Why do people overrate games?

Alot of the user reviews and scores I see on this site just don't make sense.

How could someone seriously give a game which is obviously flawed a 10/10.

Must be just kids with too much time on their hands. They play the game for a couple of hours and then they're like yeah, that was pretty cool - now I'll give it a 10!

WHO DO I TRUST?!?!?!?!

Because they just love the game and they are being excessive. Also because they want to raise the score of the game.

@thereal25: because 10/10 doesn't mean perfect, as is said by many sites. It just means that, in spite of the flaws (minor as they may be), the game is absolutely a must-play.

When multiple media sources all saying the same thing; people take it as credible.

never played a MGS game before.

media give MGSV a 10.

buys MGSV.

shit at stealth games.

complains on the internet.

-----

In all seriousness, what @gmak2442 is pretty much spot on. poeple try to boost scores if they just really like the idea of the game and their time with it, despite how good it is mechanically. Fun factor should be part of a review score, not the entire review score.

@thereal25: that's why i don't trust reviews

Because other stupid people will believe their hype.

because review scores are just one person's opinion and a game some people might hate another person my find the best game they ever played bugs and all.

Other people are fanboys and overrate games because they are exclusives for their favorite system. They play the stupid meta game and try to pad the stats of their favorite console.

Because of something called opinions.

putting all of your trust into just one other guys opinion is stupid imho

Overrate based on what? What you think of the game? A person can't overrate a game based on their opinion. If they feel it's a 10 then, to them, it's a 10. Try not to get worked up about how people rate games and instead play them yourself and assign your own score to them if you so wish to do that.

Because they liked the game and felt that it was worth it.

Don't think I've ever rated a game 10. However, that's because every game has some flaw.

Do I hype "overrate" games? Probably, if you really like something; share your excitement. That's kinda the point in the gaming community.

Why, do you only come here for complaints/ arguments?

I disagree that people should be able to take refuge when they are critiquing something under the unassailable notion of subjectivity. Sure it's an opinion, but within it should be striven for a degree of personal removal from bias to help them view whatever they are judging with an objective eye. Being completely objective is impossible, but I find the art of a good review is to strike that fine balance of basing personal opinions upon impersonal facts, which not many seem capable of doing.

@thereal25: trust yourself, everyones opinion is different.

For me, a game gets a 9 or 10 if its a game that I just can't put down.

Becauses scores are pointless and yet if they don't rate them highly, people will go ballistic over it not getting a 9 at the very least.
So I'd assume it's to keep the whining to a minimum.

I'm a critic. There has been maybe 2 games that got my rating of a perfect 10 in entire entire 30 yr history of playing games.

People buy games they expect to like.

People are moderately successful at predicting what they will and will not like.

People thus mainly play games they are predisposed to like.

People accurately rate the games according to their taste.

It appears to be inaccurate or faulty since almost every game is viewed positively by its community of players.

AKA, it's all perspective.

It's all about the user experience. Let me use Metal Gear Solid 5 as example. Some people may rate MGS5 as 10/10 while others will rate it 5/10 or less. If you never played an MGS 5 games, which review do you trust? It's tough to say really because both of those people are playing the game differently most likely. The 10/10 player can be a stealth buff and they love to scope everything and plan ahead so that they don't get caught and so a game like MGS5 can be the perfect game for them. That's what MGS5 expects you to do. However, if you're a constant Call of Duty player only and you play MGS5 like you play COD and by that I mean run like crazy in the game never plan, just attack and if you keep getting spotted and then killed and you end up raging a lot and you end up screwing up a lot, you may have a different experience and a lot of people for that, that doesn't understand how certain games are supposed to be played, will give the game a lower score. It's always difficult to know which reviewer's score to believe. You don't know what kind of gamer the reviewer is, you don't know if they like stealth games or do they just play run and gun games only?

So who do you choose to listen to? Who knows?

Trust professional critics and reviewers. They take reviews seriously and at least try to be fair.

Trust yourself, as you are the only person who truly knows what games -you- will enjoy.

That said, Gamespot's reviewers do play games all the way through as a matter of policy, so to answer your question: "no", the reviews are not the result of someone playing for "a couple of hours".

Is there a particular game or review you wanted to discuss?

-Byshop

I wish you would share the games you thought were deserving of a perfect score.

Based on the quality of the programming of the game. If it has ANY significant flaws, a perfect ten should be out of the question. For me, any flaws beyond something super insignificant, so long as they are not in abundance, is all that is acceptable for that score. And that's only if the scores are integer rather than decimal.

Because a numerical rating system is subjective and is wholly dependent on the reviewer's sense of the scale and their interpretation of what each number represents.

I agree. They feel the game that they love is the best game they ever played and rank it the highest in every poll. They also want to boost the score and popularity of the game that's why.

In my opinion people like to defend their purchase and views. For example, many years ago I purchased the SWTOR Collectors Edition and defended that decision to my friends. In hindsight, it made no sense to defend as hype and that hive mindset often leads to overwhelming positivity or negativity, while ignoring objectivity... I've included a lot of ...ivity in that sentence. I'm sorry. hehe.

In the end, watch a bunch of videos on the game and decide if it looks fun to you (or a demo). It's hard to fake fun in a let's play video as you can see the content and decide for yourself.

Who do you trust? what about trusting yourself and go from there?

Who cares if joe random or Adam Critic gives a game a 1 or 10, if you like it then that is all that matters.

It's still all subjective. What a person wants to rate a game has no real bearing on quality of the game. It's simply how good they felt the game was. Yeah, people may seem to exaggerate their scores often by just using either extremes. But if that's how they really feel about the game, then so what. It has no effect on me. I don't value other people's scores that much.

Because they enjoy it?

No matter how subjective people try to be personal bias will always step in to an extent, if you asked me for my personal opinion of something like Parasite Eve it's a 10.. but for a more subjective thought it's closer to an 8-8.5

Or the Joker.

-Byshop

Hehe , best joker ever....

Noone beside or above the awesome actor that is Jack Nicholson.

Well keep in mind they were a perfect 10 for me with consideration for the time they came out and of course it's just my opinion but it's not that these are or were my favorite games either, in fact I prefer to play or replay many other games to these nowadays despite a lower score but are still perfect achievements in my eyes.

Super Mario bros 3...it was epic and back then there was nothing quite like it, it's all in the details, from the mini games to the little animations that seemingly danced with the music. Platforming wasn't revolutionary of course but this game took it to a new level that's still basically copied today. It had the right amount of challenge, variety, spot on controls and surprises.

My second perfect 10 score went to Gaires. It perfected everything I enjoyed about other shm'ups. Top notch music, controls, graphics, variety of weapons and even intermission scenes telling the story unlike the awesome and very close shmups such as R type, Thunderforce series...etc.

I know there are a ton of awesome games worthy in comparison and it's easy to argue my scores as it is anyone's but I always found something in other games that kept me from giving my perfect score..could be music or some other design decision in the gameplay but I have a long list of titles that get my 9.5 score. For example, Zelda 3 is my favorite in the series but i have to dock a point due to story, how it's presented and the fact that there were many Amiga/PC top down RPG's that did everything much better but yet it's still more fun for me to play than say Ultima 4, Skyrim or what have you. However if some of the graphic, sound and AI mods for Skyrim were there by default then Skyrim would have got a perfect 10 from me but doesn't because they were mods and introduced later.

Games can often trigger certain emotions and feelings in people, that genuinely mean something to them. And as humans with feelings, we cherish these moments and often praise a game higher than it should be for that. For example I was given a copy of Crash Twinsanity when I was only 10 as gift, during a time in my life that I was very sick. This game brightened up my entire spectrum, and for that I owe the world to that game even if others don't consider it to be that good.

Almost every time Gamespot hands out a 10/10 they shortly after release a video explaining their methodology for reviewing games and why they think that game should have been a 10.

Thanks everyone for your responses.

Maybe watching gameplay videos really is the way to go.

I've read negative reviews of games that I love - and they actually seem rather convincing. I've also read positive reviews of games that I consider to be terrible - and they too seem convincing at times.

And I also have to wonder if people are a little too kind to indie games.

Because often they have shoddy graphics and little depth compared to AAA games - yet somehow still manage to get 8's or 9's.

Maybe they're coming from the angle that such and such indie game is great for the price, but the price isn't so much of an issue for me because I'll usually get games well after release on Steam specials - which of course makes the price differential smaller.

I really don't accept the concept of something being "overrated". All this effectively means is that the average valuation of the game across the population is higher than your own. That's not a problem that needs to be solved. The only problem is your inability to accept that you sometimes deviate from the norm (which isn't inherently a bad thing)

I agree with garywood. I honestly don't think there is something called overrating. Most of the things people like are opinionated and doesn't reflect other peoples stance to a certain topic. I like chocolate a lot, but there are people, who actually don't like it. Do I rate it high? Sure. Do I think it is a bad thing? No. When a majority of people like a common thing or maybe a common theme, opinions will accumulate and be more visible to the public. But when you ask them more specifically about their opinion you will likely notice that they don't really share the same opinion. They just LIKE a thing or are more inclined to view certain topic in a more positive way. Games are a subjective thing and I think this is good :).

Though mixing chocolate with marzipan is a sin! A sin! :).

Why do people underrate games?

This

Personally I think people underrate games more than overrate. But again people have different opinions/likes/dislikes so w/e.

because people naturally want to conform for the sense of security of fitting in

Yeah, I guess if someone hasn't clicked with something or had a good experience they might be inclined to exaggerate their score and opinions.

The reverse could also be true.

@thereal25:

Lol if people praise a game you dont like, they're "kids" ?

Says more about your age

Try to be more subtle with your trollbait next time

Well, I came up with the idea of "kids" because surely if these people had a good all-rounded view of gaming and had seen just how much better similar titles of the same genre actually are, then they'd think twice.

They get caught into the hype.

@thereal25: The "Scores" Mean jack-shit they're just meant to be for reference and a rough estimation on what the person's thoughts on the game are.

The main thing is the REVIEW if the review itself fails to mention the flaws of games then its not an proper review at all.