NOTE to all ex-CIAO.COM Members: You are all welcome here (as long as you use proper English and don't plagiarize or abuse members by sending them spam messages to read and rate your reviews). Just know that you cannot cash in your miles here for money unless you have a valid UK snail-mail address. You CAN, however, get Amazon.co.uk vouchers (sorry, but they are non-transferrable, not even to another Amazon site), or you can donate your miles to charity.

I'm your guide for Toys/Games. Let me know if I can be of any assistance to you. I like toy & games reviews that bring in lots of personal experience, and especially if you can tell me a new rule or way to play a game, or something special about that toy that only you would be able to tell us.

Plese remember that the dictionary says that a review is "To write or give a critical report on (a new work or performance, for example)." To describe is "To give an account of in speech or writing." These are NOT the same thing. My first advice to writers here is to describe the thing you're reviewing *briefly*, and then review it. Think about it!

A quick note regarding comments. Please look at the FAQs here, and remember that your comments should be constructive and helpful. That doesn't mean you should be telling people that you've nominated their reviews for crowns. The fact that no one can see who nominates what reviews should be evident to everyone that DooYoo prefers the nominations to be between the person nominating the review and them ONLY. Keeping your nominations anonymous means that you won't influence others, nor will you be getting a writer's hopes up that they'll get a crown, and they won't feel obliged to nominate one of your reviews just because you nominated them. So please, if you must tell a writer you've nominated them, don't do it in the comments, but send them a personal message instead.

Regarding ratings, DooYoo is asking (nay, begging) members stop over rating reviews (meaning: rating all reviews as VU, even if they are obviously lacking). This also means we must all start accepting the fact that not everyone will rate all of our reviews as VU.

In line with this, I want to remind you all that if you get a U from me, remember that is *NOT* a *BAD* rating (and I even consider SU a good rating)! Please don't take it personally, accept it as my honest opinion of the review, and have heart - you still get your miles no matter how I rate it!

If I rate your review SU, that doesn't mean I think there is something *seriously* wrong with your review, just that I found it missing information, or in the case of movie or book reviews, including too much of the story line and not enough opinion/analysis. Also, with music reviews, track-by-track reviews rarely get higher than SU from me, as they don't give me an overall feeling for what the album as a whole is like to listen to. Finally, extremely long reviews are very difficult to read, and will often get SU from me as well. Details are great, but I want to hear your opinion and personal experience, which can compensate for a missing detail or two. And please, don't tell me what the weather was like when you bought the item, how bad the parking was outside the shop you bought your mixer from, or what you were wearing when you checked-in at that hotel! Stick to the point and you'll get better ratings from me.

However, if I rate your review NU, that means the review does have serious flaws. This is the only *bad* rating, as far as I'm concerned.

Let's remember: quantity does NOT equal quality. I find long, drawn-out reviews boring to read, and think that we should all learn how to be more concise. This is especially true of movie and music reviews. Mind you, if you only give us facts and statistics, that's also not great. Think: facts first then analysis, personal opinion and personal experience.

Finally, as a guide my responsibility is to read all the reviews in my categories, make sure that any really good ones are noticed in case DooYoo might think them crown worthy, and I can report people who are abusing the system. If you see someone abusing the system here or putting inappropriate comments on a review, please let me or one of the other guides know about it. If you're unsure that something is abuse, let us know the URL of the review and we'll check it out for you.

But most of all, enjoy yourself here and I wish you all the best of success!

 

Review	Community Rating	Total Readings
Category: Movie DVD A Movie to Grab You Reviewed: Broken Embraces (DVD) Rating:	Very useful	113 Created: 21/09/09
Take a Pre-Parenthood Discovery Trip Reviewed: Away We Go (Blu-ray) Rating:	Very useful	63 Created: 19/09/09 Last Updated: 19/09/09
Torn between... Reviewed: Two Lovers (DVD) Rating:	Very useful	83 Created: 04/07/09
Oh Lord, What a Comedy! Reviewed: The Philadelphia Story (DVD) Rating:	Very useful	106 Created: 17/05/09
Dancing with Memories of War Reviewed: Waltz with Bashir (DVD) Rating:	Very useful	246 Created: 07/02/09 Last Updated: 23/02/09
Category: Hotel National Premier Quality at (almost) a Pauper's Price Reviewed: Premier Inn Dublin Airport Rating:	Very useful	81 Created: 02/09/09
Regular Praise for Ramada Bray Reviewed: Ramada Woodland Court Hotel (Bray) Rating:	Very useful	68 Created: 30/08/09
An Intelligent and Elegant Choice Reviewed: Smart & Simple Hotel Royal Tunbridge Wells Rating:	Very useful	44 Created: 26/08/09
I found that Needle in London's Haystack! Reviewed: Best Western Chiswick Palace & Suites (London) Rating:	Very useful	69 Created: 08/08/09
I'm NEVER staying with Howard Again! Reviewed: Howard Winchester Hotel (London) Rating:	Very useful	90 Created: 18/06/09 Last Updated: 19/06/09
Category: Fragrance Cool and Iced Green Tea Spray Scent Reviewed: Elizabeth Arden: Green Tea, Eau de Toilette Rating:	Very useful	116 Created: 23/08/09 Last Updated: 24/08/09
Category: Sightseeing National From a Wild Waterfall to Civilized Horticulture Reviewed: Powerscourt Estate and Gardens Rating:	Very useful	53 Created: 17/08/09 Last Updated: 18/08/09
Category: Mobile Phone Samsung's M310 is Just Okay Reviewed: Samsung SGH-M310 Rating:	Very useful	130 Created: 16/08/09
Category: Printed Book Presto! A Perfect Book! Reviewed: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox - Maggie O'Farrell Rating:	Very useful	66 Created: 07/08/09 Last Updated: 07/08/09
A Frankly Amazing Woman Reviewed: Loving Frank - Nancy Horan Rating:	Very useful	280 Created: 29/03/09 Last Updated: 29/03/09
Up Close and Undivided Attention Reviewed: Divisadero - Michael Ondaatje Rating:	Very useful	221 Created: 31/01/09 Last Updated: 12/06/09
A Berry Nice Book Reviewed: Two Caravans - Marina Lewycka Rating:	Very useful	243 Created: 16/01/09
Category: Other travel topics I Hope the Fat Lady Never Sings Here! Reviewed: Teatro alla Scala (Milan, Italy) Rating:	Very useful	99 Created: 22/07/09
Category: Music Album The Next Best Thing! Reviewed: Little Voice - Sara Bareilles Rating:	Very useful	61 Created: 19/07/09
Get Close to Far by Regina Spektor Reviewed: Far - Regina Spektor Rating:	Very useful	98 Created: 08/07/09 Last Updated: 08/07/09
An album that will surely Live On Reviewed: Let It Die - Feist Rating:	Very useful	214 Created: 19/04/09
Cooking with David's Music Reviewed: David Cook - David Cook Rating:	Very useful	213 Created: 10/04/09 Last Updated: 10/04/09
A Visual, Textural, Musical Album Reviewed: Culture Shift - Uriel Rating:	Very useful	223 Created: 11/03/09 Last Updated: 11/03/09
Category: Hotel International What a Pleasure! Reviewed: Hotel Spa Mizpe Hayamim (Rosh Pina, Israel) Rating:	Very useful	58 Created: 01/07/09
K+K Opera Budapest is Okay Reviewed: K+K Opera Hotel Budapest Rating:	Very useful	60 Created: 14/06/09
Sweet Suites in Johannesburg Reviewed: Courtyard Hotel (Sandton, South Africa) Rating:	Very useful	62 Created: 04/06/09 Last Updated: 04/06/09
Inn the Garden of Evanston (Illinois) Reviewed: Hilton Garden Inn Evanston (Evanston, USA) Rating:	Very useful	46 Created: 13/05/09 Last Updated: 20/05/09
Category: TV Program The Good Who Turns Bad but Not Ugly Reviewed: Leverage Rating:	Very useful	99 Created: 06/06/09
This Stone Keeps Rolling, and rocking, apparently! Reviewed: Eli Stone Rating:	Very useful	259 Created: 23/02/09 Last Updated: 04/08/09
Category: Ahava A Botanical Lovely Wash Reviewed: Ahava Mineral Botanic Velvet Cream Wash Rating:	Very useful	328 Created: 17/03/09

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