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Review scores: what's your stance on them?

AW8

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I mostly ignore scores in favor of the text, since they are meaningless. It's trivial to slap a 9/10 on a game. Writing an informative text describing why a game is so fucking amazing that it's a single point away from perfection is a lot harder.

I've read several reviews where the writer doesn't seem particularily enthusiastic about the game, and there's apparently nothing that special about it. Then BAM! Out of nowhere, 8 out of 10. You already know that a big AAA company who has an advertisement deal with the site doing the review is going to get a high score, so it's not really of any interest. The only interesting part is going to be the text.
 

Grauken

Gourd vibes only
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I mostly ignore scores in favor of the text, since they are meaningless. It's trivial to slap a 9/10 on a game. Writing an informative text describing why a game is so fucking amazing that it's a single point away from perfection is a lot harder.

I've read several reviews where the writer doesn't seem particularily enthusiastic about the game, and there's apparently nothing that special about it. Then BAM! Out of nowhere, 8 out of 10. You already know that a big AAA company who has an advertisement deal with the site doing the review is going to get a high score, so it's not really of any interest. The only interesting part is going to be the text.

Funnily enough you often see comments on these reviews that go like: your review score and what you write doesn't align at all, how come, but I still trust your score, bla bla

So even when they see it right in front of their eyes, they trust a number more than what the reviewer is actually saying, because numbers are scientific obviouly
facepalm.png
 

Commissar Draco

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I take Codex recommendations, play thru videos and user scores in this order most often over otaku, shit, cum and piss and other game urinalists inflated scores anytime Comrades, if I am not sure if game is worth playing still I demo it and ether delete it after hour or so and refund it or not, would give score 1 only to games which can't start at all like this WH40K tittle about battle of Talarn it was pulled from Steam too with developers so incompetent to make it run so it was shit. 2-5 are tilles so buggy and crashy they are unplayable but perhaps have something interesting in them, 5-7 are tittles I am either not interested and just without the flair but solid 8-9 flawed gems like Arcanum and 10s Games I loved to play for hours, days and months like First Sea Dogs, Fallout 2, Steel Panthers, Etc..
 
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I mostly ignore scores in favor of the text, since they are meaningless. It's trivial to slap a 9/10 on a game. Writing an informative text describing why a game is so fucking amazing that it's a single point away from perfection is a lot harder.

Not that hard since you can just gush about the game is the bestest gaem evar however you want, and readers can only disagree because you're not necessarily "wrong" if you think NPCs reacting to a nude PC is worth a point because the realism made your jaw drop. The dumb part is that this issue should not even exist in the first place since at best you have to come up with silly categories to try and translate your opinion into a number (and at worst you just make it up on the spot), that in turn we have to translate back into an opinion because we have to read the damn review to know what 7.3/10 even means for the reviewer.

It's a shortcut for the "yeah yeah just tell me if I should buy this already" crowd and it sucks and I hate it
 

Eirinjas

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Virtually all journalists of mass media trade positive reviews for access. Disney got caught not that long ago threatening to cut off access to movie reviewers for publications (L.A. Times was one of them) that had written negatively about it's business practices in Anaheim.

I don't trust "professional" reviewers for shit.
 

Swigen

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Dec 15, 2018
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When I was a fuckin’ baby with no internet I used to take review scores seriously but nowadays, with the rise of unbiased user reviews, the only reason I look at review scores is for a laugh. The way “journalists” play the games they review is fucking retarded. They’re rushing as fast a possible through early builds on easy then adding a smattering of virtue signaling and advertiser pandering on top of it all. Why would ANYONE take their opinion seriously?
 

PulsatingBrain

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If it means they can be more honest in the actual text portion of the review (call it shit then slap a 7/10 to keep ad cash rolling) then I guess there's an argument for keeping them. I haven't given much weight to reviews in general for many years though, since actual gameplay videos and user scores have become so widely available, and I feel like those are generally far more reliable.

A few years ago I would have said that review scores were going nowhere (probably still the case). but now that boxes are dying off in favour of digital releases, we might see more publications moving away from scores. My logic being that on a store page you can actually quote portions of reviews or even whole reviews, whereas physical boxes were more suited to just slapping a load of scores on the back, with maybe a very short blurb from select reviewers
 
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review scores have been useless since the last 20-25 years. in some cases, since ever. gaming journos know fuck all about videogames, just look at that dipshit dumbass retarded numbnuts from kotaku who took 20 minutes to advance through cuphead's tutorial. that's the average. i've seen reviews made on demos, i've heard (probably the same guy) bragging about writing reviews without even installing the game, i've read the director of the only surviving magazine publish on all his social medias "[the indoctrination theory is real and] those who don't appreciate mass effect 3's ending don't understand shit and deserve all the call of dutys and medal of honors in this world". the same guy who dedicated a whole editorial to me, explaining the absolute, neverending, imperiture superiority of the "professional press with entrance screening" over the average retard who thinks he has an opinion.
and this has been years and years ago, over a decade. meanwhile things have much MUCH worsened, the real average retard owns every communication channel, just look at the rise of the swedish fag who did nothing but screech and act like a fag, and that's one of the best among them. that's both the broadcasters and the audience, a real journalist would have been completely out of place among such fauna, their level went lower and lower, then the sjw plague hit and their level absolutely hit rock bottom and started digging.
they're kids with no knowledge, no experience, no critical sense (just look at how they dress themselves, holy fuck, get some self respect!), i'm waiting for the next fad only to start reading "this is the best game since fortnite".

tl;dr: scores are by retards for retards, don't ever read a review, instead get a torrent and judge by yourself.
 
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Wyatt_Derp

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May 19, 2019
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I used to at least consider reviews before purchases, but that was before the paid review era, when gamers and journos bent over the objectivity barrel and took one for the team so they could have the dough to pay their rent.

...And then double down and dare to preach the virtues of universal income or 'fair wages.' Fuckin' hypo-crates.
 

Commissar Draco

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I used to at least consider reviews before purchases, but that was before the paid review era,
When was that?

Before Gamespot fired his best and long time reviewer for objectively reviewing game already payed for to recieve 10/10 I don't renember when it as hmm around 2005? Now its open advertisement mixed with dose of social justice Only place I trust (with great doze of salt) is Codex and only if this not pushed by shills like infijooowitron.
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

Filthy Kalinite
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I was trying to find that one review about Legends of Valour, but not so surprisingly it seems to be vanished from top Google searches and Wikipedia.
 

DalekFlay

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Scores have always been a joke that idiots use, and most reviewers even acknowledge that but say they need to use them to get more clicks. It is what it is. Only way to get a hint if you'll like a game is to read/watch the actual review and compare it to your tastes and priorities. I pretty much just watch 30-60 minutes of a game on Youtube to see if it looks like my bag.
 

Kaethar

Educated
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Dec 15, 2018
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I am cinycal towards professional reviewers in general, mostly because I realized that most of them have to rush through games to meet deadlines.
 

DalekFlay

Arcane
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I am cinycal towards professional reviewers in general, mostly because I realized that most of them have to rush through games to meet deadlines.

And they tend to suck at playing games, if their "quick look" style videos are anything to go by.
 

SniperHF

Arcane
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Aug 22, 2014
Messages
1,110
I mostly only read reviews after I've already played something to see if people disagree with my own take and why or if I didn't pick up on something.
So scores and even reviews themselves don't matter all that much to me in terms of whether I'll buy something or not. At least 90% of my purchases are based on the premise of the game and developer reputation.
 

Monk

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Feb 8, 2010
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Wat
You can also check video gameplays.
 

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