SAILERIUS'S PROFILE

author=S. F. LaValle

author=Max McGee

saying that, a good thing i can see coming of it is people reading the reviews a whole lot more seeing as one thumb up could mean anything from 'this is fantastic' to 'yeah it's passable.'

Agree. Loss of granularity is bad. A less granular system does nothing to augment a more granular one when added on.

Though obviously we're all talking up different ideas at the same time, I figured I may as well be clear in terms of how I've been proposing a change: the thumbs up/thumbs down system would replace the star review system. At least in terms of recommending games to players, it's simply "I would" or "I wouldn't." I think a loss of granularity is precisely what is needed this case. This is true because of the problem you mention above: abuse. It's a bit harder to abuse the current system because a full review is required, but when you clear that hurdle, the damage is greater (as we have witnessed). One ill-intended "thumbs down" is hardly a dealbreaker, though, and it should be among a greater sampling (in a perfect world, much greater sampling) of honest thumbing.

author=boobledeeboo
well, no, not really (i mean, the speech is obviously useless, but we both know nobody would actually say that haha).
in fact knowing he's rated it 5/10 is very not useless and i don't see how it would be. if they're not totally inept, the readers should then use their own head to decide whether that's good enough for them to give it a go based on the good/bad factors presented in the review. by changing what he would've given 5/10 to 'thumbs up,' it's simplifying it way too much and leaving less in the hands for the gamer to decide whether it's worth his/her time.

This may sound misleading, but we do have a role that's different than, say, IGN or Joystiq. While they are providing objective (lol) coverage and reviews for commercial games they have no stake in (lol again), we are actually supposed to be helping indie game makers peddle their games to the people. When you think about that, it actually sounds quite silly that we would host reviews talking down the very games we're offering to the public. Meaning, while being a tad more deceptive as you say by not discussing that middle ground of mediocrity, we are compelling more people to download games they might not if it had a 2.5 instead of 5 up/5 down (or, like you say, they may just read full reviews to investigate further).

It seems ultimately beneficial to the developers, removing that granularity. I also like the idea of being able to change your vote. People might be more receptive and responsive to criticism if they know someone's thumb vote hangs in the balance. It seems petty, but minor as it is, it puts more control in the hands of the developer. Even now as they clamor for star points, what will they be willing to do to gain that one or few extra thumbs up? Have the game proofread to remove spelling and grammar errors? Shorten the intro to 30 seconds? Change the hero chipset to something other than a Cloud re-color? Increase text and/or walking speed? Invest time into better battle balancing? Maybe a bunch of things that a creator won't find worth it; whatever, it's up to them. Instead of feeling the weight of a 0.5 review slamming down on you with no chance of shrugging it off, can a series of nudges with many little thumbs inspire you to make your game just a little bit better? Where the line is drawn is up to you.

author=frostentity
@Sailerius: There's a few mapping errors on Act II - the bookshelves in (what's his name?) Manor. I might not finish Act II anytime soon. I'm losing my drive to playing RPGs, now that school is just a few days away. :(( When I do finish it, I'll try writing a review for Vacant Sky, along Iron Gaia and Forever's End. ;)

I just finished all three acts, great story but this is one of the most unusual rpgs that i have played due to this game having no world map.

Not having a world map didn't bother me at all. :)

author=Radnen
Here's why the controller won't be expensive, although it acts like a DS controller: No hardware.

The hardware is in the Wii U, so the controller is basically a plastic shell for the buttons, screen, batteries, gyro, and whatever else thats crammed inside. It'll run no more than $50.00, more likely due to licensing fees. (This is for those who were wondering about price).