I must be insane, because I keep making the same mistake

[J Farrell]

.... reading user reviews of new games I'm excited about. It always leaves me frustrated and annoyed, and yet I haven't shaken the habit. I'm sure it's not true overall, but the public impression I get is that videogame players are the most determinedly unhappy people on Earth. Even with games they supposedly love, they CAN NOT WAIT to jump on Steam after 30 minutes and leave a bad review. Of course they can't have a broad view of the game in 30 minutes, and half the time their criticisms are based on misunderstandings or false assumptions they've made, but that doesn't stop them. Gotta try to ruin the game for the developer and everyone else! It's their "duty" as watchdogs for quality!

It's sickening. It's a cancer that eats our hobby from the inside. Don't come at me with "Battletech is flawless then, huh?" That's obviously not what I'm saying.

Btw, a special place in hell for those whose panties are in a bunch over HB including a "they" pronoun. This has absolutely zero effect on the game for those who criticize it, and is a nice gesture for those who care. It's another lovely habit too many videogame fans have: demanding that a game cater to their sensibilities and their sensibilities alone, or the game is "bad", and the developers "selling out" or "pandering" or "lazy".

Sigh. Had to get that off my chest.

 

[Lord of Riva]

It's sickening. It's a cancer that eats our hobby from the inside.

I uhh... respectfully disagree.

User Reviews serve 1 Purpose and that is informing users if they want to purchase something and they are godly at that. And i say that with all my confidence and my experience as a game dev getting panned with a under 70% Score and seeing the score of that game increase more than 10% through hard work alone. (Dont ask, i am also not part of that team anymore)

There is simply no "right" or "wrong" way to go about it. The users that are interested in a "they" debate or in Widescreen supposed are well advised to not Purchase the game wouldnt you say?

It does not really matter what the opinion of a Individual is, it is more important that he can act on it.

 

[J Farrell]

I uhh... respectfully disagree.

User Reviews serve 1 Purpose and that is informing users if they want to purchase something and they are godly at that. And i say that with all my confidence and my experience as a game dev getting panned with a under 70% Score and seeing the score of that game increase more than 10% through hard work alone. (Dont ask, i am also not part of that team anymore)

There is simply no "right" or "wrong" way to go about it. The users that are interested in a "they" debate or in Widescreen supposed are well advised to not Purchase the game wouldnt you say?

It does not really matter what the opinion of a Individual is, it is more important that he can act on it.

There is a right and a wrong way. And the wrong way is to immediately review a game after you spend 30 minutes with it. The wrong way is to be so anxious to register one's opinion first that you don't spend any time actually trying to solve an issue you supposedly care about, or enough time playing the game you're telling everyone not to buy to actually know what you're talking about.

Who needs to have a "they" debate? If you hate red hair and red hair is a choice, do you need to have a "red hair" debate when you create your character? It's ludicrous! Don't encourage people to be self-absorbed idiots in the name of feedback. There's a reason why you usually see the word "constructive" in front of "criticism" when people are asking for it.

 

[Lord of Riva]

There is a right and a wrong way. And the wrong way is to immediately review a game after you spend 30 minutes with it. The wrong way is to be so anxious to register one's opinion first that you don't spend any time actually trying to solve an issue you supposedly care about, or enough time playing the game you're telling everyone not to buy to actually know what you're talking about.

Who needs to have a "they" debate? If you hate red hair and red hair is a choice, do you need to have a "red hair" debate when you create your character? It's ludicrous! Don't encourage people to be self-absorbed idiots in the name of feedback. There's a reason why you usually see the word "constructive" in front of "criticism" when people are asking for it.

There is no wrong way, a person stopping to play the game because he is one of the 30 people using Ultra-wide screens and doesnt want to play the game in a smaller resolution does not need more time to know this no amount of time would change that.

The point is if one of the peoples writes a review of it the other 29 dont have to buy it, they will now they wont like it.

The issue in itself is irrelevant, would you want more people in the forums who think the game is bad because issue Y or do you want them to go somewhere else instead?

 

[J Farrell]

There is no wrong way, a person stopping to play the game because he is one of the 30 people using Ultra-wide screens and doesnt want to play the game in a smaller resolution does not need more time to know this no amount of time would change that.

The point is if one of the peoples writes a review of it the other 29 dont have to buy it, they will now they wont like it.

The issue in itself is irrelevant, would you want more people in the forums who think the game is bad because issue Y or do you want them to go somewhere else instead?

You don't see an issue in putting a "THIS GAME IS BAD" stamp on a game because some outlier resolution isn't supported? Actual reviews, ones with actual value, may well mention such an issue and perhaps ding a score as a result, but that represents 0% of the game for most people, and a very small percentage of the overall product for everyone. Everyone can, of course, choose to value what they value, and the amount they value it. But I don't think it's hyberbole to say that if you're willing to write off a game (or anything) based on such a small, superficial thing you are never going to be happy. And that's what I see over and over in public forums for most games. Droves of people who choose all kinds of minor, arbitrary lines in the sand, and then shout their displeasure to the world like they've faced Shakespearan levels of betrayal. I wouldn't care if that pettiness only ruined their own enjoyment, but mechanisms like Steam reviews means, unfortunately, that the impact isn't limited to their own experiences.

 

[Lord of Riva]

You don't see an issue in putting a "THIS GAME IS BAD" stamp on a game because some outlier resolution isn't supported? Actual reviews, ones with actual value, may well mention such an issue and perhaps ding a score as a result, but that represents 0% of the game for most people, and a very small percentage of the overall product for everyone. Everyone can, of course, choose to value what they value, and the amount they value it. But I don't think it's hyberbole to say that if you're willing to write off a game (or anything) based on such a small, superficial thing you are never going to be happy. And that's what I see over and over in public forums for most games. Droves of people who choose all kinds of minor, arbitrary lines in the sand, and then shout their displeasure to the world like they've faced Shakespearan levels of betrayal. I wouldn't care if that pettiness only ruined their own enjoyment, but mechanisms like Steam reviews means, unfortunately, that the impact isn't limited to their own experiences.

If these are outlier issues they will not affect the overall score. That is kinda the point of the aggregate, the same is true for the people writing "would love to get a headshot in tutorial again" 10/10"

Its the exact same "problem" only in the opposite direction. The aggregates help to quantify real issues and they give people having issues with something specific the chance to avoid it. it is absolutely a win/win for all. Customers know why they buy, or dont buy something. The developer can quantify what they can correct/develop in the future.

Im pretty sure everything has been said. How I or you for that matter feel about specific issues is completely irrelevant in this debate.

 

[J Farrell]

If these are outlier issues they will not affect the overall score. That is kinda the point of the aggregate, the same is true for the people writing "would love to get a headshot in tutorial again" 10/10"

Its the exact same "problem" only in the opposite direction. The aggregates help to quantify real issues and they give people having issues with something specific the chance to avoid it. it is absolutely a win/win for all. Customers know why they buy, or dont buy something. The developer can quantify what they can correct/develop in the future.

Im pretty sure everything has been said. How I or you for that matter feel about specific issues is completely irrelevant in this debate.

I think you're under the impression that the average player delves deeply into the reviews and reads all of the explanations for why it received a negative or positive review. It's my opinion that you are incorrect. For many, they see that "mixed" up above, and that's as far as they get. They never find out that half the negative reviews are about monitors/resolutions they may not even own. They never find out that people are playing 15 minutes and saying "it's boring". Those reviews have no value to the average user (the first b/c maybe they won't play in that resolution anyway, and the second because a 15 minute review of gameplay has to value to anyone), but they are weighted exactly the same on Steam as a review based on 50 hours of play, that is pertinent to more players. More and more games are immediately review bombed the minute they're released. It's hard for me not to conclude, from the behavior and from the actual content and tone of some of those reviews, that this is the actual goal of many of those "reviewers". They want to see the world burn, and they want that more than they want a good game.

 

[Canis]

Well its not really surprising. Generally most games on release have their forums filled with complaints and many have negative steam reviews. The reason's pretty straightforward, if you're enjoying the game chances are you are busy playing it and not posting a review. This will balance out as time goes on.

 

[Taran14]

Just ignore them. Once people who have actually played the game are done playing and start posting actual reviews the trolls, whiners and "not actually a review"-reviews will be drowned out. Over time, Steam reviews usually come to represent a pretty balanced picture. There are not many good things about Steam, but the review system is one of the things about it I actually like.

 

[shadojak]

Better yet, post your own review.

 

[Nichino]

Yea, I was a little put-off by so many negative reviews due to connectivity issues, as well as those from people having only played for such a short time. I guess if that's all it took and they are done with the game, and want to give a bad review, fine... But connectively people should contact the company to get it resolved, leaving a bad review seems unproductive and spiteful. I hope they at least go back and change the review after their connectively issues are resolved. I do agree it's the same for people writing positive reviews so early, but again, if they've made up their mind already, then that's fine too.

Glad to hear this is normal, as I don't normally follow review trends for games on Steam, and that it will pick back up as the people having fun in the game get around to writing a review. Even though I know I will write a positive review of my own, I was going to wait until I had significant hours in game as that seems like the prudent thing to do.

The grinding my gears though, is people who will leave the negative review but end up with 100+ hours of gameplay. Was this really a bad purchase for that person that they want to be detrimental to the future expansion of the game, yet put so much time into playing it? I'm sure they in reality enjoy the game if they played for so long. Oh well. That's life.