@docampo You're absolutely right that we can't choose what people say, but we most certainly can choose whether or not we allow them to say it on GameSpot.

@tipsyfreelancer A quick look at this page should make it apparent that 9 is FAR from average on GameSpot: http://l.gamespot.com/1gIW2kX

@AndrewV29 @Allicrombie @kozzy1234 We didn't "dock" points at all, that's not how reviews work.

@Tuckpoint The game in question is very much *about* the state of society, and the moment a review is devoid of a reviewer's opinion is the moment that it ceases to be a review at all.

@AndrewV29 Yes, because the comments here are such a great read that we just can't get enough of them... Personally I'm missing the days when we removed commenting from reviews completely right now.

@AggrandizedUser GTA Online will be reviewed separately. Despite the fact that it's delivered on the same disc, R* considers it a different game because, ultimately, it promises to be much more than just the multiplayer component of GTA V.

Since it's being released weeks after the launch of GTA V, a separate review that we can link to from within the GTA V review makes sense.

@Pie_FOREVER You have no idea what you're talking about.

@bluefox755 You sure about that? Please share your no-doubt extensive research with me, I'd be interested to see it.

@maxpatne1940 If GTA V was merely great we would have awarded it an 8.

@jhorner2013 The bar for each score gets raised over time, otherwise we'd have to keep adding numbers to our scale as the quality of games improves. GTA IV was released into a world without games like Sleeping Dogs, Saints Row IV, and Red Dead Redemption. GTA V was not.