Product Reviews On Product Page
Option A: I always check the product reviews when considering a purchase for items in to use in DAZ Studio on other sites, or literally almost anything from anywhere else. I find the honest reviews helpful. As a consumer I'd like to have them on the official DAZ store. I end up purchasing games on Steam rather than Epic/UE because the Epic Games app doesn't have reviews, that I know of. Only verified purchases could be reviewed by the consumer. Not allowing reviews for purchased items until a period of time has elapsed may not be a bad idea. From the other end I know this means more work. It's just an idea. Maybe think about it. Thank you!
Option B: If this is never going to happen and if anyone is interested in starting a non-official DAZ PA review searchable database website people could visit while shopping here that would work too. If one already exists at the time of this post I am unaware of its existence. If you've got the too much cash-on-hand problem (so to speak) you could have this up in about a week. Check with your legal & financial team about running it as a charity. Maybe not have advertisments that way? Ads are no bueno. How many times have people purchased a character just for its textures only to find out the parts you can't show here aren't to your liking? I don't believe I've ever asked for a refund. Products just collect dust. That's one upside to option B however the negatives include, non-verified purchase reviews, bots, trolls, spamming etc. Depending on the quality of your team this could be a minimal issue.
Option C: Eat a gummy or two, let the OTL headphone amp warm up and rewatch Letterkenny and Shorsey, maybe Bronson one more time because Tom Hardy is, well Tom Hary. 'Nough said. Forget about all this product review nonsense.
Comments
Never gonna happen. People have suggested/asked before, but always gets shot down. And in my limited experience, people only want to leave reviews for freebies not anything that they have paid for.
It's not quite the same but if you have the Daz Deals browser plugin installed then there are links to all the Gallery and Forum posts that mention (link to) the product. Often you'll get a thread started for a (big) product release and people will post comments (which could be classed as micro reviews) and images showing what they have done with the product. If the thread was started by the PA themselves then they might also contain a litle Q&A to provide more info about the product. Likewise, you'll also see some threads about bugs/issues for a product so you an check those to make sure that the issue has since been solved before making your purchase. For the gallery images these are not quite reviews but you could probably consider them a "thumbs-up" for the product or at the very least a showcase of what other people are doing with it.
Doesn't work for older products tho since I guess the linking from gallery/forum to product is a relatively new feature in the lifespan of the site.
I tend to leave reviews for paid products more than the freebie section. I just learned there is a point system at a different site I had no knowlege of. One can get points for leaving a review. Now I'm even more likely to leave a review for every product I purchase. That would make a good poll, though online polls need to be taken with a grain of salt. Very interesting. Thank you for the feedback.
Thank you for the usefull information. Hopefully this helps others too. The "Daz Deals broser plugin." I'll have to look in to that.
I honestly don't see the point of a review system. I have posted a few at Rendo and read even more that never reflected my views on the product which is why I never go by reviews when deciding on a purchase. Both stores have refund options, so it's easier to try it for myself than read what others think of a product.
If people could leave their personal opinions out and provide useful factual reviews with pictures etc. if needed, it would be fine. But not if it gets like on amazon and other places where people can give one star to a product because delivery took too long and other totally irrelevant things.
I'm also a person who reads reviews for anything I purchase (assuming there are reviews available). I read the bad ones first to see what the issues are, and work my way up to the good ones. In all honesty, at least half the reviews (probably much higher than that) I read are completely useless because they tell me nothing about why the purchaser loved or hated the product. It would be great if people gave honest reviews on products based on having actually used them, as well as an understanding of what they were buying. Unfortunately that's often not the case.
I have the DAZ Deals Browser add-on for years and I am a reader of Novica's Art threads. If I find a link for an item, I will follow it. Sometimes I find the items are just mentioned in a listing of suggestions for a certain type of product, other times it is the primary subject of a thread, someone asking about a problem they are having with it (adjusting 3DL metals in weapons to Iray for example), or was mentioned only as being bought or considered for buying during a sale. Depending on the comments they can be very useful and I am especially grateful that someone took the time to link to products, wether good or bad or so-so for someone's project. It expands my knowledge of 3D and saves me money. There are a number of users on the forums who are no longer active, as well as others still here, who give solid, constructive feedback on items.
This also applies to the gallery links. I rarely browse it because I just can't figure it out. But a link I can follow. And I have found some uses for items, old, 3DL, or not often seen in sales that was used in creative ways. I also try to keep up with the Commercial threads, but at times they go way over my head and I lose track of them.
I can't speak to other sites. I only find things on them if someone links to a product or a PA's store and I 'follow' them. Otherwise I am totally lost.
Mary