More Night of the Living WPRs
15 Feb 2000

This is the gory sequel to the first Night of the Living WPRs...

Several months ago, I gave my thoughts on several WPRs. Now that the field has narrowed to a more manageable amount, I'd thought I'd start the next article in the trilogy. I went to the RPG Busters list and I counted 27 WPRs (why do I keep thinking it's 40?). 6 are listed as active. 6/27...22.2%. But I'm not going to do all of them, I will do the active ones, plus the ones that I profiled. I have removed the ones that were dead at the time of my first article and haven't changed.

Amazoness Quartet
Since Last Time: To be honest, they haven't changed that much, but I guess since they've already figured out what works best, why change it?
Prediction: Still the gold standard in WPRs.

The Small Lady
Since Last Time: Was kidnapped, replaced with Evil Hotaru, rescued, and came up with a new layout. Has improved in updating but new stuff still take a while to come out.
Prediction: Must be doing something right; no one's ever given her bad press. Proof that niceness pays off.

S.T.A.R.
Since Last Time: Died a tragic death in October 1999. Promised to come back; hasn't yet.
Prediction: It would be nice to see them come back; they did have potential.

Kinmokusei
Since Last Time: Mysteriously vanished in December 1999 without explanation.
Prediction: This gang I would love to see return. And if they are posting want ads for reviewers I might not withdraw my application this time.

RPG Busters
Since Last Time: Turned one year old, also had a new layout, began filing in the holes in their site, and gets better every day. Still trying to figure out how they manage to review RPGs
Prediction: My personal favorite WPR. They got my interest in RPGs piqued.

SAR
Since Last Time: Improved themselves considerably and were about to make a comeback but flamers caused them to give up and shut down. And can you blame them? Read some of the stuff in there.
Prediction: It's sad that the flames caused them to close...and these people didn't even have the courage to post their e-mail addresses when they flamed. Doubly sad because the members of S.A.R. were willing to discuss criticism; Iron Mouse wrote me after my first article and we discussed my comments; I respect the fact that she was as willing to listen to me as I was to her.

Rootbeer Reviews
Since Last Time: Changed hands again, was active for ten minutes and then died.
Prediction: It never really had a chance to develop.

Keeper of Time Webpage Reviews
Since Last Time: Went on extended hiatus, came back briefly and then was abandoned, still without review.
Prediction: As much as I like Setsuna and KOT, I don't think it is going to get very far; she still has too many bugs to work out.

Witches 4
Since Last Time: Fixed the Fifth Witch text snafu, gave itself a makeover, and has steadily been improving itself. They are also friendly, amiable critters. Their review style needs to develop a little more but it is much better since they started.
Prediction: Proved me wrong and I am glad they were able to.

Zettai ni Ayakashi
Since Last Time: Gave up reviewing and reverted back to a parody. Bad Fashion is a nice section, though.
Prediction: It could be funny if it wasn't so nasty; their tone needs some serious tempering.

Draco Says
Since Last Time: Went off into the night...at least told us she was doing so.
Prediction: She was interesting to read, but I don't think she has made plans to return.

And the new entries:

Black Lady and Esmeroodo's Club Reviews
Positives: A new group that, like the RPG Busters, is dedicated to reviewing one type of pages. This one reviews clubs. They seem eager.
Negatives: They are very superficial reviews that don't really tell you anything about the club.
Prediction: Has the enthusiasm; needs work.

Evil Hotaru
Positives: Original concept...and slightly scary. Generates very interesting guestbook comments.
Negatives: What is it?
Prediction: Too soon to tell its intentions..but it's hysterical!

Moonie Review
Positives: Fresh and brand-new. Gets 10 points for having Fisheye on the site.
Negatives: Still needs to get itself organized.
Prediction: Too soon to tell, but looks like it has a lot of potential.