WoW Reviews - What to Look For in an Honest Warcraft Guide Review
WoW reviews are all over the place. How do you separate the hyped ones trying to make a sale from ones that are giving you an honest evaluation of a Warcraft guide? Well, there are a couple of things you need to look for in order to really find those golden reviews. Let's do a quick overview of the necessary criteria for a good WoW guide review.
Length is a good indicator of a good review. Look for at least 450 words of information. This number provides what i consider a bare minimum of words that would give good information about the guide. At a minimum of 450 words you know that they at least have a good feel for the guide and can provide enough information to let you peek under the cover so that you make a wise choice. Less than this and it's just not a thorough review.
A good WoW review has a list that tells you the number of guides or manuals that come with the package. If they don't tell you this then you should look at it with some skepticism. WoW reviews should have a list because it tells you that they own the guide or else they wouldn't know the number. This is really important because I rarely see reviews that tell you the number of manuals that come with the guide. Most WoW reviews worth their salt have this information either as a list or in the body of the article.
WoW reviews tend to be hype machines so if your reading a purported review and it sounds like the WoW guide is the greatest thing since sliced bread or the invention of the wheel then steer clear. A reviewer can be excited about a guide without pushing it like a used car salesman. Take a look at these two WoW reviews that I wrote so you get an idea of what a non-hype review is.
Warcraft Tycoon's Handbook Review: 742 words
WoW Quest Helper - Dugi's Ultimate WoW Guide Review: also 742 words
My Warcraft Tycoon review was critical about the guide because I thought it skimped out on information while my review of Dugi's Ultimate WoW Guide was positive without the hype. In my humble opinion that's how a sincere WoW guide analysis should more or less look like. It should provide an honest look at the guide, and even if you love it, like I love Dugi's guide, it should not come out as hyped fluff.
WoW reviews needn't be hyped ads, let's hope future reviewers take a more critical approach.