I think this is one area where you really shouldn't listen to anyone else. There ain't too many neutral opinions when it comes to alts. Your own research will win out.
This is good advice, everyone will always pump their latest altcoin. If you want to play that game you have to mine a new coin and dump it as soon as it hits an exchange. Most coins go almost straight down after getting listed.
I'd look for two things, first some real innovation over Bitcoin in the protocol of the coin itself. Second, some infrastructure around the coin so it can actually be used. Doge started as a joke, so it was a no for the first criteria but it built a community pretty quick. It will be interesting to see if its stunts can overcome its core problem of Too Many Coins (TM).