My Posting Policy

To save a bit of time for everyone involved and to give a bit of insight as to how my blog operates I decided to make a post describing how I handle requests for reviews or overviews and how I will prioritize my posting from this post on.

This blog started out primarily as a place for me to keep my thoughts on Pathfinder products published by companies other than Paizo but has since expanded in scope. Currently my primary focus is third party Pathfinder products through reviews, trending products and opinions on how to fit it into a home campaign but as time goes on I will also occasionally post about tabletop gaming in general. This will include subjects like cooking snack foods for when I host games as well as other social aspects of tabletop gaming. Pathfinder is my favorite RPG and so it is the system I am most comfortable talking about but I am also open to discussing Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition and FATE. I actively collect and use Pathfinder material so it will be the most frequent. I also collect and use Paizo's Pathfinder material so you will see first party reviews and overviews more often.

Requests.

I am open to requests to report on third party material for Pathfinder or 5th edition. To make a request just contact me at disreal@gmail.com  with "Malwing's Blog" in the title and I will reply as soon as I can. The exception to this is Mythic Pathfinder products as I have very little experience with the Mythic ruleset. Outside of Pathfinder and D&D 5th edition, I will only write reviews of products after I have made a review of the basic rules, and I do accept requests for overviews of rules systems. This includes material that is more of a board game variety than a role playing game as I have some upcoming kickstarters that will be trickling in soon that are board and card games.

I will also review apps related to rulesets that I am familiar with but keep in mind that I use an Asus Nexus 7 (2013) for gaming use so I will not be able to review iOS exclusive apps. And of course I will review character sheets so long as I can be provided with a source to link to so people know where to get it and any supporting program that I can get on my PC, with the exception of Herolab files because the price of entry is too high and it does too little for my needs as a very avid collector of third party material and my liberal use of house rules. 

If I have already purchased the product in question I will  note that I already have it, otherwise I will postpone the review until I have had a chance to purchase it or until I am provided with a copy to review. I purchase products on my own based on my interest and the needs of a upcoming or current campaign. I normally post my reviews on Paizo.com the day after I post it on the blog. If I have purchased the product elsewhere I will additionally post my review there but otherwise I will only post on other platforms if by request. Please note that I cannot post reviews to DrivethruRPG unless I have purchased a copy from that site. And of course I will start to make note at the top of any review whether or not I have received a complementary copy of the product in question in the form of a quick thanks to whoever gave it. Otherwise its perfectly fine to bring things to my attention and I'll get to it as soon as I can by my own means.

When I agree to a request for a review or overview I will add it to my 'Upcoming Review Pile' which I write reviews for in the order that they appear. This order is determined at a first come first serve basis with products placed on the list with reviews that I have personally picked out of products that I own copies of. I try to space out reviews for products from the same company which means that if I have two requests in a row from the same company the order will appear as; Company 1 => Personal pick => Company 2 => Personal pick => Company 1.  Requests will be noted on the list by and asterisk (*). The order of my personal picks may change depending on the extreme excitement or extreme disappointment over a product in which I will jump it to the top of the list so that I can rant about it, then and then get back to schedule.

I also post reviews labeled as retrospectives. These are not a part of my review pile and consist of reviews that I have posted on Paizo.com. These retrospectives also represent changes of opinion or looking at products that have made heavy changes since my last review.

You'll notice that I use both the words 'overview' and 'review'. That's because those things are different to me. An overview in this case is me talking about my general experience with a product and what I liked and what I didn't like. Now this may sound like a review but the big difference is that in an overview I don't have as much experience or authority to really judge the product well enough to give it a real critical score or I don't have a platform to post on where any kind of score means anything. In other words I'm doing less of a critical analysis and more of  description of my general impressions. 

Sharing and Links.

If you take a look at the sidebar in my blog you may notice the block that says "Sites to See". This is my little list of sites that a frequent for whatever reason that is either a geeky friend site or other tabletop gaming site that I feel are related to this blog's interests. If you want your link on that sidebar send me an email at disreal@gmail.com with "Malwing's Blog" in the title and I will happily visit your site and put it in my sidebar if it's relevant to tabletop gaming or general geekery. Of course I greatly appreciate posting links to my blog to your own site or blog.

Wishlists.

Also on my sidebar among my link list is a link to my DrivethruRPG wishlist and in a little widget my wishlist from Paizo.com. These are things that pique my interest and are coveted by me. Of course they will be purchased by me eventually but lack of money and a lack of a campaign that really needs the material in question is a factor so if you feel like giving me a gift I'd appreciate it wholeheartedly. If it's something that I can give a review or overview about it will go to the top of my personal pick list.