Jimquisition: The 100% Objective Review

EternallyBored

Terminally Apathetic
Jun 17, 2013
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runic knight said:
The problem is that while people say "objective" most tend to mean "unbiased". Many people want a more unbiased review (seeing objectivity as a means to obtain it) and don't want to listen to a personal political ideological purity test applied to the product. But I suppose trying to argue against unbiased reviews would be very silly. Or might result in the exact same reply, who knows.
Pretty much the exact same reply, because asking for unbiased reviews in the same way people are asking for objective reviews is still the same thing. I don't want unbiased reviewers, I want reviewers that share my biases so I know that our opinions on games, movies, books, etc., are more likely to align and give me an accurate impression on whether I will like that particular piece of media or not. I also want reviewers who don't share my biases so I can know what other viewpoints are out there, and whether or not they actively engage or challenge my own view points. If a reviewer is biased in a way that doesn't interest me, then I am ok with not consuming that reviewers content.

I want as many diverse viewpoints as I can get, I don't care if the whole review is just the author deconstructing the story from an objectivist view point and ignores gameplay and graphics entirely, that's not what I want out of a review, and I likely would never read such a review, but I want it to exist. You can call a reviewer shitty, or even criticize their methods and reasoning, but I take issue when people come along and insist that displaying these biases is somehow a breach in ethical behavior, and that such biases should be forcibly eliminated from the medium through boycotts or organized consumer pressure, that is not what I want to see from the industry.
 

Netrigan

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Sep 29, 2010
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altnameJag said:
runic knight said:
The problem is that while people say "objective" most tend to mean "unbiased". Many people want a more unbiased review (seeing objectivity as a means to obtain it) and don't want to listen to a personal political ideological purity test applied to the product. But I suppose trying to argue against unbiased reviews would be very silly. Or might result in the exact same reply, who knows.
Honestly, yeah. You're going to get the same arguments against "unbiased" reviews as you are "objective" ones, for the same reason. Everybody has bias, every piece of media is political, etc, etc.

That's the rub. People don't want "unbiased" reviews, they want reviews that share their biases. And that's not a bad thing. Bias is impossible to eliminate. Find reviewers that work for you and, more importantly, ignore reviewers that don't. I'm not gonna go to Yahtzee for a JRPG or fighting game review, and telling him to change or trying to get him fired would be daft.
Had said Bayonetta reviewer gong on like that about what a wonderful portrayal it was, about how they properly integrated her sexuality into the character, giving her agency and whatnot... I'm sure not a word of protest would have been raised.

Because confirming bias is almost never noticed.

The whole "if you don't like this, why are you reviewing it" thing really only comes up when it's something said person likes. Such as, when Roger Ebert gave a bad review to Thor, many of my comic chums were up in arms, because Roger Ebert clearly doesn't like super-hero films, so why is he reviewing a super-hero film (note: he mentioned several super-hero films he loved in said Thor review); but the same people had no problem with him reviewing the latest Transformers film despite absolutely hating them all, because they wanted Transformers to get those negative reviews.

With gaming, the length of time it takes to play the game means there are far fewer reviews coming from a reviewer. Ebert could knock out several reviews in a week, but game critics would have trouble doing more than two. So instead of unleashing your reviewers on just about everything, reviews are much more targeted... and you get fewer opinions for each game.

With a movie franchise, you'll have the critic who is a fan of the series, you'll have the critic who hates the series, you'll have the critic who never experienced the series, you'll have the critic who usually does art house reviews, you'll have someone's grand-mother... all of them giving opinions about the same movie and getting a wide mix of responses.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection... so far it seems only massive Halo fanboys have chimed in on it. Great if you're a massive Halo fanboy and want to know if this is a game for you (answer: it is), but not so great if you're not part of this very narrow demographic.

And there are far too many people who think this is how it should be. Who cares about those customers not being served by game reviews, the hardcore Halo fan has all the information they need to make an informed choice about rebuying all of these games.
 
Nov 10, 2014
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I want a critic to be able to get in my skin and tell me whether i personally will love or hate the game and for what reasons.

I do not want to be a vehicle for critic's self-gratification, but i understand if the critic lacks empathy and imagination and is only able to even approach accomplishing the above task by talking about himself. However, when i see a critic talking mostly about himself, i inevitably have to conclude that this specific critic lacks empathy and imagination and maybe i should look for someone else for my game criticism needs.

For those critics that want to actually try delivering a solid criticism that will earn them respect and attention of multitudes - a protip: you start with what the game actually objectively has in it and work up from there.
 

Netrigan

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Maxim Preobrazhenskiy said:
I want a critic to be able to get in my skin and tell me whether i personally will love or hate the game and for what reasons.
I too want critics who can read my mind. We really are dragging ass on acquiring mutant powers.
 
Nov 10, 2014
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Netrigan said:
I too want critics who can read my mind. We really are dragging ass on acquiring mutant powers.
I know
And some of them come so close, too :(

I mean, both Sterling and Total Biscuit both occasionally take the words right out of mouth
It is really uncanny

<3 their work for that
 

Netrigan

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Maxim Preobrazhenskiy said:
Netrigan said:
I too want critics who can read my mind. We really are dragging ass on acquiring mutant powers.
I know
And some of them come so close, too :(

I mean, both Sterling and Total Biscuit both occasionally take the words right out of mouth
It is really uncanny

<3 their work for that
Jim Sterling loves Borderlands. Total Biscuit hates it.

Only one way to solve this. Deathmatch. Two men enter, one man leaves. Winner is named Perfect Pasta Sauce.
 
Nov 10, 2014
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Netrigan said:
Jim Sterling loves Borderlands. Total Biscuit hates it.

Only one way to solve this. Deathmatch. Two men enter, one man leaves. Winner is named Perfect Pasta Sauce.
Alternatively, i simply give the win to Biscuit on this one :)
Sterling gets me every time on anything related to Dynasty Warriors tho
 

Netrigan

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Maxim Preobrazhenskiy said:
Netrigan said:
Jim Sterling loves Borderlands. Total Biscuit hates it.

Only one way to solve this. Deathmatch. Two men enter, one man leaves. Winner is named Perfect Pasta Sauce.
Alternatively, i simply give the win to Biscuit on this one :)
Sterling gets me every time on anything related to Dynasty Warriors tho
One day, when you least expect it, Tiny Tina will hit you with her dildo laser for that. Then she will force you to eat Oatmeal Raisin cookied which you thought were chocolate chip.