.beyondunreal.com/map_hub.php?mid=7422

 

[Cursed_Soul]

Yea, whats kinda weird though, that at the moment a lot of new maps appear on nalicity and are reviewed so fast you can see em both in the latest additions and latest reviews.

grove was released a few days ago and got a review,
while sirea was released around summer vacation and no reviewer even bothered.

Sure, you can review maps the way you like,
but at least pick out the better maps that should be reviewed out of those masses of maps submitted for reviewage.

Its kinda a bumper to put so much work in a map,
only to see no one is willing to review it.
(and never reaches the publicity of a reviewed map)
Sure i enjoyed making the map,
but id also like some reviewer's opinion on it, and some nice flame and fan mail about the map is apreciated lol.

and yea, there are a lot of maps so yes it can take a while,
But whats the point if its not a while, but never?

 

[ArcadiaVincennes]

I understand your frustration. I myself have never received a map review here. And I checked up on Sirea - no one requested a review of it, it's not in the review queue.
But I know that's not really the point.

The queue is massive. Most of the requests are by authors. We have how many active reviewers? And those few are supposed to (depends on the reviewer) review maps in their personal queue, plus recently submitted maps, plus maps that have been sitting around a long time?

Some people want us to review only good/great maps.
Some people want everything recent reviewed.
Some people want everthing reviewed.

We just can't please all the people all the time.

IMO, what the site needs is more active reviewers. Some who would put effort into their personal queues, some who would jump on all the recent releases, and some who would like to do archaeological work in the old review queue.

But we don't have that. So we do what we do.

 

[Ironblayde]

grove was released a few days ago and got a review,
while sirea was released around summer vacation and no reviewer even bothered.

Regarding DOM-Grove, it got a review that quickly because the author specifically requested that I review the map, and since nothing else was in my personal review queue at the time, it became my first priority right away.

The review queue now comprises nearly a thousand requests. Given the time it takes to write up a thorough and thoughtful review, and the rate at which new submissions are being added, the vast majority of those maps will never be reviewed. It sucks, but I don't know what we can do about it, especially when many of the staff reviewers haven't written up a review in ages -- that was my status, too, until just a few weeks ago.

The result is that it's difficult to predict what will be reviewed and when. Better-looking maps will often get precedence, as will those requested to a specific reviewer, as will those for a gametype that a reviewer especially enjoys (Bombing Run, in my case). I also give precedence to requests made by a map's author and tend not to worry about those requested by someone else, since I feel that the map's author is a review's primary audience. But of course, each reviewer looks at these things differently. For example, Gnome and Sapper has come up with a number of reviews of very old maps recently, whereas I tend to ignore ancient requests, figuring that someone who requested a review two years ago for a map he created five years ago probably isn't holding his breath anymore.

Like Arcadia said, it would be very helpful if we could find some more capable reviewers. But even we could, that wouldn't eliminate the problem, only diminish it slightly.

 

[Cursed_Soul]

About sirea, I asked for a review on nalicity two times.
And untill recently i wasnt able to ask for a review, becouse it said there was allready a review requested (by me)

both without asking for a particular reviewer, becouse I expect a fair review from any of them and from the reviews ive read you all have a nice view/other perspectives on maps and if you need something to improve your work it would be perspective. (ok, and love for the work you do)
And the last thing i would do is email a reviewer and ask them to review the map, becouse imho it sounds impatient and respectless towards them.

and actually i have asked on a few occasions why there wherent any reviews,
And basically watched the nalicity day in day out to see if it was reviewed (same for insite) untill school started again, still hoping to see a review but never got one. and still ive been going to nalicity more often since i submitted sirea, becouse i had spend a lot of time on that map, i wanted that review.
As a mapper and someone that loves being creative and wants to be good at it that review can give me a lot of new insight in a map, that and the comments the map gets, and a map gets more comments if it has a review. also was mentioned more than once on planetunreal/buf.
So what wouldve maken my day, was to see a nice score and a good review to really close of that chapter.
And know what mistakes i made, so i wont put them in my new map (its there, but i wait patiently untill I get review)

Especially a good review can help to get a map to spread trough the community, and thats why I release a map.
If im making a map for myself, i'll keep it for myself.

And im not talking about better looking maps, but also the more original ones or ones that have a layout you'd want your girlfriend to have.
And most of the time, if a map gets a lot of high grades from peoples comments it gets reviewed faster (might be luck),
and sirea did get those grades.

http://nalicity.beyondunreal.com/map_hub.php?mid=8719

But yea, this post might be the frustration ive build up ever since i submitted the map lol.
So hope you'll take it with a bit of sugar, and know i mean well

Edit: why not make like a reviewers contest for NC.
People can review any unreviewed map (that isnt dm-gheybox100001337hax) and if good enough could be posted on nalicity in the style of an "guest reviewer" or something. (genome and sapper had a guest )
Maybe a reviewer of the month?

God i dont know

Edit 2:
Have had a giant headache all day, so sorry for any english sentences that are written in a "im a toast eating frenchman without any english knowlegde" style.

Edit 3:
This (3th) time i asked iron for the review, But this doesnt mean i wouldnt mind a review from arc, gnome, sapper or any other reviewer/combination of reviewers.

 

[ArcadiaVincennes]

As a mapper and someone that loves being creative and wants to be good at it that review can give me a lot of new insight in a map, that and the comments the map gets, and a map gets more comments if it has a review. also was mentioned more than once on planetunreal/buf.
So what wouldve maken my day, was to see a nice score and a good review to really close of that chapter.
And know what mistakes i made, so i wont put them in my new map (its there, but i wait patiently untill I get review)

That's exactly why I like reviews, and I read many reviews - not just for those on my maps. I've gleaned many insights from reviews that I've incorporated into some of my maps.

I hear your frustration and agree with you that things could be done better/differently, but we just don't have the staff. I'm looking forward to getting back into reviewing but I'm not sure how soon that'll be.
I also don't know why I couldn't find Sirea in the queue. Erg.
Anyways, since you requested it from Iron, I'll be looking forward to reading it.

 

[Cursed_Soul]

and so do i.

I wouldnt mind writing a review once in a while,
but even after reading so many reviews, and knowing a lot about the editor itself.
I find it hard to make sentences flow, and use the right words for that flow.

 

[MassChAoS]

Thats odd, you shouldn't have been able to request a review for the same map 3 times. Likewise, it should have stayed in the queue upon the first request.

 

[ReD_Fist]

MAN ! DANG it all,
I will tell you all right now for the empth time, make the dang lists 20 long, trust me, just change that ONLY on the front nalicity page tommarow.

I will only explain that I aint gonna explain again.

And I am with cursedsoul this round,if a map is sent 2 to 3 years ago NO REVIEW do like a radio staion, like a basement blues tuesday or somthing like that.Unless the map has exstrordinary qualities, sure it should get reviewed. "."

All other maps wich requested by author is purebull**** , why , the people should be the best part of the review.
So 95% of the maps can go OFF the cue, to run a good site that people will goto.

Add a "daily" map pick thing ,click here to see the level pick of the day.

 

[ReD_Fist]

and so do i.

I wouldnt mind writing a review once in a while,
but even after reading so many reviews, and knowing a lot about the editor itself.
I find it hard to make sentences flow, and use the right words for that flow.

You should dude.

Go for it, I trust you, mainly because you mapped in UT THEN ut04, so you CAN do reviews.
say 1 a week.

DO IT ggggassssshhhh actualy I think you will be the best one really.flow of words or no flow, screw that.

 

[ArcadiaVincennes]

All other maps wich requested by author is purebull**** , why , the people should be the best part of the review.
So 95% of the maps can go OFF the cue, to run a good site that people will goto.

Reviews are for authors, AND for the community/'people'. I've found that often the 'people' check the bottom line and the score, perhaps they read the gameplay section. I am sure there are 'people' that read reviews in their entirety, I'm just making a generalization. In your opinion, this would mean that the visual and technical portions of the review should be scrapped. If we did that, then another method for an author to learn to improve gets defenestrated. And I certainly diasagree with that considering those sections have helped me personally in addition to the gameplay section. And if another avenue of educating authors gets closed, then you'll be stuck with more DM-RedeemerCylinder maps than good ones - which is the opposite of what you want.

And if we deleted all the author requested maps from the queue, we'd be left with very little - true. But in addition to reviews of good maps, you'd be stuck with reviews of DM-RedeemerInABoxFullOfSkarrj. And last time I checked, the quantities of each would be about the same, but with the 'good' maps on the losing side of that proportion.

I know you want to see the front page flooded with reviews of only quality maps. But I don't see that ever happening.

 

[Cursed_Soul]

Hey arc,

Any way you or a tut could learn me what to focus at when writing a review?
Its a weird question since i read a lot of nc's reviews.
But only reading might not be enough.

If i have some time, i might give it a try