Consumer Reports for SL?

Is there anything like a rating system for stuff you can buy in SL? I've purchased some animations that are really bad and some that are good. I'd sure like to see how other people rate a particular animation before buying. Anyone know of such a thing?

SLX has a rating system for goods I suppose you could see if the item youre buying is rated there....

Hmm this raises possiblities, doesn't it? At first I was thinking someone could start an agency like that in SL do investigations of products etc like the rl CU does.

But then I thought maybe CU itself could open an SL branch. (As a merchant I'm in favor of corporate money coming into the economy - and new people who will want to buy clothes.)

The best rating system is if you see something you like find the creator and purchase it.

As far as animations most places that sell animations have demos or animation vendors that let you try the animation before purchasing. Your likes are the best rating system.

the trick would be find to an organization reputable enough to do it. I suppose I might truest the RL Consumer Reports if they started reviewing SL products but it does not seem horribly likely.

I'll do it! But.. I'd need donations of items to test and rate.. or donations of money to buy items to test and rate... Who wants to give me free stuff? =P

I would find it hard to trust a large company like CU (consumer reports) to really get it right. I mean most of the goods in SL run for about $1-$5 and there would be thousands of items to review. I'd think it would be too much work for very little return for a company like CU. If a creator got a bad review it might take them just a few minutes/hours to fix and then CU would have to revise their report again and again. For animations I would say look for a preview stand that allows you to sit on it and watch the animation. If they don't have a preview stand, ask the owner for a preview, if they won't then simply don't buy it. I mean, you wouldn't buy a dress that didn't have a picture right?

You make some good points. It would be economically unfeasible to do it right and the value of the products ($1 - $5) don't make it worth the effort.

But the demo stands don't reveal the stuff I'd hope to see in a review, either. For instance, I just purchased a new animation for my avatar. The notecard I read before I purchased it didn't say anything about whether it would plug into a HUD or whether you have to "play it in world" to activate it or whether you can just wear it as an override. That would be useful information to know before purchasing, don't you think?

Oh yes Animation stands don't give you Priority and Permissions. Most vendors don't really list that information. Priority lets you know how your animation stacks up against other animations and Permissions lets you know what you can do with your animation... like turn it into a gesture, or put it in some furniture and resell it, etc.

Yeah, not really too practical.

Something I do (and have seen others do as well) is to put an item I particularly like or a store where I got exceptional service in my picks to help advertise them a bit. Of course this is limited to the number of picks permitted, but it's my little bit to spread the word on products I really like and/or merchants who really go above and beyond.

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