Do any of you take the time to write a Steam Review for a game you've completed?

[mainer]

Or maybe for a game you played a lot but didn't complete? I always find Steam Reviews helpful if I'm uncertain about purchasing a game. Of course, you have to glean out the chafe of the one liners or review bombers, or from reviewers that have only played 2 hours (or there abouts) but there are usually several that are in depth and informative.

I want to write reviews, especially for games that I've loved and aren't generally well-respected (like Piranha Bytes games), but I always seem to procrastinate and never quite get around to writing them. It takes time, and I just never seem to have enough to write a review. I think I've written 2 in my 16 years as a Steam member, and those were brief and not very informative (I really need to go back and edit them to flesh them out). Procrastination again.

Most of the regular members & moderators here have so much gaming experience, I'm just curious to know if you take the time to write reviews, or tend to procrastinate like myself?

Note: Not really relevant to this post, but I just changed my Steam profile name to mainer, to match my profile name on the PCG forums. Not that it matters to anyone, I just find myself becoming a bit more social as I get older.

 

[Slasken]

I've written a few reviews. I try to make them short and concise. I don't give a grade, but just touch upon things that are good, and stuff that people should know before buying.

 

[Colif]

Or maybe for a game you played a lot but didn't complete?

I was going to say I don't complete them but you beat me there.
reviews: No but then I don't say much online (outside of forums), Only things I have said on Steam forums are bug reports on games. I guess in a way that is a review.

randomly changes Mainer's name (Note: this is a joke, I can't do this. )

 

[Frag Maniac]

Never, I don't like their overly simplistic positive or negative review system.

 

[Zloth]

Yeah, I do. Not all the time, but I've got 54 of them out there. I'll spend more time on some than others. Like screenshots I post to Steam, most are glanced at by a few of my friends then vanish into the digital ether. Every once in a while, though, a bunch of folks will like it at about the same time, the Steam algorithm will give it a push, and it will get some readership/views.

There's a hidden use for them, too. They can act as a diary. Like screenshots (again), it can be fun to go back and re-read them years later.

Never, I don't like their overly simplistic positive or negative review system.

That drives me batty sometimes. But I think people reading reviews to help decide about a game are reading both kinds anyway, so I don't sweat it a whole lot.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I write a lot of Amazon reviews, but I don't think I've ever written a Steam review. Maybe I'll have to do that.

 

[Valkanen]

I've wrote a couple and even had one of the developers from Football Manager thank me for the review, which was a really cool thing to read.

Going forward I'd like to write reviews for the games I've played, but lack any real experience with reviewing and writing up my thoughts and feelings about it. I did bookmark some tabs to learn how to do it better though for future use.

 

[Johnway]

no not really. i write some comments here of course but i doubt anyone would care what i have to say about a game. I'm just one of many faces in the crowd.

 

[Brian Boru]

I just find myself becoming a bit more social as I get older

Hmm strange, I'm getting crankier—yes I know none of you've noticed and it truly is hard to believe, but I feel the stirrings in my bones. Sort of like how my pal the werewolf feels a couple of days before full moon.

Procrastination

Who the heck leaked my real name? Have I been hacked? I want @mainer arrested and searched and stopped at Maine's border…

I don't like their overly simplistic positive or negative review system

That's the rating system, reviews are the players' written contributions and as far as I know are independent of the rating.

I write a lot of Amazon reviews

I'm a scatter bug like that, I have reviews in probably ~20 different places over the decades—not a large amount anywhere tho.

I have a grand total of 3 on Steam. One for a DLC I detested, one for an indie game I really like but got no love, and one for <brag> the only game where I top the worldwide leader board </brag>.

i doubt anyone would care what i have to say about a game

How can you say that???
Wasn't it just yesterday I thanked you for making my mind up about ObLaDi, ObLaDa Obra Dinn?

Seriously, your 'Games Completed' posts are always a good read, even if I have no interest in the game itself

 

[Frag Maniac]

That drives me batty sometimes. But I think people reading reviews to help decide about a game are reading both kinds anyway, so I don't sweat it a whole lot.

That's not what bothers me, it's not that I worry my review won't be read, I just don't like them saying my review is good or bad. I'd rather be able to say exactly where it fits in between the two, and many water it down to that because of the Pos/Neg system.

That's the rating system, reviews are the players' written contributions and as far as I know are independent of the rating.

Maybe so, but when they only have a Pos/Neg system for the reviewer to rate the game, it can be misleading. I also tend to think the big blue and red thumbs Up/Down symbols are the main thing people reading them are drawn to. I'm also not sure you can even do a review without using that horrible rating system, or if people would read it if you chose not to,

 

[Brian Boru]

I'm also not sure you can even do a review without using that horrible rating system

Been a while since my last review, but I'm fairly sure you have to select a rating. But I agree with you, the plus or minus is very crude for my tastes—in my movie and TV summary threads, I personally use 10- or 100-point scales.

That said, there are good reasons for companies to use binary rating systems. Steam is not alone, and there's been a lot of research and thought put into it by companies. Here's a short interesting article which outlines it nicely from a company POV:

Which Rating System Is Best for Your Users?

In 2017, after more than a year of exhaustive testing and internal experiments, streaming entertainment giant Netflix officially abandoned…

medium.com

 

[Frag Maniac]

That said, there are good reasons for companies to use binary rating systems. Steam is not alone, and there's been a lot of research and thought put into it by companies. Here's a short interesting article which outlines it nicely from a company POV:

Which Rating System Is Best for Your Users?

In 2017, after more than a year of exhaustive testing and internal experiments, streaming entertainment giant Netflix officially abandoned…

medium.com

I'm not sure I would call their reasons good so much as skewed toward an easy way of gathering opinions. In fact it kind of proves my point that they care more about using a simple formula for that than what their customers think of the products they're buying.

 

[Zloth]

That's not what bothers me, it's not that I worry my review won't be read, I just don't like them saying my review is good or bad. I'd rather be able to say exactly where it fits in between the two, and many water it down to that because of the Pos/Neg system.

Yeah, a neutral rating would be good. It's been asked in the Steam community many times before, but Valve never does it.

How can you say that???
Wasn't it just yesterday I thanked you for making my mind up about ObLaDi, ObLaDa Obra Dinn?

Obla di, obla da, life goes on BRAH! Well, at least it's a good ear worm.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Yeah, a neutral rating would be good. It's been asked in the Steam community many times before, but Valve never does it.
Obla di, obla da, life goes on BRAH! Well, at least it's a good ear worm.

These days it's Obla di, Obi-Wan Kenobi went by too fast because Disney didn't know what to do with the excellent canon they had to work with.

As far as Steam's ratings, I don't really see that adding a Neutral option would be much better.

 

[Zloth]

Well, let's do an example!

Say a game has 1000 people play. 100 people don't like it. 300 people love it. 600 people are "meh." If you have 3 star ratings, the game comes out with 2.2 stars. With an up/down system, though, those 600 people likely don't vote at all and Steam shows a 75% positive rating.

If you've got a divisive game where 250 people don't like it, 750 do like it, and nobody is on the fence then the Steam rating is still 75% positive, but the star rating is higher (2.5 stars).

Basically, by leaving out the data in the middle, you're making the ratings more extreme. The good games will look even better, and the bad games will look even worse.

P.S. Though maybe I'm wrong about people just not rating games where they aren't particularly happy or mad about them?

 

[mainer]

Who the heck leaked my real name? Have I been hacked? I want @mainer arrested and searched and stopped at Maine's border…

Ha! Good luck, but which border? The major border of Maine is Canada (Quebec & New Brunswick), and the crossing restrictions much tighter now, so I wouldn't go that way. Next biggest border would be the Atlantic Ocean would be the best bet (if I had a boat) and could go anywhere on the East Coast. The only US State we border is NH, and some of those crossings in the western mountains are pretty isolated. So I'm thinking that I won't be caught.

Yeah, a neutral rating would be good. It's been asked in the Steam community many times before, but Valve never does it.

That drives me batty sometimes. But I think people reading reviews to help decide about a game are reading both kinds anyway, so I don't sweat it a whole lot.

I've read a lot of reviews that stared with something like "I wish there were a neutral option...", so I think there's a lot of players out there that want at least that part changed. I realize that it probably simplifies the review rating system for Steam, but it can also be misleading, and have nothing to do with the content of the actual review in many cases.

It's all based on your thumbs. "You have two choices, Neo; the red thumb, or the blue thumb." That's what affects a game's review rating (overall reviews & recent reviews), such as very positive, mostly positive, mixed, as well as several other designations. And players look at those review ratings, without actually reading any of the reviews. But writing a review, you're forced into Neo's choice, with no other option.

I just think that the whole "review ranking" system with the 2 thumbs needs to change. Whether it's as simple as adding a neutral option, or going to a 10-point star system, or a numerical system, I think Steam needs to put some work into updating the system that's now in place.

but i doubt anyone would care what i have to say about a game. I'm just one of many faces in the crowd.

Nonsense. You're an individual and a gamer with years of experience. Your thoughts and experiences are just as important as anyone else's, whether others love it or hate it is irrelevant, and you might even help others in understanding a game.

 

[ZedClampet]

I want to write reviews, especially for games that I've loved and aren't generally well-respected (like Piranha Bytes games), but I always seem to procrastinate and never quite get around to writing them. It takes time, and I just never seem to have enough to write a review. I think I've written 2 in my 16 years as a Steam member, and those were brief and not very informative (I really need to go back and edit them to flesh them out). Procrastination again.

I've left 172 reviews, but my goal is different from yours. I don't try to leave a comprehensive review. I try to point out, as accurately as possible, the main things I like or dislike about the game. I do this because that's what i find helpful when I scan the user reviews.

For instance, when we were talking about Hard West the other day, I very briefly described what you did in the game, but emphasized my major problem, the save system, because if I were reading the reviews for that game, that's what I'd want to know.

There have been a few cases where I've written a professional-style, comprehensive review, and those are generally the ones that get the most upvotes, so maybe I've been doing it incorrectly and you have the right idea.

 

[Zloth]

... I think Steam needs to put some work into updating the system that's now in place.

Yeah... that actually could be tricky. They've got a ton of ratings out there already. I've got issues with the ratings they have, but I sure don't want to see them dump the whole thing and start over! So how to get from one to another? I think I can see how to go to 3 stars: up is 3 stars, down is 1 star. Anything else, though, I'm not so sure. Dividing the ratings into "old style" and "new style" would work great on the store page, but it's tricky to sort by ratings when there's two systems.

 

[ZedClampet]

@Zloth @mainer

Personally, I like the binary up and down vote option. If I asked you if I should do something, and you said, "Maybe," that gets me nowhere, and probably a huge number of people would habitually leave "Meh" reviews instead of taking a stand one way or another. Choosing "yes" or "no" is more difficult, but you actually end up with what you need. No one needs a "Maybe" suggestion. Why would I even read that?

 

[Zloth]

To find out the things I liked and didn't like to see if they matter to you? It isn't a "maybe" reaction, it's a "kinda liked but not that much" reaction.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker came out with that reaction from me. I liked a lot of it but, by the end of the game, I was getting livid because it kept refusing to end. I didn't want to down vote it just for those last <ahem> more-than-a-few hours, but I didn't want to up vote something that I was really mad at, either. Being able to vote "mixed bag" would have been very nice. There's a game or two with my up vote that don't quite deserve it, too.

 

[Brian Boru]

I sure don't want to see them dump the whole thing and start over!

In the article I linked above, a number of companies have changed their system after experience and research—altho if I recall correctly, it was mostly to a binary system, not from.

Dividing the ratings into "old style" and "new style" would work great on the store page

Yeah, that's probably the way they'd go. The old style would just be static numbers, with no/minimal load on the servers, so low cost to keep around until the new system had bedded in.

They'd take the short-term hit on sorting and other problems if they saw a long-term benefit.

 

[ZedClampet]

To find out the things I liked and didn't like to see if they matter to you? It isn't a "maybe" reaction, it's a "kinda liked but not that much" reaction.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker came out with that reaction from me. I liked a lot of it but, by the end of the game, I was getting livid because it kept refusing to end. I didn't want to down vote it just for those last <ahem> more-than-a-few hours, but I didn't want to up vote something that I was really mad at, either. Being able to vote "mixed bag" would have been very nice. There's a game or two with my up vote that don't quite deserve it, too.

What you are saying here is that you are wishy washy and indecisive. I'm more manly. I grasp the Golden Gavel of Thunder and give it a mighty swing, and my decision echoes through the halls of both men and gods.

 

[Pifanjr]

I don't get anything out of it, so I haven't. And I don't mean I need to get a reward, but I just don't get any satisfaction from writing reviews that are unlikely to be read or be better than what others have already written.

no not really. i write some comments here of course but i doubt anyone would care what i have to say about a game. I'm just one of many faces in the crowd.

Exactly. Here I know that my posts are read, I can kind of tailor them to the audience and I might get responses, but posting a Steam review would feel more like shouting into the void.

 

[ZedClampet]

I don't get anything out of it, so I haven't. And I don't mean I need to get a reward, but I just don't get any satisfaction from writing reviews that are unlikely to be read or be better than what others have already written.



Exactly. Here I know that my posts are read, I can kind of tailor them to the audience and I might get responses, but posting a Steam review would feel more like shouting into the void.

Depending on the game, more people read them than you might think. For instance, one of my recent reviews got 122 upvotes and several user awards. I have to assume the vast majority of people who read it actually didn't do either of those because that's just the nature of things, and that means quite a few read it.

Also, not that it actually matters, but I have a couple of developers and an indie movie producer in my Steam friend list who sent me friend requests after reading my reviews, which I think is kind of cool. And one indie developer sent me builds of his game to play and give feedback on, which was pretty fun.

 

[Pifanjr]

Depending on the game, more people read them than you might think. For instance, one of my recent reviews got 122 upvotes and several user awards. I have to assume the vast majority of people who read it actually didn't do either of those because that's just the nature of things, and that means quite a few read it.

Also, not that it actually matters, but I have a couple of developers and an indie movie producer in my Steam friend list who sent me friend requests after reading my reviews, which I think is kind of cool. And one indie developer sent me builds of his game to play and give feedback on, which was pretty fun.

What was the review for?