What are we going to do with Places?

Wow! That’s huge and rapid. Ranking places might help boost ratings. A lot of work for an experiment though.

Do you expect to allow new places to be added, and updated?

 

This makes good sense. After all the beer is generally the real attraction.

I have been to many remote places where the quality of the place was remarkably better than expectations. So... Maybe, instead of collecting user ratings just an option for user comments. Still your point about not being Yelp raises concerns for how a simple comments field can be misused.

 

As someone who uses the Places section and the reviews, I would ask that if the Place Ratings were scrapped, that we still have the ability to give a review and maybe a check-in feature. Places and the Forums are the main reasons I like BA over Untappd.

 

I'd suggest leaving the current process for Places but eliminate the rating, and instead allow a check-in feature. This way, you can track places you have been to, and even leave a review if you want. But it would scrap the perhaps antiquated and underutilized rating system for Places.

 

It seems like maybe having place ratings/reviews only for breweries/tasting rooms and creating a top 250 breweries list might streamline things and gin up some interest for the places tab. In my experience there are some areas where the places list is super useful but for the most part I find just posting in the appropriate regional forum to be a better way to get an accurate and current read on where the good bars/stores are in an area

 

I have noticed the same thing about the places section... when I do open that up to look for new locations or get info about a city, all of the information is always a couple of years old.

 

Reviewing places is difficult, since two of the categories are open to interpretation and personal preference. Vibe and Quality can both vary widely depending on the person. Quality leaves a lot of room for interpretation too. What is quality? Perhaps fine craftsmanship went into the bar top (i.e. quality), but the experience wasn't quality.

Vibe is important too, but is too subjective. For this reason, I spend nearly 3/4 of all my place reviews describing the vibe so users can determine if this does or does not work for them. I can see why others would shy away from this question.

I'd love to see place reviews stay, but simplify them. Perhaps just: Selection & Service.

Lastly, allowing instant review of a place after adding may be helpful. The place could still be verified by site staff before the posting goes live, but it allows the user to share his/her thoughts on the establishment without having to periodically check on the status of the place approval. I tend to use my business trips to find and try new places. My intent is always to review them, at least for my own memory's sake, but with the delay process in adding a place - that habit has fallen away. It may take several weeks before a place gets approved and now I have to review via notes/memory. It makes me wonder if there are others skipping adding places for the same reason.

Beer reviews are definitely the focal point, but I think the places section of Beer Advocate sets it apart from other beer and review sites. I don't care what a random user on Google/Yelp has to say about a beer place - I want to know what a beer-centric forum member has to say.

 

I enjoy the place reviews and use this section whenever I travel. I would hate to see it gone.

 

I still try and keep my neck of the woods updated when new breweries open up, and use places as a tool when I visit areas I am less familiar. As for the actual reviews, I guess I might skim over them, but I doubt many of them actually get read.

 

I travel a ton for work, and use the Places and the local forums for recon. Not only do I read place reviews, I try to leave a quick review myself on the Places to play it forward. Without the BA resources for where to go, I'd have missed a bunch of great beer spots.

 

The Places section is one of the most useful resources on BA, despite it's minor flaws. Updating and integrating the Nearby function would improve usage for sure. Gearing it more towards travel, adding a radius function and a check-in option would also be useful upgrades.

 

I agree with this. I find Places very useful when traveling. I try to add/review as many as i can. I always search breweries and stores closet to the hotel,and decide from written reviews as to what is of interest Written reviews are the best as what is one person 's like is not necessarily an others. .

 

I use Places, and add when I can. I have a backlog of ratings and reviews to post. Knowing this might make an impact will motivate me! While they’re useful when I’m local I especially value the places reviews when traveling or planning to travel ... or daydreaming about traveling!

 

Thanks, I know it's dated but is still useful for seeking out top beer stores when traveling.