No thanks. Star ratings are arbitrary and mean different things to everyone. What's the difference between a 3-star and a 4-star rating?
A quick "Do you recommend this game, yes or no?" with the text of the review explaining why they feel that way is much more useful.

Originally posted by Jamie:

I see "reviews" all the time that say "farts" or something stupid like that...not even a review just being a a-hole.

Those can be reported.

Originally posted by FFL2and3rocks:

No thanks. Star ratings are arbitrary and mean different things to everyone. What's the difference between a 3-star and a 4-star rating?
A quick "Do you recommend this game, yes or no?" with the text of the review explaining why they feel that way is much more useful.

Originally posted by Jamie:

I see "reviews" all the time that say "farts" or something stupid like that...not even a review just being a a-hole.

Those can be reported.

no ♥♥♥♥ they can be reported. and nothing ever happens lol its a broken and outdated system

No.

I think 0-100% is more conclusive than 1-5 stars.

Originally posted by Jamie:

This will allow a better way to judge games instead of just a or . It works really well on GOG. I see "reviews" all the time that say "farts" or something stupid like that...not even a review just being a a-hole. With the 5 star rating system it would allow consumers make better judgements on their purchases making sure they know exactly what they are going to get. The system is just way too broad for the vast amount of video game styles and genres.

You assume providing a 5-star system would eliminate the meme reviews?

Originally posted by Jamie:

no ♥♥♥♥ they can be reported. and nothing ever happens lol its a broken and outdated system

You can put ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and still wrote 'fart',

or do you mean that there will be no description box anymore?

Originally posted by rawWwRrr:

You assume providing a 5-star system would eliminate the meme reviews?

This.

Nothing stopping me from giving ⭐ to my fav game.

or pet this cat for take my points

Originally posted by Jamie:

Originally posted by FFL2and3rocks:

No thanks. Star ratings are arbitrary and mean different things to everyone. What's the difference between a 3-star and a 4-star rating?
A quick "Do you recommend this game, yes or no?" with the text of the review explaining why they feel that way is much more useful.


Those can be reported.

no ♥♥♥♥ they can be reported. and nothing ever happens lol its a broken and outdated system

star ratings is an outdated system

I see where you're coming from here. Having worked extensively with voting systems, I can confirm that any system relying on a numeric "value" for ratings is inherently flawed. As others have pointed out, these "values" mean different things to different people. With a value-based rating, understanding how someone arrived at their rating requires experience with their personal grading style, and even then, their ratings often vary inconsistently.

The thumbs up and thumbs down approach is functional, but I think it could benefit from a middle-ground option (a "thumbs middle," perhaps? 😄). A lot of reviews seem to want that neutral space, which could better capture mixed opinions.

I also agree that the current system for flagging low-quality reviews (like "FART") needs improvement. Reporting these doesn’t seem to have much effect, and it’s disappointing, especially since game creators—and particularly indie devs I know—take feedback seriously.

Personally, I’ve started checking reviews outside Steam, watching gameplay on YouTube, or trying demos whenever possible. The review system on Steam is more like a "finger in the air" gauge than a reliable indicator. I have DLCs and games rated "Negative" that I enjoy, and some "Overwhelmingly Positive" ones that don’t appeal to me at all.

Ultimately, no rating system, unless highly nuanced, can ever deliver a universally accurate "this is what you’ll think" answer.

Originally posted by Jamie:

This will allow a better way to judge games instead of just a or . It works really well on GOG.

Really? But then why does GoG do so badly. Why does no dev/p[ub tout their GoG Score?

Originally posted by Jamie:

I see "reviews" all the time that say "farts" or something stupid like that...not even a review just being a a-hole.

But you'd be okay with a 4/5 review that says "Farts" it seems.
If not.

Originally posted by Jamie:

With the 5 star rating system it would allow consumers make better judgements on their purchases making sure they know exactly what they are going to get.

Would it though. Or would it just leave consumers to make assumptions about what the writer is saying?

I mean never mind there is lirterally no standard metric for evaluating these things due to them being entirely subjective.

Originally posted by Jamie:

The system is just way too broad for the vast amount of video game styles and genres.

Assuming one never reads the well written commentaries. I'd agree but see, those commentaries are there and easy to find. Like you can generally find them right on the store page.

The Star rating system is fine for anything that has objective metrics. but it is next to worthless for something that is heavily subjective. Thats kkinda why metacritic is such a meme.

Look . It's fine if you like the star stystem and there are plenty of sites where you can find star ratings for games. But That doesn't make it any better than the current system. In fact it would just make things a little less clear

Good Idea!

Would just lead to mass 1 and 5 star reviews like on every site that has user reviews with that system.
Same problem with 10 star or 1-100% scales.

Simple Yes/No is still the most accurate and least prone to manipulation.
Dont say it CANT be manipulated, that happened quiet often but its much harder.

Good example, the recently released Dragon Age Veilguard .
3.2/10 on Metacritic because hundreds of 1/10 reviews, 2.1/5.0 on Google Reviews, same.
76% positive rating on Steam which is way more in line with the professional reviews and honest impressions by players who dont belong to the "the woke LGBTQ+ agenda ate my dog and killed my grandma!" kind of reviews that dominate Metacritic.

Originally posted by Ogami:

Would just lead to mass 1 and 5 star reviews like on every site that has user reviews with that system.
Same problem with 10 star or 1-100% scales.

Simple Yes/No is still the most accurate and least prone to manipulation.
Dont say it CANT be manipulated, that happened quiet often but its much harder.

Not really. I mean look at metacritic.

Not to mention there's the social aspect of it. Like how anything below a 7 is a terrible game etc etc.

Originally posted by Start_Running:

Not really. I mean look at metacritic.

Metacritic is the main evidence for my claim. Games get review bombed in MASS on Meta with the user ratings, often by people who do not even have played the game, just to push their agendas.
Metacritc user ratings have become entirely useless over the last few years and in no way reflect any kind of reality regarding the quality of the games in question, just the culture fight thats currently going on.

Originally posted by Ogami:

Originally posted by Start_Running:

Not really. I mean look at metacritic.

Metacritic is the main evidence for my claim. Games get review bombed in MASS on Meta with the user ratings, often by people who do not even have played the game, just to push their agendas.
Metacritc user ratings have become entirely useless over the last few years and in no way reflect any kind of reality regarding the quality of the games in question, just the culture fight thats currently going on.

Oh trust me. they haven't been good for at least a decade. And again it stems from the fact that each rating carries varying weights. a 1 or a 10 for example carry more weight than a 4 or a 6.
. Because of the way averaging works.


Abnd then as said there is the social aspect, because people want to be seen as legitimate ,. so they can't give a low score like a 1.. rthey'll just be disregarded as haters. They also can't give it a 10 otherwise people will just disregard them as fanbois. So the bar for a bad game keeps rising while the ceiling for a good game drops.

I mean as said. 7 is consider to be a bad/meh game and 9 is basically the highest score you can give without worry of being labeled a fanboi. So you have a 1-10 scal that's been whittled down just through social shenanigans to 7, 8, & 9.

Yeah, the review scale tilting more and more to higher numbers being the only legit ones is another pet peeve of mine.
In the 90s a game that got a 7/10 was a good game. It meant is a was a good example of the genre which would appeal to fans of said genre but lacked anything making it stand out.
Nowadays a 7/10 is basically " bad game, not worth it, flop" in the rating system.

A 6/10 game was considered a still decent game that you could have fun with even though it had some obvious flaws. But a 6/10 now is basically "unplayable garbage".