Review boost :: Suggestions / Ideas

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Scamdiver 6 Aug @ 6:14pm

Review boost

Problems:
1. Suspicious reviews like that:

review1[i.postimg.cc]
review2[i.postimg.cc]
review3[i.postimg.cc]
review4[i.postimg.cc]
review5[i.postimg.cc]
review6[i.postimg.cc]
review7[i.postimg.cc]
review8[i.postimg.cc]

Grounded as an example. The usernames and text are hidden to avoid violating someone's privacy.

2. Steam's "review browser" lacks transparency:

- selected filters don't affect the overall review rating displayed.
-only a dozen endorsed reviews are displayed when filters are selected. To see more, you must click the "Browse all, X reviews" button, which completely resets all previously selected filters.
-there's no option to filter reviews by the number of reviews per user account.

Suggestions:

1. Add lacking features to the review browser + basic sorting/pagination

I don't see how this solution could harm any honest customer.

2. Restrict or "shadow ban" positive reviews for users with limited playtime.

Publishers specify minimum available playtime, such as "at least 20 hours of playtime" (a required public field visible to customers on the store page). Positive reviews may only be allowed once a certain percentage of the specified playtime is reached—say, 75%. If the playtime threshold isn't met, positive reviews shouldn't be permitted. Or, as an alternative, a review could be allowed but 'shadowbanned' and excluded from the overall score without notifying the user, which would likely upset them.

Let’s be honest: if someone recommended a 20-hour game after only playing 5 hours and never returned to it, he didn’t truly enjoy it and his review is most likely fake.

P.S. I understand that the last suggestion is a bit subjective and could potentially affect honest positive reviews from users with low playtime. However, I believe that sometimes you have to choose the "lesser evil" because for every sincere review with limited playtime, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of dishonest ones.

Last edited by Scamdiver; 10 hours ago

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Showing 1-15 of 32 comments

Thermal Lance 6 Aug @ 6:19pm

Reviews with little playtime do serve a purpose. Especially negative ones that might highlight technical issues or ♥♥♥♥♥♥ Devs.

Scamdiver 6 Aug @ 6:20pm

Originally posted by Thermal Lance:
Reviews with little playtime do serve a purpose. Especially negative ones that might highlight technical issues or ♥♥♥♥♥♥ Devs.

if product was refunded - allow negative review (only negative)
problems may be reported to discussion boards

I have no idea how a positive review with less than 2h/5h at review time may serve a purpose

Last edited by Scamdiver; 6 Aug @ 6:47pm

Thermal Lance 6 Aug @ 6:38pm

Originally posted by Scamdiver:
Originally posted by Thermal Lance:
Reviews with little playtime do serve a purpose. Especially negative ones that might highlight technical issues or ♥♥♥♥♥♥ Devs.
if product was refunded - allow negative review (only negative)
problems may be reported to discussion boards

I have no idea how a positive review with less than 2h/5h may serve a purpose

Me neither. Outside from people who played the game from other places. (friends, Ps, Xbox...)

Ben Lubar 6 Aug @ 6:46pm

You can filter reviews by playtime at the bottom of the store page.

Nx Machina 23 hours ago

Originally posted by Scamdiver:
if product was refunded - allow negative review (only negative) problems may be reported to discussion boards

They are variety of reasons why a game is refunded and that does not mean that the experience was negative.

I was playing a game and really enjoying it when motion sickness kicked in and that is the reason i refunded, yet would recommend it to others with a note about motion sickness for myself.

Originally posted by Scamdiver:
I have no idea how a positive review with less than 2h/5h at review time may serve a purpose

I personally can tell within the first two hours if a game is one i intend to keep. I do not need to play for numerous hours to reach that conclusion. I have the right to review it. The hours are irrelevant.

Last edited by Nx Machina; 9 hours ago

Roxor128 23 hours ago

Not counting reviews with less than 2-5 hours of playtime would basically render all reviews for a sufficiently short game useless. I've played plenty of adventure games that could be finished in less than two hours.

Scamdiver 22 hours ago

Originally posted by Roxor128:
Not counting reviews with less than 2-5 hours of playtime would basically render all reviews for a sufficiently short game useless. I've played plenty of adventure games that could be finished in less than two hours.

Publishers must specify minimum available playtime, such as "at least 20 hours of playtime" (a public field visible to customers). Positive reviews may only be allowed once a certain percentage of the specified playtime is reached—say, 50% or 75%. If the playtime threshold isn't met, positive reviews shouldn't be permitted.

Let’s be honest: if someone recommended a 20-hour game after only playing 5 hours and never returned to it, he didn’t truly enjoy it and his review is fake.

Last edited by Scamdiver; 21 hours ago

Scamdiver 22 hours ago

Originally posted by Ben Lubar:
You can filter reviews by playtime at the bottom of the store page.

I couldn't find a way to view the overall review score with the given filter, like the total review score for players with between 15 and the maximum hours of playtime.

Also, when I select the playtime filter, it usually shows several entries, and after that, I have to click 'Browse all X reviews,' which completely resets all the filters.

Also there is no way to filter by amount of reviews per account

Last edited by Scamdiver; 20 hours ago

Ettanin 22 hours ago

The ability to get a refund shouldn't be held hostage as a collateral for a reasonable, or not, negative review. The loss of the ability to refund shouldn't be a retaliatory measure against negative reviews.

The review system as is is fine. If you think there are unhelpful reviews, downvote them so the system knows.

Scamdiver 22 hours ago

Originally posted by Ettanin:
The ability to get a refund shouldn't be held hostage as a collateral for a reasonable, or not, negative review. The loss of the ability to refund shouldn't be a retaliatory measure against negative reviews.

didn't get it
If someone wants to request a refund, they can do so, and they can also leave a negative review (optional).

Last edited by Scamdiver; 22 hours ago

#10

76561198407601200 21 hours ago

Originally posted by Scamdiver:
Is it so difficult to exclude some reviews from the total score?
Like... prohibit reviews with less than 2h/5h of playtime
Or "shadow ban" reviews from accs with more than 150 only positive reviews or 1 review/acc. No need to notify the user, just prevent the review from being taken into consideration.

+ mb some AI anomaly detection algo to detect suspicious activity, idk if feasible

Seems pointless, the reviews seem fine as is.

#11

Scamdiver 21 hours ago

Originally posted by The Living Tribunal:
Originally posted by Scamdiver:
Is it so difficult to exclude some reviews from the total score?
Like... prohibit reviews with less than 2h/5h of playtime
Or "shadow ban" reviews from accs with more than 150 only positive reviews or 1 review/acc. No need to notify the user, just prevent the review from being taken into consideration.

+ mb some AI anomaly detection algo to detect suspicious activity, idk if feasible
Seems pointless, the reviews seem fine as is.

I would prefer to be able to exclude something like that from the overall review score when viewing the store page, at least for myself using filters.

review1[i.postimg.cc]
review2[i.postimg.cc]
review3[i.postimg.cc]
review4[i.postimg.cc]
review5[i.postimg.cc]
review6[i.postimg.cc]
review7[i.postimg.cc]
review8[i.postimg.cc]

Grounded as an example, (the usernames and text are hidden to avoid violating someone's privacy)

#12

Nx Machina 21 hours ago

Originally posted by Scamdiver:
I would prefer to be able to exclude something like that from the overall review score when viewing the store page, at least for myself using filters.

review1[i.postimg.cc]
review2[i.postimg.cc]
review3[i.postimg.cc]
review4[i.postimg.cc]
review5[i.postimg.cc]
review6[i.postimg.cc]
review7[i.postimg.cc]
review8[i.postimg.cc]

Grounded as an example, (the usernames and text are hidden to avoid violating someone's privacy)

I was gripped by Dishonored in the first 10 minutes of gameplay and yet you feel no one can be or should be because you deem only XXX amount of hours played has validity.

That was not the only game to do this.

Prey 2017, Deathloop, Dishonored 2 and 3, Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2. Pathfinder Kingmaker and Wrath, Rogue Trader, the Avernum series, the original Baldurs Gate 1 and 2 plus Baldurs Gate 3, the original Icewind Dale 1 and 2, the list goes on and on.

FREE POINTS - Thank you.

Last edited by Nx Machina; 21 hours ago

#13

Scamdiver 21 hours ago

Originally posted by Nx Machina:
I was gripped by Dishonored in the first 10 minutes of gameplay and yet you feel no one can be or should be because you deem only XXX amount of hours played has validity.

Hours of playtime don't guarantee a review's validity, but they are more time-consuming to fake.
If you don't mind these kinds of reviews, that's up to you, but I'd prefer to have a way to sort and filter reviews that are relevant to me. At least that.

Last edited by Scamdiver; 21 hours ago

#14

Ettanin 21 hours ago

Originally posted by Scamdiver:
Originally posted by Ettanin:
The ability to get a refund shouldn't be held hostage as a collateral for a reasonable, or not, negative review. The loss of the ability to refund shouldn't be a retaliatory measure against negative reviews.
didn't get it
If someone wants to request a refund, they can do so, and they can also leave a negative review (optional).

the problem is, you want their concerns not to be factored in because you consider only a certain amount of hours beyond the refund eligibility to be valid.
If people do have technical or mechanical issues that prevent them from enjoying the game, then their report of these in the form of a review should be weighed in, even if they took only mere minutes to encounter these issues. And such reviews are legitimate and should help the customer to be informed of such.
Similar concerns can apply to positive reviews as well. One such example are games that uses an external account system that permits standalone use. You initially started it on Steam, but then changed to a standalone version of the game, using the same account. This additional playtime is not factored in.

By requiring a cutoff that is beyond the ability to refund, you silence these concerns.

Also, thanks for the points.

Last edited by Ettanin; 21 hours ago

#15

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Date Posted: 6 Aug @ 6:14pm

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