Often the votes end up turning into a popularity contest or there are a bazillion mods which are rated a 10 on a scale of 1-10 because the people voting have little or no idea how to review a mod and the reviewing process has virtually no oversight or guidelines. Also, a single rating, whether it's a number or group of stars, provides an incomplete picture of a mod's strengths and weaknesses.
So to correct that, we're going to try to create a mod review section here and start off by establishing a few guidelines.
1) Mods will be graded in up to five areas.
- a. Concept - This is the only area that a member may rate a mod without having downloaded and played it first.
b. Lore Accuracy - How closely the mod follows the lore established by Bethesda.
c. Design - How well planned the mod is. Also, how well the concept was implemented.
d. Attention to Detail - How well crafted the mod is. If a mod has "dirty" GMSTs or entries, it should be noted here.
e. Technical Achievement - Comments about the technical aspects of the mod. Only members who have a good working knowledge of the construction set and its capabilities should rate mods in this area.
Including a list of known mod incompatibilities in the review is welcome, but should neither be graded nor affect the grade except as described above.
Note that not all mods will necessarily be graded in all five areas. If you don't think a particular area applies to a mod or if you don't think you're qualified to rate a mod in one or more areas, just leave those out. It isn't necessary to include them and leave them blank or rank them as n/a.
2) Instead of rating each area with a number of stars or a numeric rating, please select one of the following grades, and then explain:
- Superb
Excellent
Very good
Good
Fair
Poor
Unplayable
4) Some modders may not wish to have their mods reviewed, and Fort Elder Scrolls will respect that. Review threads will be removed at the request of the mod's author, subject to the following two rules:
- a. A modder may request to remove ALL the reviews of a mod. Individual reviews or review sections will not be deleted except as described in rule 5.
b. Once the reviews in a thread are deleted at the request of the mod author, the thread will be locked and no further reviews will be allowed. Mod authors, please think carefully before requesting reviews to be deleted.
6) Compliments are welcome, but constructive criticism is also appropriate and often more helpful. Also, we always prefer reviewers to explain a given grade, but a rating of "unplayable" requires an explanation. Any section of a review rated as "unplayable" without some form of explanation will be removed.
7) To avoid conflict of interest, and in the hopes of maintaining objective reviews, modders are prohibited from reviewing any mod in which they contributed significantly to its development. They may; however, post that the mod is released for reviews with description and link(s) and reply to comments in existing reviews. Also, be sure to check that your mod has not already been posted before you add it. Someone may have already beaten you to it.
Also, when modders submit a mod for review, they should provide the same information that a reviewer would normally provide in the first post of a new review. A mod author is also welcome to attach a copy of the mod if it isn't otherwise available online. Out of respect for intellectual property, we request that actually attaching a copy of the mod should only be performed by a mod author or with their explicit permission. Reviewers responding to the submission don't need to provide this information, so they should begin with the actual review in the second or later post.
8) Reviews of adult mods are welcome; however, it should be clearly marked in the subject or description line that it is an adult mod. Please don't use internet shorthand or abbreviations like NSFW (not safe for work) or NSS (not school safe) as not all members will be aware of what they mean. That way, our members and guests who are at work will not click on something that could potentially get them in trouble with their employers.
9)Mod authors are encouraged to post a rebuttal in a review thread if they believe a review contains a significant error or misunderstanding. If the reviewer chooses to edit the review to correct the error or misunderstanding, the rebuttal will be removed to keep the reviews clear of unnecessary clutter. However, reviewers are under no obligation to edit their reviews in response to a mod author's rebuttal. If the reviewer chooses to disregard it, both the review and rebuttal will remain in the thread to represent differing viewpoints.