Archive: 26 posts

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http://www.ripten.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/lbp-metacritic-63-user-score.jpg After reading about the suspiciously low Metacritic user score of 6.3 for Media Molecule?s LittleBigPlanet, I decided to dig into the story a little deeper. For those unfamiliar with the situation, allow me to fill you in. Metacritic, who by and large is considered the main source for aggregated scoring on the web, offers two score flavors (one for critics and one for users). This is the case across most sites. The problem is, when you are considered the ?go to? resource for pretty much anything, there?s a chance that people will make a big deal out of something on your site that they would normally overlook on another. That said, this specific instance pertains to the scores currently presented on Metacritic for the LittleBigPlanet game. The first, a 9.5 at the time of this article, represents the aggregated score based on several well accepted gaming review sites such as GamePro, IGN, and EuroGamer. The second, more controversial score, is a 6.3, and is compiled via the average score given by a pool of 2,225 user votes. Gaming news site N4G, which pulls related news from various websites around the web, features a blog post titled ?Fanboys pull LittleBigPlanet?s Metacritic score down?, discussing this very topic. Reading some of the furious responses to the score peaked my interest, so I visited the Metacritic site to see first hand what all the fuss was about. Clicking on the ?Read user comments? link near the overall user score brings you to the bottom of the page, where the following statement by Marc Doyle, the sites founder, awaits: ?My advice for our faithful users is to focus your attention on the Metascore for this game and not the thousands of user votes, most of which have been submitted before said users have played the game. This is a gaming community, and if people want to stuff the ballot box, there?s not much I can do at this point. When we upgrade the registration requirements for participation on the site in the near future, this type of thing won?t happen. We?ll post the full legitimate user reviews upon the game?s release. As always, thanks for using the site.?This prompted me to contact Marc directly in order to get a more complete picture of the situation from his end. Specifically, I felt that gamers would want some clarity regarding the portion of his comment stating that most of the user reviews submitted for LBP were made ?before said users [had] played the game.? Firstly, I wanted to know if he would consider eliminating user reviews submitted before the full release of the game, i.e. reviews clearly submitted based on the open beta alone, or even worse, no experience with the game at all, to which he responded: ? ? we won?t be clearing those old scores from LBP when it launches, but we will only post reviews from people who have clearly played the game. All the reviews from fanboys and haters who haven?t played it will just be left out. That is true for all products on Metacritic. Humans actually read all of those user reviews (so we can delete profanity, spoilers, etc.), and those humans are told not to post reviews from people who clearly haven?t played the game.?He then added that the burden of proof they demand from users submitting reviews prior to a game?s release date is be much higher than those doing so after the fact. Slightly confused, I asked Marc for some clarification as to how the game could have such a low score, if his team was manually looking over each user review submitted. He stated: ?All the [numeric] scores ?count? in the overall user average and total votes tally, but we only post a subset of those as [written] user reviews.?When talking about the future of the site, as well as other things they are doing to help eliminate this type of fanboy nonsense in the future, Marc had the following to say: ?There will be a Metacritic re-design in the future (can?t say exactly when), and as a part of that process, we?re going to beef up our user registration and community functions so that ?stuffing the ballot box? won?t be nearly as easy. The original idea behind allowing users to write user reviews (and vote on them) was to allow those people (like me) who see advanced screenings of movies and sometimes play games ahead of their true release date to write reviews and have them posted on Metcritic. That?s still the case now. Over the years, people have, by and large, not exploited the fact that you can vote early. Only recently have people started voting en masse for (and against) games like they?ve done with LBP. Metacritic?s primary ?product? is the Metascore, which is the weighted average of scores from professional critics. We include user reviews for obvious reasons, but because that score can never be 100% reliable, it's given secondary importance on the site. For example, you can?t sort or search by user scores for any products. That will likely change with the redesign.?Marc obviously has a solid understanding of the space, its evolution, and the challenges that lie ahead. The fact of matter though, is that currently, anyone can visit Metacritic and leave an abnormally low user score, skewing the average, without necessarily saying anything of value at all. I asked him if this was something the site would be revisiting in the immediate future. ? ? nothing should change in this regard until we do the redesign. That tally will remain a raw tally, and only the printed user reviews will be ?vetted? as useful reviews from people that we think actually played the game ? ? He closed the topic by adding that the specifics of ?whatever [they] do with the voting system moving forward [have] yet to be established.?With October 27th just around the corner, LittleBigPlanet is four LittleBigDays away from being officially released. So while the current 6.3 Metacritic user score has been getting most of the attention on the net, I (like Marc himself), kindly ask that you shift your focus to the 95 out of a 100 Metacritic score the game is receiving from the mainstream media. Everything else will sort itself out in due time. Source: Ripten (http://www.ripten.com/2008/10/23/ripten-talks-to-metacritic-founder-about-lbp-low-user-score-fanboys-and-the-sites-future/)

2008-10-23 23:50:00 Author: aer0blue Posts: 1603

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woooooooow

2008-10-24 00:01:00 Author: ea9492 Posts: 444

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Gelousy is most likely the biggest problem that could have caused it next to peoplr thinking that the game is childish because it is not a gory, blood-soaked FPS that they can prove how tough they are by playing it, look ehat has happened to the teenagers of this day and age, it is sad Cheers!

2008-10-24 01:00:00 Author: RAINFIRE Posts: 1101

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my dad thinks LBP is childish but my mom likes it because it takes me away for Halo3 Call of duty 4 or any other shooting games. Quote by my mom " why cant games be like this no guns or blood and just peaceful jumping around" while i was playing beta she said that. Best quote the world will ever see

2008-10-24 01:09:00 Author: Snrm Posts: 6419

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I have to admit, something is very fishy here. Knowing how the fans of this game act I wouldn't be surprised if some angry people who couldn't get into the beta, potentially some people who were ****** about the delay [this was pre-delay though right? I recall seeing a low score before], or even some xbox nutjobs rated this low. It would only take a single post on a healthy size forum somewhere or one really angry kid to drag that score down.

2008-10-24 01:17:00 Author: docpac Posts: 601

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I really don't care about a rating on a game that isn't even out yet. I will make my own opinion about it.

2008-10-24 04:23:00 Author: THE-FAT Posts: 143

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I really don't care about a rating on a game that isn't even out yet. I will make my own opinion about it. Yeah, but people who don't know better aren't as affected. Remember when people swamped the Spore page on Amazon with negative reviews for the DRM stuff? It obfuscates the real reviews and prevents people from getting the big picture. Still, Metacritic isn't as popular as it used to be and I'm sure that plenty of other sites will contradict it so I'm not too worried Elton

2008-10-24 06:51:00 Author: Eptiger Posts: 128

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lol "snrm007" thats what my mom would say too... and im going to have to agree with "THE-FAT"... i think we all know that there wont be a sortage of people playing this game so what does a rating matter, its what we make it, im willing to bet like "docpac" that it was users angry about the delay and people unable to get into the beta that are behind the rating... tell u the truth, this is also the first time iv herad of this Metacritic site... lol

2008-10-24 07:52:00 Author: Unknown User

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lol "snrm007" thats what my mom would say too... and im going to have to agree with "THE-FAT"... i think we all know that there wont be a sortage of people playing this game so what does a rating matter, its what we make it, im willing to bet like "docpac" that it was users angry about the delay and people unable to get into the beta that are behind the rating... tell u the truth, this is also the first time iv herad of this Metacritic site... lol I'm with you on that; I had never heard of Metacritics before. Well, maybe I had...but I just don't remember. Maybe I just never bothered. Anyhoo, the userscore wouldn't affect many people, I think. Even the most casual gamers know who to believe... Just random people that rate the game, or more "credible" sources?

2008-10-24 07:55:00 Author: aer0blue Posts: 1603

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you stole my story....

2008-10-24 08:57:00 Author: illyism Posts: 146

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I wonder what the people that said lbp would fail in the beginning are thinking now??

2008-10-24 09:02:00 Author: Thee-Flash Posts: 3154

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I have to admit, something is very fishy here. Knowing how the fans of this game act I wouldn't be surprised if some angry people who couldn't get into the beta, potentially some people who were ****** about the delay [this was pre-delay though right? I recall seeing a low score before], or even some xbox nutjobs rated this low. It would only take a single post on a healthy size forum somewhere or one really angry kid to drag that score down. My money is on console fanboys out to stir trouble. Not much that can be done if it's the case though. *shrug* That said, I'll be surprised if the score doesn't head back up significantly after release.

2008-10-24 11:00:00 Author: Yumpy Posts: 53

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what? how can that be? lbp is one of the best games ive seen on the ps3 and its pretty much the only reason im getting the ps3

2008-10-25 00:21:00 Author: Amigps Posts: 564

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It's at times like this that I look at Forsaken's signature for comfort.

2008-10-25 01:13:00 Author: Code1337 Posts: 3476

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I declare War! lawl http://www.ripten.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/gears-2-metacritic-score.jpg http://www.n4g.com/gaming/News-221071.aspx

2008-10-25 08:26:00 Author: illyism Posts: 146

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TBh it's nothing new that is what fanboys do best , try to bring each other system/exclusives lower. And it's sad to be honest I don't get why they do it afterall a good game on any console will only help gaming in this case Lbp will for future games set a new benchmark it's good to have that sort of rivallary but when it becomes to slagging each others works thats sad.

2008-10-25 11:28:00 Author: Kyashu Posts: 447

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I, personally, never believed that "userscore" one bit from the beginning. Im well familiar with what the stupider denizens of the Net are capable of. And I can certainly believe the "jealousy" idea. In particular, I know a few Fable fans who were really irritated originally because LBP was slotted to come out on that same day as Fable 2, and "Oh they're only doing that to compete with THIS, but a stupid happy little game like that could NEVER really compete, blahblahblahblah". siiiiiiiiigh..... That's why I just ignore the "userscores" on Metacritic entirely. Seriously, sometimes it's equivilent to going to a GameFAQs message board.

2008-11-01 05:57:00 Author: Bridget Posts: 334

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I, personally, never believed that "userscore" one bit from the beginning. Im well familiar with what the stupider denizens of the Net are capable of. And I can certainly believe the "jealousy" idea. In particular, I know a few Fable fans who were really irritated originally because LBP was slotted to come out on that same day as Fable 2, and "Oh they're only doing that to compete with THIS, but a stupid happy little game like that could NEVER really compete, blahblahblahblah". siiiiiiiiigh..... That's why I just ignore the "userscores" on Metacritic entirely. Seriously, sometimes it's equivilent to going to a GameFAQs message board. You are going to be a GREAT new member Bridget :3. I totally agree with you, so my post will just be WHAT HE SAID.

2008-11-01 06:30:00 Author: Unknown User

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Don't you mean " so my post will be just WHAT SHE SAID " I fully agree with Bridget also, I also have never heard of ' Metacritics ' and ' Metascores '.. I'll let myself rate what I see when I look into something, and LBP had many interviews and reviews that I could rate it for myself. No need to be lazy and let someone else do it for you, and maybe take away the game you would've liked the most.

2008-11-01 07:29:00 Author: BobMarley Posts: 260

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Gelousy is most likely the biggest problem that could have caused it next to peoplr thinking that the game is childish because it is not a gory, blood-soaked FPS that they can prove how tough they are by playing it, look ehat has happened to the teenagers of this day and age, it is sad Cheers! I agree, and I'm a teenager. I don't have a 360, but you don't see me writing BS reviews for the new Halo game coming out. 360 fan boys are just upset because they realize that after 3 years of paying for online play, they could have bought a PS3 with free online.

2008-11-20 05:28:00 Author: whatisnarwhal Posts: 164

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I agree, and I'm a teenager. I don't have a 360, but you don't see me writing BS reviews for the new Halo game coming out. 360 fan boys are just upset because they realize that after 3 years of paying for online play, they could have bought a PS3 with free online. Well, I might have to disagree with you there. Xbox Live is much more consistent and stable since Microsoft hosts the servers themselves. The server issues with LittleBigPlanet don't happen with Xbox Live, because Live servers are precalibrated and ready to go for online use. Honestly, the online is better on the 360, with a better interface and better connectivity. However, LittleBigPlanet is still my favorite game, and I don't think it would have been as good on the 360 due to the size limit of the disks. I still like PSN, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't pay for it.

2008-11-20 05:51:00 Author: ConfusedCartman Posts: 3729

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Well, I might have to disagree with you there. Xbox Live is much more consistent and stable since Microsoft hosts the servers themselves. The server issues with LittleBigPlanet don't happen with Xbox Live, because Live servers are precalibrated and ready to go for online use. Honestly, the online is better on the 360, with a better interface and better connectivity. However, LittleBigPlanet is still my favorite game, and I don't think it would have been as good on the 360 due to the size limit of the disks. I still like PSN, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't pay for it. After playing my share of 360, I wouldn't pay for that online service either. It's not the connection or servers setup, but the price and the annoyances.

2008-11-20 07:31:00 Author: docpac Posts: 601

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Don't you mean " so my post will be just WHAT SHE SAID " actually, i believe Bridget's introduction post said that she is a guy, unfortunately. However, LittleBigPlanet is still my favorite game, and I don't think it would have been as good on the 360 due to the size limit of the disks. I still like PSN, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't pay for it. i wouldn't pay for online, period. i had "subscription gaming". i pay for a game once, and that's it. call me old fashioned but i grew up in the days of atari and NES and as far as i'm concerned, that's the way it should be. i even reluctantly use online features period. i like the idea that i can go back to a game 20 years later and have the same experience i remember. not possible with online gaming. but back to the real post at hand, basic rule of thumb, fan boys are just flat out stupid. never ever read the user posts below articles on IGN. they are all flaming idiots. Adam Sessler's (from G4) most recent 'Sessler's Soap Box' podcast was talking about Gears of War 2 and Resistance 2 fan boys bringing the user meta score down for the other system's game. they're all immature idiots, ignore them. but i do appreciate aggregate scores (of actual critic sites). IGN is where i primarily go for my gaming news and occasionally they are a bit overly harsh on a game (Mirror's Edge is a good example). usually they are right there with the rest of the press scores (and even supply a press average on their site) but it does help to see if they are being an outlier. gamerankings.com is another good site for this sort of thing. but bottom line, READ the critic reviews and make your decision based on the specifics of what they say. that's what counts. most will say that they wish they didn't have to assign a number anyway.

2008-11-20 13:24:00 Author: Conall-Star Posts: 157

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The only user reviews/scores I use are ones that include comments written out in a 'professional' appearance (Personally, I tend to stick wtih GameRankings for user reviews and MetaCritic for the 'big-name" reviewers.)

2008-11-20 18:09:00 Author: DaSaintFan Posts: 136

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(Personally, I tend to stick wtih GameRankings for user reviews and MetaCritic for the 'big-name" reviewers.) Same here. Although, I'm pretty guided towards looking at the site's score anyway. They usually know what they're talking about when they do the review.

2008-11-20 22:01:00 Author: Night Angel Posts: 1214

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Yep, fanboys suck. It's official. As for reviews you can trust, I consider the metacritic score a very useful piece of info - but with so many review site giving out 10s like it's Christmas these days, I have to take even that with a pinch of salt. The reviews I trust above all else are from Edge - I have never been disappointed with an Edge review. And their non-review articles always make me just want to play games! as they should. Contrast this to a certain Playtation Mag which I bought once (Play) where they were writing as if they actually hate the games, and just writing about them because it happens to be their job, and I am happy to pay the airfreight premium to read Edge over the lesser mags. Only problem with Edge is they dont have a proper online version - it's kind of just a taster to get you to buy the mag.

2008-11-27 02:06:00 Author: chillum007 Posts: 228

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