[Lejanius]

Originally Posted by C.W.Richeson

You seem to already have a very strong opinion of the matter, Lejanius, but assuming good faith on your part I thought I'd take a crack at your question as it's one I've addressed several times in the past.

It may be that there are aspects of an RPG that are completely reviewable whether or not a person plays the game, even outside of the rules. Many products, for example, are focused on metaplot, story hooks, or other support material and require no actual play to write a fine review of.

Of those products that contain a great deal of rules I believe it comes down to whether or not the reviewer can take the time to understand those rules. At a minimum building a few characters and walking through a few conflicts allows the reviewer to understand how the rules will perform at a basic level in play. I don't think anyone would ever claim that a capsule review will reach the level of mechanical appreciation that a thorough play review will, though it's worth considering that many folk who play a game may never actually have the mechanics down as well as they should.

In summary, if you assume good faith on the reviewers part then I think the review is perfectly useful since it's clearly marked as a non-play review. Anyone looking for a review of the game sees that information going in, takes it with a grain of salt, and decides for themselves whether or not the review is useful.

A point I'd like to present to you about capsule reviews generally, though, is that but for capsule reviews we'd have a whole lot fewer game reviews. Frankly, there are some games that would never see review because they just aren't played enough to result in reviews. Maybe there's still something worthwhile in the review and discussion of the review for those considering a game.

I hope that helps.

Good points, I care not if the reviewer likes the game or not, that is his choice and not all games suit everyone, I just find it hard to form a solid opinion without seeing the game in practice as all