The Campaign Builder's Guild

I'm feeling seriously unproductive here at the moment.  Lots of stuff to say about my own stuff, but not much to offer in way of commentary or suggestions to my comrades.  I really want to change that, because the CBG is currently my primary creative community, but I'm at a loss trying to figure out what works to tackle.  Seems every time I read a setting, a dozen people have already gotten to it, it's too substantial to dissect and offer significant commentary on, or it's too generic/derivative/simply-not-my-shew for me to want to spend time on it (which is not to say that these are bad things, only that I have a finite amount of time to devote).

It can be pretty darn hard to figure out what to say in a review because the relevant information is often as clear as it can be or explicitly clarified by other parts of the setting.  That, or the ideas seem to lead to a kind of creative dead end.  So I extend this offer (which other members have made before): tell me what things specifically you would like me to take a look at.  I'll gladly give my two coppers.

And I know this sounds kind of funny because it might suggest I'm making this offer from a position of some authority.  I have nothing of the sort, but it's now pretty much the only feasible way I can get things done.

I'm going to throw out a comment on critiquing, advice that I don't always follow --

When it comes to writing a critique, I know that I like having dialogs going in my setting thread about what's going on.  If you were to see something in my setting, get inspired or have a cool vision, let me know.  Also, a two sentence comment is better than none at all.  Even just to say, "Hey, I looked over your setting and it's pretty cool," or "I'm reading your setting, but I've only gotten through this part.  It was interesting.  I'll probably get more into it later!"  Little comments make me happy.  (This is something I'm quite bad about; I typically don't comment until I feel really comfortable with the setting.  I've read into most of the larger settings on CBG, but there's so much information that I don't feel "comfortable" with them yet.  Hence, no comments.)

I always like questions about how things work.  That's probably because I put a lot of work into making my fantasy realistic, but having a setting that makes sense is important for most builders.  If you get confused or stuck on something, ask.

I've been trying really hard recently to make a comment on every new setting that pops up on the forums (and by recently, I mean over the past week).  It seems to be working for me so far!

Just my thoughts.

I agree, as usual, with everything that comes out of Jharviss's mouth.

I've been fishing for DIlandri reviews for awhile now, specifically on my magic fluff. What I really, really want are concepts and ideas based off what I've got, and things you think might be cool to play with in it. Normal review is, as always, never badly received.

Xiluh has recently had some new material put on the timeline, specifically, in the Second Age. There's more of a mention of dwarves in there, and I'm curious what people have to say about all the new stuff. Maybe you could check that out?

SA,
I first want to say that I consider you a valuable member of the community - even considering what you've said in this post! :)  You tend to always have some pretty legitimate and well-thought out things to say in most discussions, and quite frankly, I believe Dystopia deserves some sort of medal for its uniqueness and creativeness.

Quote from: Salacious AngelSeems every time I read a setting, a dozen people have already gotten to it, it's too substantial to dissect and offer significant commentary on, or it's too generic/derivative/simply-not-my-shew for me to want to spend time on it (which is not to say that these are bad things, only that I have a finite amount of time to devote).

For that first statement, I have some (what I consider) good advice.  It's what I do when I know I'm going to review a setting.  I simply don't read what everyone else has said in their reviews, critiques, concerns, etc, and I read and review the setting like it's the very first response the author has gotten.  I believe this is extremely important, because it makes absolute certain that your first impressions are those that you speak of, and not some modified impressions based on what other people have said.  And if you're worried that you may bring up a point one of those other dozen people have already brought up, don't be.  Chances are, you will have an entirely different take on things, and even if it is similar to someone else's review, the author will surely appreciate it nonetheless.

For your second issue, I think Luminous Crayon said it best in his Art of Criticism (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?25922) article, Part One ("Dishing It Out"),  Section Six ("Take Your Time").  Do reviews in short segments - focus on one aspect in particular that you really like, or just simply go in alphabetical order.  Explain in your posts, "Hey, I would really love to eventually get to your entire campaign, but for the time being, I'm going to focus on this."  And make sure you follow through and read any responses on it - your little, measly review of just one tiny section of Jim-Bob's Massive Campaign Compendium could be the most important criticism he ever receives on it.

For the third issue, I'm not sure how I can help with that.  My gut reaction would be to say, "Well, it's not really fair to not at least give all the settings an equal chance," but quite frankly, I don't read everything here anymore either.  I understand time issues (in particular, time constraint issues), what with working with new site options, layouts, and also working on my own stuff (music, campaigns, buying a frakkin house!!!, etc).  Everyone has these issues.  No one here has simply nothing to do (except for possibly Eldo ;)), and we all worry about these kinds of things.  I would say to take Jharviss' advice above, and just drop in and say, "Hey man, though your setting isn't really my cup of tea, (and here's why!) I wanted to quickly point out.... " or even just simply, "Hey, looks cool, I hope I get more time to check it out later."  People tend to appreciate that their work is even acknowledged.

I hope you can get the advice you need.  And even if you can't fit in everyone's setting, you're obviously still welcome here. :)

After reading the other comments, I came across What Jharviss said:

Quote from: JharvissThis is something I'm quite bad about; I typically don't comment until I feel really comfortable with the setting.  I've read into most of the larger settings on CBG, but there's so much information that I don't feel "comfortable" with them yet.  Hence, no comments.

This is perfectly understandable. How can we properly feel comfortable asking a question, if we aren't sure whether or not it's already been addressed?

Another issue, for me, is that I tend to be hesitant looking at new settings, unless I can get a brief overview before jumping into the setting itself. If I didn't personally care for sci-fi, and I jumped into [insert sci-fi setting here], then what could I comment on it? "I don't like spaceships, so this isn't for me, but everybody else seems to like it"?

I'm starting to think a good way to get people to even look at settings is to give them a very specific element to start focusing on, and allow them to expand from there. Now that I think about it, applying that approach to designing itself might allow a more complex world, but that's an issue for another thread....