Really into this app. Could see myself digging in and really using this. On a personal, anecdotal note, the summary is the most exciting thing about the Lifebar application--I appreciate seeing a quick explanation of a person's thoughts over a simple grade system. But I understand that's currently an outlying opinion. And if the summary remains as a mandatory function you guys are likely to see some natural weeding of the userbase. Those who are really passionate about taking the time and doing the work will stick around, but it lacks the automatic gratification of a Last.fm Scrobbler.
I find myself confused by the "Active Personalities" tab. Those individuals--mostly established critics--aren't actually using the service, are they? You're just doing the work behind the scenes to input their comments into your program. On one hand I appreciate that in a sort of Rotten Tomatoes way, and Lifebar provides a link directly to the review in which their comment originated, but it also seems like it could use more direction.
I don't know how you would go about accomplishing this, mind, so the following suggestion could be complete lunacy. But if Lifebar is using a reviewer's comments verbatim, could Lifebar also associate their review with one of the five "Tiers" you have in place? You wouldn't have any sense of their play percentage or platform, unless noted, but you would at least have a sense of where it fell on their spectrum, from Loved It, Liked It, Eh, Disliked it, Hated It.
A step further, then: In repurposing those critical reviews, Lifebar could essentially become an OK Cupid-style bridge between its users and the critics whose tastes and insights line up with each other. After a user submits a certain number of reviews, suddenly there's a sidebar that pops with a list of critics whose scores closely match the user's own. Maybe it's a game of percentages. "You and Austin Walker rated 85% of games similarly--see more of Austin's reviews?" Some gateway that might introduce users to new writers based on what they like and dislike?
Again. Probably complete lunacy. And probably way off base with what Lifebar is looking to accomplish right now.
Either way, I'm into it. Can't promise I'll stick with it. For now, though, it's fun.
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