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Okay so I'm not asking for anyone's personal review strategy here, this is a thread for the people reading the reviews, either on their own work or elsewhere. What kind of comments and reviews do you most appreciate getting on your work? What kind do you feel the opposite about?

As for myself, I do have a lot of appreciation for the well crafted essay-review, one that feels nice and together and makes clear points and backs them up. Really this carries over to anything else too, if I really like a reviewer I'll read what they have to say on movies and games I've never even glanced at and would probably never be interested enough to get around to checking out on my own.

But none of that is to say that a good review needs to be incredibly lengthy. Some people (occasionally myself included) approach these things like they're due for a class and there's a minimum word count. I do sometimes get every so slightly annoyed coming across a long comment that really boils down to padding and filler, just a lot of vaguely related words that don't really say anything useful or specific. Less is more is a good rule of thumb for any form of writing.

Still, IMO the ideal review should contain at least a *few* details and insights. Otherwise, I could write five hundred ultra vague words about anything, even a storygame I never read. Anyone could do that, which is why I'd find criticism that brought up a specific thing to complain about infinitely more useful than 'good job, I liked it' or whatever.

Rants and tangents are always an entertaining read, although not always the the reason the person writing them intends.

And finally, my favorite comment on my unicorn game is actually just a short paragraph by a person without an account. I just felt like they really grasped what I was going for and got straight to the point. Meanwhile on the same game, there's an essay length review I don't care for at all. So go figure that.

I like reviews that say whether a game is good or bad and anchor it down convincingly. Saying a game is good because you liked the MC's description on page 1 doesn't really say enough. Usually good reviews end up pointing to character dynamic, atmosphere, or some very engaging choices.

I could care less for the essay format. As long as all the points are present, I don't care about their order. It's faster to read through reviews when they're a few hundred words, instead of a thousand saying the same thing.

As an author, I like reading all the criticism you've got that has to do with the book. If you had to put it down and reach for the inhaler because you read about spiders, that's not feedback that's going to lead to an edit. I want to know what you liked and what you didn't. It's also nice to point out what got you thinking, and where you wanted to see the story expanded. Knowing where the reader stops and ponders lets the author know what's really engaging them.

I love reviews where it's clear they're written more for the author than potential readers. Instead of wasting time talking about what to expect (something that can be easily inferred by opening the damn story yourself and skimming through the first page), they talk about the specific things they liked and hated, even better when they provide points of improvement and the 'why'. As a reader, I love to see insightful feedback I can learn from and apply onto my own work.

While as an author it's great to read the one-liners from guests like 'I love the story its cool bye', 'I HATE THE GAME IT'S RUBBISH!!!!1!1!', or even an essay full of praise, I greatly prefer someone who is hellbent on destroying everything about the story and in doing so brings up points I hadn't even thought of. Something that forces you to take a minute break to think through and either disagree or agree with; in both cases you've grown as a writer. Bonus points if your ego first discarded the review entirely.

As a reader, I like reviews that are accessible to a wide variety of audiences, that essentially tell many different types of players what to expect and allow them to judge whether or not they'll enjoy the game. Some people like story-oriented games, others like game-oriented ones, or certain genres or tropes, and it's good when reviews let you judge whether this specific game is your cup of tea. I don't mind essay-type reviews, particularly when the story warrants it, but I like when a certain amount of information to be easily accessible to a prospective reader.

I've never finished a story game so I can't say exactly, but I imagine as an author I'd prefer more essay-type reviews with specifics and advice about the story, about what worked and what didn't.

Hmm, maybe I should add a "feedback for the author" section to my form...

I like every review I have ever gotten. I especially like when people say what they liked or didn't like though. It doesn't matter if I actually do anything with the information. I just like to hear people's thoughts.

I like the ones when they shower me with praise, blow smoke up my ass, and never say anything negative.

Either that, or when they say something about my story that no one else has said, like noticing little details or references, or about the subtler literary aspects of the stories, like theme, characterization, setting, and metaphors.

"I love the way Carmen keeps stealing the things, but then she escapes. What a deep reflection these themes are on late stage capitalism, the author is BRILLIANT and probably very handsome!"

That's the spirit!

Agreed. I only require worship.

Nothing worse than getting some boring long winded critique of what was done wrong and how it should be done. Fuck off mortal scum, I'm going to continue doing things my way since it seems to be working.

That being said, rants and curses of how much my story is causing evil in the world and is the worst thing ever are fine.

Looking back at the reviews I have gotten on my storygames, I generally tend to like those that prove the opinion which the author states. For example, a positive review is a lot better if the reader points out specific things that they like rather than simply stating they enjoyed it. The same goes for potential improvements and constructive criticism. Since I try to improve my writing with every storygame that I publish, it is a lot better to know what exactly the reader hated instead of simply getting a negative comment (not that there seems to be any purely 'you suck' comments on my storygames so far).

Positive reviews never fail to make me smile because it feels great to know that someone appreciates and acknowledges the work I have put into a storygame, and they liked it enough to comment. Sometimes, I worry way too much about whether a storygame I am writing is too boring or too long, so the reviews I have been getting really helped me identify my strengths and weaknesses as a writer. Also, I love it when readers reference specific parts of the story since it feels like what they are saying is more genuine. 

While I do appreciate the reviews that point out typos or other forms of errors, I doubt that I would be going back to proofread my large storygames anytime soon because I spend too much time procrastinating.

Why do people usually read reviews? To decide for yourself it is worth reading this book or not. This means that the author of the review should briefly tell about the book, but without describing the entire plot. And the reader will already draw conclusions. I don’t think the review has to be long. The main thing is that the essence is preserved in it, but without unnecessary details.