Small complaint about the reviewers in the Reviews Section

[sds 0]

I've read quite a few reviews that leave me scratching my head. W/o singling anyone out, several times I have read something along the lines of, "I broke two sticks in a month. Durability: 7/10".

Don't be afraid to hand out a 1, 2, 3, or 4 if it fails to meet a certain standard!!!

That's it... but thank you for taking time to review - I wish there were more.

[mew1838 0]

Cause maybe those who don't like the product won't bother reviewing it?

[Chadd 916]

At the very least you are getting the breakage information and can assign your own value to that category. I think it's more important to review the products that you hate than the ones that you love.

[Cavs019 710]

I know in my case I do a fair amount of preliminary research before I make a purchase, and have rarely found a product I've been unhappy with in terms of quality. Once you get to the top tier of products, there is a negligible difference in quality between the big name companies and it all comes down to personal preference. (Excluding extreme cases: ie: G-Series outsoles) A skate not fitting me, or me not liking an entire stick due to the curve is not the manufacturers fault. And in the rare case I did not like a product, I most likely ditched it after about a week which for all intents and purposes is not nearly enough time to provide a sound assessment. :D

[Patrick67 1]

People are just more keen on reviewing a product they like.

"Whoa this stick is amazing!!!!!111 best shot ever!!!!"

[halfmoonyote 0]

I know in my case I do a fair amount of preliminary research before I make a purchase, and have rarely found a product I've been unhappy with in terms of quality.

Excellent point. If I zero my sights in on something, I'll research it for days and days before pulling the trigger on the purchase. It's actually annoying to me, but that's how neurotic I get. Having said that, rarely am I dissapointed with what I bought because of the extensive research I put into it. Of course there are always exceptions, but generally I'm pleased.

There are some decent reviews here, and they've certainly helped me out at times.

[Ogie Oglethorpe 14]

I think some of the younger posters are used to thinking about sticks in terms of weeks/months instead of months/seasons. Plus, if really young, someone is buying them for them so they don't think about the extreme cost in relation to how long they last.

Plus, there's the buyer's excitement / fending off remorse factor. They are excited about having a new "toy" and want to justify the large $$ they shelled out so everything gets high grades.

In addition, we all know that the fancy composites, for instance, are known for being made for performance not durability (not to mention they see pro's break a few during each game) so they think if it lasts a few months they got their money's worth. Back when I was younger and stronger mine woodies (keep that clean, folks) would only last a month tops. So, if an OPS lasted 3 months and cost less than $100 I got my money's worth (especially if I could saw the blade off and reuse as a shaft).

BUT, that doesn't excuse SDS' point as he's right on the money.

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

I would also like to see some mid-level gear reviews, for those of use who suck, but still like to play.

I use the Bauer Supreme 30 skates. I find them ideal to my level, but there are no reviews on them.I could do a review on them, but because of my level of play, I don't know how helpful it would be.

I can't see myself justifying a $500 pair of skates anytime in the next few years, so mid level gear reviews would really work for me, and others I'm sure

[hockeyherb 1]

There's no reason your review of the Supreme 30s wouldn't be helpful. Maybe just add some info at the front about what level you play. There are so many members on this site that I'm sure it will be helpful for some people and maybe will start the ball rolling of more people reviewing less than top tier gear.

[JR Boucicaut 3810]

Exactly right -

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

Well, with that in mind, maybe I will, however, the reviewing guidlines section redirects me back to the homepage here, is there another link with the guidelines for reviewing in them?

[JR Boucicaut 3810]

Follow the template from one of mine.

[ktang 34]

Most hockey equipment is expensive and has to last a long time, so I think that the reviewers spend enough time to ensure that they are getting the right products. So, then, all their scores would be high.

Also, there is "purchase justification reflex"; when someone makes an expensive, long-term purchase that might be a little extravagant, s/he tries to justify the purchase. The positive review is one way of doing this.

hockeymom is a marketing prof, so she could probably explain it better than I can.

So, to me the explanations are more important than the scores in the reviews, because I expect most of the scores to be high.

[TBLfan 25]

I have no problem saying I like or I don't like something. I think I'm the leader in the anti-XXXlite campaign.

[hockeymom 2]

Most hockey equipment is expensive and has to last a long time, so I think that the reviewers spend enough time to ensure that they are getting the right products. So, then, all their scores would be high.

Also, there is "purchase justification reflex"; when someone makes an expensive, long-term purchase that might be a little extravagant, s/he tries to justify the purchase. The positive review is one way of doing this.

hockeymom is a marketing prof, so she could probably explain it better than I can.

So, to me the explanations are more important than the scores in the reviews, because I expect most of the scores to be high.

ktang I think you did such a great job of explaining it there really isn't anything for me to add.

But let's look at how scores are defined. The issue with scores in any or the reviews on MSH (whether high or low) is they will ALL be very subjective. In order to make it objective we would have to work from a common set of criteria that each reviewer would use to measure/compare their experience with. I don't know how practical that would be.

For example - would it be possible to define durablity? Sticks would be the easiest - because they break or not within a certain timeline. Would that be 1 month or 6 for sticks? In that case, some of the top line sticks would be scoring very low on durabilty and the price point sticks would score higher.

But move onto something more difficult to define and setting criteria really falls apart. How do you determine/define performance? I suspect defining performance is a bit like nailing Jell-O to a wall.

AllSmoke: Go for it! Don't forget some of the people interested in considering/buying mid-level equipment are also playing at your level. It is peer-to-peer help; your experience is probably more relevant to them than you are giving yourself credit for.

[Alias81 0]

I think I'll give reviewing a crack soon, just for clarification though. If I was reviewing an OPS would it's rating be compared to all OPS or just OPS's in that price range or would it just be a simple rating compared to all sticks on the market (wood, 2 piece-combo OPS)?

[TBLfan 25]

I'd try to compare it to sticks in it's price range. But that can a little hard because honestly how many of us have used all top of the line sticks from NBH, THC, TPS, etc...