What do you think of the review score system?

[Melf]

The debate about Tempo has prompted me to delve further into the solidity of our scoring system. I've long had the urge to go with a 5-point scale, but have never gotten around to implementing it. I think the 10-point scale is a bit too broad and can lead to unnecessary confusion.

Thoughts?

[Drixxel]

Blarg.. just posted about this in the Tempo thread before reading this.

A five point scale is a lot more clearcut, as long as you don't get caught up in partial-marks, or belch out 5/5's like a GamePro eel. Plus, there isn't as much waste.. I mean, do you really need four ways to call a game crap? 1/5 and 2/5 do'er nicely.

[j_factor]

I find a 5-point scale to be even less intuitive. I'm not really sure what a 3/5 means...

I too already posted in the Tempo thread. Basically I think if we're going to change it, we should change it to some alternative rather than just changing how many numbers are on the scale. You could also just do away with any sort of scoring whatsoever and have the reviews simply rest on their writing... perhaps adding a sort of synopsis/summary/thesis sentence blurb at the top.

[StRiDA CoL]

Well, for one thing, we (meaning the reviewers) would probably give out too many 3/5 s and 4/5 s
and by just giving the exact SAME rating over and over again would be just to unoriginal and would'nt show our opinoins that great. It's just better off with the 10 point scale.

[VinnyT]

If we stick with the current 1-10 point system, Melf needs to create an offcial list of each number, along with it's meaning and examples. This should make everything easier on the readers and the reviewers.

[David J.]

If we stick with the current 1-10 point system, Melf needs to create an offcial list of each number, along with it's meaning and examples. This should make everything easier on the readers and the reviewers.

That'd be the easiest thing to implement, really.

[Drixxel]

That makes a lot more sense. It could mean having to change around some of the pre-existing scores to jive with the newly-chiseled official score explanations, but aside from that there'd be no massive overhaul needed.

I like this idea more than the ol' 5 pointer, although I do enjoy the sound of a one-sentence summary/recommendation. Maybe do it all..

[Melf]

Shame on all of you! No one's read the Review Manifest (http://www.sega-16.com/Review%20Manifest.htm) on the main review page? It explains each score for game and product review.

Looking at it again myself, Tempo never should have been a 7. A six fits it fine.

[Drixxel]

So that page wasn't a bizarre hallucination after all..

[VinnyT]

I figured someone would know that's what I meant, but it seems everyone else forgot about it.

[Genesis Knight]

A 10 pt system is superior simply because it has more values. Secondly, I don't understand why everyone's arguing over a single point in Tempo. It's someone's opinion, for crying out loud!!! If the man wants to give it a seven, then blame it on the system.

Instead of switching to 5 points, I think we should let visitors score games to balance it all out naturally.

[Vorty]

I think the 10 point scale is fine. Surely, reducing it to a five point scale won't solve any problems at all.

That visitors plan is a dumb idea for two reasons.

1) First off, if someone gave a popular game a low score, all the nerd would be at it like flies on shit, knocking the score back up.

2) Reviews are meant to be the opinion of the writer and although people have different opinions on certain games, we'll have a stack of users coming on and editing the score completely.

If people actually used the scale that Melf wrote up in the first place, which is fairly accurate aside from a few things that need tweaked, then we wouldn't have any of these problems.

[VinnyT]

And what would these tweaks be?

[Genesis Knight]

Same question here.

At any rate, the visitor concept isn't designed to provide a "Holy Standard" score for a game. If you want to tweak it a bit, we could only allow contributors to vote.

[Mendicant]

How about a doing away with grades & sticking with descriptions.

A description such as "Very good, fun, but lacking in a few areas" communicates the reviewer's opinion a lot more clearly than a number, such as 7.

[Drixxel]

A one-sentence summary and a numerical score (be it ten or five point) presented together.. this could do the trick.