#staff
The point being, the review guidelines should be taken with a grain of salt, if not ignored outright. There are no rules you have to follow.
Yes and no. Yes in that you should share your genuine thoughts and experience, but no in that we do have guidelines that need to be followed (see below)
For the sake of clarity and general reminder for all of us, here are the guidelines.
FE.org Guidelines
IV. Rating Fanedits
All ratings/reviews on The Internet Fanedit Database (IFDb) are moderated to ensure quality control. Faneditors are not allowed to rate their own fanedits, however they may comment on reviews if they feel the need to. Ratings need to be fair and include a comment explaining how a score was ascertained. Lengthy or detailed reviews are typically not a requirement but are highly encouraged. Detailed reviews are required when giving a low rating (see below). When rating, please consider ALL of the following criteria:
- Technical quality: Were the image and sound quality up to par?
- Editing quality: Did you notice any jarring video or audio cuts? Did the fanedit flow well?
- Narrative: How well did the editor achieve their goals? Were there plot-holes created (or resolved?) Does it work?
- Enjoyment: Were you entertained by the fanedit?
Any rating of 5 stars or lower requires a clear and detailed explanation of the reasoning for such a low score because ratings this low suggest the quality may be insufficient for our community. Ratings below 5 stars and lacking a sufficient comment will be rejected. Be fair when rating and reviewing edits. Don’t abuse the ratings system to get back at someone who rated your fanedit or your friend’s fanedit lower than you expected.
Do not use the review feature to request download links or where to find fanedits.
Also here are the informational bubble guidelines found on the review page.
Review Guidelines
Audio/Video Quality
Please rate the overall quality of the picture and sound compared to the original.
Visual Editing
Please rate the overall quality of the visual editing, were edits jarring or smooth? Were there flash frames, awkward jump-cuts or edits which jumped out?
Audio Editing
Please rate the overall quality of the audio editing for this edit. Were the cuts smooth and blend in or were they rough, abrupt and obvious?
Narrative
Please rate the new narrative/changes, do they add or detract? Are there plot holes generated or fixed?
Enjoyment
Please provide a rating for the overall edit in terms of your enjoyment.
We've historically left the review rating guidelines vague in order to not dissuade reviewers from leaving reviews when so little reviews are left in the first place. This thread perhaps is indicating that a bit more clarity/direction might support more reviewing? Also, thanks for starting this thread
@tremault ! It's been really interesting to read all of our interactions and thoughts with the review process.