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Do you care about Metacritic?

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What does a games Metacritic score mean to you?

Does a games Meta score ever inform your decision to buy a game, or do you use it mainly as a point of reference, or as something to gauge a games general reception?

Do you take any pride in seeing a game you enjoy get a good Metacritic rating, or do you get annoyed when a game you enjoy ends up with a disappointing score?

What do you think, GAF?
 
At least it's better than IGN/Polygon

And it show the general critics opinion, which would affect sales
I care about sales so I care about metacritic
 
More "fan" of Opencritic tho. The Metacritic system is weird and not fair imo.
But dont use it really for buying games. I loved badly scored games and didnt like very good reviewed games.
 
Nope, couldn't care less.

I buy games almost exclusively based on my own perception of their merits, and usually know before launch if I'm interested. A game scoring high or low doesn't matter to me as long as I'm enjoying it.

The only time Metacritic comes up in my life is when people argue about it online.
 
I'm actually not a fan of scoring, and I stopped paying attention to Metacritic many years back outside sometimes when I want to see how a game was received critically in the past as information.

Opinions are so wide and varied, so trying to be on a consensus with someone else 100% of the time about gaming is just not gonna happen.
 
Don't care too much about the averages for anything I know will do well beyond dick waving competitions on neogaf, but the average score is a good start if I don't know anything about a game at all, and whether I should look further in to it.
 
I dont really care about scores in general. They are interesting but I don't use them to determine what games I buy, I pretty much know what Ill like and not like. GAF does help with that as well.

I scan the metacritic line in review threads but thats about it.
 
I like the idea. It gives a good indication of a game is good or bad. A general one, at least. I try to convert the score to a five-star rating to see where it falls on the five-point quality scale.

I prefer Opencritic, as well.
 
No, but, it's nice to have all the reviews aggregated in one place for me to read, so I don't have to go searching for them.

Yes, I know Opencritic does too.........
 
If a game has a good metacritic score I'll be more inclined to check it out.

People who take pride in a game they like being scored well is kinda embarrassing though. I mean it shouldn't be in theory, what with it being great when good games get recognition, but from what I've seen it definitely is in practice.
 
Not really. It's the same way I feel about Rotten Tomatoes. The films that get 80%+ I found boring, but the ones <20% were a fun watch.

I think watching a few gameplay videos is a good way to gauge the excitement for me. Some games that are highly anticipated are quite the opposite for me after watching such gameplay and being like.. that's it?
 
Well, no, not really. Scoring tends to skew too highly with most reviews in the first place so aggregate of these is not really helpful.

alg_jimmy_mcmillan_1.jpg
 
To give me a general idea of a games reception? Maybe. Nothing more than that though. Far too many base their opinions on meta scores for my liking.
 
I don't trust Metacritic because I don't trust professional reviewers in general. I don't see how aggregating unreliabe sources make them reliable all of a sudden.

I much prefer reading a couple of threads on Neogaf, both positive and negative to get a general idea. Works really well so far, and after a while I know whose opinion is similar to mine so it only gets better.
 
I don't care most of the time... i check it only if the game have REALLY bad score, like under 50! It often means the game IS bad

but the opposite, like a game with 85-90 score, is not true regarding my tastes, so i don't really care
 
The only opinion I care about is my own when it comes to entertainment.

Try it myself, if I like it great, if I don't then I'm not gonna be told I'm wrong by a number.
 
Not at all, my taste seems different from most reviewers. As such, naturally an averaged aggregate only compiles people with often different tastes from my own.
 
To a certain point. Though I don't put a ton of stock into reviews when it comes to certain genres like JRPGs. I usually buy what I like regardless of others opinions.
 
seb said:
I much prefer reading a couple of threads n Neogaf, both positive and negative to get a general idea. Works really well so far, and after a while I know whose opinion is similar to mine so it only gets better.
Click to expand...

You have to take into account the GAF effect though, usually pays to wait a week or two before taking GAF reception on face value!
 
No. I pretty much use my own intuition and experience to determine if ill like a game or not. Gaf helps with the recomendations and suggestions
 
Nope.

Hate the way people will use it on here to prove a game they like is good and a game they hate is bad. How if their darling game has a low MC, it's nonsense but if it's a game they don't like, it's scientific fact.
 
Just to check it out of curiosity as to get some idea of an aggregate. But do I put much stock in it? No. I only really care for the opinions of those with similar game tastes as me because they better align with what I care about.
 
franklyshankly said:
They're usually only a couple percent different aren't they
Click to expand...

Probably is. But still not fan of the system. Seems shady and why is a person at IGN more important then a other reviewer. Its still a persons opinion. Only one works at a more well known company. Just weird.
 
I have not given a single care about review scores at all outside of, perhaps, I dunno, idle curiosity? Novelty? They haven't made any impact on my game interests in at least a decade now, so Metacritic does nothing for me.
 
Nice to get a quick overview on titles you've not been following much.
In general when it comes to their aggregate scores my personal rule of thumb for the last few years has been "I like the mid 80 titles a LOT more than the stuff that breaks 90".
 
Not even slightly. I pay zero attention to professional reviews and the less said about Metacritic user reviews the better.
 
It doesn't influence my purchasing at all. Reading the content on reviews is far more important.

I only care about the score in so much as if a niche game I like gets a high score then maybe it'll help sales with people who do care about metascore and I'll be more likely to get more of that niche in future.
 
I generally use it to get a general overview of the game, looking at the reviews at both ends of the spectrum while taking note of general issues that crop up which complements my own research by looking at videos.

To me it's more of a tool, a nice way to collect reviews. But I often tend to google to see if other sites come up, particularly with smaller games.
 
HELL NO.

I don't think a review has swayed or deterred me from getting a game. I look at the videos or screenshots and sometimes play a demo if one is available. If I want it I get it. I don't value any "critic" opinions.

I always find it super weird when people post things about predicting the metacritic score. WHO CARES?
 
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