While I generally agree that it is sometimes the case of people getting away with an isolated bribe rather than a full scale conspiracy (which I believe is mostly harmless, anyway), cases like Gerstmann with his Kane & Lynch review come to mind.
I don't see any conspiracies, mind you, but after the guy came out with an official explanation of how he got fired from Gamespot for a review, I would really like to hear Gamespot's side of the story. It is many years later anyway.
I think Jester is actually right, although I would be less passionate about it. All three of us are, after all, talking about the same thing - the problem is with Carolyn's comments stemming from her personal beliefs that detract from the main points of her reviews and degrade them. It is not the problem that she gave GTA V a 9. I, personally, believe that the game does not deserve a 10 for reasons, not mentioned in any review. I also don't think her being a woman is an issue. Very few people scorn the work of Jess, for example. She is not a reviewer, true, but she is a joy to listen to. However, I do believe (and we disagree here) that important games deserve more "serious" attention from someone who is well into the franchise and probably hyped a bit (but not too much) so he/she can convey passion, apart from information. Carolyn almost invariably fails to deliver that.
It is more or less age related really, and in that aspect, Danny is right. However, there is something that the community is warning Gamespot about, may it be in an unclear way like increase in trolling and spite, but Gamespot, being professionals, should be able to pick up the message and heed the warning - Gamespot really dropped the ball with some reviews recently. The Last of Us comes immediately into mind. And it is not that the score was "wrong" or something, it is just that the review was very, very poor.
I also find GTA V's review lacking. It is not bad per say, but it is just too ordinary for a game that will undoubtedly be one of the corner stones in game history. It delves too much into some details that the reviewer doesn't like personally and skips too many important aspects of this vast game.
Furthermore, I do not think that Carolyn is able to convey her messages in the right manner in general. I do not intend this to be another personal attack against her, but many of the mature comments on her work pinpoint problems with her style. I am sure she is a good person and an avid gamer, but she does not make a good reviewer. She lacks humour, she is not thorough and overemphasizes on her personal view. I do not think people like her reviews. I personally don't. I do not get a satisfactory feeling after hearing what she has to say and usually go to other sites to double check the info. I think that many people share my point of view on this and are disappointed with her work. Maybe Gamespot should consider giving her less "important" titles to review?
Warpld's comments