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Post by Kestrel on Apr 20, 2021 7:30:00 GMT
Just goes to show why reading reviews are a waste of time. Judge everything for yourself. All we're gonna get now is "excellent audio", "brilliant", "best thing BF have ever done", etc. as anything less will upset Nick. So what's the point then? A review should be honest in it's appraisal, good or bad, and not be done with an agenda to keep anyone happy.
Agreed 100%. I mean, does it? Reviews are and always will be a valuable resource. Altering reviews to appease involved parties is definitely a big ethical no-no, but that doesn't really invalidate anything. Hell, the (original) review in question is arguably a good example of their utility for consumers, as it highlighted a(bother) case of Big Finish deliberately marketing media in a misleading manner. Wow, so I was away for half a day and my lazy comment caused 2 pages of heated discussion..... It's a pity, as the two pages of "discussion" have detracted from what is actually a good story... and even the review in question gave The Dalek Protocol a 7/10 rating, so it's all a storm in a tea cup really.
Sadly we can't divorce art from the artist entirely, especially when the latter is active on social media. But, man, this really is a bad look for everyone involved... but at the same time, Big Finish kinda brought it on themselves. I do my best to be pretty positive, though I do admittedly fail from time to time (sorry, Peri fans) but even though I really enjoyed this story, I still had to shake my head at the whole "Dalek Universe" branding. Not to be too speculative, but it seems like Big Finish just wanted the publicity of a tie-in to Tenant's new series to drive up sales of the 4DA range... and that kind of cross-promotion can work, but if they're going to imply meaningful links between disparate releases with their marketing, they really need to include meaningful links within the narrative. Fans are only going to get more annoyed the more they're misled like this.
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Post by thelonecenturion on Apr 20, 2021 10:23:47 GMT
Just a thought... Since I'd noticed it and mentioned it earlier as a narrative problem: {Spoiler} Could the reason Mark Seven wasn't affected by the power-draining beacon be that the Daleks factored him in and stopped the beacon draining power from him. It was them after all who programmed the Dalek Protocol, and they sent him in as a sleeper agent. Anyone else think this is a possibility?
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Post by mrperson on Apr 20, 2021 18:33:32 GMT
I'll give it 4/5.
I try to rate on a linear scale. But for whatever reason, when I assign the points, something seems to cause me to view the last tenth percentile as exponential. You'll often see me saying something is 4.5/5 because, for whatever reason, it feels like something has to be staggeringly good to get perfect marks.
At any rate....I'll read things posted here, but I'm not sure I've ever read a reviewer's review when deciding whether to read/watch something. I'm much more likely to listen to the opinion of people who have recommended other things I enjoyed.
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Post by Digi on May 4, 2021 5:21:51 GMT
I'm a bit puzzled by what down in this thread, but whatever... I got a kick out of this one. Was an Earth-shattering, mind-bending, revelatory story? No. Does it need to be? Also no. Tom and Lou's chemistry was as great as it's ever been (even more impressive if they didn't record together), and Jane Slavin delivered a great performance in her own right. This was a fun little Four/Leela romp, with Daleks and a nice extra Anya Kingdom story thrown in to mix it up a bit. It was entertaining, and that's more than good enough.
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Post by Tim Bradley on May 4, 2021 10:23:54 GMT
Hello everyone! A nice surprise in the post. Received my CD copy of 'The Dalek Protocol' today! And I didn't have a notification to let me know it was coming. Hmm. Tim
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Post by cwm on May 19, 2021 9:35:50 GMT
I think the quality of this, Ravagers and Nick's appalling and unprofessional behaviour (which, it is important to remember, he has still not apologised for and has in fact used the podcast to mock people complaining about it) has made sure I won't be buying anything written by him ever again.
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Post by BHTvsTFC on May 19, 2021 18:00:21 GMT
I think the quality of this, Ravagers and Nick's appalling and unprofessional behaviour (which, it is important to remember, he has still not apologised for and has in fact used the podcast to mock people complaining about it) has made sure I won't be buying anything written by him ever again. Which podcast? Nick can be Doctor Who's answer to Alan Partridge sometimes when he gets a bee in his bonnet about stuff. He has that car crash genius about him - you know you shouldn't listen but you can't help it!!
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ljwilson
Chancellery Guard
It's tangerine....not orange
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Post by ljwilson on May 19, 2021 18:56:36 GMT
I think the quality of this, Ravagers and Nick's appalling and unprofessional behaviour (which, it is important to remember, he has still not apologised for and has in fact used the podcast to mock people complaining about it) has made sure I won't be buying anything written by him ever again. A touch harsh if you don't mind me saying, I wouldn't call his behaviour 'appalling'. He may be a bit petulant, and let's face it if someone criticises you directly it does tend to get on your nerves, but that's about it.
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Post by cwm on May 19, 2021 20:00:49 GMT
Sorry, but I really do think Nick's behaviour was totally unacceptable. Nobody "criticised him directly" - he acted, at best, incredibly thin-skinned towards a mildly critical review (that he wasn't tagged in and he would have had to been actively seeking out reviews to find in the first place), then tried to justify it by saying that he wanted to see how the reviewer liked it if he said something unkind back. On the Big Finish podcast last week he actively misrepresented the situation and made out what he did was perfectly normal and it was the people taking issue with what he did that were in the wrong. He has a far bigger platform than the reviewer and he used it to actively inflame the situation.
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ljwilson
Chancellery Guard
It's tangerine....not orange
Likes: 5,062
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Post by ljwilson on May 19, 2021 20:39:45 GMT
No need to apologise, but if you are having a self-imposed Nick Briggs ban, which seems a bit much considering you weren't directly involved in his minor spat with a reviewer, can I just check if that includes anything he is involved with?
It seems like a bit of an over reaction to me, that's all.
I'm sure Nick Briggs isn't perfect, but hey, neither am I. Maybe I'm just mellower now I'm in my late 40's, but I have learned that we all have our faults.
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Post by cwm on May 19, 2021 20:51:23 GMT
I'm just not comfortable with buying stuff Nick's written any more given the way he treats people who are even mildly critical of his writing. It's not just a question of being imperfect, I find Nick's behaviour in this regard actively unpleasant.
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Post by thelonecenturion on May 19, 2021 21:20:54 GMT
I'm just not comfortable with buying stuff Nick's written any more given the way he treats people who are even mildly critical of his writing. It's not just a question of being imperfect, I find Nick's behaviour in this regard actively unpleasant. I think it's just his way of dealing with it though. I don't recall an instance where he's actually treated anyone badly. He's criticised people's reviews of his work, but I don't think it's caused any harm, and he hasn't been rude to people. To be honest, I'm not sure I'd react much better if, when something I'd put a huge amount of effort into, and worked hard on, there's a review I'm tagged in which says that "by far the best" part of the work is the return of a character, which is the only aspect where the writer and director could be switched out for literally anyone.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2021 0:44:46 GMT
I'm just not comfortable with buying stuff Nick's written any more given the way he treats people who are even mildly critical of his writing. It's not just a question of being imperfect, I find Nick's behaviour in this regard actively unpleasant. I think it's just his way of dealing with it though. I don't recall an instance where he's actually treated anyone badly. He's criticised people's reviews of his work, but I don't think it's caused any harm, and he hasn't been rude to people. To be honest, I'm not sure I'd react much better if, when something I'd put a huge amount of effort into, and worked hard on, there's a review I'm tagged in which says that "by far the best" part of the work is the return of a character, which is the only aspect where the writer and director could be switched out for literally anyone. At the same time..it was a 6/10 review. That's not bad going and about par with what most here say when you don't let the Eccleston factor influence you too much. I think too many people, and I guess Nick, don't seem to realise that 3/5 or 6/10 is still solid. He has been rude though - he called one of the reviews of our own IndieMacUser "crappy", the Charley Pollard 2 one...and again that was a pretty positive review who said it only needed minor tweaks to be really good. I think, from memory, that was a 7/10. BF are sending reviewers these copies to review. If Nick just wants a chorus of approval he should give it to the ones who only ever give near perfect marks, there are loads of them about - who want their name added to the pull quotes on product pages and to keep getting free, advance copies. If you know how he talks about any reviewer not bending the knee, I'd imagine a few wouldn't want to jeopardise losing their copies by being as honest as they'd be completely independently. It's why I think there are relatively few sites who ever criticise Big Finish stories beyond the minutiae.
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Post by theillusiveman on May 20, 2021 0:59:45 GMT
I think the quality of this, Ravagers and Nick's appalling and unprofessional behaviour (which, it is important to remember, he has still not apologised for and has in fact used the podcast to mock people complaining about it) has made sure I won't be buying anything written by him ever again. What did open my eyes is when Nick said in the podcast that his people only give him the pre selected positive reviews and when you are a creative head of a company that makes decisions for stories and direction of a range that is kinda troubling that he can’t read or accept constructive criticism
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Post by tuigirl on May 21, 2021 17:21:56 GMT
Finished this. It is fine. Yes, it is not the best Nick has written, but it is also far from the worst. Nice little adventure for 4, Leela and K9. Performances by the leads are faultless as usual. Overall, good average I would say. I am just still a bit tired of both Daleks and Leela. Otherwise, maybe I would have ranked it higher.
Not sure if Nick‘s hissy fits are vanity or attention seeking behavior, though. But yeah, facing up to criticism can be hard.
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Post by Kestrel on May 21, 2021 20:09:14 GMT
I am just still a bit tired of... Leela..... Noooooooooooooooooooo!
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Post by mark687 on May 21, 2021 20:58:02 GMT
Finished this. It is fine. Yes, it is not the best Nick has written, but it is also far from the worst. Nice little adventure for 4, Leela and K9. Performances by the leads are faultless as usual. Overall, good average I would say. I am just still a bit tired of both Daleks and Leela. Otherwise, maybe I would have ranked it higher. Not sure if Nick‘s hissy fits are vanity or attention seeking behavior, though. But yeah, facing up to criticism can be hard. 1 agree and well summed up Regards mark687
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Post by coreywt on May 27, 2021 22:29:01 GMT
Just got the CD of this, and it came with an extra back insert for the jewel case, which they've done in the past if there was an error on the first insert. But as far as I can tell they're identical. Anyone else get an extra back insert in their CD copy?
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Post by mark687 on May 27, 2021 22:46:09 GMT
Just got the CD of this, and it came with an extra back insert for the jewel case, which they've done in the past if there was an error on the first insert. But as far as I can tell they're identical. Anyone else get an extra back insert in their CD copy? Protocol is spelled wrong on the spine of the one in the CD Regards mark687
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2021 11:34:58 GMT
Including the opening BF indent, the first three voices we hear are provided by Nick Briggs, who also directs. Later on he crops up as Bellal. All these roles are fairly major and run throughout the story. Sometimes he has lengthy dialogue with himself. I'm not having a go, I'm not a 'basher' - but it's difficult to be immersed in The Dalek Protocol (written by Nick) when you're constantly thinking 'Ah, there he is again.' This is not a complaint, but an observation.
I bought this really because it ties in with the mammoth Dalek Universe I've just invested in. As a story and a (kind of) sequel to Death to the Daleks, it doesn't do a huge amount that surprises. That said, there are times when a traditionally told homage to a certain era is just what the Doctor ordered. I don't think it's a story that was ever written to expect huge acclaim, but rather it's a warm and enjoyable standard offering that sounds great, features some very good performances and the leads on terrific form. It wasn't crying out to be written, but I'm glad that it was. I imagine if Death to the Daleks was a favourite story of mine, I'd be thrilled with this (sequel to Meglos anyone? No?). For a good story, I'd say it's average; for an average story, I'd say it's good.
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