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    Difficulty of reviewing sites

    Hiya

    This is an e I sent to the boss of the excellent review site, http://www.x3guide.com, asking for some special consideration. Thought I should keep you guys appraised. img tag disable, use attachment mgr/system to add images to postshttp://www.abbywinters.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif

    a


    Hiya Swede

    >Sure, I'd be happy to correct anything in the original review, we want
    >them to be 100% accurate. img tag disable, use attachment mgr/system to add images to postshttp://www.abbywinters.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif Just mail me any details.

    ok, lessee:

    - more than "a few ladies" feature in videos - 30 do
    - updates are four times a week
    - 300 - 350 new pics added a week

    IrbLasons' comments on "sharpness" are dumb and inaccurate (also personally offensive to me, but hey it's a free world) - don't suppose you'd care to remove them, and improve "sharpness" score a bit?

    Honestly, the posing of my models is not THAT different to any other site, and being amateurs off the street, a bit of apprehensiveness is natural. What do you prefer, a slutty bimbo licking her collagen-injected lips like street whore, or a natural, honest gal off the street giving a big, silly (albeit nervous) grin?

    Either way, I don't think it's fair to mark me DOWN for it.

    But hey, it's your review site! You do what you want! img tag disable, use attachment mgr/system to add images to postshttp://www.abbywinters.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif

    >Yup, we're aware of the lack of amateur sites in the gold ratings, and
    >the whole review database is slightly..uhm.. unbalanced, we're trying
    >to sort out something... I'm sure you will get your gold rating from us
    >in the future. img tag disable, use attachment mgr/system to add images to postshttp://www.abbywinters.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif

    Well, I look forward to that!

    Hate to harp on it, but I had a look through the top 18 sites (gold rated), and they do seem to have a lot in common. Mostly, no _soul_. They have the slick feel of money-making exercises, not run by people who care about the content or their customers. There are a few exceptions, but not many.

    I reckon that counts for a lot, and at least warrants a mention in your review of my site (as well as others - simonscans for example). Most of my customers count the time and effort I put into the site - making it personal, replying to ppl's posts on the boards personally, etc - adds a lot of value to the site.

    People love the idea of being able to hear stories about shoots and models, being able to suggest poses, shoot ideas, video ideas. Tried asking Suze Randall, SJH, et al, about their work practises? From what I hear, you'd be lucky to receive a response from a lackey about an incorrect denied access error, let alone a discussion of artistic merit - and let alone offer a suggestion for a _pose_.

    Sure, the fact I make time to spend on that does not make my site "better", but I think that, in combination with other attribs, it's worth something.

    Of course, of the 18 sites, 12 of them deal with pro models mostly or only, and they pretty much all have models who are glitzy, heaps of makeups, high heels, oil, fake tits, big hair, high heels. If you prefer that kinda look, that's cool (tho I personally cannot STAND it, which is why I started my own site), but if your reviews REALLY are as unbiased as you claim them to be on your front page, this "gold" list might warrant some changing (yes, as you say, you're working on it!).

    >The sites that have the gold now got heaps of
    >exclusive, quality content, hours & hours of video, etc. Most of them
    >cost alot more than your $15 for a month though. Will see what we can
    >come up with here.

    Now, obviously I am biased, but I feel duty-bound to point out that we have several hours of video on the site (presented as two to five short clips of 30 models), content that you agree is "quality" (and really, _is_), and is pretty much 100% exclusive (unlike a lot of the current "gold" rated sites) - and there is heaps of it.

    Another thing that bugs me - perhaps it should not, but... - is how plenty of those sites get the same models back to do the same kinda shoots over and over and over again (not to mention a pet hate of mine, sites devoted to one model! yuk!). Come ON! ANYONE can get the same damn models back to do the same stuff over and over - especially if they are pro models. That's boring and easy and makes for horribly predictable content.

    I work my GUTS out to get new models every single day, and don't get a lot of credit for it from review sites (nor do any sites that work hard at creating original content) - But ppl really appreciate it (well, they seem to, from the e's I get). Plenty of clever models hit every shooter on the west and east coasts - it's not coincidence that the same models show up in each of the mags AND the websites within months of eachother. You give a site "gold" for that?

    Your "original" rating applies here somewhat, but I suggest you have 10 points of that for if the models are really _original_, unseen before (which is what most ppl want to see, unless the goal of the site is to cater to porn "stars"), and 10 points for assessing if the work is actually _exclusive_ to the site in question.

    I dunno. I agree - it's hard to get a system in place with one person doing the reviews. With more people, it becomes much harder. FWIW, I reckon your sites does it a helluva lot better than JanesGuide (your only real competition) - more reliably, more comprehensive. The ppl at JG are obviously sick of it all, they do things by rote now. I hope that when you get that jaded, you move on to a new career, not act interested and do a bad job!


    Ok, so I have given you a piece of my mind, as my gamma (bless 'er) used to say. I hope I have not offended you, or pissed you off. I think your site is great, and the work you do, excellent.

    Look forward to hearing from you soon!

    Abby
    www.abbywinters.com

    #2
    Go get 'em, Abby!

    I think the idea of an "unbiased" review site is not possible. I think they mean that sites don't pay for reviews. Do they pay for their own memberships, or did they contact you and ask for a free pass to do a review?

    Everyone has biases, "preferences" to use a less loaded word. If we did not, our choices would be random and that's meaningless. The X3Guide folks prefer glossy sites with lots of pro models - that's counts as a bias, I think. It's no bad thing as long as it is declared. In the case of X3Guide, a few minutes perusing their highest rated sites show those preferences.

    The good thing is they recognize the skew towards the mega-sites and are trying to compensate.

    If they gave points for the dedication of the site owner, then aw.com would have to be Gold+.

    Comment


      #3
      Hiya

      Thanks, Artful. Got a response back:


      Hi Abby, thanks for the long email. I will edit the review of your site
      again later today with the info you provided.

      I agree with nearly everything you said, we appreciate the criticism.
      Sites that have all-exclusive content should still only get the
      20/20 'originality' marks if they have girls (or guys) that can't be
      seen anywhere else, and keep coming up with new ones. Site ratings
      (gold, silver) is the thing we spend most of our time arguing about
      over here. There are a few of the "golds" that are rated a little too
      high in my opinion, I would rather award a site such as yours a gold
      rating than the slick corporate porn ones where often the same poses
      are repeated over and over, etc. Anyway, there'll be many changes made
      on our site in the future.

      In my last email, with the "sites that have the gold now got heaps of
      exclusive, quality content, hours & hours of video, etc" remark, I
      didn't mean to say yours was anything less than top quality.

      Also, like you said, the fact that abbywinters members can leave all
      kinds of suggestions and actually see them fulfilled, deserves to be
      made more apparent in the review. It's hard to get all these reviews as
      detailed as we'd like, since we're aiming to cover each and every site
      that our visitors request info on (and eventually all the paysites).
      Perhaps we've bit off more than we can chew, or however that saying
      goes. img tag disable, use attachment mgr/system to add images to postshttp://www.abbywinters.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif

      I am not happy about Irb's comment on sharpness either, and in
      particular his suggestion to check out J. Stephen Hicks photo tips. I
      would rather not remove it completely however, as members of your site
      have already added comments on this bit. I upped the sharpness rating
      from 6 to 7 when I added some points yesterday, I believe it said 4 in
      the original review from 8 months ago.

      With janesguide it seems as if site owners often trade a review without
      a negative word and an "original, quality" button in exchange for a
      janesguide link on their front pages. I have made attempts to contact
      their good writers but I think they might be blocking mails from
      x3guide, hehe.

      Regards,

      Swede

      Comment


        #4
        In reading what was posted before this I can only say that I missed the Review but it sounds like it was biased on just one mans thinking. The reason that I am here trying your site is because being an ex photographer myself I like clear sharp pictures and interesting posing. Not just the same thing over and over again.I like the naturelnes of the models and the fact that they look like you just found them in a Mall or on the way home from work or school.I know how much work and effort goes into finding models that arn't really models at all.You have a great looking site and you will attain all the ratings and rankings soon enough. It just rankles a lot of Pro photographers that you are as young as you are and have put together so much and taken the time to study what it is that the your members are really looking for.
        Your doing just fine keep up the good work.
        Celtic

        Comment

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