What is a Review?
JacksonEsskay
Virginia
A review, IMHO, is a lengthier analysis of the merit or lack thereof of a SC. I will be the first to concede that my first reviews were lacking in this area, but I've been trying to improve them. Here is what I would like to see in a "first visit review":
Start by being specific about when you went to the club; "Thursday night" does not tell me much, and "sometime last month" is even less helpful. Was it the dead of winter with six inches of snow, or was it a weekend night when the race was in town. If the club was dead on the former instance, I'm not surprised, if the latter, that tells me something.
Next, described the location -- is it safe, shady, etc. What's the parking lot like -- or is there none. Am I likely to find my car sitting on blocks when I leave the club. Include a description of the building and whether its easy to spot.
Entering the club: Is there a bouncer? Are you wanded? Do they check IDs? And a major one: Do they make you leave your cellphone in you car?
Cover: Be specific . . . is there a cover all the time or just in the evening? Id there a separate membership fee? And HOW MUCH? (I am constantly amazed at the number of reviews that say "I paid a cover . . . I think it was $7 or something -- Really? You cannot remember how much it was? Consider cutting back on the booze, my friend.)
Describe the interior -- be specific. Is it took dark, too bright, big, or small? What is the stage(s) like?Is there a bar and how big. Is the furniture nice or ratty? Are their private areas for LDs (and how private).
Describe the ambiance -- Is there a DJ or just a jukebox? Pool tables, darts, big screen TVs? What is the Bathroom like -- is it staffed? What kind of music do they play? What is the clientele like (cowboys, construction workers, frat boys, businessmen). Do thye serve food? What types of drinks are offered and at what cost.
Describe the number, variety and quality of the dancers. Describe the stage rotation.
Describe the availability of private dances, cost, frequency of 2-4-1 or specials. Do the dancers circulate or head to the bar or dressing room? Is it a hard sell for dances. What is the level of contact. What extras are offered.
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Dude, this is just a strip club board. Let's keep things in perspective and not get overly serious about the whole matter, kay?
Also, what Dougster is pointing out is that not everyone is interested in the level of detail you are suggesting be included in club reviews. Some readers just want to know which dancers do what, and for how much, and they're not concerned with ambiance, head counts, parking, etc.
When I first jointed TUSCL, I had the impression that Founder actually reads the reviews and would be looking for certain points to be covered. Obviously, that's not the case. Some very short reviews get posted.
"Under the Obama Administration people have grown so lazy and feel so entitled they aren't even putting effort into their strip club reviews! This is not the way America ought to be!"
Agreed. More than effort though, it requires that a visit actually takes place and that money is spent. Each club visit obviously has a cost associated with it, both in terms of $$$ and time. And, generally speaking, good intel from a club requires a decent $$$ and time investment.
I don't even want to think about how much time and money was spent in obtaining the information necessary to write the reviews that I've posted on here. LOL.
In all honesty, as much as I complain about the generally poor level of contributions to the knowledge base, I have to say that I probably don't give a shit about most of that information. Interior, ambiance, location, weather conditions, whether there is a bouncer, etc., have virtually no impact on my visit.
In fact, my main issue is that, all too often, bad reviews will be stuffed full of crap relating to interior, ambiance, location, door procedures, etc., all of which can be obtained through a 10 minute club pop-in, while skimming over the most important stuff: *Information about, and experiences with, the girls, including the pricing of interactions with them.*
What do the dancers look like? How "friendly' are they? How many are there vs. the customers (dancer demand and availability)? What happens there (generally speaking)? How private is it? What are the costs of an LD/VIP/CR? What were your specific experiences with these things or, if you opted not to do a LD/VIP, why not?
Armed with that type of information, one can think about possible ROI and plan accordingly. In my humble opinion, most of that other stuff is just filler, though there may be certain other data points that stand out enough to warrant a mention (very unsafe area, great or horrible club conditions, etc.) I will also agree that other cost information, including cover, drink prices and "dancer" drink prices can also be useful in planning.
Anyway, just my two cents on this.
I like the idea of a template-based review -- even if many posters would leave most of the boxes blank.
I don't know if it's still posted here, but founder did once have a suggested format for reviews. Your suggestions are similar but much more in depth.
Having said that, I don't put a lot of stock in reviews because there isn't a standardized rating system. How often have I seen someone write, "I don't like the club and doubt I'll be back" but give it a 9 score. And few things are as irritating as reading "extras were not available but I left happy".
https://www.tuscl.net/postread.php?PID=6…
I shall not condone plagerisim, but I personally like the template peter's tips uses for his blog...
http://petertips.blogspot.com/
In a nutshell:
- Dances
- Dancers
- value
- setup
- accessibility / location
- overall
The problem with the original guidlies is that they are not readily obvious on the review submission page. A more template format would guide users into putting things down for specific categories of details.
One idea: require something for dances, dancers, & value. Let others (setup, location) be optional.
From a CMS point of view... I don't think it would be that hard to a series of boxes for each category on the review page, and then combine the info in each box into one text block as it is now with header word(s) between each section.
#38- Do the urinals have a divider or not?
#39- Do the crappers have a door ?
Seriously dude, one could only hit half the items on your list, yet still effectively answer the question whether one should go out of their way to visit club, or pointedly avoid it. Plus provide some amusement/entertainment to boot.
On another recent thread of yours- I don't feel the need to categorize and sub-divided Tuscl any further. This is a stripclub review site, not a county disaster response manual, or an operating manual for a 747.
Until several months ago, there was a discussion section for the individual clubs- a neat feature, but not a dealbreaker, IMHO. I personally don't find it too difficult to scroll.
https://www.tuscl.net/rev.php?M=C&RID=15…