Reviews disabled forum wide?

[Someone92]

Read that reviewe are disabled in the Sims subforum due to review bombing.

However even in the Skyrim subforum I get the message I cannot review a mod because I supposedly didn't download it.

 

Did someone checked the wrong box, or does the garbage forum software only allows reviews to be disabled entirely?

[davisev5225]

Good.  Let them stay disabled.  Reviews are useless and under-utilized around here anyway.

 

Related: I'm tired of getting notifications that someone has reviewed a file I follow.  I don't care about the reviews, I follow for updates/patches.  There's no option to disable review notifications, so I'd be quite happy if reviews were disabled permanently.  All the important information/discussion happens in the forum thread anyway.

[Someone92]

Now that I think about it, you are right.

The site would be better of with reviews permanently disabled. XD

[Guest]

Reviews sound good on paper. Unsure about a mod? Look at the reviews of people who have used it. The problem is that 1. People don't really use them as said before and 2. People who use the reviews as tech support for the mod despite the Get Support button being underneath the download.

[NCK30]

Have to disagree with these comments.

 

As an animation author in the Skyrim forum these reviews were something that gave me inspiration and motivation.

 

Now I am back to just making these animations for lousy endorsements that have no personal touch. I can get that from just taking screenshots of naked NPC's. 2 minutes work.

 

 

On another note I must say that I was surprised/disappointed that over 400.000 downloads and 350 endorsements resulted in just 6 reviews for 4 years.

 

Honestly thinking about calling it quits and just making them for myself. I have done my part with 24 Sexlab sets and idle replacers.

 

 

Hope that the site finds some other means of giving feedback to the authors. If not I see a lot of LoversLab mod authors retire.

 

 

I mean I won't spend 50-100 hours on a single animation set just to get some green notifications that it was endorsed. It was nice with some words behind the endorsements.

[davisev5225]

@NCK30 The forum thread for your animations is 35 pages long.  If that isn't enough verbal/textual affirmation, I agree that you should probably call it quits, as you'll clearly never be happy with any amount of feedback.

 

Sorry if that sounds harsh, but seriously, 35 pages of people talking about your animations.  That's a lot, and you're just ignoring its existence with your reply.

[NCK30]

1 minute ago, davisev5225 said:

@NCK30 The forum thread for your animations is 35 pages long.  If that isn't enough verbal/textual affirmation, I agree that you should probably call it quits, as you'll clearly never be happy with any amount of feedback.

 

Sorry if that sounds harsh, but seriously, 35 pages of people talking about your animations.  That's a lot, and you're just ignoring its existence with your reply.

 

You make my point. People just spend 30 seconds by going to the support thread. WOW 35 pages without reading the content.

 

You could be right of course. But please count the number of times where people asked for old versions of the mod because of Wabbajack which is an automated mod installer.

 

I even made 2 STICKY's on my download page to answer the questions that came so many times.

 

 

I think I mentioned 400.000 downloads. It is only 266.000 downloads.

 

But again please read some of the posts. Questions that pop up multiple times.

 

- What is your ENB

- What body do You use

- Which textures do You use

- Please make a SE version

- Where can I download the previous version

 

Many posts are from myself too (More than half I should think). That makes it at most 17 pages in 4 years.

 

I make a new set. I get maybe 3 posts that says they are hot. With so many downloads people are just lazy and want more and more.

 

Other really informative comments are (Awesome, Thanks for the update, Very Nice, Thank You, Great Work)

 

 

The reviews gave me some feedback that I could use at least. Anyway more than 2-4 words.

[27X]

1 hour ago, NCK30 said:

If not I see a lot of LoversLab mod authors retire.

 

Mod authors do not want reviews, they want fawning praise. Which is not a review of any flavor or type.

 

Also gathering a shit ton of followers here and then opening a patreon with other people's stolen content is not 'retiring.' If someone truly is thankful for your work, they'll tell you... and they have repeatedly in your specific case.

 

Lastly, the sims section is an abject shitshow clusterfuck that does not even begin to circumscribe 'gaming the system'.

 

There's also nothing preventing you from telling people to leave comments in your actual thread on your download page. You can even make it take up the entire text section in giant neon clusterfuck letters, just a like a sims repaint specialist.

Edited August 18, 2022 by 27X

[NCK30]

10 minutes ago, 27X said:

 

Mod authors do not want reviews, they want fawning praise. Which is not a review of any flavor or type.

 

Also gathering a shit ton of followers here and then opening a patreon with other people's stolen content is not 'retiring.' If someone truly is thankful for your work, they'll tell you... and they have repeatedly in your specific case.

 

Lastly, the sims section is an abject shitshow clusterfuck that does not even begin to circumscribe 'gaming the system'.

 

There's also nothing preventing you from telling people to leave comments in your actual thread on your download page. You can even make it take up the entire text section in giant neon clusterfuck letters, just a like a sims repaint specialist.

 

Always nice to hear your "positive" and straight forward input.

 

I remember that You were one of the few that wrote more than 2 words in my support thread some years ago. So thank You for that.

 

That's really the only thing what I am asking for. Requests, something people liked or wanted different. Something I can use as coming up with the stages are the most time consuming thing in all of this. I have also pointed that out 2 times in my support thread. This is not something I just made up.

 

Users like You, Jecyw, Tegarcarien, Lestat1627, Draxx29 and Thor2000 are really the only ones that leave comments. I have over 400 following me.

 

 

I conclude by saying as I have done before. I have no intention of ever making a Patreon. These will be free here on LoversLab as long as I make them...

[TheLadysGhost]

Reviews can be a problem when someone downloads a statue you made and tagged as TS3, puts it in their TS4 game, then gives you a 1 star and a mini rant about how bad the CC is, because the TS3 tagged statue crashed their TS4 game. But, I did enjoy ripping into him/ her/ it (do not need the pronoun police coming after me). Just hope the translation to German conveyed my true thoughts regarding hesheit's intelligence level. ?

Edited August 18, 2022 by TheLadysGhost

[davisev5225]

38 minutes ago, NCK30 said:

 

You make my point. People just spend 30 seconds by going to the support thread. WOW 35 pages without reading the content.

 

(...)

 

But again please read some of the posts. Questions that pop up multiple times.

 

- What is your ENB

- What body do You use

- Which textures do You use

- Please make a SE version

- Where can I download the previous version

 

Many posts are from myself too (More than half I should think). That makes it at most 17 pages in 4 years.

 

People are interested in your mod and the resources you used to present it.  So what if they don't say "thanks" all that often?  You've got plenty of poeple coming to you because of the content YOU created and presented.  Again, the sheer volume is enough, even if it is mostly "how do I" or "what did you use" type stuff.  Your consistent replies also demonstrate that you can see said posts and are willing to engage with your audience (something a review system doesn't allow for).  I still entirely fail to understand your gripe about "not having reviews".

 

  

38 minutes ago, NCK30 said:

 

I make a new set. I get maybe 3 posts that says they are hot. With so many downloads people are just lazy and want more and more.

 

Other really informative comments are (Awesome, Thanks for the update, Very Nice, Thank You, Great Work)

 

Of course people want more.  That's what happens when you create and release something that people like - they want more of it because they enjoy it.  That's intrinsic praise that you're, again, completely ignoring.

 

  

38 minutes ago, NCK30 said:

 

The reviews gave me some feedback that I could use at least. Anyway more than 2-4 words.

 

I highly doubt that the reviews realistically gave you anything that the forum thread didn't.  In fact, looking at the (ONE) file you have up on LL, there aren't any reviews at all.  Unless I missed something and reviews were also deleted when they were disabled, that means you're talking out your ass about getting feedback from review submissions.

 

EDIT: I just checked a mod that I still had a review notification for, turns out the reviews are hidden/deleted.  I'll concede this point, but under protest that I've never personally read a review on here that I would consider "informative".  They were just "this is awesome" type comments in my experience.

 

 

---

 

 

38 minutes ago, 27X said:

 

Mod authors do not want reviews, they want fawning praise. Which is not a review of any flavor or type.

 

I suspect that's exactly what's happening here.

Edited August 18, 2022 by davisev5225

[Hex Bolt]

My assumption has been that the primary purpose of reviews is to assist players in deciding whether to install a mod.  In that regard, it hasn't worked all that well.

 

Most mod reviews seem to be 5-star or 1-star, basically thumbs up or thumbs down.  Sadly, the 1-star "reviews" are either complaints about technical issues ("I couldn't download it from Mega") or blatant review bombing not because those people thought the mod was poorly done, but because they didn't like its content.  Don't like something?  Don't download it.  Move on.  This is an adult site.

 

Then there was the author who 5-starred his own mod.

 

That said, the most touching feedback that I ever received for a mod was in a review comment.  However, if reviews hadn't been available, I'd guess that the person would have posted the feedback in the support discussion.

 

There's also nothing wrong with encouraging feedback.  Sometimes I'll ask, "Hey guys, I'd like to hear what you like about this mod, and what you don't, and why."  One can get some interesting insights that way.  This works well in the comments section, since it can be a back-and-forth discussion.

[TheLadysGhost]

37 minutes ago, 27X said:

Lastly, the sims section is an abject shitshow clusterfuck that does not even begin to circumscribe 'gaming the system'.

Always feel a need to remind folks that TS3 does not do as the Pateon advertisers of TS4 do. Aside from the omission of it being TS4, I totally agree. Heck, since I pulled out of LL, all of the TS3 creators here might upload one piece per week combined.

[davisev5225]

1 minute ago, TheLadysGhost said:

Always feel a need to remind folks that TS3 does not do as the Pateon advertisers of TS4 do. Aside from the omission of it being TS4, I totally agree. Heck, since I pulled out of LL, all of the TS3 creators here might upload one piece per week combined.

 

Unfortunately, this is a case of "guilty by association".  I am grateful that we're not ALSO getting floods of ultra-low-effort TS3 "content" like the TS4 community does, but I suspect that's mainly because TS4 is the "current" game and TS3 is therefore undesirable for quick money making bullshit.

 

Not calling you out or blaming you personally, but the greater Sims community is unfortunately riddled with this behavior.

[NCK30]

14 minutes ago, davisev5225 said:

 

People are interested in your mod and the resources you used to present it.  So what if they don't say "thanks" all that often?  You've got plenty of poeple coming to you because of the content YOU created and presented.  Again, the sheer volume is enough, even if it is mostly "how do I" or "what did you use" type stuff.  Your consistent replies also demonstrate that you can see said posts and are willing to engage with your audience (something a review system doesn't allow for).  I still entirely fail to understand your gripe about "not having reviews".

 

  

 

Of course people want more.  That's what happens when you create and release something that people like - they want more of it because they enjoy it.  That's intrinsic praise that you're, again, completely ignoring.

 

  

 

I highly doubt that the reviews realistically gave you anything that the forum thread didn't.  In fact, looking at the (ONE) file you have up on LL, there aren't any reviews at all.  Unless I missed something and reviews were also deleted when they were disabled, that means you're talking out your ass about getting feedback from review submissions.

 

EDIT: I just checked a mod that I still had a review notification for, turns out the reviews are hidden/deleted.  I'll concede this point, but under protest that I've never personally read a review on here that I would consider "informative".  They were just "this is awesome" type comments in my experience.

 

 

---

 

 

 

I suspect that's exactly what's happening here.

 

I give up. Could not explain it any better. Some people just won't understand. 

 

My only complaint really was that the review system was removed. But this quickly turned into something nasty with me wishing for only praise.

 

I won't take part in it anymore. Getting some real Nexus vibes here that I would never imagine seeing here on LoversLab.

[davisev5225]

2 minutes ago, NCK30 said:

 

My only complaint really was that the review system was removed.

 

My only complaint is that it was useless and forced notifications on me every time someone "reviewed" a file that I follow, and that following a file is required in order to get notified of author updates.  You cannot ignore review notifications if you follow a file and you cannot get update notifications if you don't follow a file.  The two should never have been tied together.

 

The rest is just debate over the merits of reviews in general, the specifics of how they slot into the meta of discussion on LL, and whether they provide any useful content.  Yes, I have strong opinions, sorry if that's off-putting.  I really do mean that sincerely.

[Gameplayer]

11 minutes ago, NCK30 said:

 

I give up. Could not explain it any better. Some people just won't understand. 

 

My only complaint really was that the review system was removed. But this quickly turned into something nasty with me wishing for only praise.

 

I won't take part in it anymore. Getting some real Nexus vibes here that I would never imagine seeing here on LoversLab.

 

Its ok NCK30, I actually understand how you feel and I also dont have a pay me tron account.

All my content is basically available not hidden away or paywalled.

 

Heck Nick, a lot of my downloading fanbase are nervous as all get out that they have to come to an adult site to get mods that support their favorite race, and a lot of them have not been modding too long mostly new people.

[NCK30]

2 minutes ago, Gameplayer said:

 

Its ok NCK30, I actually understand how you feel and I also dont have a pay me tron account.

All my content is basically available not hidden away or paywalled.

 

Heck Nick, a lot of my downloading fanbase are nervous as all get out that they have to come to an adult site to get mods that support their favorite race, and a lot of them have not been modding too long mostly new people.

 

Thanks GamePlayer,

 

Yeah it seems like many of the former LE players have retired and a new SE fanbase have arisen.

 

That also means that they are greenhorns with modding. I got into modding in 2012. 10 years and I like to think I know how to mod Skyrim.

 

Now modding is an All-in-One mod installer. Never thought it would come to this.

 

 

I had to learn it the hard way with Creation Kit, Bodyslide, 3DSMAX, Nifscope, GIMP, JustForFun HDT Editor, MergePlugins and so on.

 

Kinda got the same feeling modding SE now with Mod Organizer 2. That took a while to learn a new Mod manager.

 

 

Concerning the other rants I only really wish for a PM once in a while where people tell me their wishes, suggestions and constructive criticism.

 

Just as I wrote this I got a PM with something I could use.

 

Hope this thread does not get locked, as it addresses a real issue with the reviews and not childish bickering.

[Kendo 2]

Sims4 strikes again.  Using the site as free advertising for Patreon, cancelling modders, file spamming, and now review bombing.  LL is the Twitter of game sites.  Good Job. ?

[TheLadysGhost]

1 hour ago, davisev5225 said:

Unfortunately, this is a case of "guilty by association".  I am grateful that we're not ALSO getting floods of ultra-low-effort TS3 "content" like the TS4 community does, but I suspect that's mainly because TS4 is the "current" game and TS3 is therefore undesirable for quick money making bullshit.

 

Not calling you out or blaming you personally, but the greater Sims community is unfortunately riddled with this behavior.

Perhaps, but why I point out the difference when the clumping happens. I honestly know little about TS4. I can take packages apart, and do whatever is necessary to convert to TS3 (sometimes). TS4, 64 bit allows for much higher poly meshes than can work in 3. I find the challenge both fun and frustrating!

 

And yes, TS3 is OLD! But the appeal is that my Sim can be talking to another and see a friend walking down the street and run to say hi. And crazy stuff happens, that can't in 4. My Harley bought ice cream. Thought she would eat it. Nope. Autonomy time! She hopped in a taxi, went to the other side of town, got out, ran down a path to a lake, sat on a picnic table bench... THEN ate the ice cream! Won't see that in TS4. )))

 

I have actually thought about getting TS4 and a paywall Patreon account, and just make Sims, using "borrowed" CC with unrealistically huge boobs and butt that take little or no effort, and have 10,000 downloads. ?

[Mr. Otaku]

I don't remember ever using the review feature to be honest, when i came back after a year i saw it for the first time and i was like "bruh what is this?" cause it wasn't there the last time i visited this site (i remember seeing a "badge" system back then, wonder where that went). From what i gathered, it's just like the support thread that comes with any mod page but not as robust. Any serious discussion about the mod, from technical problems to clarifications all take place in the forum threads anyway, and there you can talk more in depth with bigger posts without making the download page itself longer and longer (cause the reviews are directly under mod download page so if you get a 100 reviews you'll be scrolling for a while if you wanna use the feature)

 

I also think the star rating system is flawed and shouldn't be used for something like modding, most of how you feel about any given mod is subjective and there's no real way to measure how many stars it deserves. You can end up loving a mod and give it five stars while someone else would be dropping one star reviews on it, because reasons. So some other person who might stumble onto the mod later has no way to know which review is more "real" and that only creates more hesitation and confusion. It's better to just read the mod description, read the forum attached to it and then see if it vibes with you.

 

And of course there's no shortage of bad actors out there who would review bomb a mod just because they have a beef with the uploader or something. It's harder to brigade a mod when your only option is to go to the support thread and act like a dipshit about it but the rating system cuts through that and gives the dipshits an easy way around that so i just really don't see the benefit of this system.

 

So those are my 

[TheLadysGhost]

11 hours ago, NCK30 said:

Thanks GamePlayer,

 

Yeah it seems like many of the former LE players have retired and a new SE fanbase have arisen.

 

That also means that they are greenhorns with modding. I got into modding in 2012. 10 years and I like to think I know how to mod Skyrim.

 

Now modding is an All-in-One mod installer. Never thought it would come to this.

 

 

I had to learn it the hard way with Creation Kit, Bodyslide, 3DSMAX, Nifscope, GIMP, JustForFun HDT Editor, MergePlugins and so on.

 

Kinda got the same feeling modding SE now with Mod Organizer 2. That took a while to learn a new Mod manager.

 

 

Concerning the other rants I only really wish for a PM once in a while where people tell me their wishes, suggestions and constructive criticism.

 

Just as I wrote this I got a PM with something I could use.

 

Hope this thread does not get locked, as it addresses a real issue with the reviews and not childish bickering.

Hilariously, it almost sounds as you compare TS4 to TS3, with regards to modding. Again, I know basically nothing about modding TS4, but what I read is that EA made it pretty easy, compared to TS3, plus that 4 bit compared to 32 bit.

 

The way I learned began the hard way, Take a mesh into Blender and see what I could do, or texture images in GIMP. Played around with Meshing Tool Kit, S3pe and a bunch of other tools... results being primative at best. But, I developed (VERY) basic understanding of a few things. Then became a bit less difficult when JoshQ replied to a thread I started, and taught me a lot, and continues to do so.

 

As to reviews, and another statement made (remember reading it, forget who wrote it, do not feel like looking for it to direct quote), something about modders wanting adoration, or something along that line... Yes, and no. Everyone would like some level of approval and/ or appreciation for whatever thing they do, not just modders. When a person sits down and works hard to make something, be it a mesh, core or script mod, whatever, those little thumbs up can be motivation to keep going. Of course, there will be those who don't care either way.

 

I personally see no need for ratings, as the thumbs up is there already if a person likes what you did. And there is already a support page, where people who have a comment (good or bad) can post, or if they have a problem or suggestion, can explain to you... you can reply in open, and if it is not a problem great, if yes, others can read what you did to correct it and decide if your mod is good for them to put in game.

 

But today's kids (some so called adults included), only read the headlines and form opinion. Open a mod page, see 3 star average, and go to the next headline, not taking time from their precious lives to see that the mod was bombed by some jealous, low effort modder, and there are no comments about why the rating is low.

[NCK30]

22 minutes ago, TheLadysGhost said:

Hilariously, it almost sounds as you compare TS4 to TS3, with regards to modding. Again, I know basically nothing about modding TS4, but what I read is that EA made it pretty easy, compared to TS3, plus that 4 bit compared to 32 bit.

 

The way I learned began the hard way, Take a mesh into Blender and see what I could do, or texture images in GIMP. Played around with Meshing Tool Kit, S3pe and a bunch of other tools... results being primative at best. But, I developed (VERY) basic understanding of a few things. Then became a bit less difficult when JoshQ replied to a thread I started, and taught me a lot, and continues to do so.

 

As to reviews, and another statement made (remember reading it, forget who wrote it, do not feel like looking for it to direct quote), something about modders wanting adoration, or something along that line... Yes, and no. Everyone would like some level of approval and/ or appreciation for whatever thing they do, not just modders. When a person sits down and works hard to make something, be it a mesh, core or script mod, whatever, those little thumbs up can be motivation to keep going. Of course, there will be those who don't care either way.

 

I personally see no need for ratings, as the thumbs up is there already if a person likes what you did. And there is already a support page, where people who have a comment (good or bad) can post, or if they have a problem or suggestion, can explain to you... you can reply in open, and if it is not a problem great, if yes, others can read what you did to correct it and decide if your mod is good for them to put in game.

 

But today's kids (some so called adults included), only read the headlines and form opinion. Open a mod page, see 3 star average, and go to the next headline, not taking time from their precious lives to see that the mod was bombed by some jealous, low effort modder, and there are no comments about why the rating is low.

 

I was talking about Skyrim. I know nothing about the Sims.

 

 

I can't talk for everyone. But the reviews on my page was 2-6 lines long. Of course I was glad for the Praise they provided. But all kinds of feedback was welcome, so I could improve.

 

But again it feels like a full time job to animate for 50-100 hours and just get 2 words of comment on the support page.

 

 

I admit we can drop the reviews. I'd still like a PM or longer comment on my support page once in a while.

 

My 5 last pages is 4 pages of my own comments. Is that really the purpose? - Do I really want to work my ass off for little to no response. 

 

 

I am starting to think that way. Heck I was retired once and got back and made some of my best sets.

 

But You are right. I doubt many read the reviews other than me. Also doubt that many read the support page. Even my blog is filled with my own comments.

Edited August 19, 2022 by NCK30

[pinky6225]

Most of the reviews i saw were more a request for support (more suitable to the support thread) than a review of the mod itself so while a nice idea it doesn't seem to work as intended

[TheLadysGhost]

2 hours ago, NCK30 said:

I was talking about Skyrim. I know nothing about the Sims.

 

 

I can't talk for everyone. But the reviews on my page was 2-6 lines long. Of course I was glad for the Praise they provided. But all kinds of feedback was welcome, so I could improve.

 

But again it feels like a full time job to animate for 50-100 hours and just get 2 words of comment on the support page.

 

 

I admit we can drop the reviews. I'd still like a PM or longer comment on my support page once in a while.

 

My 5 last pages is 4 pages of my own comments. Is that really the purpose? - Do I really want to work my ass off for little to no response. 

 

 

I am starting to think that way. Heck I was retired once and got back and made some of my best sets.

 

But You are right. I doubt many read the reviews other than me. Also doubt that many read the support page. Even my blog is filled with my own comments.

Oh, I know you referred to Skyrim, just pointing out the similarities between new school and old school in both games, and most likely, most other games with regards to modding.

 

I played with TS3 animations... was not good at it (really did not seek help so much back then), so started working on garments, and other things. I admire those who can sit and manipulate a rig... for hours, and have it come out as something worth that effort.

 

Personally, I like a thumbs up or 10 or more, but what I make, is usually something I want in my game, and am just sharing if I think it came out good. Some things, I do for the challenge of seeing if I can. A few things are playing to the audience. )))

 

Again, garments (what I mostly do) for TS3, won't get much feed back. I test a lot for clipping issues, which is the biggest concern with open bottomed dresses and skirts, then bone weighting while moving. Cannot catch everything, but I try to leave little for others to find at fault... And again, much is for my game, and I don't want clipping and poor bone weighting.

 

I can see where you may want comments, possibly about some oddity you missed, or perhaps as TS3, some sliders can create some pretty messed up things when combined with animations. Not much to do, but to say not to use those sliders, but the person got an answer.

1 hour ago, pinky6225 said:

Most of the reviews i saw were more a request for support (more suitable to the support thread) than a review of the mod itself so while a nice idea it doesn't seem to work as intended

Exactly. Most negatives are because the user either didn't read instructions, or has some other problem. Instead of asking for help on the support page, they jump in that your work is crap. Of course, I refer to the moron that downloaded a set of statues I made and quite clearly marked as TS3, put them in his/ her/ it's TS4 and crashed the game... then gives a 1 star review and complained. 650 dl's later, and only 2 reviews, the second being 5 stars. Less than 10 thumbs up, only 6 comments on the support page, 3 were my replies, and one of those was asking about some of my other content that I still have not gotten around to reuploading.

 

In general, I see little point to reviews, other than when comparing laptops or TV's, etc. If there's a problem, post in support, and most modders will try to help. That said, I get SOOOOOOOOOOOOO annoyed when the lead in is "It doesn't work"!!!!!!!!!