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- Under Pressure - Board Game Reviewers and Content Creators are Feeling It
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Under Pressure - Board Game Reviewers and Content Creators are Feeling It
- thegiantbrain
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- D6
I’ve been thinking a lot about the pressure a reviewer can put on themselves. More than any other year I’ve been feeling that this year. Got to put out an article weekly, got to keep the podcast on track, got to get those games reviewed. It has felt like a lot from time to time.
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Mood.
Thanks for the check in Iain, it feels good to know one is not alone.
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Honestly, before the pandemic I considered letting my Libsyn subscription lapse and ending my show after about 10 years of podcasting. My day job eats up a lot of my time as do my 2 kids, and since I am back to being a solo act, if I'm slacking, then the whole show slacks. The pandemic and working from home actually let me refocus my time and gave me more drive to podcast. I've put out about 50 episodes since April.
I want to echo your call for bringing in other people. I've found that podcasting with a group has helped generate content in a more natural way without worrying that I need to find a specific game to talk about. I've also been bringing some of the same people back for episodes, which has been fun. And I've been reaching out to more designers and publishers from Asia because these are voices that don't necessarily have as much reach in the US (where I live).
Good luck on getting through your pile to review. I've kept away from that pressure by being only an interview show, so I'm not in any rush to "review" anything.
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- Matt Thrower
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- Shiny Balls
- Number Of Fence
A while ago I made a decision not to review every game that I'm sent. That's why essentially you no longer see negative reviews from me. Games that don't make the grade after a couple of plays only get a short write-up on Patreon. The release schedule is so packed that I feel it's more important to boost games worth your time than warn you off those that aren't. Sorry if you feel I'm not doing my job properly, but I have to draw the line somewhere.
The pace of releases also adds a pressure to get in their fast. I'm sat looking at a copy of The Shores of Tripoli as I type this, the fast-playing new card driven wargame from Fort Circle. It looks great, but I don't have time for it right now, which means it won't get written up probably for a month. By that time, the spotlight will have moved on.
I feel like I'm letting both publisher and audience down not covering games when they come out, but it's just not possible. Not with a day job and a family at the best of times, and especially not during a lockdown. It gnaws at me.
The one thing I'm tired of in game reviewing is learning new rules. I want to learn a game, play it, repeat it, try to master it like I used to. There's no hope of that any more. Even scaling a moderately complex rulebook seems a mountain nowadays, and I've given up trying longer and more complicated games.
And still the releases keep coming. I have no idea how the big hitters keep pace.
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- thegiantbrain
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I totally get what you are saying Matt about having to draw a line. I personally review everything I get, but that pile is much smaller than yours so I can do that. I try not to take on anything I won't review, but that is my choice and I can totally understand when someone goes a different way. Under normal circumstances the GB team would be meeting up to play games once a month which allows me to try out lots of things and get plenty of fuel for the fire. That's just not possible right now and probably won't be till Spring 2021 at the earliest (assuming our government doesn't royally screw this up).
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- Andi Lennon
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- D6
- Do your thing
These are all self-imposed issues though and go back to the whole bugbear many of us wrestle with whereby our self-esteem and sense of self is perhaps unhealthily entwined with our 'productive output'. That's perhaps a whole other kettle of fish for another discussion but it's very cool to hear from Iain in regards to this sometime struggle in what is ultimately a 'hobby'. I do want to say though that I truly appreciate everyone who reads or comments on my little fripperies here, not to mention all the great content you all create that I get to read. And all for free! I'll perhaps be submitting with less rigid frequency, especially over the coming holidays and as we surge to the pointy end of our current game creation but I want to make sure that what I submit is worth your time to read as it was my time to write. Love you all.
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- Michael Barnes
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- Mountebank
- HYPOCRITE
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This article speaks to a lot of the unspoken things about being a games writer, particularly in an ecosystem where neither publishers nor audiences think that what you are doing is worth a dime. And there is just so much cruft to cut through, how do you even figure out what is worth your time as a writer and commentator?
What I’ve learned, and this is going to sound super arrogant, is that when you do this long enough and consistently enough, your audience comes for YOU most of the time. Most of the folks that read the Black Rose Wars review were probably more interested in reading my review than the game itself. Who gives a shit about that game, really?
But that level takes time to get to. Nearly 20 years. But when you do get there, I feel like the pressure slacks off and you feel sweet FA about it and then you just write about whatever you want. I picked Black Rose Wars, I thought it looked kinda cool. It wasn’t. But I was obliged to provide the review, and I did. As soon as I opened the box I realized that had erred in requesting it.
You know I remember a couple of years ago when I got Ike 4 review copies in the mail...for a lot of folks, that sounds like a jackpot. But I remember thinking about how much work and how much pressure those “free” games created. And it got to where I dreaded getting review copies unless it was something that I sought after because I really wanted to write about it.
I’m going to level here- my interest in writing about board games now is pretty limited. I’m much more interested about what is happening in the RPG space because it is where all the exciting ideas, themes, and concepts are happening. I’m excited to write about Free League’s games, the Melsonian Arts Council stuff, and so on. The pressure there is also lower because fewer people are really reviewing these things. Honestly, it feels much less like a waste of time then covering a new to retail Kickstarter that everyone was excited about two years ago.
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- Michael Barnes
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- Mountebank
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The idea that these high profile, high volume content creators are playing titles, especially bigger ones, more than once or twice is laughable.
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- Matt Thrower
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- Shiny Balls
- Number Of Fence
Michael Barnes wrote: The idea that these high profile, high volume content creators are playing titles, especially bigger ones, more than once or twice is laughable.
Yeah I'm aware of the low bar for posting reviews nowadays. I was more following on from my comment about learning new rules. Like, how can you keep motivating yourself given so much churn? It's exhausting enough learning a new one every fortnight
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And, of course, the world didn't stop turning because I didn't put out a new review every week.
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