Q: Can you explain what the stars mean to you?
A: Sure! I tend to round up from half star ratings, unless I do think that the book is closer to the lower rating.
1 star: Utterly worthless drivel; no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
1.5 stars: Almost a complete trainwreck; has at least a glimmer of something that may be of value to some folks.
2 stars: A very problematic or boring book that has serious issues with rules and functionality.
2.5 stars: A mixed bag, slightly on the negative side of things. Has flaws, but also some use.
3 stars: A Mixed bag. An okay book. Or, a flawed good or great book that still has value.
3.5 stars: A mixed bag, slightly on the positive side of things. An otherwise okay book with a good idea here and there; mechanical flaws that don’t drag down the book. Or, a flawed good or great book that still has value.
4 stars: A good book. Not a world-shaker, but worth checking out.
4.5 stars: A good book that misses being great by a margin.
5 stars: A great book.
5 stars + seal of approval: A great book that oozes care, passion, is innovative or really amazing in one way or another.
Q: What’s an EZG Essential?
A: It’s a book I consider essential for the gaming experience with a given system. A must-have, if you will.
Q: What’s the “seal of approval”?
A: It’s a small way for me personally to recommend particularly good books. The seal could be understood as a 6th star of sorts. HOWEVER, unlike my regular star-rating, it also represents my personal tastes. If I really loved something, I might slap my seal of approval on it, even if it has a few serious flaws. In very rare cases, 4 star-files have received my seal.
Q: How do I contact you?
A: Use the contact tab. 🙂
Q: Can I pay you to advertise on your site?
A: No.
Q: I sent the e-mail a day ago; why haven’t you responded?
A: Because I am incredibly busy! I’ll get back to you, promise! If you haven’t heard from me in two weeks, contact me, though; sometimes mails fall through the cracks.
Q: Can you review my book/pdf/etc.?
A: Yes, but it’ll take time.
Q: Do you have any conditions to accept my book for your reviewing queue?
A: Yes, as a matter of fact, I have. Here is my disclaimer. I send it to everyone soliciting reviews.
Q: How much content is covered by one such priority review slot?
A: I don’t have a hard guideline there. Depending on the complexity of the rules, between 30 and 50 pages is my baseline. Other than that, I decide on a case by case basis.
Q: How do you read and analyze so much?
A: I don’t need much sleep, am a fast reader, have an excellent memory and I invest basically a job’s worth of hours, day after day, into the reviewing process. Right now, reviewing amounts to a zero-sum game for me – but I love it, so I’ll maintain it for as long as possible.
Q: How can I support you?
A: You can support the creation of new reviews and the continuation of this enterprise here on patreon. Without the support of people like you, this would not be possible.
Q: Are there other ways to support you?
A: Yes! Paypal direct donation would be the obvious one. Additionally, each purchase after a click on one of my OBS-links will grant me a tiny tip. I use funds gathered from these affiliate sales to purchase pdfs and write more reviews. You’re fueling the circle!
Q: I’ve seen your name as developer or author!
A: Yes, I do write and develop gaming material. Contact me for my rates.
Q: I saw publishers support you on patreon! Doesn’t that compromise your integrity?
A: Not in my book. If you take a careful look at my reviews, you’ll note that the publishers that support me pay for reviews to be prioritized, i.e. they’re covered faster – they pay for a quicker release of a review, NOT for its content.
Q: Sounds fishy!
A: It really isn’t. Let me try to explain. The entire value of my reviews is contingent on my trustworthiness. If I played favorites or otherwise would compromise my integrity, that would not be beneficial for anyone. Publishers and authors wouldn’t improve, customers would not be satisfied, and I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror anymore. It’d be an everyone-loses-situation.
Q: So, if you bash a product, they don’t hate you/try to draw away support?
A: Well, a few of them tried this over the years, yes. In fact, I lost a few “friendships” over bad reviews. I’d rather fade away and cancel this whole enterprise than be bought, though. As an aside: Due to the sheer amount of products out there, I’ve seen even bad reviews result in increased sales.
Q: Your review hurt my feelings.
A: I’m a actually sorry for the fact that you feel hurt by my criticism. No ad hominem is intended on my part. I am not sorry for my review, though – I stand behind it.
Q: I hate your guts and you probably can’t stand me either. Will that influence your review?
A: I try my utmost to remain neutral, so no. I’m pretty good at separating my own biases from my analysis and I have, time and again, rated the books of folks I HATE as persons highly; it is my conviction that the work should be judged, not the relationship or lack thereof with the author.
Q: Do you review books you worked on?
A: Kind of/not really. Due to the lack of good reviewers, I tend to write notes on my perspective of books I worked on. I do NOT, however, rate them. Think of them as rating-less summaries.
Q: How much reviews have you written?
A: Over 4000. No, I’m not kidding.
Q: What do you do with the patreon money?
A: I use it to pay for a part of my running costs, like gas, electricity, etc.
Q: Do you do Kickstarter shout-outs?
A: Yes, in irregular intervals, and only for projects I believe in.