Thoughts: Objectively Subjective

Subject to Subjectiveness

Here's a topic that turns up regularly, either as a side discussion during a chat, or as recurring argument. I've seen it pop up in our local Quebec community as well as on the larger scene. I briefly touched it in the past, but let's give it another go:

Are Escape Room reviewers / bloggers objective?

My typical response to that question is...

Muh?

I try to be objective, of course, but I'm a human being, and those annoying little things are quite the subjective lot.

So yeah, tons of things could sway my overall opinion of a room, either way. Maybe they have nice lobby. 👍 Maybe they don't have parking. 👎 Maybe the owners are fellow enthusiasts who love to chat. 👍 Maybe the kids got in a fight on our way there. 👎 Maybe the gamemaster is an attractive lady. 👍 Maybe I couldn't get a quick snack or drink before the game. 👎 Maybe I really love that room's theme. 👍 Maybe I recently played a better room with the same theme. 👎 Maybe the GM made a Doctor Who joke I liked. 👍 Maybe I ate something bad before the game. 👎 Maybe I'm playing with friends I haven't seen in a while. 👍 Maybe there's a group of loud drunken idiots in the next room. 👎 Maybe I'm on vacation and having a great time already. 👍 Maybe I just don't like that theme. 👎 Maybe I was really clever and solved a ton of stuff. 👍 Maybe the host said something that me feel dumb. 👎 Did I mention the attractive GM already? 😇🙄 👍 Maybe I had a bad day at work. 👎 Maybe my wife is playing with me, with that cute dress that'll make me forget any aforementioned attractive GM. 😄😍 👍 Maybe I brought a friend who doesn't "play nice". 👎

Ultimately, lots of things can steer your opinion one way or the other, and while some of them could be legitimate things to observe in a review (the lack of parking, the nice-looking lobby...), they probably should be left out when making your overall assessment of an escape room.

So... If someone asks me to come play their room for free, or with a rebate, will it impact my judgment? Well, probably, to some extent... but honestly, I'm not sure if that impact will be positive - I might feel a need to overcompensate, really. 🤷‍

Speaking of which...

Theater Critic, or Mystery Diner?

Many ER review blogs out there will accept - even request, if not require (!) - subsidized tickets for the rooms they review. I know some readers do take offense in that. I think it comes down as a matter of point of view, however.

Statler: "...and we won't be able to escape until then."
Waldorf: "Wait - you mean all those other times,
we could've just left?

Take theater critics. They will typically get free tickets to every show there is out there. Their names and faces are generally well-known, and people just take for granted that their opinions on a show will make or break it, right?

However, it's a pretty weak analogy when you scratch below the surface. The "performance" given to critics is part of a larger whole. Can you imagine if, instead of a single "media premiere", shows had to run one performance for every critic? And yes, you could argue that shows, just like Escape Rooms, can fall prey to technical problems or human errors, but those are a lot less likely to completely sour your experience as a viewer.

Another area where the analogy doesn't hold is that owners can provide a significantly better experience to critics than to regular customers, simplify by pampering more to them, and providing better customer service. Can you imagine if, after all the reviews got published, a Broadway show replaced all its top-billing performers with third-grade nobodies?

"...and one mineral water!"
L'Aile ou la Cuisse (1976)

A closer comparison could be made between ER critics and food critics, especially those who visiting restaurants anonymously. That way, you can get an experience very similar to what the "everyday man" will go through. Come in, be innocuous, ask a few questions, and out you go. Seems like a great analogy, doesn't it?

Well, it's still far from perfect, in my mind. Picture this: what if going to restaurants was the only way to get a decent meal? So to get your "gastronomical fix", you have no choice but to go to restaurants again and again, meaning that 1) you're bound to be recognized eventually, and 2) you might still end up with better treatment since you're a regular. And then what? You'll change your name when you call ahead? Wear a disguise?

How I roll - Spilling the beans

I've mentioned this in the past, on this blog and elsewhere: while having no qualms against my fellow "theater-style" critics, I personally do lean more towards the "mystery diner" type, avoiding mentions of the blog and not trying to reach owners (especially those I don't know) before booking my rooms. That being said, owners who do know of me are more than welcome to offer me deals, if only to ensure I get to play their rooms faster. No biggie.

Still, that might not be enough for some of you. Perhaps you're wondering precisely how "corrupt" I might have become by the monetary angle. So you know what? I'll tell. 😲

Out of the 200 first games I played, 35 bear the "specialrebate" label. Most of those, however, are compensations for things that didn't go right, or contest prizes I won, or circumstantial deals that I do not believe to be related to the blog. (Believe it or not, some folks out there find my kids endearing, and I got a few rebates out of that, too.) All things considered, there are 15 games for which I clearly was offered a deal specifically because of the blog. By my calculations, those deals saved me about 500 dollars over the years. Now, you might be thinking that's a pretty good deal to have... 🤑 ...but by those same calculations, I've spent roughly 500 hours on the blog so far. 🤨 In other words, spending those hours working on pretty much any sort of work would've been more lucrative. 😅

And now what? ("♫ Keep... on... movin'... ♫")

I like lists. And summaries. When I started playing Escape Rooms, I took a few mental notes, then I turned those into an "album" of sorts, and then it became a blog - long before I even publicized it on social networks. I had a couple friends look at it, and one of them pointed out that it'd be nice to have "a little something extra" than just listing rooms and general impressions. I then came up with the idea of "Lessons Learned", to which I added book & boardgame reviews.

In parallel, I built my maps and directories, gradually improving on them. In recent years, though, competition has ramped up, as I said in previous posts, and I've been wondering whether I should work on further improvements, or put my efforts elsewhere. Honestly, I'm not done wondering just yet. 😛

I know I won't get anyone teary-eyed for my sake, but I have to say... writing up a blog, especially with the parameters I chose to give myself (every game / room warrants its own article), is a fairly tiresome task. Frankly, there are times where I wonder if this is just a case of sunk-cost fallacy. I don't think so - I do get a measure of enjoyment from what i do here, after all. But I hope to put the rights efforts in the right places.

But what about you, dear reader? If you made it all the way here, are there improvements you'd like to see here? A revamp of the layout? Some missing feature? I don't get much feedback, and I'd love to know what may or may not work as well as I think. In the meantime, thanks for just being here! 😉