Microsoft Rethinks Indie Rating System Following Abuse

Logan Westbrook

Transform, Roll Out, Etc
Feb 21, 2008
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Microsoft Rethinks Indie Rating System Following Abuse

The platform holder takes the first step towards fixing its broken rating system, but developers say more steps are needed.

A spate of rating sabotage that pushed a game way up the Xbox Live Indie Games charts - and several others way down it - has prompted Microsoft to change the way indie games are rated. Whereas previously anyone with an Xbox Live account - gold or silver - could rate any game he or she wanted, the new system restricts that privilege to just those with gold memberships.

The changes came after Cross Studio sent out a request on Facebook, asking fans to give its game, College Lacrosse 11, a good rating and push it up the Indie Games chart. Unfortunately for other developers, some of these fans got the bright idea to give bad ratings [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108875-Xbox-Live-Indie-Devs-Accuse-College-Lacrosse-Fans-of-Down-Voting] to other games, thus giving College Lacrosse an even greater boost. This only came to light after Cthulhu Saves the World developer, Robert Boyd, noticed that his game was suddenly getting a lot of one star reviews, and traced it back to Cross Studio's call to arms.

Microsoft said the changes to the rating system should go a long way to limit any potential abuse in the future. Unfortunately, it also said that it had looked into rolling back any suspicious votes, but was unable to do so. Microsoft stated that it was investigated any potential violations of the Xbox Live user agreements that happened during this incident, and that penalties for those found guilty could involve removal of privileges, or banning from the service altogether.

Comments on the XNA Game Studio blog [http://blogs.msdn.com/b/xna/archive/2011/04/18/update-on-indie-games-ratings.aspx] suggest that indie developers are pleased with the changes, but think that there is more that Microsoft could do to prevent rating sabotage, such as restricting rating privileges to people who actually own the game in question.

Source: via EDGE [http://www.next-gen.biz/news/microsoft-changes-xbox-indie-games-ratings]



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Spacewolf

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May 21, 2008
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surely it would make more sense for them to only be allowed to reveiw games that they actually own
 

Catchy Slogan

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Jun 17, 2009
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Spacewolf said:
surely it would make more sense for them to only be allowed to reveiw games that they actually own
I was thinking the same thing, that they need to have at least played it. It seems a bit silly to restrict it to only Gold members. not everyone has the money/ can be bothered with Gold.
 

Bobbity

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Mar 17, 2010
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Why not just stop people who don't own the games voting? I think that's how it works on the app store, and that seems like a pretty foolproof system.
 

Lieju

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Jan 4, 2009
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Yeah, I agree with previous comments. Make it so you need to own it before you can rate it.
 

manythings

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Nov 7, 2009
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Well the thing I find really odd is that people apparently care so much about Lacrosse. Are people all about College Lacrosse in the US?
 

Hawgh

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Dec 24, 2007
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It's good that my ability to offer feedback on games has been hamstrung, by the idiocy of others. I should pay for the privilege.

That restriction is an inane approach.
 

skateblind

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Apr 5, 2011
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Kalezian said:
Comments on the XNA Game Studio blog suggest that indie developers are pleased with the changes, but think that there is more that Microsoft could do to prevent rating sabotage, such as restricting rating privileges to people who actually own the game the game in question.

this, a million times this.


Why should you be allowed to rate a game if you dont even own it?
You may have played the game before at a friends house or something, but I would have to agree that the best solution would be as quoted. Surely everyone with a gold account could still go and vote for a random game and still continue what Microsoft are trying to put an end to.
 

Uber Waddles

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May 13, 2010
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IDEA!

You cant vote on the game unless you purchased it.

That solves the issue of rating bombing, while letting you keep your star-reviewing system. Short, sweet, to the point. Why should someone who doesnt have the game have the right to vote on how good or not it is, if they don't own it? While I could see a myriad of excuses (played at a friends house, other XBL accounts, etc.), you should really either own the game to judge it, or should only be able to downvote it once, etc.
 

Proton Packmule

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Oct 29, 2010
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What the hell, I'll throw my hat in too. Own it? You can rate it.

If you play it at someone's house, then want to rate it, then tough. Get your friend who bought it to rate it down. The lost reviews of people who want to comment on games they don't own 1. Don't matter, as the reviews from those who do will outnumber them hugely and 2. Don't matter, as they'll probably have played the game for between 2 minutes and 2 hours, which, depending on the game might not even be long enough to enjoy it. I played Resi 5 for 3 hours and hated it before I got into it more and liked it, and I've now played it in co op for over 100 hours.
 
Feb 13, 2008
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So they only people who can review games are those that have paid extra to Microsoft? Can't see any way that that's unfair or abusable.
 

beema

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Right, because people with Gold memberships are all highly moral upstanding people who would never troll something like that or artificially pad ratings of something.

How exactly does this improve anything?

MS WHY ARE YOU CONSTANTLY SO STUPID!?! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE!?
 

Phlakes

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Mar 25, 2010
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Uber Waddles said:
IDEA!

You cant vote on the game unless you purchased it.

That solves the issue of rating bombing, while letting you keep your star-reviewing system. Short, sweet, to the point. Why should someone who doesnt have the game have the right to vote on how good or not it is, if they don't own it? While I could see a myriad of excuses (played at a friends house, other XBL accounts, etc.), you should really either own the game to judge it, or should only be able to downvote it once, etc.
Er, did you even read the thread before posting? Your "idea" was said about a dozen times already.

OT: This is what happens when you leave important things to the public.
 

hansari

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May 31, 2009
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HankMan said:
So just because they have gold membership, they're automatically above star bombing? It's cute that Microsoft thinks that.
Its funny how multibillion dollar corporations can overlook such simple solutions...

manythings said:
Well the thing I find really odd is that people apparently care so much about Lacrosse. Are people all about College Lacrosse in the US?
Go on youtube. Click a video with a million views. Now see how many votes it has relative to the views.

It might take only a 10 seconds, but most people, even if they like the video, aren't gonna bother voting. Same thing with people who love a game or hate it...most of them won't vote.

Its usually the fanatical fans that will vote one way or another. So the lacrosse group may only have 185,000 members, but if even 1/3 of them vote on something, it will have a HUGE impact.

Reminds me of goodreads, and how twilight is name the best book of all time on it...