Will User Review scores ever become more reliable?

I know what you're gonna say: of course not! The user score sections on MetaCritic and Gamespot are always gonna be filled with 10s and 0s with one liner comments, or that it could be easily manipulated. But I think as we are more enthusiastic about games and start taking them very seriously, maybe we will be more careful about what we say about them on the Internet.

At the same time, a Feedbacula style observation about general user comment trends can say something about both the games and about ourselves too. Would that be a more accurate measurement on how people are likely to experience a game?

Please bring back Feedbacula, I fucking love that show!

I don't think that's how it works, but I applaud your optimism. People already take games seriously, maybe even too seriously. So seriously, in fact, that people are unable to think straight. Users don't have to feel responsible for what they say, because they're not getting paid, don't have a large and returning audience and because expressing an opinion is more important than carefully constructing one. Besides, users will always be significantly supported in their opinion by other users, so there's also no incentive to be critical of one's own perspective or consider other perspectives. I think the situation will remain the way it is: a lot of crap with occasional useful content.

The aggregate score is pretty accurate on metacritic, especially if the sample size is large. Those scores usually give a general feeling of the feedback the gaming community has on games, despite people rating things a 0 or a 10.

Edit: Of course interpretation of a number scale is extremely subjective, and numbers don't mean anything by themselves; you need context.

The internet is a tool. A tool given to anyone... ANYONE... with an opinion. All they need is access. And in this day and age, that's almost impossible not to have. And as long as there are idiots and over hyper people in the world, user scores will always be slightly off.

Sometimes user reviews are more reliable than paid reviews from critics .

@geniobastardo: What if we abandon the 0 to 10 system and replace it with something more like Kotaku's "should or should you not play this game?"

Your question is the same as asking "will there ever stop being fanboys and trolls" and if you think no of course not, then you have your answer.

But also who really cares about the userscore? or do they really have a impact on your decision on your purchase?

I tend to ignore user reviews because everyone has their own taste and opinion. All that matters is what YOUR opinion is.

I think that's what scores need to move towards. This 0 - 10 scale is just not functional. To me, a 5 is an average game. That means it's like many other games out there - not necessarily a bad thing. But no one wants to look at games that get less than an 8. And at least Gamespot does whole numbers. Other sites that award decimal points kill me. What's the difference between an 8.2 and an 8.3?!

I liked X-Play's 5 point system. Very simple, but effective. Hotels and restaurants go by a 5 star system as well.

I think userscore can be a way to dilute professional critics' genre bias or personal preference. Like here in GameSpot, guys like Tom McShea has very strong opinion about certain genres or games with certain messages. In that case user score can be referenced side by side with the critics' opinion to give you a more balanced picture.

I think the entire comment made by the op is an incorrect assumption. the only reviews I find worthy of any true knowledge of a game is from user reviews. the "pro" reviews rarely give me the actual info I want in a review.

I think the problem is the op mistakenly connects all user reviews into one big bunch. meaning, the worthless 10's and 0's and everything in-between. the simple, common-sense answer is that some reader reviews are worthless and others are not. for me, almost all "pro" reviews stink.

I could care less about angry joe, feedbacula, gamespot, whomever, whatever. the only thing that matters is the words in the review and whether or not they address the different aspects of a game.

and, when I read the MANY different reader reviews that are done well I am able to get an absolutely crystal clear picture of what a game has, doesn't have and whether or not the game fits my style.

"pro" reviews are usually always a waste of my time.

@marcheegsr: I read user reviews to help with research. Often, I'll read negative reviews and determine from the way it is written if it's legit or not. Since negative reviews focus on the bad parts of a game, reading about the issues in a game can help me determine if I'm going to like a game or not.

Well, I try to write good user reviews. I have noticed that a lot of user reviews are poorly written and too short to give a real good idea about how good the game is.

I doubt it, well for me at least. Personally I never look at user reviews, I prefer to use professional reviews in my game purchasing decisions.

@Demonjoe93: By doing that, you are making the world a better place. And I think people like you is why I'm so optimistic about why User Reviews will be more and more important.

This and I can read certain user reviews from dependable people who many people listen to. IGN isn't entirely reliable because certain companies fund them so it is only best for business that they inflate their scores.

A good combination of professional reviews, user reviews and forum posts will give you a feel of a game.

I don't know. Sounds to me like you want to dilute bias with more bias. User reviews will remain as important as they are at the moment. Some of them are useful, most of them are questionable. There's no indication whatsoever that the majority of people will develop towards a more (self-)critical and/or balanced approach. If anything, the growing tendency to express an opinion in as little words as possible might even make the situation worse...

So many things are being distilled into a number (or numbers).

Remember when people use to read the reviews regardless of the score ?........ Yeah, me neither.

Thanks!

I read user reviews usually more then anything. People have nothing to gain from it so i trust them. Gamespot reviews are under pressure to sound professional, not to piss anyone off and to keep their advertisers happy for the most part... so they cannnot be trusted sometimes.