Reviews Too Hard To Read?

Postby **VideoGameCritic** » February 13th, 2015, 6:16 pm

I got some interesting feedback from a friend about my site. He pointed out that some reviews (especially new ones) tend to have a "wall of text" appearance that scares people off. It's just plain hard to read.

In the past people have suggested breaking the reviews up into several paragraphs, but when I tried that, it just didn't look right. At the heart of the problem is that my reviews are getting too long. The original intent of the site was short, concise reviews.

This isn't the first time I've heard this complaint, but this is the first time someone has suggested a workable solution. What I'm going to do is only have the first few lines of the review visible (probably down to the lower edge of the image). Under that will be a READ MORE link that you can click to reveal the rest of the review. This gives the appearance of shorter, more manageable reviews. Plus, I think they will be a little easier to read and peruse.

What do you think? I've already starting coding this and I expect it will be ready by next week.

Postby **VideoGameCritic** » February 13th, 2015, 6:37 pm

Okay I put together a little demo link so you can all see what I'm talking about.

After you click on the link scroll down to the Burning Soldier review. In addition to adding the "Read More" link, I also spaced the text out a little bit. Does that help too?

HardcoreSadism1 · Postby **HardcoreSadism1** » February 13th, 2015, 6:47 pm

Try putting text into a 'click to view' scroll, so there's just pictures showing instead of text in default.

Vexer1 · Postby **Vexer1** » February 13th, 2015, 7:02 pm

Personally I prefer longer reviews that go in-depth about the game, the idea sounds fine though.

VicViper1 · Postby **VicViper1** » February 13th, 2015, 7:17 pm

All I've got here, is still a one paragraph long review, and as for the Burning Soldier review, I see nothing except the "Read More" link ; it's completely empty.

Oh, but I just saw while writing this message that it's much better now. It's working properly.

Honestly though, I have zero problem about the "wall of text" appearance, especially since they are not really that big.

FinalLapTwinkie1 · Postby **FinalLapTwinkie1** » February 13th, 2015, 7:41 pm

I prefer the longer reviews as well. I also enjoy seeing writing in print but maybe others are uncomfortable with all the reading. If that is the case maybe the VGC should just make videos for each game instead.

Rev1 · Postby **Rev1** » February 13th, 2015, 10:02 pm

I don't think he's saying that he needs to shorten his reviews... He's just stating that there has to be a way so the pages with the reviews on them look more condensed. I think the solution is a solid compromise. Please don't shorten your reviews. I think the length is perfect. I like the link though. I'm honestly fine either way.

LS6501 · Postby **LS6501** » February 14th, 2015, 2:51 pm

I do find the edited version to be slightly easier to read. Keep all the detail (I think your quick reviews are already just the right level of detail) but wider line spacing does help a bit.

Postby **VideoGameCritic** » February 14th, 2015, 6:39 pm

Okay pretty good feedback so far. Looks like people appreciate the current level of detail and don't want me to shorten my reviews.

I updated that 3do demo link so there is less space between the lines (see Burning Soldier review). I think this is probably the idea line height, so I will go with this.

Sounds like people are okay with the Read More idea so I will do with that. I think it will be especially useful with the newer systems that tend to have longer reviews.

Postby **VideoGameCritic** » February 15th, 2015, 7:12 pm

The deed is done! Now the review text has more room between the lines and the longer reviews have a read more link you can click to reveal the rest of the text.

Hopefully I didn't break anything. Let me know what you think.

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