Can we add an option to reply to reviews? There are so many times I’ve wanted to correct someone when they get something egregiously wrong.
I’m not sure that adding this is particularly healthy - it may cause people to respond to reviews that they disagree with and start flame wars… exactly the kind of thing we are trying to avoid around here.
I understand that’s not your intent, you wish to correct people, but sometimes you have to just let people be wrong about something and leave it. Maybe write your own review so people can see the other side of the argument?
What do people think - would this cause too much upset? Is it worth adding?
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I would question what you mean by ‘get something egregiously wrong’ because if they are expressing their opinion, in a review, it isn’t for anyone else to come along and say ‘You’re wrong’. If it’s a factual error, again, I’m not sure responding to the review is the right place either.
In any case, that’s what we have the forum for. Reviews stand as they are. Discussion is available in a place we can control, moderate and keep calm.
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Factual errors. And as for that second bit, going to some random forum someone’s commented on just to say “you made a mistake in this bit of your review of this other thing” feels weird.
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Not sure what replying to a review in that situation would achieve. What sort of factual errors have you noticed?
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Well, this bit of a review misses the fact that Season 6B explains a lot more than just the Doctor and Jamie looking older, e.g. the Doctor knowing about Jamie and Zoe’s memories being erased, the Doctor suggesting they can get back to Victoria after dropping her off, despite having no control over the TARDIS during that period, and Jamie knowing about the Time Lords.
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I say no, you can discuss that stuff in forum threads instead.
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Like I said, going to some random forum someone’s commented on just to say “you made a mistake in this bit of your review of this other thing” feels weird.
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I think it’s less so “hey @reviewer, you’re wrong,” and more “I saw this on the reviews, here’s my opinion, what do you guys think?”
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What I meant is, since we already have people posting their thoughts (sometimes more review-like and sometimes not) in the various threads here, you can just do replies.
And as for your example, you can make a post about it while keeping the original post more vague in its contents. Or just write about Season 6B as you understand it.
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Right, but my point is that there isn’t much point in making a separate post saying “this review got something wrong” over just replying to that review to correct it. In fact, I think making a post just to call attention to one person getting something wrong makes you look like more of an asshole, which is why I’d prefer to be able to just reply to the review directly without drawing any extra attention.
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That reviewer’s thoughts on Season 6B isn’t a factual error though. Robert Holmes misremembered the fact that the Second Doctor didn’t have contact with the Time Lords and yes, we probably were supposed to ignore the grey hair and the obviously older actors.
Fans inventing Season 6b isn’t a cut and dry fact.
And herein, I think, lies proof that adding comments to reviews so people can correct ‘factual errors’ is a road to Hell we don’t really want to take.
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I see your point, but what about Jamie and Zoe’s memories being erased?
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That’s neither here nor there. You seem to be viewing your idea of Season 6b as ‘fact’ which it isn’t because Season 6b has never been properly established. We’ve got the TV Comics version with the scarecrows, we’ve got Terrance Dicks’ novels set in that era, we’ve got the recent Big Finish Second Doctor Adventures, we’ve got the Companion Chronicle ‘The Black Hole’ which contradicts Season 6b, we’ve got The Two Doctors, we’ve got the fan fiction I wrote when I was about 18.
You say you want comments to ‘correct factual errors’ and then cite something not factual as an example.
Even if someone had accidentally attributed a story to the wrong director or the wrong script writer or the wrong extra playing a Cyberman (which would be factual errors) - what would the point putting that in a comment replying to the review be.
It seems needlessly pedantic and provocative.
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I’ve definitely felt the desire to reply directly to reviews before, but I think culturally not allowing replies is the better move. If your reply is positive/constructive/actually useful, I don’t think there should be any reason to be hesitant about posting it in a discussion thread instead. I get feeling awkward as it doesn’t seem to happen that often, but if you can’t overcome that awkwardness, maybe it’s a sign that your reply isn’t actually all that beneficial to the original reviewer, and it’s best to keep to yourself/vent to your friends in the groupchat.
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I also think that we should not allow replies on reviews, I think it would allow for far too many escalating discussions or harassment without control. The fact that we have a forum associated with the site allows for discussion on anything needed here, be it via general forum threads on topics, an open post, or a private dm to whoever wrote a review that you wish to expand upon or correct. I also think that this helps remember that those reviews are written by humans and there should be some courtesy in discussion with them
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Well, I think the example I provided creates an unintentionally false impression that the actors looking older is the only problem Season 6B solves when that’s really not the case. I don’t think replying “actually, Season 6B solves plenty of these problems as well” is pedantic or provocative, as long as you’re just trying to correct someone on something they missed and not doing it to make yourself look smarter, which I wasn’t.
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I’d be cool with posting a correction in a discussion thread if the original statement was made in that discussion thread, because everyone who sees it will already know the context and it won’t look like I’m just bringing up something totally irrelevant.
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may I just say, even if it’s not your intention, it would probably come across that way? Sometimes, as infuriating as it is, you just gotta let people be wrong and mind your own business
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I think the dangers with allowing replies to reviews as mentioned above outweighs the potential benefits. This example in particular could just be a topic of discussion on the forums about the merits and justifications for Season 6B.
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