Is TUSCL getting past it's prime?
AZFourTwenty
Arizona
Before I joined TUSCL I was a lurker on the site. The discussions at the time were so lame I didn't think it worthwhile to join VIP. I finally joined because I am soon to embark on the first of several road trips to visit friends and strip clubs. In planning on which clubs to visit, I was able to use the reviews to get a good idea of the clubs I would want to visit. The reviews came in all sizes and shapes, but being a reasonably intelligent person I was able to sort thru the chafe.
Now that the review Nazi's appear to be taking over reviews to standardize them to their likes. I now see more reviews that regurgitate prices but don't give a feel for the ambience. I prefer the ambience, not the regurgitation. Reviewers come from widely varied socio-economic backgrounds with many different perspectives. Trying to standardize reviews will only result in less colorful reviews IMO.
The Nazi's have just commented that my reviews are borderline and some they wouldn't have approved.. I like my reviews, others must have too as they were approved.
At the end the month I will take my first trip. I am going to enjoy my strip club visits. I will probably not publish reviews because I don't want to have to deal with review bullshit. My guess is other members have probably stopped reviewing or are reviewing less. This is not a trend that is good for TUSCL.
Now that the review Nazi's appear to be taking over reviews to standardize them to their likes. I now see more reviews that regurgitate prices but don't give a feel for the ambience. I prefer the ambience, not the regurgitation. Reviewers come from widely varied socio-economic backgrounds with many different perspectives. Trying to standardize reviews will only result in less colorful reviews IMO.
The Nazi's have just commented that my reviews are borderline and some they wouldn't have approved.. I like my reviews, others must have too as they were approved.
At the end the month I will take my first trip. I am going to enjoy my strip club visits. I will probably not publish reviews because I don't want to have to deal with review bullshit. My guess is other members have probably stopped reviewing or are reviewing less. This is not a trend that is good for TUSCL.
46 comments
Changing... yes.
Stuff changes. You'll be fine.
I think you meant to say "ambiance." ;)
So you were "reasonably intelligent enough" to sort thru the chafe, but apparently not enough to understand that a review can include both specific club intel AND ambiance/color. These are not mutually exclusive concepts, in case you felt otherwise. ;)
Your choice though. You can be bitter and quit. Or be bitter and add a sentence with prices. Nobody really cares. And I mean that in the nicest possible way.
More seriously, AZ, I think you poisoned what could have been a very good discussion, by coming at it so abrasively. As I said in the other thread, while I see the value of detailing drink prices, entrance fee, etc., I very strongly disagree that every review should have to repeat those same things. There's also a place for "Trip Report" type reviews; if there are already lots of "speeds & feeds" reviews on a particular club, as there are for most clubs on TUSCL, a subject Trip Report can actually be more enlightening than just a repeat of speeds & feeds. That is, provided the TR contains some proof that the reviewer was actually at the club, plus a clear elaboration of what he was looking for vs what he experienced, etc.
I think for me, it took less than a few hours to get all of mine through. And I never had a rejection on any I tried to submit.
And my reviews are definitely heavy handed on the commentary. Plus for my review of Tootsies and Ricks (in San anton) I didn’t mention the prices of much of anything.
And the users who approved mine are not active board members, and I’ve never exchanged PMs with any of them, so I don’t think there was a bias there either with that.
Papi covered it perfectly in the other discussion thread. Also take the time to read the review guidelines. Its not that difficult to get a review approved. If you look at the posted reviews from yesterday, they were approved by a wide range of members, not just some "Nazis"
There are plenty of reviewers involved in this process, not some small group.
The key is does your review add to the site?
Evidently, three people felt it didn't, so two choices:
(1) rewrite the review or (2) don't.
IME a lot of clubs change cover or even VIP/drink prices based on influx of customers at that particular time so I agree that pricing is useless in reviews. you can find that out by calling the club or checking their yelp or website page. people do come here to hear about the girls and ambiance.
However, when you deal with an arena where dancers come and go and not all activity is by the books you have to rely on the imperfect network we currently have. If it was truly past its prime what other site or sites do you see replacing it? And if you are such a genius know it all why dont you design a site to compete with it? Go back to eating doritos in your mothers basement or prove us wrong.
I am amazed at how many of you completely miss the point. I have never had a review rejected, so I am not bitter or upset.
My point is that trying to enforce stricter standards on reviewers is going to result in fewer reviews. Case in point, Eccohombre started a thread about being rejected. He was responsible for 4 of the 11 reviews on the club Papi Chulu highlighted. Well he got rejected and as of this post has not resubmitted. Tell me how that benefits TUSCL?
Regarding my trip. My point was that I am taking a trip for my enjoyment. I want to visit a club and then write a review based upon what appealed to me. But if I have to spend even the smallest amount of time trying to make sure I have all of the "intel" that to me is useless but will satisfy the review Nazi's, then it is no longer worth the effort.
Regarding subpar intel. The clubs I frequent are high traffic with a large following, there really is no need for excessive detail.
I have asked this repeatedly in the past. Who has been harmed by a so called bad review? Having pricing in every review benefits what? Prices/specials change constantly within a club. Does it really matter if the beer is $5 or $6?
And I think TUSCL is evolving past its prime.
There’s fewer shit reviews. Turn your question around: how does a shit review benefit TUSCL?
I have always felt a review should be a writers own opinion and own feelings.
A review by itself will not describe a club accurately - and even a 5 page detailed review may at best describe a club from the vantage point of "one single person". Believe me - that can be just as bad!
But in aggregation - the body of reviews can start to paint a fairly good idea about the club.
OP - I'd work with the current process.
Icing on the cake would be a simple "Like/Dislike" button at the bottom of each posted review.
That way, there will always be a way to sort the best reviews no matter how buried they get in the review stack.
Also a typical texas club has 10,000 unique visitors each month (source: Palazio manager) - and we see average of 2-3 posted reviews each month. That is for the most-reviewed clubs!
1. Keep the bar at simple, comfortable level so more patrons file a review - each person brings some intel or reinforces something already stated (hence identifying for readers a "trend").
2. And have a way to sort for the best of the pile, when needed.
If your calling a review without pricing and excessive detail a shit review, then your are IMO doing a disservice to TUSCL.
I think the members are astute enough to determine their own level of shit, and don't need others to do it for them.
It wasn't that long ago that Rick the self-absorbed called out DrEvil for identifying a shit hole in 15 minutes. To Rick he should have given it more time. That just shows that some people like standing in shit longer than others.
Again, my argument is against the principle. After all, I believe Founder stated that his biggest revenue driver is reviews. Why would we want to do anything to make reviews more cumbersome?
AZ, if you haven't had a review rejected, then why are you complaining? In fact, your reviews hardly qualify as great literary masterpieces, yet they were all approved, which kinda' debunks the notion that this place is filled with "review Nazis" (don't you feel like a melodramatic bitch using that term as a grown man?).
Over the years, we've seen the review sections of clubs in many areas get stuffed full of obviously fake and/or shill reviews, posted with the intentions of promoting clubs and earning VIP. The adoption of the current system was designed to curb this. Before this system went into place, it was turning into a shit show as founder simply did not have the capacity to police reviews, so reviews beyond a certain length were automatically approved. Something needed to be done to weed out the worst of it.
But with that said, it's a balancing act as neither do we want to reject reviews out of hand. This is why 3 different people must reject a review before three others approve it. Overall the new system has dramatically improved the quality of reviews and, thus far, there has been no evidence presented to this board that legitimately good reviews are getting rejected in any numbers, if at all.
So there it is. You are essentially advocating going back to the approach that created the fake/shill review mess in the first place, which frankly I don't think anyone else here wants to go back to.
Since you are a newbie, I can let a lot of what you say go by the wayside. That said,and I'll agree with you somewhat, "TUSCL Is getting past it's prime". To me this is due to the trolls and just plain idiots that abound these days. In the old days, TUSCL was invaluable to me as THE Clubber. Now a days, not so much and most sadly due that my clubbing days are mostly behind me.
I only write this to express my gratitude for the work founder has done for many more YEARS then you've been around.
Cristobal summed it up nicely when he stated, "TUSCL may or may not be past its prime, I've only been a member for 5 or 6 months..."
We've already told you.
Trust us - we are divinely inspired by the strip club gods.
Thank you, kind sir! :)
I find it more profitable to charge for my opinions.
I'll trade you a "check" for an Asian. Deal?