Avsim reviews a case for a rethink?

[Guest Ashleigh Davidson]

"Can you set up a small IFR trip with a departure climb cruise approach and ILS to land. All this should be handflown within IFR tolerances and all the Navigation features should be readely at hand".Well, this brings me back to the point of how many reviewers would actually know how to do this never mind set it up.As you say and rightly so, Tom did his best and all credit to him for having a go. As we dont know any of the reviewers pilot / flight skills (please..this is not directed at Tom or anybody else)It makes things a little difficult to judge exactly what is a "review." Ash

[Guest Zevious Zoquis]

Whats the difference between a gold award and a five star rating? I think it's important to remember that this is still a recreational hobby and that most of the people involved are simply guys who are into aviation as opposed to type rated pilots. To that extent, I don't have much of a problem with the reviews ftmp. Any of the planes I've purchased that have been reviewed at Avsim or Flightsim I've pretty much agreed with the review. I do think that the recent rash of 5 star ratings is a bit iffy, but otoh I think there has also recently been a bit of a surge in the overall quality and level of detail of the add-ons that have been released. I mean some of the stuff that's come out in the past few months is just remarkably good. I also don't find it that odd that the review scores tend to be pretty high since the reviews are by fellow hobbyists and they are going to naturally want to use good stuff just like we all do. I don't think reviewers need to be pilots. All they really need is a good knowledge of the sim and a good range of experience with different add-ons for the sake of comparison. Most of the time the reviewers specifically make mention of the fact they don't have any real world experience with the plane anyway...

[Guest ba747heavy]

>Whats the difference between a gold award and a five star>rating? Gong from memory, the gold award is given to outstanding freeware, and the stars are given to payware.

[oqvist 11]

Really there is nothing that says that a real world flyer can make better reviews. If he have flown a Concorde he may have easier to tell if it flies correctly yes but otherwise it

[Sonar5 3]

>>Whats the difference between a gold award and a five star>>rating? >>Gong from memory, the gold award is given to outstanding>freeware, and the stars are given to payware.>Nope,Not in this case.http://www.avsim.com/pages/0105/concorde/concorde.htmThe Concorde received both a Gold medal and the stars, so it is available to both freeware and payware from what I can infer.I also feel that folks should use a review as just one aspect of evaluating a purchase. What is most important to me is after the release, how others feel about the package, how bugs (or whatever PC term is used), are addressed by the seller, etc...I only buy an add-on after it has been out for a while. I don't need to be the first one to publically beta test an aircraft. ;-) I'll let the others do that for me, and see how it evolves. That way, when I do purchase, I will most likely get a better product and without the hassles.The biggest mistake people make in being dissapointed in a product is running out and buying it right after release. IMHO. They would be better served if they wait for the reviews, user feedback, etc....With regards to the reviews, the reviewer is basically just another user expressing their opinions. AFter a while you can make a value judgment on certain reviewers reviews as to whether they can be judged as objective or not.I know one who calls themselves a reviewer, and basically they are a total JOKE. They might as well put a bought and paid for sign on their reviews, for basically they are as worthless as can be. (Not here by the way.) Subjective is not in their vocabulary, and the worst part is when these so-called reviews show a link to the product which is an affiliate relationship link, IE the website is in partnership with the product. Check out the links as well.For example, in the Concorde review here at Avsim:http://www.avsim.com/pages/0105/concorde/concorde.htmLook at the link for the product, clean as a whistle, no partnership buy link exposed here:http://www.phoenix-simulation.co.uk/Now, go look at some other reviews at other sites, and compare the links to the product, and look for the numbers folks, they have a NON-DISCLOSED relationship with the producers, and IMHO, their review is WORTHLESS, and shows absolutely ZERO Integrity, and should be IGNORED for what it is, a sales pitch.I like the reviews here, and I don't see as much bias as I do at other places. But as always buyer beware, practice a little delayed gratification and don't buy anything right after release, and you might just end up with quality products, which I have for the most part, I only regret one purchase I've made in this hobby.One more thing, I always take with a grain of salt any member review of a payware product where their signature states they were a beta tester. This applies only for payware. I've seen quite a few examples of so-called objective users who rant about a product where they were a betatester.If they beta test a Freeware product, no harm done, IMHO, for the worst you have to do is delete it.Anything I beta test I pretty much keep to myself anyway, for I feel its purpose is to perfect the product, and not gloat about being an insider. And yes, I understand all too well the marketing strategy involved here with those signatures. I just ethically have a concern with the concept, since many of these folks are also the ones bragging about a product right after a release, or shortly before to drum up business, IMHO.One more addition, these are only my opinions, and I respect that yours may vary.Best Regards,JoeJOIN The AVSIM RTW RACE FLIGHT TEAM****************Grab My FREEWARE Cessna 172 Voice recognition Profile here:[a href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fs2004misc&DLID=58334]Cessna 172 Voice Profile[/a].You will need the main FREEWARE Flight Assistant program to use it, get it here:[a href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=genutils&DLID=39661]Flight Assistant 2.2[/a]

[SQUAWKIDENT 3]

I think AVSIM could do with a proof-reader:P

[michal 44]

Peter,Avsim does not use absolute scale in their reviews - go read how their scoring works.I have no problem with their reviews and the fact they may be subjective, but I think that since they use a "relative" scale they should tell us what are these other products they used in their comparison. Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2

[Guest Peter Sidoli]

MichaelFirstly this is not a critic of the hardwork and dedication of people who put a lot of time and effort into producing reviews, Having done a little in the past I only know too well the labours involved and the pressures.The whole point of a review should be to give an expert opinion on a product showing its strengths and pitfalls and having a system of marking that product which means that there is some consistancy between reviewers.People often spend their hard earned cash on the recommendation or otherwise of reviews in the same way you may read a test report on a car before you buy it.There are two angles to this. Firstly protecting the consumer from purchasing junk or being taken for a ride by empty claims from manufacturers.Second, Giving a fair review to the manufacturer as often these reviews have a direct impact on their sales.Hence there is a special responsability in making a review not just to the consumer but also to the producer.An example where in my opinion something went very wroung was in the review of the Aeroworx B200. This was worthy of a gold award but recived a poor review. This appears to be the feeling amongst other users who have given this addon high acclaim.Take a group of enthusiasts who give their time for free and by the nature of that will tend to be a mixed bunch of expertise and it is more vital that a strict format is followed to try and achieve some consistnacy.There are very real pressures on the reviewers to go gently on a product by the producers and it takes a strong personality to resist those pressures.Hence a reviewer has to have special qualities.Maybe as suggested a marking system should be abolished and the review put forward as an individual impression. Should an impressionist :-) find an aircraft of particular merit then it can be handed back to others to try as a possible award subject.With these aircraft and their systems forever becoming more complex differing parts of the aircraft could almost warrant a review in their own right and group reviews using people of different expertise areas are probably more needed now than before.It could also be an option to allow forum members to review aircraft they purchase by filling in an online questionaire on the product.I appreciate there would have to be some inbuilt form of stopping such a system being abused by multiple form posting or malicious posting.In a way that happens in the forums now post purchase but again this way there would be consistancy by set questions and a true picture of where the problems are.Peter

[n4gix 4,947]

>With these aircraft and their systems forever becoming more>complex differing parts of the aircraft could almost warrant a>review in their own right and group reviews using people of>different expertise areas are probably more needed now than>before.That is an excellent point, Peter. It also suggests to me that if any reviewer has a question about the product, or is unclear about something they "think it should" have and doesn't, they should contact the producers of the product and ask... rather than simply "assume" facts not in evidence... ;)