Tips on Reviewing Modules

By Berliad and Alazander, Neverwinter Vault module reviewers

The BioWare Writing Contest has resulted in flood of over 300 new, short, and often extremely creative modules for Neverwinter Nights to the Neverwinter Vault. As part of the contest, BioWare asked the NWN community to evaluate and rate each module based on the writing quality.

To provide some ideas on how to go about doing this, BioWare Community Manager Jay Watamaniuk invited us to draft an article describing what we look for when we evaluate a module's writing. We do not consider ourselves experts. Nevertheless, between us we have played and provided feedback on several hundred NWN community modules, and we are members of the NWVault Review Staff. Therefore, we feel we can offer an informed opinion.

The writing of a module has two significant components. It refers to all the text you see in-game: dialogs, journal entries, item descriptions, and so on. Writing also refers to the overall story, including concept and execution. When we play a module, the following items are things we look for in these two areas:

Things we note in the text of a module:

• The writing. There should be minimal to no technical mistakes (typos, grammar). Furthermore, the writing should be engaging, lively, and easy to read.
• Characterization. A talented writer should be able to create an interesting NPC and relay their personality to the player in as few words as possible. While this might take the form of a short descriptive piece at the beginning of a dialog, a talented writer can also give the NPC such a distinctive personality that it shows through immediately in dialog.
• Dialog flow. Do the conversations flow naturally? Even the most well written dialog can become tiresome when it takes the form of a lengthy monolog. Players should have the opportunity to express themselves often, and these dialog options should feel natural and make sense within the context of the conversation.

Things we note in the story concept and execution:

• Originality/Creativity. Does the module feature an original story and/or setting? Although there is nothing wrong with a traditional story done well, something unique and inspired stands out. With so many community modules freely available, it takes a special writer to weave a story that feels fresh and exciting.
• Logical flow. Does each step or twist in the plot make sense within the context of the story? While a plot should by no means be predictable, everything that happens in a module should be believable.
• Drama. A story can have good technical writing, and even be based upon a clever premise. If there are no climatic moments in the story though, it's bound to be a bit bland.
• Pacing. All too often, a module starts out with a bang, but then drags along for an extended period of time until the next major plot moment. A good writer will grab the player's attention within the first few minutes of gameplay and maintain the player's interest until the conclusion.
• Character development. Do characters develop or change over the course of the module? Great modules feature characters (PCs and NPCs) that are not only interesting, but undergo changes in their personality based on things they discover about themselves during the story.
• Multiple paths. One of the most challenging aspects of writing a good module is to provide multiple paths through a quest. Each path should flow consistently and link in with the rest of the story without feeling forced or contrived.

After you've played a contest module, we encourage you to go to that module's download page and rate it. Note, when voting for these modules, the most important factor to take into consideration is the quality of the writing. While good area design and neat scripting are a welcome bonus, the writing should remain the focus.

There are two components of the voting system on the Vault: the score and the comments. For the score, you rank a module on a scale of 1-10 (10=highest). In the comments section, you have a chance to justify your score. As there are no official voting guidelines, everyone will use and interpret the Vault voting scale differently. Nevertheless, there are some typical practices. To decide upon a score for a module, look at how other modules you have played are scored. Then, ask yourself how you would rank the module you've just played when compared to those other modules. This should help you choose a score that is fair and informative to other users.

The comments section is the more important part of your vote, as this is where you can tell the builder and other players what you liked most, as well as how you feel the module could be improved. The most important thing to remember about this process is, when you rate a module, you are rating a free product that often represents countless hours of effort by an amateur module author. This does not mean you should hide your criticisms; indeed, many authors greatly appreciate constructive criticism, as it helps them to make their current and future modules better. However, please be conscious of your comments' tone. One guideline we often use is to always try to accompany each critique with a suggestion on how to solve the problem. It helps us be constructive in our feedback, and to keep our tone encouraging and friendly. We also always try to emphasize the positive aspects, in addition to the negatives, of any module we play.

Each person will have his or her own preferences when it comes to the voting process, and that is natural and healthy. Nevertheless, we hope our essay gives you some ideas on how to go about playing and evaluating these contest modules, as well as the thousands of other modules on the Vault. Best of luck to all the contest participants; we look forward to seeing your work!

Related Links

• Read about the writing contest
• Writing contest submissions
• Writing contest discussion
• Using the toolset
• Builder's forum