We all like knowing how good a game is overall and having user reviews are nice, but review bombing has become a problem. Steam has made some changes to help.
Review bombing isn't the only problem, and sometimes it has been done for a good reason. Early Access games primarly can change heavily between releases and go the wrong way. PAYDAY 2 was a good example of this, a few updates ruined it for a lot of regular players, so the title got review bombed.
Steam is now showing an Overall and a Recent rating for reviews. I think that's a small, but fantastic change so you can see how people generally feel about a game right now.
The reviews showing on the PAYDAY 2 Steam store page were all negative even though the Overall rating was Positive. There's still a few bad reviews left, but you can now see that the Recent review rating is actually Mostly Positive once again.
Steam is also now showing recent helpful reviews by default, instead of old reviews voted highly. That way you can get a better look into how the game is right now.
They have also added in a disclosure checkbox to make it more prominent that you got the game for free. Hopefully this will make some reviews more honest.
See the Steam news update here.
Overall, I think these are some really great changes to improve such a useful system. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Review bombing isn't the only problem, and sometimes it has been done for a good reason. Early Access games primarly can change heavily between releases and go the wrong way. PAYDAY 2 was a good example of this, a few updates ruined it for a lot of regular players, so the title got review bombed.
Steam is now showing an Overall and a Recent rating for reviews. I think that's a small, but fantastic change so you can see how people generally feel about a game right now.
The reviews showing on the PAYDAY 2 Steam store page were all negative even though the Overall rating was Positive. There's still a few bad reviews left, but you can now see that the Recent review rating is actually Mostly Positive once again.
Steam is also now showing recent helpful reviews by default, instead of old reviews voted highly. That way you can get a better look into how the game is right now.
They have also added in a disclosure checkbox to make it more prominent that you got the game for free. Hopefully this will make some reviews more honest.
See the Steam news update here.
Overall, I think these are some really great changes to improve such a useful system. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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They should implement real reviews to the interface instead, that'd be a vast improvement in my opinion.
The metascore rating seems to be optional for the publisher - I wish it was mandatory, with a tabbed option to see "user reviews" or "professional reviews".
The metascore rating seems to be optional for the publisher - I wish it was mandatory, with a tabbed option to see "user reviews" or "professional reviews".
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Quoting: BeamboomThey should implement real reviews to the interface instead, that'd be a vast improvement in my opinion.
The metascore rating seems to be optional for the publisher - I wish it was mandatory, with a tabbed option to see "user reviews" or "professional reviews".
Actually, you can use that enhanced Steam plugin for that. It adds both meta scores on all game pages.
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i really hope the next step is fixing the support and the website, being spammed with windows titles on my linux machines is pretty annoying
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Actually I don't think PAYDAY2 is a good example. It was well received early on and only got review bombed when the devs began neglecting the community and releasing ridiculous amounts of DLC to the point where now to have the game and all the DLC you've got to spend over $100, then they also have microtransactions on top of that too. Since the reasons people gave negative reviews haven't been addressed, I'd say they're still relevant reviews to display.
Last edited by wyqydsyq on 4 May 2016 at 11:44 am UTC
Last edited by wyqydsyq on 4 May 2016 at 11:44 am UTC
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Quoting: darkszlufi really hope the next step is fixing the support and the website, being spammed with windows titles on my linux machines is pretty annoying
Yes, either they should take the OS the browser reports into consideration (and not just SteamOS), or have some kind of switch you can set in the preferences.
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Quoting: BeamboomThey should implement real reviews to the interface instead, that'd be a vast improvement in my opinion.
The metascore rating seems to be optional for the publisher - I wish it was mandatory, with a tabbed option to see "user reviews" or "professional reviews".
i really disagree with that.. i dont like scoring system at all .. also i dont trust "proffesional reviewers" they are often paid to say good things about games and so on... If you look at that metascore site.. you see lots of those where proffesional reviews are completely opposite of the user reviews.
i prefer steam's system and now with that update its even better.
i will just read few of those reviews and can decide.. ofc some sort of gameplay video (unbiased) to confirm if i would like this game.
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I also have less trust for professional reviewers than "ordinary people" commenting on games. Which isn't to say I particularly trust "ordinary people" commenting on games--rather, I trust most professional reviewers so little that my lacklustre opinion of average-people reviews looks good by comparison.
I like Shamus Young, though.
I like Shamus Young, though.
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Quoting: wyqydsyqActually I don't think PAYDAY2 is a good example. It was well received early on and only got review bombed when the devs began neglecting the community and releasing ridiculous amounts of DLC to the point where now to have the game and all the DLC you've got to spend over $100, then they also have microtransactions on top of that too. Since the reasons people gave negative reviews haven't been addressed, I'd say they're still relevant reviews to display.
I disagree. As a new player of a game that wouldn't be around today without those (completely optional) microtransactions, I'm delighted with the game and Overkill's approach to it.
Can't comment on "neglecting the community", except to say that the community was extremely vocal about having no micro-transactions and Overkill doing it anyway. Perhaps the outcry is because they'd previously said they wouldn't?
Thing is, that outcry appears to have wanted the game to die off rather than implement microtransactions. Which is a bit weird. And as I say, without their approach, I wouldn't be playing it today, so I'm pretty happy about it.
BTW, how do Overkill "address" the negative reviews?? Kill the game off? Or give everything away for free until they go bankrupt? I'm not really clear on what the negative reviewers are demanding, if I'm honest.
Here's an except that seems to sum it up:
QuoteA small company cannot be cut slack when they have the nerve to put microtransactions into their game.I mean... how do you respond to an attitude like that? Is it so hard to ignore the DLC? Are you actually required to buy it, like in CoD or Battlefield? Nope. Its very existence is the issue here.
Crazy stuff.
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Quoting: maodzedunActually, you can use that enhanced Steam plugin for that. It adds both meta scores on all game pages.
Ah - if only the Steam client supported such plugins!
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Quoting: BeamboomQuoting: maodzedunActually, you can use that enhanced Steam plugin for that. It adds both meta scores on all game pages.
Ah - if only the Steam client supported such plugins!
Unlikely - it would be a security risk, I imagine.
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