Thread: Rating System
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Old 20-11-2010, 08:14 PM   #7
Panthro
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, England
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How is having lots of 8's or 9's a bad thing, if the games are of sufficient quality?

If I gave Ultima Underworld an 8/10, but someone else said it was 8.5, which one is correct? Or should it be 9/10? Every reviewer will judge games differently based on their experience and tastes, so getting truly comparable reviews is impossible.

Certainly from my experience, even the same reviewer can be erratic in their grading decisions, based on mood or whatever.

You'll also always get far more reviews in the 7-10 range than you will ever in the rest of the range, partially because people self-select the games they review, and also because of the odd way the system works. People have the idea in their head that anything less than 6 is a terrible game, so in effect you only have a five point system anyway.

I don't much like numbered ratings, but perhaps a letter based grade would be better? A-F, like school grades? That way, it gives a general idea of the quality of the game, and if you require more information that is what the bulk of the text of the review is for.
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