I would like to have a discussion on the new visits function in the Beerfly/Places sections. I know Todd has a thread about this in the other forum. So my apology if this should be posted there. I wanted to get opinions on this specifically from the Southwest forum though. I have already noticed there is a lot more activity for Houston than ever before. I have not payed that much attention to the other major cities. Though overall do people think being able to just give a place a rating with no review is beneficial, and does it give people more incentive to use beerfly? Personally I have always thought beerfly was the best and most usefull part about this site. I also dont think this new feature does a lot. Specifically for place reviews I get nothing out of a rating with no review. People don't have to write as much as I do. Just a paragraph or two is not hard to write though. On the other hand if a rating gets someones attention it can't be all bad. Also if it gets places like BRC, and hopefully soon Cottonwood and D&T on the front of the Houston guide it can't be all bad. Or do people here just don't care? Sorry about typos. Typing this on an iPod
I actually use the "places" section quite a bit but have never reviewed because I'm too lazy. I like the new feature because its something in addition to what was already there. Just like I never used to review beers, this gives me an opportunity to keep track of places I've been and gives others a vague idea whether its worth visiting or not. I'm sure it will be like the beers, you will get more quick numerical reviews instead of written reviews but its better IMO because you get more opinions. The people who normally write their reviews will most likely still write them, now you'll have more people contributing which is more important IMO.
I don't like the fact that you can review places and beers without writting something. Just because someone thinks a beer is 4/5 doesn't mean I'm going to like it. I actually read reviews to get an idea of places and beers before I buy them or go there. That's what got me into this site originally, the lengthy reviews. I use the places feature whenever I travel and the beer review feature when I'm looking to buy an expensive beer I've never heard of before. I think that being able to rate without reviewing can lead to inflation because it's easier to just put 4/5 then actually write a review. To answer one of the OPs questions, no the SW forum doesn't review. The SW forum is mostly used for finding beers.
I do wish they would allow us to give a beer a 3.8,3.9 etc because sometimes I do have to inflate or deflate a beer which is tough to do but I use the overall score as the best indicator. Don't take this personally but I can't stand most of the reviews. Many, not all, almost seem like a joke with all the bullshit adjectives they use. I don't get anything from someone describing a beer as "toffee covered fudge filled deep fried ice cream with a touch of Olde English and Liquid Gold" or whatever other crap they come up with. If anything, I read the reviews for entertainment.
There are certainly bs reviews out there. That is another reason I like to have a review to read. I can make the decision for myself if it is real, just someone ranting, or if it is clearly fake. You can't tell that if they don't write anything.
Don't tell me you've never had a beer that tasted like toffee covered fudge deep fried ice-cream, that tiptoe over you palet like a minature ballerina.
