“Outside” review — other players speak
September 16, 2007
When I posted my review of “Outside” I didn’t expect too much attention, but I recommended it to StumbleUpon anyway. (First rule of self-promotion: toot your own horn.)
It wasn’t too long before I got back an abusive commenter who whined — in between four-letter words — that my post was not original, was in fact very dull, and I should think twice before ever writing anything ever again. When he discovered his post was placed in the moderation queue (as all first-time comments are), I instantly got a second snarky comment from him about moderating to ensure nothing but laudatory comments about my craptactular writing. Out of a surfeit of generosity I deleted his comments so he wouldn’t look foolish.
That post went on to get nearly four thousand visitors that day. As Thudfactor averages about eighty hits a day, four thousand is a respectable number. Folks have started writing in additional gripes about “Outside,” and most of them are really spot-on. I recommend you read the comments.
Posted in Blogosphere
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September 17th, 2007 at 9:52 am
Would you be awfully offended if I said *I* hadn’t found it all that original either? I mean, cute, yes — real life as it was a video game — and well written. But I kept feeling like I’d seen that sort of thing before.
Which, even if I was right, wouldn’t be an excuse for snark and abuse. And definitely not the “don’t you idiots get this is a joke?” variety. I think it’s obvious that most of the commenters are in on the joke.
September 17th, 2007 at 9:59 am
Of course I wouldn’t be offended. I don’t consider originality to be a hallmark of either quality or creativity. I mean, it’s not like Shakespeare was original or anything, either.
When I wrote the piece I had seen the “Outside” ad about a dozen times and was sick to death of it and the snotty attitude it reflects, so I wrote my review. At the time I hadn’t seen anyone else do this; as it is I still have only seen one other review that is similar (although it takes the opposite stand). So I don’t feel the concept is overplayed.
September 17th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
As the only WOW player in my group of employees at the office, a co-worker shared the “outside” poster with me last week. Then, I come in to work this morning and find the review of Outside.
It’s the first time I had heard about this and the review was GREAT. I could hardly contain my laughter.
Thanks for the entertainment!
September 18th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
I didn’t read your original posting — but thought I’d address the snark and commentary from that poster. I tell my daughter that whenever you put something out there, you should respect the possibility for negative responses. However, this is your blog — and you don’t have to post all comments if you feel that they don’t engender the sort of responses that you feel benefits your readers. Things don’t have to be completely original — but you can be expressing your opinion or vantage point. As long as you are not taking another’s verbiage verbatim, I don’t see the problem.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
I’m not sure what you mean by “respect the possibility for negative responses,” but I do have an editorial policy on comments. Comments that are personally abusive or excessively hostile get moderated out. If they come from an established commenter, I’ll send a note back explaining why and suggesting a re-write — even if the comment is in defense of me or positions I am sympathetic to. Heated discussion is one thing, abuse is quite another.