Anybody else flat out ignore Steam "Reviews"?

[Smugass Braixen-Chan]

Steam Reviews come in 4 flavors.

1. Memes
2. Drama
3. Memes
4. Insightful information that you could far more easily find elsewhere (These are usually voted down because they often go against the popular opinion, i.e. talk about what is good about a "bad" game and what is bad about a "good" game, so you never get to see them)

Why they even have a section for Steam reviews, I have no idea. If I want a proper look into a game I just get off my ass and look up gameplay footage or reviews from trusted sources (Not IGN), rather than some whiny rubbish written by a player who's butt hurt because some update nerfed their waifu.

[76561198001062896]

or rather I learned to weed out the intelligent comments from the gag ones

you know, heres the thing: user reviews are what they are: reviews made by the community

Im not exactly sure whats your main point with that though, do you want Valve to start curating the review section or what?

btw theres no such thing as 100 percent objective review,there simply isnt

[Gallifrey - CSSC Gaming Founder]

No. Steam reviews are the most valuable tool in assessing how good a game is. All reviewers have to have the game on Steam. You can also see how long they've played it. The highest ranking reviews (yea and nea) tend to be the most informative.

S.x.

[Naota]

If one of my Steam friends reviews a game, I'll read it , but by far the best way to determine if a game is any good - is Youube.

Actual gameplay footage is a lot more informative than a written review.

[ShadowAngel]

I honestly wonder why Valve even allows those nonsense "10/10 IGN" "reviews" or single sentence unfunny ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. There should be a minimum like, 500 words at least, for a review to be published. It would scare away all those retarded children that think going "HL 3 confirmed", "10/10 IGN" or "lolz this game gives me cancer" is funny.

Same with the Guides on games. A lot of them try so hard to be funny by using decade old memes or are written deliberately bad trying to be humourus it's annoying.

[fluxtorrent]

I do not ignore them but they are not the highest weighted object in my decision making procedure.

[Jeckenn]

Basically what you do with Steam user reviews is look at the overall picture...is it positive? If so that is what you take away from that information...Steam user reviews all seemed positive...or not..and chances are that the big picture is right...

[Hannibal]

I ignore the first 12. A lot of devs are buying positive reviews. It's been a trend lately. 12 identically worded positive reviews followed by real reviews.

[Spock]

I think the reviews are an excellent tool. I rarely fully read any one review. However over all they are amazing for shopping for games. I haven't found a game with "overwhelmingly positive" reviews that I didn't love. When a game has lots of reviews the overall user review rating of the game usually proves to be incredibly accurate and usually reflects exactly how I feel about a game. They are far more accurate and useful than any metascore or other scoring system to date.

So no I don't ignore them at all and hope they never remove them. I do wish they would add an indifferent rating (thumb sideways) to help with accuracy.

With every game I look at in the Steam catalog the first thing I pay attention to is the user review rating(negative, mixed, positive, mostly positive, etc) if a game has mixed or worse I won't read any further. If its not Very Positive or better it needs to be extremely appealing for me to buy it.

The user reviews haven't led me wrong yet. And have saved me from making bad buys.. And encouraged me to make great ones I would have missed out on otherwise..

Xcom Enemy Unknown is a title I ignored for a long time due to the fact I don't really care for tactical turn based games... I saw it had overwhelmingly positive reviews.. Bought it as well as Enemy Within DLC.. It is now one of my most frequently played games and I absolutely love it. I probably would have never bought it if the user reviews hadnt changed my mind. And would have never got to experience such an excellent game outside of my usual preferred genres.

Also when it comes to Early Access titles.. The reviews are incredibly useful and valuable. An EA(early access) game may have Very Positive reviews but when you go read about it you may find that development and updates are really slow. That way you know what to expect from the Dev before purchasing an EA game.

With that said I can confidently say you're making a bad decision to just ignore the user reviews all together. And should take great note of the overall user review rating as it is very accurate when a game has a lot of reviews. In my opinion its the most valuable shopping tool in Steam and the best thing they have implemented in a long long time. And I wish they would improve on it.. For instance I'd love a way to see all games on Steam that have an "Overwhelmingly Positive" review rating as I often try to hunt them down regardless of genre.

[Zulwarn]

Before I buy a game, I always read the reviews. I also read what people have to say in the games discussion page before making my final decision.

[Spock]

Originally posted by ShadowAngel:

I honestly wonder why Valve even allows those nonsense "10/10 IGN" "reviews" or single sentence unfunny ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. There should be a minimum like, 500 words at least, for a review to be published. It would scare away all those retarded children that think going "HL 3 confirmed", "10/10 IGN" or "lolz this game gives me cancer" is funny.

Same with the Guides on games. A lot of them try so hard to be funny by using decade old memes or are written deliberately bad trying to be humourus it's annoying.

I also find these reviews useless and annoying.. Hate the confusing possible sarcasm ones like "Started game, walked 8 meters, and died.

10/10 would die again."

I think 500 words would be a little overkill but maybe they should just have moderators monitor reviews and give warnings to review writers to post a more accurate and serious review or it will be removed. As a simple "This game is awesome 10/10" is good enough to tell you what the review writer thought about the game. There are usually plenty of people that will try to more than accurately describe their full experience with a game and have a full article written out for it if you're willing to read it all.

[Gus the Crocodile]

I rarely pay any attention to them. Not because there are no good reviews in there, but because I can more reliably find thoughtful writing elsewhere.

Originally posted by Spock:

For instance I'd love a way to see all games on Steam that have an "Overwhelmingly Positive" review rating as I often try to hunt them down regardless of genre.

The search page can do that, like so. Overwhelmingly Positive runs for about the first 8 pages or so for me, might be different depending on regional availability.

[Spock]

Originally posted by Gus the Crocodile:

I rarely pay any attention to them. Not because there are no good reviews in there, but because I can more reliably find thoughtful writing elsewhere.

Originally posted by Spock:

For instance I'd love a way to see all games on Steam that have an "Overwhelmingly Positive" review rating as I often try to hunt them down regardless of genre.

The search page can do that, like so. Overwhelmingly Positive runs for about the first 8 pages or so for me, might be different depending on regional availability.

I know how to search by user rating But I just wish they'd let you narrow it down a little better for instance only return search results for games with Very Positive or better. Or do it by percentage.. Only return search results that are 90% positive or better etc..

And yes you can find more insightful reviews other places from more experienced writers.. Places like ign, rock, paper, shotgun, etc.. But the thing that makes the Steam user reviews far more valuable and useful than these are the overall ratings.. When reading a review from another place, sure it will probably have proper grammer, better layout, be more interesting an readable than most user reviews.. But its still just one review from one person. And probably will not be near as accurate as the overall steam user review rating. Also you never know if these places are being paid by the Dev to write a smashingly positive review for a game.

[Gus the Crocodile]

Well, to each their own of course, but I only want one review from one person (at a time). That's what I'm looking for in a review; that person's thoughts. I find aggregate scoring completely useless because I'm not merely the average of the Steam community. The number is meaningless to me.

"Accuracy" doesn't even enter the equation. Accuracy is only a useful concept when there is some underlying fact that you're attempting to measure, but that isn't the case here. A game doesn't have a certain amount of "goodness" or "quality" or whatever. Different people can think different things about it and all be "right".

And if I suspected an outlet was publishing paid-for reviews, I wouldn't read them. As far as I can tell, the vast majority of concern about that particular issue is nothing more than paranoia anyway.

Edit: oh, and yeah, more search options would pretty much always be welcome :)

[Spock]

Originally posted by Gus the Crocodile:

Well, to each their own of course, but I only want one review from one person (at a time). That's what I'm looking for in a review; that person's thoughts. I find aggregate scoring completely useless because I'm not merely the average of the Steam community. The number is meaningless to me.

"Accuracy" doesn't even enter the equation. Accuracy is only a useful concept when there is some underlying fact that you're attempting to measure, but that isn't the case here. A game doesn't have a certain amount of "goodness" or "quality" or whatever. Different people can think different things about it and all be "right".

And if I suspected an outlet was publishing paid-for reviews, I wouldn't read them. As far as I can tell, the vast majority of concern about that particular issue is nothing more than paranoia anyway.

Edit: oh, and yeah, more search options would pretty much always be welcome :)

Of course. In my experience the overall rating hasnt lead me wrong. Especially with the "Overwhelmingly Positive" titles. I haven't bought one get that I didn't thoroughly enjoy. Regardless of genre. Xcom again for instance.. I never cared for any tactical turn based strategy games. I bought Fire Emblem Awakening for my 3DS due to the fact that its regarded as one of the best games for the console.. I found it incredibly mind numbingly boring and returned it the next day. Played a few others of the same genre on pc.. Pretty much the same experience.. Played Xcom: EU.. Only because the overall user rating.. And I consider it one of the absolute best games in my library now. I frequently play it and love it. Kerbal Space Program is another one that I strayed from due to the fact the game just didnt look appealing.. Noticed the review rating.. Picked it up on sale to take a chance with it.. And it too is one of my most frequently played games and I have nothing but love for it. I would have completely passed over both of these games had it not been for the Steam reviews. This had been true for quite a few games for me.. FTL, Battleblock Theater, etc..

[Websteroni]

Nope, Steam reviews are valuable.