Jimquisition: Review Scores Are Not Evil

Another

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I don't mind review scores, if it's a true scale score system.

In a scale of 1-10, five is average. Not 7 or 8. 7's and 8's can still be really good. Iv'e enjoyed a fair few games that have received such.
 

gardian06

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Jun 18, 2012
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Lvl 64 Klutz said:
Legion said:
I wish you'd went into more detail about why you like them, you mentioned they were fun and you liked debating them, but didn't really go into the reasons.

Personally I don't mind review scores. I just dislike the way 5/10 should mean average, but most people tend to think 7/10 is average and everything below that is bad. Obviously like you said, that's peoples problem, not the scores themselves.
It depends on how you look at the 10 point grading scale. If you look at it like an academic grade, then 7/10 *should* be the average/mediocre game. That's how most reviewers see it, even. Just look here on the Escapist where 2 and a half stars is usually accompanied by a "don't bother" recommendation and anything below that is pretty much considered garbage.
so by that logic (note: not all schooling systems use the same grade identifiers) and your explanation is only half accurate. the grading percentage is based on actual percent correctness, but the lettering system which has actually changed in definition was brought about as a short hand of quality measure. where 50% and bellow was deemed failing from a standpoint of do you really want an employee that is only right 50% of the time, and so on. while a A student is right 100% of the time (in an academic setting). so really the argument loses some merit because the way that the grade scale in which you describe it is based on a fallacy itself of accuracy of answers in an academic setting reflects how that person will perform in a work environment. where I know quite a few "F students" who are not only incredibly bright, but also a lot better in real world situations then "A students"

KiloFox said:
i like the new gloves. they match the suit and make you look spiffy.
you don't wear enough Red for the red gloves to work in the same way.
snip...
I think the thicker gloves actually make the entire outfit look bulkier, and by nature make his head look fatter (sorry Jim) If you are going to go with black gloves for your body type you might want to try slim line, or riding black gloves for bicyclists, or motorcyclists as they will make your outfit look less bulky, and also it wont break the outfit up like the red ones did, but you might also run into an issue where to much of a gap between your glove, and your sleeve will make it seem like you stole the hands of a smaller person.
 

LazyGlader

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Draconalis said:
I don't get it... if you hate review scores so much, why do you use them?
If you are directing this question towards Jim, then I'll have to ask you if you even watched the video. He claimed he likes review scores.

OT: I have no problem with review scores, but I would prefer categories like Gameplay, Story, etc. then you average all of them together.
 

Lizardon

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Mar 22, 2010
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I agree that it's not the reviewers fault that some people are idiots and get upset or misuse review scores.

Personally, I have no real problem with a numerical score, as long as the reviewer clearly defines what sort of game deserves a 5/10, 7/10 etc. The Escapist and Destructoid both have review score guides linked in all their reviews elaborating on the scoring system, so I see no reason to remove the scores.

Also, was that just a joke or has a publisher really left you voice messages over a bad review score? To be honest I not sure if that is hilarious or just sad.
 

comadorcrack

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Mar 19, 2009
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Legion said:
I wish you'd went into more detail about why you like them, you mentioned they were fun and you liked debating them, but didn't really go into the reasons.

Personally I don't mind review scores. I just dislike the way 5/10 should mean average, but most people tend to think 7/10 is average and everything below that is bad. Obviously like you said, that's peoples problem, not the scores themselves.
Agreed that would have been interesting and agreed that pisses me off. I recall the escapists own Susan Ardent bringing up that point of the average being a sort of 7/10 score, but never really went into from there.

It seems ridiculous to me that the average is so bloody high, move the god damn average. That's how IQ works. The average IQ moves a lot... so they change the grading system to match it.

I personally like the way Jim's own site destructoid handles scores, Jim has a very specific scoring sheet which genuinely has 5 as the Average.
 

Evilpigeon

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My problem with review scores is that it distracts from the content and gives you a faulty metric with which to compare apples to oranges i.e. compare Crusader Kings 2 to Planetside 2, there's essentially nothing in common execpt for the presence of a map in both games. It's a preference and I can see why people who are interested in a shorthand version of the writer's opinion on a game like them, I'd just rather read the article and draw my own conclusions as opposed to being handed a hard conclusion.
 

themilo504

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Yathzee has a pretty good reason why he doesn?t use scores still I find it a bit silly to ban review scores outright they can be quite handy.
 

VonBrewskie

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Good perspective Jim. I also read a comment on here about how "anything below a 7 is bad". I don't think that's the case, and I think Jim pointed out that reading the score, then reading the article associated with the score is the way to go. If some people can't be assed to read an article attached to a score then that's their problem, and they won't get the reviewer's real opinion. People limit their own ability to form an educated opinion when they ignore articles as well. I actually like to read/watch multiple reviews of the same game and form my own opinion based on information I've gathered from sources I trust (like this site) before I drop my hard-earned cash on the counter.
 

AJey

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Feb 11, 2011
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So you missed the most obvious point? How about the fact that scores provide zero information! None! Nothing!
 

Sylveria

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comadorcrack said:
Legion said:
I wish you'd went into more detail about why you like them, you mentioned they were fun and you liked debating them, but didn't really go into the reasons.

Personally I don't mind review scores. I just dislike the way 5/10 should mean average, but most people tend to think 7/10 is average and everything below that is bad. Obviously like you said, that's peoples problem, not the scores themselves.
Agreed that would have been interesting and agreed that pisses me off. I recall the escapists own Susan Ardent bringing up that point of the average being a sort of 7/10 score, but never really went into from there.

It seems ridiculous to me that the average is so bloody high, move the god damn average. That's how IQ works. The average IQ moves a lot... so they change the grading system to match it.

I personally like the way Jim's own site destructoid handles scores, Jim has a very specific scoring sheet which genuinely has 5 as the Average.
It's born out of two things. The first of which being people are fixated on their "school" grading system where a 6/10 is probably just barely passing, if that. So, a 7/10, a C, is seen as "average." Reviewers and readers who are used to that scoring system can't psychologically break away from it. To them, a 5/10 is a 50%, a pretty solid Fail. That's why you get the people like Cliffy B getting his panties knotted up when his game gets an 8/10. To him, that's a B, good, not great, when in an actual 10 point system, it would be far above average and should be considered great.

The second issue, which Jim addressed partially, is when people are of the mind-set that a 5/10 is failure, 7 and 8 is a very safe number. A publisher sees an 7 out of ten and they're more or less placated. They can sit back and think they did "good enough" as most C students who don't aspire for better would. Their feelings aren't hurt so business relationships aren't harmed. Then you get places like Konami, Activision or SquareEnix who if you don't work the shaft good enough and give them that 9/10, they'll take their ball and go home.
 

Draconalis

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Sep 11, 2008
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LazyGlader said:
If you are directing this question towards Jim, then I'll have to ask you if you even watched the video. He claimed he likes review scores.
Yes...I watched the video. I was being fictitious...
 

Blood Brain Barrier

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Jim should do audio clips rather than videos. I don't need to watch streams of clips from Japanese games I don't care about while at the same time listening to completely unrelated streams of Jim's occasionally funny/entertaining monologues.
 

blackrave

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Scars Unseen said:
Presentation: 7
Graphics: 8
Audio: i
Jim: 6.0221415 x 10[sup]23[/sup]

Final Score(not an average): frog
Frog? FROG???
What is wrong with reviewers these days?
Are they all that stupid that they need to compensate their lacking intelligence (and probably small penis) by demeaning work of other people who are more talented, handsome and rich? You are just bias and jealous
That video deserved at least TOAD and if you don't agree with me, then I hope your penis will get chewed off by rabid chimpanzee.
Because I'm right and you're wrong. No, not even that, you're WROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG!!!






[sub]P.S.That was sarcastic comment, please don't ban me.[/sub]
 

muffinatorXII

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i don't really have a problem with scores it's just that they make no sense. first of all i don't believe a complex opinion can be quantified numerically and if it could you would have to decide on a universal scale to use it on, which also makes no sense because different people value things differently.

and there is this weird thing right now where 7/10 is average
 

shieldheart204

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Scars Unseen said:
Presentation: 7
Graphics: 8
Audio: i
Jim: 6.0221415 x 10[sup]23[/sup]

Final Score(not an average): frog
You reminded me of Conan O'Brien's scale of meaningless, WHY?
 

Catrixa

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May 21, 2011
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I honestly think review scores are great from a "I'm thinking of impulsively buying a game I know nothing about and want to know if it's worth buying for $X"-standpoint. If you're disregarding titles you've been looking forward to based on the opinions of someone who you don't know, may not share your taste in games, and who may not even have the experience as a gamer to make these sorts of assessments (I'm looking at you, random Wall Street Journal game reviewers), you're probably doing it wrong. Honestly, scores are great if you want to determine what the overall opinion is, but you've got to have actual reasons for the scores in order to determine if it's something that's worth your time and money.
 

brazuca

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Jun 11, 2008
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Consistency is the main problem with score. Keep up with sites like gametrailers.com and ign.com and you end up seeing the lack of consistency in them. Some games will get a much higher score that they deserve simply because they are a long runing franchise, that advertises on their site, like RE6.

PS.: thus episode was a 3 out of 5.