How credible do you think the reviwes here are?

[HopesGaming]

Absolutely not. you should actually check out the thread, the guy he's talking about is not even the original creator of the game, just a modder who added new pics, made basically no improvements to the gameplay, added loads of bugs, and now thinks he basically owns the project and fights with everyone in the thread. I don't think it's it makes sense to judge the modder for having differing values it's also a very very bad look for the modder to screenshot reviews and insult them because of those values. If it's just liking positive reviews then yes I agree with you, that's normal and doesn't change anything for me.

Oh, I can't say anything regarding that as I don't know the situation.
But I see all of those two things as separate issues.
One thing is that part you're talking about (which I agree with you, does sounds scummy!)
And the second part is the idea of a dev liking his positive reviews and not liking the lower end reviews.

I'm simply talking about the overall part of the second part.

Nobody is saying that. Stop using strawmans. If someone can't look at himself with the eyes of others and just ignore everyone who dislike his work then he is self-absorbed egoist. If someone has the plan of development and just follow it despite some people disliking the project then he is good developer.
You can be both of this things, you can be one. The creator shouldn't be fragile and should be able to say "touche" when he creates something stupid, bad or absurd and someone point that out. He should be able to said this also when someone simply dislike his game and present good arguments why.
Dev who isn't able to handle criticism more than probably hate himself than the dev who do.

But can't you not 'like' their post but still, read and respect the lower end review?

Remember, my comment was simply on devs who give 'like' to the 4-5 star reviews while not giving a 'like' to 3 and under.
How does that correlate to not being able to take criticism and all the other things you said?
Remember, not giving a like is not the same thing as hating lower end reviews.

Now, this all depends on how your game is doing tbh.
Let say you had a game with a lot of flaws. And the comments and reviews reflect that.
Your game has over 50+ reviews and it hangs around the 1-3 rating with 80% of comments pointing out negative stuff about the game.
In that exact situation - yes, you probably would like the lower end reviews as (many of them) are not there to mock, rage, belittle, the dev but rather trying to give constructive critiques.
100% give a like to any reviews with good criticism, no matter the star rating, as they are there to help the game.

But let take it the other way around. A game that is doing well. Maybe a niche game like a NTR game.
Someone comes in and write a huge review. Gives it between 1-3. His main points? That he thinks the NTR niche games should remove all the NTR.
Do you think the dev should like that review?

Using myself and my experience as an example.
I read all the 3 and under reviews. I respect them and try to see what they don't like and maybe there is something I can improve. If, and only if, I spot something where I'll be like 'ah, I see. I need to change this part' I will give it a like. But to this day I have not found a lower end review I felt like showed me a flaw in the game that was an actual flaw.
90% consist of entitled pricks who ctrl skip the game and complain about lack of sexual content in my niche story-focused game. While the 10%, even tho they are civil and I have big respect for their reviews, simply do not contain anything agree with.
Many of their criticisms are around points the majority of my playerbase enjoys. Remember, just because someone points out that there is something wrong 'there' does not necessarily mean there is actually something wrong 'there.

So yeah, I like 4-5 reviews and do not for 3 and under.

 

[rangaru]

Remember, my comment was simply on devs who give 'like' to the 4-5 star reviews while not giving a 'like' to 3 and under.
How does that correlate to not being able to take criticism and all the other things you said?

I didn't respond to that comment. Not giving likes to reviews you don't like is just common sense. Basing it on how much stars review has is weird and kind of tasteless but you do you.

I read all the 3 and under reviews. I respect them and try to see what they don't like and maybe there is something I can improve. If, and only if, I spot something where I'll be like 'ah, I see. I need to change this part' I will give it a like.

I don't have a problem with that, I don't think anybody has. People are discussing creators being self-important assholes, not pointing you personally as being one of them. Don't be so defensive it doesn't make much sense unless you have something on your conscience. If you have then change your behaviour. Or don't. I don't give a fuck.

 

[HopesGaming]

I didn't respond to that comment. Not giving likes to reviews you don't like is just common sense.

What do you mean you didn't respond to that comment?
The whole discussion is dev liking only high ratings and not lower end ratings and was spurred from this comment

Rating stars by themselves are useful in one way: just look at how the creator reacts.

If you see the guy liking only 5 star reviews, even the garbage 5 star fanboy reviews, completely ignoring the mostly positive 3 and 4 star reviews, you can assume the game is not as good as its average rating suggests it should be. You can find a great example below:

How should I know you suddenly was talking about something that wasn't part of what the topic was about?
I just comment on what is on-topic.

Basing it on how much stars review has is weird and kind of tasteless but you do you.

Why is it tasteless to only like reviews based on the stars? Honestly, I feel it's weird that you think it's tasteless and that dev should like negative reviews.
I mean, I don't want to kink shame anyone, but I ain't a sadist. I won't go like "Yeah baby, keep talking shit. It turns me on. Hit me baby!"
No fuck that. You dislike my game and adds nothing I agree with? I don't like.
You give my game a high rating and like it? Thank you, sir! Here's a like for you.

That this concept is tasteless for you is just mind-boggling.

I don't have a problem with that, I don't think anybody has. People are discussing creators being self-important assholes, not pointing you personally as being one of them. Don't be so defensive it doesn't make much sense unless you have something on your conscience. If you have then change your behaviour. Or don't. I don't give a fuck.

Well, that is the thing. People do have problems with devs liking that (you even said you found it tasteless). I have personally discussed this with people.
People are not just talking about self-important assholes. Taler was (and that does sound like a scummy dev he was refering to), but the whole talk started with just an overall statement on devs liking only high stare.

Also, why am I being accused of being called defensive just because I discuss it in a discussion forum?
I'm chill and respect everyone here. I just have my own opinion. I am also a player and a user of the site.

 

[rangaru]

What do you mean you didn't respond to that comment?

I responded to strawman "Not hating your own work = self-absorbed egoist" because nobody was saying that. If I liked to refer to your previous post I would quote it.

Why is it tasteless to only like reviews based on the stars?

Because, good taste requires testing something before reacting to it. For example person with good taste would read the book before saying they like it. He could personaly like strawberries but dislike the book "I like strawberries" and like the book "I dislike strawberries" depends on the content of each of them.

I mean, I don't want to kink shame anyone, but I ain't a sadist. I won't go like "Yeah baby, keep talking shit. It turns me on. Hit me baby!"

Masochist. Someone who get turn on by pain and insults is a masochist.

Also, why am I being accused of being called defensive just because I discuss it in a discussion forum?

Because, it is discussion forum and you are being defensive.

 

[HopesGaming]

I responded to strawman.

And I respond to stickmen.
Both are equally as dumb because it's not true.

You responded to something that I was aiming at taler which he quickly showed me why it made sense to call him (the other dev) self-absorbed and I responded to him and said I saw what he meant now but my post was mostly aimed at an overall stance and not at a specific dev.
You, however, used that as a point to pivot to;

If someone can't look at himself with the eyes of others and just ignore everyone who dislike his work then he is self-absorbed egoist.

This sentence is pretty self-explanatory. This is basically; if a dev ignores everyone who dislikes him then he is a self-absorbed egoist, no? How does that go against what I was talking about? You can't just say you didn't write what you just wrote.
I mean, we can even go to this;

Basing it on how much stars review has is weird and kind of tasteless but you do you.

You keep going back and forth between your points and what you stand for and it is a bit odd.

Because, good taste requires testing something before reacting to it. For example person with good taste would read the book before saying they like it. He could personaly like strawberries but dislike the book "I like strawberries" and like the book "I dislike strawberries" depends on the content of each of them.

I say I like reviews 4-5 only. Read and respect (but not 'like') 3 and under and will give a 'like' If I ever find something I agree on.
You say that is tasteless by giving a weird analogy of someone with a good taste would read the book before they like it? He could like strawberries but dislike the book?

What does this have to do with anything?
You're stretching now... This has no correlation to what we speak about... At all...

Masochist. Someone who get turn on by pain and insults is a masochist.

You are absolutely right on that part. I always confuse those two words, heh.
Thank you for the correction.

Because, it is discussion forum and you are being defensive.

I haven't felt attacked by anyone here. I just write my opinions without attacking anyone. Talks can be a bit rough but most are mature enough that it is just part of a discussion.

But with that logic, does that mean that anyone that does not agree with you is being defensive? Do you see yourself as an attacker? When you have an opinion that goes against someone else - are you defensive then?

I find the whole ordeal a bit odd, tbh.

 

[skipper_kowalski]

Rating stars by themselves are useful in one way: just look at how the creator reacts.

If you see the guy liking only 5 star reviews, even the garbage 5 star fanboy reviews, completely ignoring the mostly positive 3 and 4 star reviews, you can assume the game is not as good as its average rating suggests it should be. You can find a great example below:

Spoiler: Example

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Now there's a guy who knows how to make reviews work for him. A great example of what a pirate dev can be and ought to be.

Spoiler: Totally Imaginary Conversation

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[Cartageno]

As for the reviews - to come back to that topic - as many have said, the proof is in the text. Of course sometimes you need to know whether the text is actually true, which is why you also should read positive reviews, though in general negatives tend to be more informative. Sometimes reading a bit up in the thread about a controversial topic may also help, since sometimes it comes down to a technicality (can you say "there is no sex in this game yet" when there's one in some esoteric side line for which you need to have the exact right amount of love points, not too many, not too few?).

First of course you need to find what is useful information for you. As an example, unless anything specific may be, all the things I can gather from the original posting (included fetishes and the general look of graphics mostly) are not important to me. Then there are some gripes I can understand which do not affect me at all. E. g. many games I like have complaints about "too much grinding" - apparently I like me a grind if I like them, so I will not take that into account. Of course it can still happen that a game would be too grindy for me, but I won't get that from reviews.

Ideal case of course is: I find reviews of people I know can be trusted in giving a good explanation and ideally share many of my tastes.

But I think one thing we should keep in mind is (a) most of the games we're looking at are not completed yet and may heavily change in both directions (in my personal ratings I've seen a 5 star game go down to 2 stars for my personal rating - I rated it differently because some pet peeves come into play - and vice versa. And (b) tastes vary. I have played games with well grounded bad ratings and enjoyed them, and again vice versa.