Review template revamp - Please VOTE!

As many of you know, the current review template isn't working out for a lot of people in this subreddit - 10/10 ratings across the board, with mediocre or nonexistent details, is pretty unhelpful.

After this thread and a nudge from moderator u/LongLiveThe_King, I thought I'd start a new thread to get in depth about what people actually want to see in a review.

Let's see if we can come up with something better than what we currently have - something that will consistently provide quality information to other buyers. Your input is greatly appreciated. Feel free to vote on any or all of the following questions, or to provide any other related feedback.


1. SCORING MECHANISM

Right now, it's 0-10 for each category, with the default set at 10 and points deducted for anything wrong. This can encourage inflated scoring. What kind of scale would you ideally like to see?

A. Smaller number range ( 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 ), with 3 as the default

B. Quantitative but word-based ( poor - fair - okay - good - great ), with okay as the default

C. Evo style ( negative - neutral - positive )

D. Purely qualitative - requires a written explanation for each category

E. Written as multiple choice, for example an example about price:

(a) significantly overpriced
(b) slightly higher than expected
(c) right about average market
(d) very good price
(e) excellent price - incredible bargain

F. NO SCORING - Short-answer only


2. SCORING CATEGORIES

Right now, scoring is available for the following categories: Communication, Stealth, Shipping time, Price value, Aesthetics, Weight, Quality, Transaction, Vendor, Drug. What are your thoughts on this?

A. Remove some categories (explain)

B. Combine some categories ex. Drug/Quality (explain)

C. Add or rename some categories (explain)


3. REQUIRED DETAILS - SHORT ANSWER

Right now, here is what is listed in the template:

Vendor:

Market:

Product:

Shipped from:

Shipped to:

What else would you like to see in this space? Choose as many as desired, or add new ones.

A. Item list price

B. Shipping price

C. Shipping option (first class, priority, etc.)

D. Shipping speed (number of shipping days)

E. Price range for this product (cheap, average, expensive, etc.)

F. Listed product weight

G. Actual product weight

H. Any extras

I. Other (explain)


4. REQUIRED DETAILS - YES / NO

Right now, here is what is listed in the template:

Required FE Y/N

Vacuum Sealed Y/N

Decoy Y/N

Handwriting Y/N

What else would you like to see in this space? Choose as many as desired, or add new ones.

A. Standardized packaging (ex. USPS priority envelope) Y/N

B. Package lumpy Y/N

C. Package rattling Y/N

D. MBB Y/N

E. Repeat customer Y/N

F. Previous experience with this substance Y/N

G. Would purchase again Y/N

H. Other (explain)


4. MARKDOWN

Right now, the template uses some Reddit markdown, which is visually appealing but some people find confusing. Opinions?

A. Yes Markdown

B. No Markdown

C. Make both options available


5. OPTIONAL QUESTIONNAIRE

There is no space for this in the current template, but since most people seem to find a few paragraphs the most helpful part of a review, adding a short, optional questionnaire at the bottom could help encourage this (or could be annoying, I don't know). Would you like this option, and if so, what questions would you like to include?

A. No questionnaire

B. Have you tested the product using reagents? If so, what were the results? Please post photos if possible.

C. What is the color, texture, and odor of the product? Please post photos if possible.

D. Have you already tried the product? If so, please provide a brief trip report, including ROI, dosage, duration, effects, and sides.

E. If you communicated with the vendor, what was your impression of them?

F. If you have tried this drug before, how does this vendor's product compare to others (especially on the darknet)?

G. Other (explain


6. QUALITY CONTROL

Some people have expressed dissatisfaction at less than stellar reviews. Which of the following types of reviews would you like to see downvoted and/or deleted (if mods feel like it)?

A. None - any review is better than none

B. Excessively positive review, highest ratings everywhere, "this is the bomb," etc.

C. Reviewer hasn't tried or tested the product yet

D. Review is inconsistent (ex. says shipping is 10/10 but it took 14 days domestic to arrive)

E. Other (explain)


Thanks for reading and participating!


Comments


[1 Points] samwhiskey:

1-b or 1-f


[1 Points] IllTestTheYayo:

The number 4 appears twice, there are 7 categories. But corrected I vote:

1 d,f

2 none

3a,d

4d

5c

6d,f

7c


[1 Points] saystheleon:

1) - E

I like it because it's still somewhat quantitative but doesn't overemphasize the flawed "total score" approach.

2) - A

Here would be my choices:

  1. Communication -
  2. Stealth -
  3. Shipping Time -
  4. Product -

5. Overall - (replacing the total score idea and based subjectively on the reviewer's overall experience. Simply adding up the other categories for a total score isn't particularly insightful if the reviewer values some categories differently than others.)

3) and 4) -

Eh, I don't see the need to require any of these. Most will already be covered in any quality review.

5)

I like B and F, they give us more context about who the reviewer is and how qualified they are. I really like the emphasis on reagent testing, this should be a high priority for anyone reviewing something like MDMA from a new vendor. The other questions should have already been covered in the review.

6) A. None

Deleting posts just discourages people from contributing in the future, just let them know what they did wrong and how they can fix it in future review.


[1 Points] throwahooawayyfoe:

No matter what we do with the review template, it should be linked to on the sidebar so everybody can find it. Right now, you either have to know the permalink to the original post or you have to use the review generator on panacea.


[1 Points] sheeproadreloaded2:

I'd prefer something more like an erowid trip report.

It doesn't matter if you ramble a bit, just talk about how you felt and what you did on the drug. Your experience, and how this gear compares to other stuff.

I don't want a review all about the envelope it came in, with a line at the end saying the drug is good. WHY is it good.

Unless you're a bit of a Connoisseur of the drug, your review probably doesn't contribute much.

You should also say if your review is some kind of a deal with the vendor.

Finally, if you do it with a throwaway account we will just assume its the vendor reviewing himself.


[1 Points] ApricockApecot:

Just fucking make something nice we can copy and paste into the create a new thread box, that's all that matters


[1 Points] Theeconomist1:

For the scoring mechanism, I tend to lean towards more of an "Evo" style with only 3 options but with the "phrasing" a little different. So I like "Meets Expectations", "Exceeds Expectations" and "Did not meet expectations". I like this b/c people tend to overbias as it is and I think using a word like "Meets Expectations" rather than "Neutral" is psychologically easier for the reviewer to give this score to a good vendor who did his job well but did not necessarily go above and beyond. We have a baseline of expectations - that we receive our product, the right product, the right amount of product, on a timely basis. This should not be a 10/10 or "Exceeds Expectations." A vendor who scores "Met Expectations" is a good vendor and I'd order from any day of the week. Anytime you deviate from "Met Expectations" an explanation is required. This applies to both "did not meet" and "Exceeds" ranking.

I've said this a hundred times, but if you look at the review scores here, isntead of seeing a bell curve like we should be seeing, I bet anything you'd see an upside down bell curve on the distributions of scores. You'll see a shitload of 9/10's and a shitload of 0/1's. But barely anything in the middle. I think there is too much grade inflation at this point to properly baseline the scores. Hence the 3 tier scoring.

I'll put some thoughts on the categories.


[1 Points] Kwitcher_Bitchin:

this is way too complicated. yes, have the elements rated 1-6, option to write about the use and quality of the drug. put the template on the sidebar or sticky at the top of the sub.


[1 Points] Tripple_T:

  1. C or E- The most popular problem seems to be scoring so either make it as basic as possible, or get rid of it all together. I would be against D because of of possible time constraints and honestly, if your doing research on what to buy, a halfa$$ed review is better than no review at all.

  2. I'm fine with the categories, though maybe, possibly, perhaps take out shipping time. Outside of how long it takes for the vendor to send out the package, The whole thing is in the hands of the USPS

  3. OpSec tells me that you should consider dropping shipped from and shipped to. I like the idea of adding pretty much everything on that list with the exception of shipping speed because after shipping it, it's out of the vendor's hands.

  4. I'm a noob, I have no idea what reddit markdown is. Please explain, or not, it's whatever.

  5. Questionnaire is a good idea to get an idea of the reviewer. If someone told me the stuff they just smoked was "da bomb," I would like to know if this bloke has been around the block. Yes to all the questions you have up.

  6. down vote a review that you feel isn't up to snuff, but don't delete them. Like I said earlier a halfa$$ed review is better than no review at all. People should be skilled enough at reading to get the important stuff out of a good review, if that review has anything important.


[1 Points] youtakesally:

1.

A + the overal shouldn't be a strict addition or average.

2.

Remove "aesthetics" (not that important, if it is you can count it as quality). Remove "drug" (If important, it could be in the quality section). Remove "transaction" (You pay and that's it, there's no much else you can't add in communication). Change price value for just the actual price, everyone can judge for themselves. Make communication optional, since it is not always needed.

I'd wouldn't add anything else since those categories would either be covered inside other categories or would not be relevant in a lot of cases.

4.

The actual details are fine. The others are not that relevant.

I don't care about the markdown.

5.

I think people should add explanations if they think it is fit. But an orientation like the ones suggested is a good idea.

6.

I would delete reviews like C and D. About D, and maybe B, if we are picky, I would warn the reviewer first, and if he doesn't rectify, then I would proceed with deletion.

EXTRA: Reviews should be organised in a separate page (like market list or vendor warnings) so they can be checked quickly and easily.