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Game Pass & User Reviews.

anthony2690

Member
I don't know what it is, but recently I find myself looking at user reviews and I think what an absolute idiot.

Looking at Recent Reviews:
Guilty Gear Strive:
2.8/5
Lots of 1 star reviews moaning that half the roster is locked behind dlc, I feel as Xbox users we are very lucky to even have this series return to the platform and part of a sub too, I purchased the ultimate edition as I'm super pumped about the series returning to Xbox, why do people expect dlc content free?

Wo Long:
2.9/5
Lots of 1 star reviews as the first boss is apparently too hard, got a retail copy sat on the shelf, can't wait to dive into this after wild hearts, really enjoyed the beta.

Atomic Hearts:
3.1/5
Lots of 1 star reviews due to being a Russian game. (Also some valid review complaints about poor performance etc) I don't think I'll ever have the time to start this game sadly.

Plus if you look at reviews for any 2D game, no matter how good it is, you will sadly see a lot of fools saying they are sick of megadrive looking games coming to Xbox.

I just feel like game pass user base is incredible entitled & full off fools.

They have a genuinely great service with great additions constantly added and you get stupid user reviews, crapping on stuff for trivial reasons or crapping on something they have no interest in.

I think the review system needs a serious overhaul with maybe X amount of playtime before you're allowed to leave a review.

If I was a publisher and saw people crapping on my game due to some of the stupid reasons I read in the reviews, I'd seriously reconsider putting my games on the service.

I understand everyone has different tastes, but I wouldn't go out my way to play or crap on something I have no interest in.

Sorry for rambling on, but it just really irks me.

I just think the user reviews can be detrimental to some truly excellent titles, that people might skip on from looking at user scores.

Edit: after seeing GHG's comment about steam reviews that show time played & whether they got the game free or paid, I think Xbox should adopt a similar review method, so it's easier to tell which reviews are fluff.
 
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GHG

Member
I think the review system needs a serious overhaul with maybe X amount of playtime before you're allowed to leave a review.

No that's ridiculous. If a game doesn't work and/or performs poorly and that's apparent within the first few minutes of playing then people should still be able to leave reviews that state so.

The way to solve this is to display the amount of play time a person has with the game on the review along with their purchase method (gamepass/purchase/otherwise).

Steam does this very well. Example short review from a random game:

tXn4CJ8.jpg
 

feynoob

Member
No that's ridiculous. If a game doesn't work and/or performs poorly and that's apparent within the first few minutes of playing then people should still be able to leave reviews that state so.

The way to solve this is to display the amount of play time a person has with the game on the review along with their purchase method (gamepass/purchase/otherwise).

Steam does this very well. Example short review from a random game:

tXn4CJ8.jpg
Steam reviews is the best tool. You can see who plays the game, and who doesnt.
 

Topher

Member
What reviews are we talking about? On Xbox, GG:S has a 3.7 rating. On Xbox PC app, it is 3.8. Atomic Heart is 3.9 on Windows, 3.4 on Xbox. I do see Wo Long at 2.9 (Windows) and 2.7 (Xbox). That one seems to be getting a lot of grief for crashing though
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
A lot of people do this weird mental thing where if they paid a lot of money for a game, they'll try to find more reasons to like it. They're invested. They spent $70 on this thing, so every good quality they can find in the game is further justification for their purchase. Admitting flaws is synonymous with saying "I shouldn't have paid so much for this game" (which still happens, it's just usually a lot more justified).

The opposite is true for games that are "free" - people are more likely to be critical of your game, because if there's something they don't like about it, they're not entirely motivated to work past that flaw. Just uninstall, and move on to the next free thing.

So this is something that is more or less inevitable with Game Pass. The same thing happens with games that are put on PS Plus though - so it's not exactly an issue with Xbox. The difference here is that games like Atomic Heart and Wo Long are "day one releases" on Game Pass. Typically, a game released as a freebie on other platforms is given time to garner better reviews from paying customers before naturally getting pushed down a peg from reviewers who got the game for "free".

What OP is describing is really more of an issue in human psychology, rather than anything platform specific.
 

reinking

Member
I don't know what it is, but recently I find myself looking at user reviews and I think what an absolute idiot.

Looking at Recent Reviews:
Guilty Gear Strive:
2.8/5
Lots of 1 star reviews moaning that half the roster is locked behind dlc, I feel as Xbox users we are very lucky to even have this series return to the platform and part of a sub too, I purchased the ultimate edition as I'm super pumped about the series returning to Xbox, why do people expect dlc content free?

Wo Long:
2.9/5
Lots of 1 star reviews as the first boss is apparently too hard, got a retail copy sat on the shelf, can't wait to dive into this after wild hearts, really enjoyed the beta.

Atomic Hearts:
3.1/5
Lots of 1 star reviews due to being a Russian game. (Also some valid review complaints about poor performance etc) I don't think I'll ever have the time to start this game sadly.

Plus if you look at reviews for any 2D game, no matter how good it is, you will sadly see a lot of fools saying they are sick of megadrive looking games coming to Xbox.

I just feel like game pass user base is incredible entitled & full off fools.

They have a genuinely great service with great additions constantly added and you get stupid user reviews, crapping on stuff for trivial reasons or crapping on something they have no interest in.

I think the review system needs a serious overhaul with maybe X amount of playtime before you're allowed to leave a review.

If I was a publisher and saw people crapping on my game due to some of the stupid reasons I read in the reviews, I'd seriously reconsider putting my games on the service.

I understand everyone has different tastes, but I wouldn't go out my way to play or crap on something I have no interest in.

Sorry for rambling on, but it just really irks me.

I just think the user reviews can be detrimental to some truly excellent titles, that people might skip on from looking at user scores.
Of the three games you mentioned, you have only played the beta for one and have not played another. I am not sure I can take your critique of the review system seriously. Not that I do not believe some of the criticisms are valid. A service like Game Pass will foster bad reviews in some circumstances like Gulty Gear. Some people expect to get everything for "free."
 

ChoosableOne

ChoosableAll
It wouldn't be correct to restrict the comments, but as others have said, it would be better to specify the playing times and put a filter option, like "show those who have played for at least 1 hour".
 

8BiTw0LF

Consoomer
Why would anyone buy DLC for a rented game? GamePass is nice to try things, but for investing in games it's shit.
 
  • Strength
Reactions: GHG

anthony2690

Member
No that's ridiculous. If a game doesn't work and/or performs poorly and that's apparent within the first few minutes of playing then people should still be able to leave reviews that state so.

The way to solve this is to display the amount of play time a person has with the game on the review along with their purchase method (gamepass/purchase/otherwise).

Steam does this very well. Example short review from a random game:

tXn4CJ8.jpg
Actually I agree, this is a much better idea, showcase users time played & how they got the game paid/free/sub etc.
 
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  • Like
Reactions: GHG

Fredrik

Member
Why would anyone buy DLC for a rented game? GamePass is nice to try things, but for investing in games it's shit.
Because they like the game and want more content? If they’re still playing it if it’s about to be removed they can buy the game cheaper then. There is no downsides.
 
I don't know what it is, but recently I find myself looking at user reviews and I think what an absolute idiot.

Looking at Recent Reviews:
Guilty Gear Strive:
2.8/5
Lots of 1 star reviews moaning that half the roster is locked behind dlc, I feel as Xbox users we are very lucky to even have this series return to the platform and part of a sub too, I purchased the ultimate edition as I'm super pumped about the series returning to Xbox, why do people expect dlc content free?

Wo Long:
2.9/5
Lots of 1 star reviews as the first boss is apparently too hard, got a retail copy sat on the shelf, can't wait to dive into this after wild hearts, really enjoyed the beta.

Atomic Hearts:
3.1/5
Lots of 1 star reviews due to being a Russian game. (Also some valid review complaints about poor performance etc) I don't think I'll ever have the time to start this game sadly.

Plus if you look at reviews for any 2D game, no matter how good it is, you will sadly see a lot of fools saying they are sick of megadrive looking games coming to Xbox.

I just feel like game pass user base is incredible entitled & full off fools.

They have a genuinely great service with great additions constantly added and you get stupid user reviews, crapping on stuff for trivial reasons or crapping on something they have no interest in.

I think the review system needs a serious overhaul with maybe X amount of playtime before you're allowed to leave a review.

If I was a publisher and saw people crapping on my game due to some of the stupid reasons I read in the reviews, I'd seriously reconsider putting my games on the service.

I understand everyone has different tastes, but I wouldn't go out my way to play or crap on something I have no interest in.

Sorry for rambling on, but it just really irks me.

I just think the user reviews can be detrimental to some truly excellent titles, that people might skip on from looking at user scores.
User reviews are cancer. No matter the platform, there's always some group of haters who needs to make their opinion known, despite any actual experience with what they are reviewing.

Seriously, I don't know why Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes even allow them.

Also, the worst is the people who call anything with a gay, female, or black star "Woke". I'm a conservative, and every time I see it used in that context, I cringe.

Then again, with current activist journalists, the official reviews aren't a whole lot better.
 
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M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
What reviews are we talking about? On Xbox, GG:S has a 3.7 rating. On Xbox PC app, it is 3.8. Atomic Heart is 3.9 on Windows, 3.4 on Xbox. I do see Wo Long at 2.9 (Windows) and 2.7 (Xbox). That one seems to be getting a lot of grief for crashing though
Sadly it depends on region
 

anthony2690

Member
Of the three games you mentioned, you have only played the beta for one and have not played another. I am not sure I can take your critique of the review system seriously. Not that I do not believe some of the criticisms are valid. A service like Game Pass will foster bad reviews in some circumstances like Gulty Gear. Some people expect to get everything for "free."
I've atleast beat the first boss during the beta ;)

I know what you're saying though, I haven't played enough of the game to have a warranted opinion on the game (but I also haven't left a review for the title either on the Xbox store)

Then again I very rarely leave reviews for games anyway.
 

anthony2690

Member
What reviews are we talking about? On Xbox, GG:S has a 3.7 rating. On Xbox PC app, it is 3.8. Atomic Heart is 3.9 on Windows, 3.4 on Xbox. I do see Wo Long at 2.9 (Windows) and 2.7 (Xbox). That one seems to be getting a lot of grief for crashing though
Sorry, UK region, I assumed regions would share reviews, interesting to find out they do not though.
 

8BiTw0LF

Consoomer
Because they like the game and want more content? If they’re still playing it if it’s about to be removed they can buy the game cheaper then. There is no downsides.
But this is not how it goes. Just look at the time spent on GP titles Vs. bought titles.
Outriders suffered on Xbox cause no one wanted to buy the expansion - and we'll see many more titles on GP go down that path. If GP offered all DLC it would be the greatest thing ever made for gamers, but right now it's only good for "standalone" titles.
 

Mr Hyde

Member
I feel it's the general Internet "State of Mind" where you just complain and hate on things for the sake of it. User reviews and review bombing that leaves a 0 or a 1 I can't take seriously, it's obvious trolls with an agenda, because no game is worth such a score if the game is not downright unplayable, which the majority of the games that are targeted by trolls aren't. It's best to just dismiss it and move on. It's not worth getting upset about.
 
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64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
That's the unfortunate bad side of user reviews, there are tons of idiots who will hate because they need everyone else to Hate life just like them. There's also really constructive and interesting negative reviews that dive into the flaes of a game and those are the ones I live for.
 

Fredrik

Member
But this is not how it goes. Just look at the time spent on GP titles Vs. bought titles.
Outriders suffered on Xbox cause no one wanted to buy the expansion - and we'll see many more titles on GP go down that path. If GP offered all DLC it would be the greatest thing ever made for gamers, but right now it's only good for "standalone" titles.
I thought Outriders suffered because people didn’t like it?

I think Forza Horizon 5 has done well with the Hot Wheels expansion and the Rally expansion is possibly my most wanted release right now after Starfield.
Just look at this thing! 🤩

michael fassbender perfection GIF
 

Stuart360

Member
But this is not how it goes. Just look at the time spent on GP titles Vs. bought titles.
Outriders suffered on Xbox cause no one wanted to buy the expansion - and we'll see many more titles on GP go down that path. If GP offered all DLC it would be the greatest thing ever made for gamers, but right now it's only good for "standalone" titles.
Jesus man. Pretty sure the dlc and mtx being able to be bought is part of the reason why they can offer Gamepass so cheaply.
Its the reason why EA couldnt wait to get EAPLay on Gamepass, whith how mtx riddled their games are.
I mean if Gamepass offered a different teir, like £20 or soemthign, where all games get all the dlc included, i'd take it, but you cant expect that in the base model lol.
 

8BiTw0LF

Consoomer
I thought Outriders suffered because people didn’t like it?

I think Forza Horizon 5 has done well with the Hot Wheels expansion and the Rally expansion is possibly my most wanted release right now after Starfield.
Just look at this thing! 🤩

michael fassbender perfection GIF

No Outriders did all right, even being on GP turned profit, but the Worldslayer DLC were heavily debated among Xbox players - everyone wanted it to be free - for a "free" game, it makes sense.

I think you're right 1st party DLC will do a lot better than 3rd party DLC, but it should still make any 3rd party publisher think twice about which type of game they release on GP, don't you think?

Jesus man. Pretty sure the dlc and mtx being able to be bought is part of the reason why they can offer Gamepass so cheaply.
Its the reason why EA couldnt wait to get EAPLay on Gamepass, whith how mtx riddled their games are.
I mean if Gamepass offered a different teir, like £20 or soemthign, where all games get all the dlc included, i'd take it, but you cant expect that in the base model lol.
So you agree?
 

Stuart360

Member
So you agree?
I agree, what i'm saying is you cant expect to get all dlc and expansions for games at the current price Gamepass is. I mean if they had a more expensive teir that included dlc/expansions, and like mtx guns and costumes included, i would take it.
Ubisofts service for example is £12.99, only has Ubisoft games, and only has around 100 games compared to the cheaper Gamepass that has 500 games, games from different studios, including all first party games, and is £7.99.

I know us gamers want everyhting we can get but Gamepass is still a busniess.
 

Freeman76

Member
This is the internet as a whole, dont know why you are surprised, it would be the same on Playstation if it had written reviews
 
Of the three games you mentioned, you have only played the beta for one and have not played another. I am not sure I can take your critique of the review system seriously. Not that I do not believe some of the criticisms are valid. A service like Game Pass will foster bad reviews in some circumstances like Gulty Gear. Some people expect to get everything for "free."
Not free, but you pay for a subscription so you might expect something complete.
 

8BiTw0LF

Consoomer
I agree, what i'm saying is you cant expect to get all dlc and expansions for games at the current price Gamepass is. I mean if they had a more expensive teir that included dlc/expansions, and like mtx guns and costumes included, i would take it.
Ubisofts service for example is £12.99, only has Ubisoft games, and only has around 100 games compared to the cheaper Gamepass that has 500 games, games from different studios, including all first party games, and is £7.99.

I know us gamers want everyhting we can get but Gamepass is still a busniess.
Exactly, the problem is there's no tier with all DLC and that's a big problem for 3rd party publishers who's offered a deal on GP. No one knows when a game is removed from GP, it can be after a year or 5 years, so there's a lot of confusion how gamers should invest their money in GP titles. We're still in the early days of gaming services, but looking at movie streaming, Disney has lost major profits in only releasing their stuff on their service - guess there's a lot of Disney fans who wants to own their stuff. Like HBO releasing premiere theater movies on their service when corona hit - that wasn't profitable at all. I think we'll see the same tendency in a few years if none of these gaming services offers the whole package.
 
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Fredrik

Member
I think you're right 1st party DLC will do a lot better than 3rd party DLC, but it should still make any 3rd party publisher think twice about which type of game they release on GP, don't you think?
Well a Gamepass release can boost sales if GP users are raving about it, but can also hurt sales if GP users are brutally slamming it. There is no investment so it can quickly go both ways. I’m sure publishers are having whole teams discussing what to do.
 

Claus Grimhildyr

Vincit qui se vincit

There was a character called "Bridget". He was a dude who was forced to dress and act like a girl for most of his life as his village had a superstition. The whole point of his character was to fight back against that and prove that he was a man by becoming one of the greatest bounty hunters.

In Strive, they decided to write the character renegging on all the development he had and going "Oh, my parents/village was right. I really was a woman this whole time!" and making the character trans.
 

ReBurn

Member
I tend to not put stock in any review where I can't see whether the person leaving the review has actually purchased or used the product. Microsoft should make it clear whether the person leaving a review actually played the game. There are too many "I played it at a friend's house" people who either didn't actually play it at a friend's house or the friend was YouTube and they just watched someone else play it.
 

Fredrik

Member
I tend to not put stock in any review where I can't see whether the person leaving the review has actually purchased or used the product. Microsoft should make it clear whether the person leaving a review actually played the game. There are too many "I played it at a friend's house" people who either didn't actually play it at a friend's house or the friend was YouTube and they just watched someone else play it.
Yeah a playtime counter is so important. Goes for all user impressions on games, would be useful even here when just talking.
And how hard could it be to implement? You’re already logged in with your Xbox account when you write the review. Just do like Steam and show the user’s actual playtime when the review was posted.
 

Edmund

Member
My friends on gamepass spend more time downloading and installing the game than actually playing it. Lol.
 
I actually love that the Xbox store has user reviews. Makes it much better than both other consoles. Most of the time I feel they're pretty accurate. Sometimes you see some spam but not that often.
 

Thebonehead

Member
A lot of people do this weird mental thing where if they paid a lot of money for a game, they'll try to find more reasons to like it. They're invested. They spent $70 on this thing, so every good quality they can find in the game is further justification for their purchase. Admitting flaws is synonymous with saying "I shouldn't have paid so much for this game" (which still happens, it's just usually a lot more justified).

This is known as the sunk cost effect in psychology.
 

Reizo Ryuu

Member
The Wo Long one is a clear example that subscriptions will just have a lot of casual consumers, who just want to play through something without hitting too many skill based roadblocks.
 
You think that's bad ? 90% of the user reviews on the Italian MS/Xbox store are :
"1/10
No ITA ! "

Apparently, there's still people in 2023 that can't read , speak nor write English and for them, the lack of a proper localization translates to "bad game", 'cause that will show the devs , amirite ?
Fucking developers man, why didn't they think about Nunzio, Luigi and all the others that at 20+/30+ years of age can only speak their native tongue ? 😁

I assume that the same thing goes on the Spanish/French stores...
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
You think that's bad ? 90% of the user reviews on the Italian MS/Xbox store are :
"1/10
No ITA ! "

Apparently, there's still people in 2023 that can't read , speak nor write English and for them, the lack of a proper localization translates to "bad game", 'cause that will show the devs , amirite ?
Fucking developers man, why didn't they think about Nunzio, Luigi and all the others that at 20+/30+ years of age can only speak their native tongue ? 😁

I assume that the same thing goes on the Spanish/French stores...
uh yeah there are a shitton of people in the world who still cannot speak English. That's not on the person because not everyone wants to learn english just to play a single fucking video game. It's not some second nature thing that everyone knows at birth it's a learnt skill
 
I can't believe there is still gamers that can't read Japanese. More than half the games are made there. /s

Irony is the lowest form of wit they say.

Here's an easy rebuttal though :
English is an international language (for better or for worse) while Japanese is not.

Speaking a foreign language isn't a life detriment , au contraire, then again, a big percentage of the American and British population can only speak their native tongue , I mean, shit, it suits them well since half of the rest of the world speaks theirs, the same can't be said though for - say - Italians since Italian isn't an international language, you may put "Italian" on your resume/bio whilst job searching as an extra but...it's just that, an extra.

In 2023 mang, it's a handicap if you can't speak more than 1 language no matter how cute you're trying to be in a gaming forum of all places.

Also, learning a language is not for playing them Vidya games, it's to be able to hold a conversation with other people, understanding music (lyrics), watching films without having to resort to dubbing/subtitling and consuming other, various forms of media.

Cheers

PS: 64bitmodels 64bitmodels , same thing my dude.
 
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