• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Which review scoring system do you think is the best?

What system do you think it's the best?

  • 1/10 (10 numbers)

  • 0.5/10 with .5 decimals (20 numbers)

  • 1/20 (20 numbers)

  • 1/5 [Stars] (5 numbers/stars)

  • 0.5/5 [Stars] (10 numbers/stars)

  • 1/100 (100 numbers)

  • 0.1/10 with all decimals (100 numbers)

  • Recommend/Not recommend


Results are only viewable after voting.

.Pennywise

Banned
So what Review Scoring System do you think it's the best or works best for you out of all the options and why?
  • 1/10:
    1/2/3/4/...10

  • 0.5/10:
    0.5/1/1.5/2/2.5/...10

  • 1/20:
    1/2/3/4/5/6/...20

  • 1/5 [Stars]:
    1/2/3/4/5

  • 0.5/5 [Stars]:
    0.5/1/1.5/2/2.5/...5

  • 1/100:
    1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/...100

  • 0.1/10:
    0.1/0.2/0.3/...5/5.1/5.2/5.3/...10

  • Recommend/Not recommend



My opinion: I've picked 1/10 (ten numbers). I feel like 10 numbers it's enough for a review score (if you use all the range, not only using 6 through 10 like most do) while I find 5 not being enough and making it too crowded and 100 being absurdly too much (1/100 or 0.1/10), like what exactly makes the difference for you to score something between an 83 and 82?
Recommend/No recommend I find it way too wide open but I understand they are the ones that encourage people to actually view the review points although awful for quick glance game value.
 

Patrick S.

Banned
And how many have you played that were recommended and you didn't like or the other way around?
I seek recommendations from people my taste aligns with. That may be a friend, might be Karak, might be Angry Joe, or it might be one of a couple other youtubers I watch. Has worked very well for me.
 

Fuz

Banned
This one:

18.jpg

19.jpg



Detailed report plus small poignant comments from other journalists that weren't the review author.
 

Markio128

Member
I preferred the reviews back in the good old days when the total score was an average of visuals 1-10, gameplay 1-10, sound 1-10, music 1-10 and replay-ability 1-10.

For example, if a game received the following scores for the above:

10/10 visuals
8/10 gameplay
7/10 sound
10/10 music
9/10 replay-ability.

Overall score: 88/100
 

Azelover

Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.
1/10

I have a soft spot for Famitsu. I think each game review should be rated by different people..
 

Zuzu

Member
For professional reviews I like the 1-10 scale because it’s simple to understand but offers enough of a fine-grained verdict. But they NEED to use the scale properly! A ‘7’ should not be considered an average game.
 

.Pennywise

Banned
This one:

18.jpg

19.jpg



Detailed report plus small poignant comments from other journalists that weren't the review author.
If no number/star is given then it's a recommend/not recommend.
I preferred the reviews back in the good old days when the total score was an average of visuals 1-10, gameplay 1-10, sound 1-10, music 1-10 and replay-ability 1-10.

For example, if a game received the following scores for the above:

10/10 visuals
8/10 gameplay
7/10 sound
10/10 music
9/10 replay-ability.

Overall score: 88/100
That's 1/100
vague enough to accomodate subjectivity
Never thought of that, great point.

Still too coward for me.
 

Spyxos

Gold Member
I always liked 100 ratings. Since they had a little more wiggle room. Nowadays, however, the ratings interest me very little.
 
Last edited:

mortal

Gold Member
I usually refer to reviewers who's share my taste in games, so the more thorough recommendation style is preferable.
These types will sometimes review titles longer after launch and spend an extended amount of time experiencing the game compared to professional reviewers working on a tighter deadline.
 

.Pennywise

Banned
For professional reviews I like the 1-10 scale because it’s simple to understand but offers enough of a fine-grained verdict. But they NEED to use the scale properly! A ‘7’ should not be considered an average game.
Absolutely! It's like they either use a 20 number scale (.5 decimals) but only use 10 numbers (5.5 through 10) which would end up better being using just a 1/10 scale.
Or actually using a 1/10 scale but just using a 1/5 system because they only range from 6 through 10.

That's why I think 10 numbers are more than enough if used properly in all its wide range.
there is one that stands alone

utI6qFM.jpg
That's 1/10
Bad - below average - average - above average

Most of AAA games currently should be rated as average.
That's 1/5
I always liked 100 ratings. Since they had a little more wiggle room. Nowadays, however, the ratings interest me quite little.
I would ask what do you think could be the difference between a one point in a 100 scale? Like, what's the difference between a 73 and a 74.
 
0/10: the game doesn't even start.
1/10: is broken, you can not finish it.
2/10: game breaking bugs BUT you could
finish it.
3/10: very bad perfomance

4/10 : Bad game
5/10: mediocre
6/10: ok
7/10: good

8/10: great
9/10: Amazing
10/10: masterpiece.
 

Spyxos

Gold Member
Absolutely! It's like they either use a 20 number scale (.5 decimals) but only use 10 numbers (5.5 through 10) which would end up better being using just a 1/10 scale.
Or actually using a 1/10 scale but just using a 1/5 system because they only range from 6 through 10.

That's why I think 10 numbers are more than enough if used properly in all its wide range.

That's 1/10

That's 1/5

I would ask what do you think could be the difference between a one point in a 100 scale? Like, what's the difference between a 73 and a 74.
I know it sounds absolutely stupid, but my favorite gaming newspaper used 100 scale and I knew for me exactly whether this is now an 80 or 83 title. I just liked that it's not so rigid when it only goes 1-5 and there's way too much space in between not being used.
 

.Pennywise

Banned
0/10: the game doesn't even start.
1/10: is broken, you can not finish it.
2/10: game breaking bugs BUT you could
finish it.
3/10: very bad perfomance

4/10 : Bad game
5/10: mediocre
6/10: ok
7/10: good

8/10: great
9/10: Amazing
10/10: masterpiece.
I would never use a 0, because a 0 is something that doesn't exist, hence no game, no review to be done. If there's is a game, the lowest should be 1 in my opinion.
 
I would never use a 0, because a 0 is something that doesn't exist, hence no game, no review to be done. If there's is a game, the lowest should be 1 in my opinion.

0 could technically exist. but that would mean astonishing levels of incompetence. i thinking a lot of those "early access" steam games.
 

Markio128

Member
If no number/star is given then it's a recommend/not recommend.

That's 1/100

Never thought of that, great point.

Still too coward for me.
It is 1/100, but with context, rather than an arbitrary number that nobody can understand other than the reviewer.
 

.Pennywise

Banned
It is 1/100, but with context, rather than an arbitrary number that nobody can understand other than the reviewer.
Well I'm taking review score system. None of these reviews come from thin air, they are attached to a text or a video of the reviewer giving his/her insight.

I know what you mean tho, you prefer 1/100 (with extra steps).
 

Markio128

Member
Well I'm taking review score system. None of these reviews come from thin air, they are attached to a text or a video of the reviewer giving his/her insight.

I know what you mean tho, you prefer 1/100 (with extra steps).
I just think reviews these days are a bit boring. They need to be snappier and more to the point for me.
I’d like each element of a game to have its own review section.
Visuals - 9/10 - give context to the score..
Gameplay - 8/10 - give context to the score..
Etc.,
At least that way, each game gets a fair result and an opinion of each element. Too many times I’ve read reviews and the music or sound hasn’t even been commented on.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
I dont care about actual score, I either listen or read actual review itself and see their biggest issue. Maybe their main issue with the game might be none issue for me or vice versa.
 
Last edited:

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
1-10. Whole numbers.

Regardless of which system it is, it's got to be like typical game rating systems like decades ago, or movie review sites who do 1-5 star reviews.

That is, a bad game or movie gets a 2 or 3/10. An average movie about a 5, and good movies 7-8, awesome movies 9 or 10.

If any ratings system is going to be skewed where a 5/10 or 2.5/5 game rating means terrible and an average game is a 7/10 the ratings mean little anyway as you cant really tell if a 7-8 means decent or really good.

Game makers all skewed to 6-10 scales because they got bought out and too afraid of losing ad money and previews. Just look at Jeff Gertsmann getting fired for giving K&L a 6/10 on Gamespot back around 2009. Terrible game too. Among the worst shooter games I played on 360 (that was when there were a million first and third person shooters coming out everywhere). 6/10 is even too generous. I'd give it 1/10. But you can see the 6/10 (wink wink) means an awful game, but still had to make it a 6/10. And he still got grilled for it. That was when Gamespot had giant banner ads promoting the game (you get to the site and the home page would have those giant picture frame banners around your entire screen).
 
Last edited:
Anything with more levels of granularity, things like the 1-5 scale are far too all encompassing for my taste, like the difference between a 4 and a 5 is far too large to not have any in between. 1-100 is ideal but it all depends on whether the reviewers actually use all the numbers. But the main thing is the quality of the review itself, the only time I ever care about the numbers is for something like Metacritic which aggregates, but on an individual level if I'm looking at a review I'm looking for a quality review way more than whatever grade they give it. Often times the review doesn't match the score
 
I rate all the games I've played. I used to start when I was a kid with a 1-100 rating system with decimal intervals.

Sometime in my 20s I refined it to a 1-100 system where I breakdown areas of the games that are most important to me and a 10 point tilt award. This has worked really well.

Gameplay 30 / Visual and Environmental Design 25 / Presentation 15 / Sound design 10 / Music Design 10/ Misc. 10
 

Mozzarella

Member
That's like one of the hardest topic for me lol.
I primarily use both, a 5 point rating scale and a 10 point rating scale.
Over the course of the years i figured out that for Films and Anime a 10 rating scale was perfect, but for games a 5 rating scale was enough, my reasoning for this was because when it comes to films and shows its easier to differentiate between the many of them, so you could spread your catalog on a 10 point scale ranging from the worst to the best, because their aspects overlap with each other and its the same core things it was easier for me to come up with a proper rating criteria and fair system to make my ratings logical and coherent in the best possible way i can, it takes some time to polish the list and it will take me quite few years to earn enough experience by watching a lot of things and reach up a consensus for me.
Games on the other hand are more varied and totally different, you have games that play, sound and designed in a complete way to another one which makes coming up with a proper scale for them all a lot harder and unfair, that makes differentiating my scores a pain in the arse, since i have 10 spots to spread them into and i was finding myself conflicted about a lot of choices in that rating system, so in the end i decided to try out the 5 scale and i found it works a lot better for games, it also making a list look more clean and understandable to me. However after playing more and more games i eventually find myself struggling with certain games, the games that can easily slot themselves into the in between spots, this is where its challenging to decide whether it falls on the worse or the better side of the scale, fortunately that doesnt happen often, but it still does and sometimes makes you want to go 10 point scale but you then remember all the hassle it will bring so better stay as 5 for games in the end. I think a 7 point scale would probably be the best for games but nobody takes it seriously and you won't find it in online sites so better just pick the best option of the bunch.


TLDR: Both 5 and 10, for games i prefer 5, for films 10.
 
Top Bottom