Quoting: Purple Library GuyMmm . . . I do think there are advantages to the reviewers' focus and professionalism. But there are systematic disadvantages as well. Reviewers by definition become jaded; their perspective becomes distinct from that of the typical gamer (or moviegoer or whatever) in the sense that they've seen it all before, many times.

This is a valid, and interesting argument. I would then say that's where we separate the good reviewers from the bad. A GOOD reviewer is able to tell the reader if this is something for THEM - regardless of their own jadedness. That's their task. To do a proper review is answering the questions all their readers have about this product.

But I do agree, this is a valid argument and something that pro reviewer must be very aware of.

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Quoting: ShmerlBecause critics are saying it for money

That's extremely conspiratorial. It's actually quite ridiculous, to be honest.
Are there bad apples in this business? obviously, like it is in any industry. But this idea of "everyone who's making a living out of it have a second agenda and can' be trusted" paranoid view really has become a major problem. And I'm now talking in very general terms. That's the foundation as to why fake news can have such a massive potential to spread.

Of course good professional reviews exist, and trustworthy sources exist. They depend on it. It's the small sites, on the verge of becoming popular, that's the sources to be weary of. They are typically inexperienced with the attention of the publishing houses, and fall for temptations of a quick "sponsor" deal.

If you are to buy, say, a hifi rig: Would you then just ask your friends who don't really know more about this than you do yourself, or would you turn to professional sources who's actually tried and tested tens, maybe hundreds of similar amplifiers (or whatever), tested in a properly treated room. I hope you in those cases see the advantages of a pro. I believe the same can be applied to other types of reviews. It's not all about "opinions".

Quoting: Shmerland gamers are saying it how it is

This is equally one-dimensional. Why do you think it's really really hard to find a review on youtube, done by amateurs, that's critical to what they "review"? I don't know if you've ever noticed, but I have. I'm also a musician and often check out videos on various equipment. And most often, on Youtube, it's either a Music Equipment store (their intentions are obvious here) or an amateur that's doing those reviews. And I'm not exaggerating here now: I am yet to have seen one single review that's in disfavour of a guitar pedal. Not ONE.

Are these "reviewers" all receiving those pedals from the manufacturer for free, and want to receive more pedals? You make up your mind...

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Quoting: ShmerlI rarely care about reviews of "professional critic" sites. I'm more interested in opinions of fellow gamers.

To be honest I think you then misunderstand the value of a professional review. Why trust random anonymous Joe more than a person who's dedicated his professional life on reviewing that particular type of products? There's no rationality behind that.

Reviewing is a profession, like other professions. It requires experience and insight, and an analytical mind. Not to say there are no bad reviewers, of course there are, but the work of a professional do distance itself from an amateurs work, also on this area.

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Quoting: scaineRPS can be extremely arsey (is that a word?) with their reviews. Pretentious - that's a better word. They're trying to be intellectual critics, and often over-analyse. I don't mind that per se, but sometimes it's kind of like a film critic having a go at an action film for not having a political message. They're missing the point - play the game, enjoy it, have fun, first and foremost. They sometimes forget that.

Pretentious... Perhaps. But it is a reviewers task to go beyond and behind what shimmers at the surface. They should dig deeper, and show an ability to both analyse and append the necessary nuances to separate this title from all other titles in that same genre(s). And then it's you as a readers luxury to judge if the different parts is as important to you. A good review enables the reader to do exactly that. But those who do care for those nuances should also get their info.

I do appreciate reviewers with a personal writing style, pretentious or not. That's one thing that separates a professional writer from blogs and amateur reviews. But not at the expense of the review itself, of course.

Quoting: scaineEven less of a fan of Metacritic. Let's just reduce every creative thing ever made to a single number between 0 and 100? Yeah, no thanks!

To be frank I think many misunderstand what a metascore is useful for.
The point with metascores is to give a general indication of what the reception of a title is, the verdict from the mass of professional reviewers that's reviewed the given title. Then one should dive into the individual reviews to discover the reason for their rating.

The ratings itself are no less "reducing" anything more than the grades you receive at school, or pretty much any other verdict on products. To say "this is better than that" is just as "reducing" as giving one a score 8 while the other a score 7. Also, most serious review sites have a rather clear definition of what goes into each score, what makes a title qualify for a give score.

Rating something on a scale is very hard, much harder than giving a general recommendation or warning. And that's exactly why you don't find ratings in user "reviews" (opinions) - the platforms have found out that it's meaningless. Generally speaking user opinions are reduced to give a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down".

Of course, arguing if something is a "73" or "76" is meaningless, and just like in other grades there are situations where individual subjective judgement takes front seat - but that's exactly why one also read the reviews, and not just the scores.

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Quoting: callciferPlayed this about a month ago and I largely agree with the RPS review [External Link]

RockPaperShotgun is a good source for reviews. Also the metascore pretty much confirms that they are onto something.

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I too like the end game scrolling - it gives a moment of zen, of accomplishment, of victory! You see something that (normally) not everyone will see. It's a reward in itself.

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There are some things that I probably wouldn't have done without them requesting it, such as adding OpenVR support or focusing on certain games early on

Who were those games? Dude, Liam, you should have followed up that lead with a question on WHAT games Valve wanted him to focus on? That'd be really exciting to hear!

Can we now hope for... Fallout 4? Surely that must be the game they asked him to give focus? :)

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Wow, this looked like a real trippy experience! I'm intrigued.

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Quoting: Purple Library GuyThis is one of those times when the reasons for mixed reviews are important. If it's because of bugs and instability, it could be a great game underneath that, which will show its worth once they get things fixed up. If it's because it's lame, that's harder to fix. I hope it's the former because this really feels like something I'd like.

Unfortunately, the main issues seem to be of the latter character. The concept changed when they got Gearbox onboard, from a conceptually pretty generic, procedurally generated survival game to a full story based big release. And supposedly there's too many signs of "old code"/old concept left in the game, leaving it falling between two chairs. Sadly, cause I had high, HIGH hopes for this one!

I'll still buy it though, out of sheer stubborn spite. But this has probably gone from being a candidate for my GOTY to my biggest disappointment this year.

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The problem here isn't that Linux (may) come after windows version, the problem is that they've said differently all the way up until now, and suspiciously doesn't even mention it until asked - and then with a very vague reply.

THAT'S the problem here, and I don't like it one bit.

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