ENDERX'S PROFILE

Exactly how are you defining your terms here? Who's to say that the one cannot be the other? I know my characters - I'll gladly pit my Farmers/Carpenters/Villagers against your generic stereotypical amnesiac swordlugger. They might not be Destined(TM) Chosen(TM) Heroes of Fate(TM), but their lives have just as much of a tale to tell as anyone else's life does.

"The best advice I can give is find a reviewer you consistently agree with and see what they say about a game."

Admittedly useful, but this option doesn't always work, if only because there are more games than reviews total, let alone by any one person.

For me, Solitayre, -you- are one such person. I've enjoyed your review style, and have tended to agree with you where I've actually looked for myself at a game you've reviewed. I'm also fortunate that you're the top-ranked reviewer by quantity - thereby giving me a greater number of possible options. And you're not the only reviewer for whom I hold this. However, in response, I've also shied away from some games on the grounds that without a review from one of those in my 'I trust these people' slots it's too big a risk; I don't have that much free time, and I don't really want to gamble that against something, no matter how good it actually is, if there's a chance it might not be worth the investment. I'm sure I've missed some wonderful games because of this, but that's my loss.

And I have to agree with the general point of the original article, as well. You seem to be coming at this from a different tack than the original article's investigation. This article isn't about this community; it's about those on the outside of the community who are looking in to find something to play. So long as we have any kind of ranked measurement whatsoever on the games begin hosted here, those individuals will use that, more than any other option, to pick what they want to look into. Others have made the point that people are lazy - as an explanation to why those who agree with reviews aren't likely to push one of their own up as well. But that laziness also affects those just dropping by to pick up something to waste their time for a while - the 'easy' choice is to go by star-rank, rather than following reviews, because it requires less mental effort.

Going by star rank requires 3 steps. 1)Oh, this has five stars! 2)Head to game download page. 3)Download.

Going with reviews requires several more. At the least, we've got W) Go to review page, X)Hmm, which of these reviews should I look at? Y)Actually reading the review, and Z)Well, do I really trust this guy? Does he like or appreciate the same things I would? And remember, that's -in addition to- steps 1-3 above.

And don't forget, even though it can be very useful in making the decision, time spent reading one or more reviews is time not spent actually playing the game. That's also going to count against looking at them for the kind of player I feel this article was written regarding.