What Our Review Scores Mean

[Saltyk]

I sort of prefer five star ratings systems. I think it was back when X-Play was a thing that existed and Adam Sessler made it so obvious how stupid the whole 10 point scale with decimals was that I realized that the five point scale is actually better.

As he once challenged someone to explain the difference between a 9.7 and 9.8 game, so do I. And people also need to stop with the belief that a 5 point scale is exactly equivalent to a 10 point scale.

On that note, I'm not sold on the half star ratings. I can see the point of some of them. A 4.5 Star rating makes a lot of sense, but I'm not sure we need so many different ways to say that a game sucks. And they half seem like many of them won't be used as much. I suspect most games will earn between a 3-4.5 rating. Still, I'll wait to see what comes of it.

If I could make a suggestion. Make a couple of example reviews. Reviews of games that sum up perfectly what we could expect from a 3 Star game versus a 4.5 or 2 Star game. I think that would help alleviate some concern and give a sense of scale.

With all that out of the way. Thank God for Jim!

 

[Saltyk]

wait... 2 1/2 stars is below average?

2.5 out of 5?
50%?
The median?
The thing that is supposed to represent average?

... is below average?

Crazy

On a 5 point scale, 3 is in the middle. One and two would be below that average threshold. Four and five would be above it. With three exactly in the middle. Thus, three is average.

wait... 2 1/2 stars is below average?

2.5 out of 5?
50%?
The median?
The thing that is supposed to represent average?

... is below average?

Crazy

I've never heard of 50% being a passing grade, I would assume this is a similar metric.

Really? Where I went to school (Region of Peel, Ontario) you needed at least a 50% to pass a test/exam/course.

In the US, anything below 70% is considered failing. An A grade can vary, but is usually 90% and above, though, when I was real young, it was 92%. I don't remember all the other letter grades too well.

 

[sindremaster]

wait... 2 1/2 stars is below average?

2.5 out of 5?
50%?
The median?
The thing that is supposed to represent average?

... is below average?

Crazy

Well it makes sense considering they won't be using the half star much. They have 4 good scores(5-3,5), 4 bad scores(2,5), 1 average(3) and 1 broken as shit(0,5).

Having 2,5 be average would mean there were 4 bad scores(05-2) and 5 good scores(3-5) so it's more even this way.

 

[Phrozenflame500]

Theoretically, though, transferring that kind of system to videogames is actually pretty damn good. Plenty of people get like 50-80% in tests, and they've done pretty great - got a clear knowledge of the subject, etc. But selective universities will only accept the ones which are 80%+ (Cambridge only accepts people who get As and A*s for most subjects).

Now, consider how many games get 80%+.

If we, the consumer, were the universities, we could play those games for our entire lives and never complete them all. Fact is, we can afford to be selective, so the logic applied to it is that we only play the hits. Obviously it's flawed due to all rankings of this form being entirely subjective, but it's honestly not a bad thing to follow.

I disagree, if anything I feel this should be why we should not use school-grading.

Remember, originally the idea behind the school system was the pass/fail mechanism. If you got under 50-60% you would fail and have a bad mark, and above that was considered a good mark. But as students became more adept and the population grew universities had to become more demanding, hence why nowadays 80 is the "average" grade and anything below it is considered at best mediocre.

This eventually leads to our problem today where grades steadily become less important as all the top students have 90+ averages.

The point is if we're more selective then universities on selecting our "students", we should have a lower average so we can better judge the difference between each game. If we use the same philosophy of "everything sub-80 is bad", we end up in a case where everything gets scores of 80/90 and a similar problem where review scores become less important.

Now we're not bound by standardized tests like the school system. The "grades" we give to games are only what we feel they are worth not what they objectively score. If we go back to considering 50/60 passable grades, games would get more diverse scores as reviewers would feel that they could give a 60/70 without being unfair. Games that once got an 80 would get a 60, games that got an 85 would get a 70 and so on. This means that we can more precisely measure games rather then rate games on a scale from "good" to "great".

 

[Amir Kondori]

All you people are saying how great this is now, but just wait until Halo 5: The Milkening gets a 2, then you'll all lose your shit.

 

[TKretts3]

In the US, anything below 70% is considered failing. An A grade can vary, but is usually 90% and above, though, when I was real young, it was 92%. I don't remember all the other letter grades too well.

Seriously? I simply cannot fathom a teacher not passing someone for getting a 65%, or for a 50%. I've never been to a school where 50% wasn't a pass. That isn't to say that people only ever dreamed of 50%, no, no, most people got well into the 70s, and I always got into the 80s and 90s.

Man, the US sounds weirder and weirder every day. :S

 

[BlackStar42]

I made the site worse by replacing stars with stars.

I blew it, guys. I'm sorry.

Damn it, I knew we should've gotten somebody else in!

Joking aside, are your reviews here going to be similar to your Destructoid reviews, or can we expect a little of your Jimquisition persona in there?

 

[Rachith Sridhar]

Lol this will be fun

So will he do Destructoid and Escapist both?

 

[LittleBlackDragon]

This was a very helpful explanation to the rating system the Escapist uses. As a person relatively new to the written side of the Escapist (I started by watching the Youtube Channel), it was nice to get some clarity on how scores are distributed and how games are evaluated.

I appreciate the Escapist's efforts to be a bit more harsh, and yet fair in their criticism. Even if I don't always agree with some points some reviewers make, it certainly gives me a lot to think about when it comes to the games I play. It offers me new perspectives and the ability to see things in games that before, I would not have taken any notice of. As a lover of video games (especially western RPGs) I believe my brief exposure to the Escapist prior to formally joining the site adding an enriching element to my activities as a gamer. I hope that in also reading written reviews, I can become a more thoughtful and educated consumer of video games, and be able to participate or at least listen to open and critical dialogue concerning games coming out, as well as important events and issues happening within the industry.

It was actually Jim Sterling's videos that made me curious about the Escapist. I had seem some episodes of Zero Punctuation, but I feel it was the Jimquisition that truly captured my attention. It is no surprise to me that the way Sterling acts on the show is merely an exaggeration (my favorite commentators in media tend to be such- Stephen Colbert anyone?).

Though an exaggeration, it was nice to see a person whose opinions were well thought out and frank. I agree often with the things said on the show, but there are other times where I think to myself "well, actually, I don't agree with the point made during an episode."

But that's the great thing. You don't have to agree with someone all the time, in fact, both similarities and differences I believe are key to keeping an effective dialogue going within the gaming community. Many things require a balance, and in my opinion this is such a thing.

Too Long, Didn't Read Version: A Very useful and well-written article, Jim. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on future topics and game titles.

 

[Koshok]

Lol this will be fun

So will he do Destructoid and Escapist both?

I heard rumblings on the twitterverse that he's leaving Destructoid, but I could be wrong.

If someone would be willing to confirm or deny this?

 

[coolerthanice21]

Lol this will be fun

So will he do Destructoid and Escapist both?

I heard rumblings on the twitterverse that he's leaving Destructoid, but I could be wrong.

If someone would be willing to confirm or deny this?

He resigned from Dtoid last Friday and his COD: Ghosts review was his last one for that site.

 

[Trivun]

wait... 2 1/2 stars is below average?

2.5 out of 5?
50%?
The median?
The thing that is supposed to represent average?

... is below average?

Crazy

I've never heard of 50% being a passing grade, I would assume this is a similar metric.

Really? Where I went to school (Region of Peel, Ontario) you needed at least a 50% to pass a test/exam/course.

Everywhere I've gone you've needed at least a 65%.

Edit: English and Math were changed in my teens by state mandate to require 70%+ since they considered C- and D+ to be unsatisfactory even if they were labelled as passing. Though that's not particularly relevant.

I'm doing a post-grad university course and the pass mark is 50%, however the average is about 65%.

wait... 2 1/2 stars is below average?

2.5 out of 5?
50%?
The median?
The thing that is supposed to represent average?

... is below average?

Crazy

As a mathematician I can confirm you've made an error of judgement here, the median isn't the most common measurement of average anyway, that would instead be the mean. I'd say 65% is a perfectly acceptable average, based on the games I've seen in my considerable time as a gamer...

 

[Annihilist]

The Escapist is better for it. Keep up the good work, Jim.

 

[wulf3n]

As a mathematician I can confirm you've made an error of judgement here, the median isn't the most common measurement of average anyway, that would instead be the mean. I'd say 65% is a perfectly acceptable average, based on the games I've seen in my considerable time as a gamer...

Being clear I'm not talking the average score games receive, i.e. Game 1 scores 60, Game 2 scores 65, Game 3 scores 70, the average score of the 3 being 65.

but rather a ranking system where the middle grade is not indicative of middle quality.

 

[GonvilleBromhead]

Looks like one of the better uses of a five point scale I've seen, though I admit to not being a fan of them. I always thought that "Amiga One" had the better idea (though it would need tinkering for the 21st Century), of an average based around criteria (each individually given a score)

 

[Rblade]

wait... 2 1/2 stars is below average?

2.5 out of 5?
50%?
The median?
The thing that is supposed to represent average?

... is below average?

Crazy

you been passing alot of college classes with a 5 out of 10? Because if so I need that colleges adres. 5/10 is not a passing grade.

 

[TheSYLOH]

Is there any game on the escapist right now with a 1 star or below rating?
Even Duke Nukem Forever got two stars, and I can't find reviews for any of the more notorious stinkers.

 

[Anachronism]

Thank God for Jim!

I'm looking forward to seeing how the reviews section evolves (and improves) with him in charge. He's one of the precious few game critics to have an actual identifiable personality: I know what sort of games he likes and doesn't like, and that's a rare and brilliant thing in a medium where most critics try to be as samey and indistinguishable as possible. He's sometimes controversial, yes, but I like that in a critic. I like knowing that what I'm reading couldn't have just as easily been written by a machine.

Bring on the reviews!

 

[Strazdas]

First of all congratulations on your new job position. I already did on Youtube, but expecting you to read all my youtube comments is very naive.

This scale sounds quite fair, though i do have to wnder where did 0 stars ran away. As it seems to be doing same mistake that most score systems have - making 1(0.5) the actual 0, thus instead of having 10 point scales we have 9 point scales, and in this matter we actually have a 4.5 stars scale, since you go from 0.5 to 5.

Also, i think the best scoring scale would be IGNs review scale [http://www.ign.com/wikis/ign/Game_Reviews]. But a man cant have everything, even if he is in the grace of Jim Sterling.

I made the site worse by replacing stars with stars.

I blew it, guys. I'm sorry.

Your punishment will be not thanking god for you for 1 day!

In the US, anything below 70% is considered failing. An A grade can vary, but is usually 90% and above, though, when I was real young, it was 92%. I don't remember all the other letter grades too well.

Pasing grade is 50%, meaning you have learn at least all the basics of the subject. Tests are specially formed to put 50% mark as basic knowledge and anything above is how much the person actually cared to learn.
Then again, in USA you do have that insane system where you actually write letters and mathematical sins instead of marks, so no wonder you did the mistake of making it all the way to 70%.

Lol this will be fun

So will he do Destructoid and Escapist both?

He left Destructoid.

Lol this will be fun

So will he do Destructoid and Escapist both?

I heard rumblings on the twitterverse that he's leaving Destructoid, but I could be wrong.

If someone would be willing to confirm or deny this?

Jim has officialy confirmed this in multiple locations, including his own youtube channel and destructoid itself. This is true.

 

[Saltyk]

In the US, anything below 70% is considered failing. An A grade can vary, but is usually 90% and above, though, when I was real young, it was 92%. I don't remember all the other letter grades too well.

Seriously? I simply cannot fathom a teacher not passing someone for getting a 65%, or for a 50%. I've never been to a school where 50% wasn't a pass. That isn't to say that people only ever dreamed of 50%, no, no, most people got well into the 70s, and I always got into the 80s and 90s.

Man, the US sounds weirder and weirder every day. :S

In the US, anything below 70% is considered failing. An A grade can vary, but is usually 90% and above, though, when I was real young, it was 92%. I don't remember all the other letter grades too well.

Pasing grade is 50%, meaning you have learn at least all the basics of the subject. Tests are specially formed to put 50% mark as basic knowledge and anything above is how much the person actually cared to learn.
Then again, in USA you do have that insane system where you actually write letters and mathematical sins instead of marks, so no wonder you did the mistake of making it all the way to 70%.

I'm perfectly happy with the US system. Think of it this way. On a 10 question test, with each question being of equal value, in the US system you would have to get at least seven right. To only have to get half right, doesn't sound like you would grasp the concepts very well. Would you want an engineer or doctor to only grasp half the concepts of their craft?

But what do I know? I'm merely an ignorant 'Merican and whatnot. Land of Budweiser and home of the Braves. R edumacatian cystim sux 'n avery pursun nos et.