Review Standards
rickdugan
Verified and Certifiable Super-Reviewer
For the most part, I think that the reviews are better here than anywhere else, but of course some obvious shill reviews do slip through. I think that the flag feature was a great addition and is hopefully helping with this issue. One thing, however, that continues to irk me are the "drive-by" reviews, including some posted by some people with fairly serious review counts.
So-called "drive-by" reviews are those that provide very little information about the club, girls or visit in general and are usually no longer than a single paragraph. When I see these types of reviews, it is usually pretty clear that the reviewer either (1) was not in the club very long and is probably posting primarily to keep VIP status; or (2) just too lazy to give a proper review.
Maybe I am a bit of an idealist, but if I cannot give a fairly full review of a club then I do not bother. As an example, during my last trip to Atlanta I visited Follies but, since I was only in there for an hour and only talked with one girl, did not review the club as I simply did not have enough intel to provide a good information. Now I am not saying that every review that I post is spectacular, but I do try to maintain a certain minimum standard and if I am not in the club for at least a couple of hours, with interactions with at least a few girls, then I do not believe that I have enough material to do a proper job of it.
Over time I have learned to skim by the obvious crap reviews, but I tend to stop when I see reviewers with decent review counts. Unfortunately, some of those reviewers with decent counts have accumulated those numbers by posting a series of junkie reviews that provide little substance.
So-called "drive-by" reviews are those that provide very little information about the club, girls or visit in general and are usually no longer than a single paragraph. When I see these types of reviews, it is usually pretty clear that the reviewer either (1) was not in the club very long and is probably posting primarily to keep VIP status; or (2) just too lazy to give a proper review.
Maybe I am a bit of an idealist, but if I cannot give a fairly full review of a club then I do not bother. As an example, during my last trip to Atlanta I visited Follies but, since I was only in there for an hour and only talked with one girl, did not review the club as I simply did not have enough intel to provide a good information. Now I am not saying that every review that I post is spectacular, but I do try to maintain a certain minimum standard and if I am not in the club for at least a couple of hours, with interactions with at least a few girls, then I do not believe that I have enough material to do a proper job of it.
Over time I have learned to skim by the obvious crap reviews, but I tend to stop when I see reviewers with decent review counts. Unfortunately, some of those reviewers with decent counts have accumulated those numbers by posting a series of junkie reviews that provide little substance.
32 comments
Many of the possible solutions discussed on this site have much the same flaw that the review system itself does, i.e. subjectivity. The thumbs up/down, helpful/unhelpful, etc indicators depend on readers, and are likely ripe for abuse as well, absent, again, much work on Founder's part to prevent.
One thing I do think has the potential to mitigate the situation is the club discussion boards, though that too suffers from a high degree of subjectivity. To *really* be effective, though, I think there would need to be a system in place to notify "subscribers" of discussions that a new post has been posted. Again, though, a system that keeps track of what I'm interested in and notifies me of changes to *only* those things is going to entail much more work on Founder's part to make it worthwhile.
TUSCL's success in this regard may be it's own worst enemy.
where is "everywhere else" what other site provides reviews?
I rewrote my review of that club and it was accepted the second time I posted it.
Physical Club: Bars, Stages, Chairs, VIP rooms, Sound System, Bouncers/Floaters?
Dancer Quality: Girl Types (College, MILF, BBW, Latina/Asian, etc.), Girl number, atmosphere (chit-chat relaxed, dance/$-hungry pressure, girls smoke/drunk)?
Value: Cover Charge, Drinks/Food, VIP Charges, Customer Service, Mileage?
I think the editors are doing a pretty good job, but there will always be exceptions...
Yeah, I don't disagree with you either. Especally in my earlier reviews, I tried to follow Founder's review template, but once you've written 4,5,6 reviews for the same club, what more is there to say without repeating yourself? The drive-by reviews to gain VIP time is going to happen. Do you want the policy to change? How many of us want to start paying $29.95 a month to access this site? I get your point, so I'm going to try and be more diligent.
On the other hand, when posters do expand on reviews, such as talking about the features of the club, or ease of parking, or security, some jaded regulars are critical and say, fuck that, just tell me about the extras. So what you gonna do?
Ok farmerart, it's your turn for some philosophical take on this..."While staring at the Aurora Borealis this evening..."
In all honesty, a review that stated " I dropped in on a Tuesday afternoon, club had 4 fugly dancers, lame stageshows, and indifferent beverage service, so I left after 20 minutes" to be more useful to me than a "Dear Penthouse" genre detailing a night visitors VIP session with ONE dancer if I were from out of town considering an afternoon visit before catching flight home.
I can say that I've flagged reviews and, prior to flag feature, pm'ed founder about suspect reviews. In almost every case, founder took appropriate action.
minnow sums up what I look for in a review (and I do use them). What’s the club like and should I give it a shot? Any review that can do that is OK with me. Unfortunately, *many* reviews don’t answer those questions. TUSCL is still a great resource never the less. Also agree that flagging is having a positive effect.
The ones I can't stand are strippers or ex-employees that are trying to burn a club that fired them or whatever.
Recently I discovered they have changed the wristband price so feel a need to update the reduction but I'm not sure how to handle the rest of the detail people need/want. As a regular I may only get dances from established dancers and YMMV my experience is now where near the what an out traveler may get.
Perhaps the wisdom of my tuscl posts is the best that I can do. Just as Aurora Borealis does not appear every evening the perfect tuscl review appears only infrequently. All we can do is watch and read and when those few gem reviews appear we must clasp them to our bosoms, savour them, learn from them, and then go forth and try to emulate them.
@ harrydave: I have never seen the Aurora Borealis at this time of year - a winter time phenomenon only in my experience.
I can agree with you on the reviews and am guilty of it. The way I read reviews is to go back and get a "handle" on the club. Then the others just supplement that, and if something changes, hopefully that is noted. I don't need every review going over the club location, layout, cost, etc. But that is me.
I also think that the editors are doing a good job overall. There is only so much that they can exclude. If they start using too heavy a hand then far less people will post reviews, so a balance is necessary.
I am just particularly disappointed with some of the heavier weights that post junkie reviews. They, of all people, should be seasoned enough to know that a rehashing of pricing structures and details regarding the girls and atmosphere are always useful, even if they just confirm already understood intel.
He gave almost no details and the couple of data points he did provide could very easily have been picked up rom other reviewers. In fact, I seriously doubt he was in the club at all.
SCANDALS (Long Island City, NY)
domiandray
Member Since
December 2007
Last Seen
August 2011
Reviews: 39
Clubs: 24
November 17, 2010
Visited on: Friday Afternoon • Dancers on Shift: 11-25
Ratings: Physical Club: 8 • Dancer Quality: 8 • Dollar Value: 9 • Overall Rating: 8.33 / 10
I used to go this place when it was on greenpoint ave but that was over a decade ago. now located in the queens plaza section it's more easy to get to by subway as the trains are only like a block or two away.
but in on a friday afternoon. nice couches with small tables. drinks are reasonable. no cover. lots of girls - mostly latin and euro. you should find someone you like to bring back for laps, which i think you'll more than like. i don't know how this place is at nights but for the time being i'm sticking with the noon shifts.
Now for a newbie seeing it and not willing to check other reviews, well...