Frankly, I don't really object to them. At the same time, they will weigh far less then a review posted by a hobbyist with a track record.

I also think a lot of providers and hobbyists are only looking at the negative aspect of this. There are some positives in all of this.

It could possibly increase reviews. There is no way this "function" will decrease them. Guys who have been threatened or hounded by providers may now feel free to post them without fear of reprisals. A hobbyist could also post an honest review if the provider is overweight or misrepresenting herself.

Time will tell if this "idea" is good or not, but I see more positives then negatives. I guess you ladies need to be on top of your game.

Can you give us a link to a review from an alias?
Thanks.

It would give guys the freedom to post a really honest review. I have a few I wish I could have reviewed anonymously.

It will make it easier to submit critical reviews and avoid the hounding that some providers and their supporters have been known to engage in.

On the other hand, it also makes it easier for someone to take unwarranted cheap shots at a provider.  This has been a long standing problem with the use of aliases on the discussion boards and I expect we will see some of it in reviews now.

I don't know how much credibility to give such a review; I would have to judge it on a case by case basis.  Initially, I'd probably treat the review like it came from a first time reviewer, unless of course the alias has been used for multiple reviews and then it becomes easier to form an opinion about the credibility of the reviewer.

all reviews need to be taken in context. does the alias have multiple reviews? are the scores in line with the provider's other reviews? not being able to PM the author doesn't really matter to me.
I honestly hadn't given it any thought till now, so I looked for an alias reviewer.  the one I found had multiple reviews that seemed pretty credible. then again, ya can't believe everything ya read on the internet.

After some thought, keep the alias

To start, I created this alias recently (Ryan777) just for the board. I haven't done any reviews with it.

I think an alias can be useful on the discussion board so that I can speak freely without being judged, either for unpleasant honesty or simply for my outlook on the world. Or for looking like a troll. Like most tools, an alias can be abused, but should the tool be outlawed just like the hobby discussed here?

For me, the dilemma whether to post and honest bad review under an alias with no possible consequence, or skip doing the review, doing a disservice to he community. I admit to having skipped doing bad reviews, but as I think about it further, failure to warn someone about the oncoming truck isn't far away from pushing them into its path. Even so, the third option, giving honest bad reviews under my original handle, isn't an easy one. "If you can't say anything nice ..."

Yes, I'm expressing true ambivalence. The alias is a good idea, but it can be horribly abused, it appears. If I have a leaning, it would be towards making sure bad reviews DO get published, even under an alias, so we don't waste our time or our money.

Maybe it would help if any alias was tagged as an alias. At least that would give readers some clue if they suspect it's not an honest review. I'd also suggest an easier appeals process for providers, and maybe the ability to add a rebuttal right on the review. Or how about allowing providers one "free" review exclusion, no questions asked, every six months or so?  Just brainstorming a bit.

Prior to the new policy, and if a guy had divulged his TER id to a provider, if you were intent on doing a review that might be less than what the lady would expect then you had a choice of either a) not doing a review, b) doing an honest review for sake of other hobbyists, or c) doing a sugar-coated review to avoid the ire of the provider or to be certain you were welcome to visit again.  

My choice was usually either a or b.  There were a couple of cases where I would have been better off with a.   In one case I ended up getting threatening calls and in the other case it turned into a pissing contest on this board when all her white nights came out with guns blazing.  There was also a case where a particular lady decided to stop seeing me because I had visited another provider that she had run into trouble with in the past.  

So I agree that it should allow more candid reviews.  I think many of us feel that TER reviews tend to have inflated scores more often than the opposite.  But I also believe that there will be guys who will abuse it with a bad review because of some grudge against her.   As Vorlon said, it will be hard to judge the validity of a review if you can't look at the reviewer's track record of other reviews.  I tend to ignore first-time reviews from new reviewers and especially if its a lady who has only one or two others.  

I am wondering if guys get credit for the review toward free membership when using an alias.  

-- Modified on 7/6/2011 9:14:15 AM