Feedback Issue 93

[CraigGrannell]

Oh, apart from at least one use of "could of" instead of "could've".....that always riles me up, as could of makes no sense at all.....

Glurk. TIme to slap a sub-editor.

[Jet Pilot]

In 2011, people still want a letters page?

You'd be surprised. In mag polls and surveys, letters pages come up very highly regarded; also, they are still a good way of encouraging feedback (which, at the best of times, is often hard to come by). Forums are fine, but the vast majority of any magazine's readership—even for technically oriented magazines—isn't on the forum.

Then why was it reduced? I'm a little late to this thread, but I liked the "old" letters page. I wish Retro Gamer hadn't cut it down to just two pages as the letters were fun to read. The people that dislike the letters page can go enjoy the other 110 pages in the magazine.

* Future Classics - I'm one of the seemingly great number of readers who thinks this series is a waste of time

Then skip it. It's 2 pages. I think the series is a great way to get some more recent retro games into the magazine that deserve coverage. Just because a game came on a disc instead of a tape doesn't mean it should be forever ignored.

[CraigGrannell]

Then why was it reduced?

Probably because so many people here were banging on about how much they hated it and how pointless it was. See also: iOS reviews.

[Jet Pilot]

Then why was it reduced?

Probably because so many people here were banging on about how much they hated it and how pointless it was. See also: iOS reviews.

What percentage of the readership is represented here on these boards? Then reduce that to the percentage of people here that were actually complaining. Like most things, I suspect that only a vocal minority was complaining about the letters section. Meanwhile the rest of us are wondering where our letters went.

[Rory Milne]

why was it reduced? I'm a little late to this thread

These two posts should get you up to speed without having to read through the entire thread.

Because forum members were saying it was a waste of space, so we cut it down.

when we get more interesting letters we'll expand it.

So you're a shoe-in if you have a great letter you've been putting off sending in.

What percentage of the readership is represented here on these boards?

I often wondered that in the past, but then it occurred to me that it would be more useful to know how representative the views on the forum are of the wider readership. Granted, not an easy thing to quantify. In theory, if gauging the majority forum opinion and acting on it consistantly improves sales, then it could be argued that the forum majority somewhat reflects the majority of readers as a whole. The only provisos would be getting a large enough sample of opinions and reacting quickly as opinion changes - example: iOS reviews.

* Future Classics - I'm one of the seemingly great number of readers who thinks this series is a waste of time

I think the series is a great way to get some more recent retro games into the magazine that deserve coverage.

Future Classics may be a good case of forum majority opinion leading to a change in the magazine's content. Before Future Classics existed, there was a poll where the idea for it was voted for by a majority, it then appeared in the mag shortly after. I assume it helped sales, as it's still here over a year later, and I assume that wouldn't be the case if a majority of the wider readership hated it, and stopped buying RG over the heads of it.

Not very scientific I realise, it's based on assumptions after all, but in the absense of a Nielsen ratings type system in place, forum opinion, fickle though it may be, might well be a little more useful than it's typically given credit for.

[Antiriad2097]

Perhaps forum polls on 'do you like/dislike this feature...' should be promoted in the mag? It may draw more people to the forum to give an opinion either way so you'd get a more representative view.

Personally I like the Future Classics articles. I don't always agree with what they say but the concept is sound and its good to have these potentially interesting games brought to the fore while they're still relatively easy to obtain.

[Jet Pilot]

These two posts should get you up to speed without having to read through the entire thread.

Because forum members were saying it was a waste of space, so we cut it down.

when we get more interesting letters we'll expand it.

Some forum readers did complain about it. I read that thread a while back as well. However I don't believe that a few complainers warrant reducing an already small section of the magazine to something even smaller. After all, people complain about every section of the magazine because everyone has different tastes.

I actually did read the entire thread. I doubt that the flow of letters just happened to stop -- after 92 issues worth of letters -- at the same time someone on here complained about the letters section.

Thanks for the reply.

[RichL]

I dont recall seeing posts asking for the letters pages to be made smaller or less pages. I guess as I dont read every thread and every post but a lot of people have been complaining?

I would rather have it back to the size it was.

Maybe do a poll once and for all?

[TMR]

Of course, the other problem is the lack of letters... of course you could all write in to complain and solve that problem at the same time? =-)

[Rory Milne]

These two posts should get you up to speed without having to read through the entire thread.

Because forum members were saying it was a waste of space, so we cut it down.

when we get more interesting letters we'll expand it.

I actually did read the entire thread. I doubt that the flow of letters just happened to stop -- after 92 issues worth of letters -- at the same time someone on here complained about the letters section.

To be fair, all I know for sure is what Darran said earlier in this thread, i.e. that he isn't getting a great number of interesting letters at the moment. The flow of boring letters, however, is anyone's guess.

Thanks for the reply.

No problem, I don't know why the late posts made about each issue sometimes don't get much of a response.

[Rory Milne]

Of course, the other problem is the lack of letters... of course you could all write in to complain and solve that problem at the same time? =-)

You know full well that's only funny because it's true!

[HalcyonDaze00]

Future Classics is a great idea, the problem is that the games chosen are fcuking sh1t. I will gorge on my own innards if most of the games chosen so far are ever rated as "classics"

[Jet Pilot]

Future Classics is a great idea, the problem is that the games chosen are fcuking sh1t. I will gorge on my own innards if most of the games chosen so far are ever rated as "classics"

You'd better get a bib ready!

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

Future Classics is a great idea, the problem is that the games chosen are fcuking sh1t. I will gorge on my own innards if most of the games chosen so far are ever rated as "classics"

We'll see

[slacey1070]

Future Classics is a great idea, the problem is that the games chosen are fcuking sh1t. I will gorge on my own innards if most of the games chosen so far are ever rated as "classics"

Not against future classics as such, but, yes, not great games and the design of the page is . . "grubby"... just not nice to look at. Not a problem, as I usually skip it.

Letters . . glad its been reduced. I think I've read about 2 interesting letters in the mag since I started buying it. I still skim them . . . the supposed "funny" letters were embarrassing (but acknowledge some may have experience localised dampness over them . . )