Comment Sections on New Reviews Should be Closed

“You guys are idiots” or “You reviewer doesn’t know anything” or even worse – not sure if it has happened on Uncharted but I’ve seen it – “You should go kill yourself.” Comment sections on reviews should not exist, at least not prior to the game actually launching. News flash: they have played it, and you have not.

[OB1Biker]

No
Again putting the blame on all gamers because there are idiots on the internet who cant be respectful in the comments.
Gamers have a right to disagree respectfully and even question the reviewers. After all readers give the journalists their livelihood and feedback should be welcome.

Sad thing is every time the feedback is overwelmingly negative you see barrage from the media blaming the gaming community even when the issue with the review is blatant instead of pondering about why theres so much backlash from the gamers. Of course its easy then to show a collection of obscenities said by 'gamers' and then pose the writer as a victim completely deflecting any issues

[Maybay]

There at least needs to be a penalty system in place. Neogaf bans their member's over flamboyant comments, which in my opinion, is the right thing to do. Though not all website could adhere to their policies, they (gaming websites in general) should adapt to something that punishes overzealous behavior. Quantum Break for instance; has been run through the gutter averaging a "77" overall at metacritic. There're 4 reviews in the negative (Guardian, IBTimes UK, Time, and Giant Bomb), which people seem to have little to no issue with. Uncharted 4 receives "1 negative review score," and there's a petition to have the review removed.

[OB1Biker]

Any immature comment should be dealt with by the site. That has nothing to do with reviews and has to be sorted by mod every day. Sites defending their reviews are using the immature comments to dodge real issues.
As for the petition the issue there is the review didn't have any score to start with. Then a score magically appeared in MC and gamers reaction is sound and I wish the same thing happens for any platform

[SolidStoner]

Opinion section, must be removed from this site!

How did you like that one? huh? :) lmao!

[nix]

first thing i do - right after checking the score - is read the comments. that way i can judge what the reviewer is saying and the general community. some [most] reviewers do show their fanboy side so they either overrate or downgrade the points. i normally scan through the comment section and kind of make a sense of what community feels.

the only time i read the reviews or watch videos is when i'm done playing the game. so that's a rare thing because i don't buy too many games as such. only time i really read articles are the ones which are "first look". i like reading about games that i have an interest in. otherwise i just watch trailer/gameplay videos and take out what the game has to offer.

so i think, it's not exactly a good idea to remove comment section.

@SolidStoner,

it's like removing comment section for this post. how do we/they know it's worth it or not. it's like dictatorship. literally.

[Liqu1d]

Quantum Break was not run through the gutter, it got off lightly compared to The Order. And most peoples issue with the 4/10 Uncharted review isn't necessarily that it was negative, it's that review wasn't even 4/10. The review had no score given yet Metacritic slapped a 4/10 on it for some reason while OpenCritic correctly listed it as an unscored review.

[rainslacker]

It's called moderation, and there's nothing wrong with moderation if it's done fairly and equitably. It takes work, but offers up a much better environment to have discussion when done properly. Very few sites do it properly.

I'd prefer more effective moderation over silencing dissenting opinions. Don't punish those who wish for constructive discourse because some people prefer to be hateful. Get rid of the hateful people, and you'll actually see more of the constructive types decide to come out and play, because they won't have to deal with trolls as much.

[ninsigma]

You want to close off comment sections on new reviews because of a minority of idiots?? Reviews are generally only relevant when they first release and closing off the comments effectively protects a crappy reviewer from criticism. No one is above criticism so no, they should remain open.

[MRMagoo123]

most of the time the reviewers that say controversial things didn't play even half a game in the first place, so this article is just stupid.

[SharnOfTheDEAD]

"News flash: they have played it, and you have not" Not entirley true.. I had played Doom before Polygon did lmao

[NapalmSanctuary]

And miss the chance to watch fools explode into full on compositional and intellectual incompetence? You, Sir, are looking at this ENTIRELY the wrong way.

[Kallisti]

"gamesreviews.com are idiots" "gamesreviews.com doesn't know anything" gamesreviews.com should go kill themselves" News flash: A few bitter comments to new game reviews shouldn't prevent others from commenting on them. What about people that just want to praise the developer on a job well done? Maybe you should change your websites name to safespacereviews.com right?

[glassgannon909]

ironic how critics are unable to handle criticism

[maniacmayhem]

Nothing is ironic, criticism about your work is one thing being called names or being threatened is another.

[glassgannon909]

thats the internet, you cant have it without its flaws.reviewers should not be able to decide where a visitor can speak and where he can not.
either make the site entirely comment free or have to balls to see to how people react to your opinion because you're putting it on a public platform to be judged of your own will. that makes you money, you cant shut it off and make your own rules the second you dislike the deal.
this bs is a terrible excuse, its a commonly known fact that reviewers put up click bait shit all the time,just to attract hate comments, but the moment they start getting offended by those ,they need special selective treatment? they don't deserve any more immunity than we do just because they bought a domain name and hosted it on a server.

[maniacmayhem]

Exactly what type of thinking is this? Because it's the internet it makes it okay to be a dick?

Reviewers are not deciding where a visitor can speak or not but it is obvious that those visitors want to decide whether that reviewer should be threatened or banned.

How about have that vocal minority grow some hair on their balls and not take a review of a stupid video game to heart. All the real problems in the world and these gutless trolls are pulling their hair out over one guy's opinion about a bunch of polygons running around going pew pew pew.

***its a commonly known fact that reviewers put up click bait shit all the time,just to attract hate comments,***

Then what does that say about the gullible fanbase that falls for this crap eh?

It's a commonly known fact that if you mess with a mad dog you'll get bite, now do you mess with that dog or do you leave it alone?

Makes sense right?

The only people that need special treatment are these little babies banging their heads on the keyboard mad that someone shitted on their favorite game.

Grow up.

[Letthewookiewin]

How about not putting out click bait reviews first.

[Relientk77]

^ this

Write real reviews

[Picnic]

'so even lashing out at a 6/10 review is still odd to me'.
The way that people lash out may sometimes be overdone (Naughty Dog are capable of contacting Metacritic themselves if they wish) but the 6/10 review came out AFTER the game's release. And the reviewer said that they thought that the game should have ended after the FIRST game. That reviewer claimed, somewhat erroneously in my experience, that UC4 was just a retread. This not only overlooks the subtleties of the game but the new aspects of the game, the new ways that set pieces are incorporated in to 'normal ' gameplay. That 6/10 review was like getting a vegetarian to judge a best hamburger competition - their preference may be sincere to themselves but it is not one that fans of Uncharted 2 and/or Uncharted 3 need to have any sympathy with.

[Kallisti]

Now I really want to see a vegetarian judge a best hamburger competition, that shit would be hilarious

[Artemidorus]

"It’s an opinion people, and one that shouldn’t affect you".

Then I suggest the writer stops typing and does another hobby/job. I might completely disagree with someone but i'd never take their freedom of opinion.

Reviewers can stop crying.

[Sirus_Gaming]

Basically, I understand what the author of this opinion piece is trying to say. But I don't totally agree with closing the comments section permanently as that's not how we engage our readers. If our readers don't agree with our reviewer's review with a score below 9 of a certain game they love, then that's their opinion. Authors shouldn't be close-minded because other people thinks of their reviews as shit or because the reviewer doesn't know what a "great game" is. Leave them be. You take it into consideration on who you want to respond, but don't shut everyone out completely because they don't agree with you. Stand firm and be ready whatever is to come. It's also how the reviewer can learn and improve in the long run.

Journalists/reviewers should have an open-mind, take all criticisms open-heartedly, since that's the "thing" all reviewers/journalist should already expect like: criticisms (good and bad) and people who will not agree with you.

As I said, I don't agree on closing the comments section.

[The7Reaper]

Why? The reviewer has an opinion so the gamers have the right to give their opinion about the reviewers opinion, opinionception.

[Saito]

Critics scared of criticism? Review honest and earnestly and you won't have that problem.

[spicelicka]

lol wth is up with that pic? That's an Indian actor!

[AdmGenAladeen]

Newsflash : Go F yourself and your idiotic opinion of others not being allowed to have an opinion about a game they love. Someone OBVIOUSLY wrote a clickbait article for hits and one that in no way, shape or form represents the final product of Uncharted 4 and you have the nerve to call us out! "Too much detail" was one of the complaints! When the F has that ever been a bad thing? I'm sick of these so called journalists writing clickbait for new games just to get hits and from now on I will not hesitate to call each and every single one of them out. Have some damn integrity! You idiots care more about clicks than doing a fair review! Any up and coming game reviewer with a website needs to ask themselves a question, "Do I sacrifice integrity for money and hits, or do I grow my site as a respectable one who people actually take me serious." As far you go, blaming the gamers instead of the mentally retarded reviewer in question, yea, you can go kill yourself too.

[fatsodubmo]

Don't like em, dont read em Jackball. Or there is always the option to just kys if these kinds of things send you into a tizzy.

Mellineals...cant live with em and the just wont kts's...

[rainslacker]

I guess moderation is too difficult these days. Outright cutting off people's opinions of a review is the more sensible approach.

[maniacmayhem]

Or removing comments or reviews you don't like because you misunderstood it is another issue don't you agree Rain.

[rainslacker]

I don't ask for reviews to be removed. Never have, never will. I ask for ethical behavior in our news and higher quality reviews from websites. In light of what was known, I made a judgement call. I will disagree with a review, and state why. Moderating trolls has nothing to do with the other issue. In this case, I asked that the review score be removed from MC, because until you said something that showed otherwise, the belief was that the review was scored by a 3rd party.

You obviously didn't know it was assigned a 4 by the author yesterday when you were laying into me, so please spare me the holier than thou, "You are a hypocrite for not having all the info" routine. If you did know about it yesterday, then your only interest was trying to discredit me, not bring new perspective to the issue. So what's worse? Someone having the wrong info, or someone who cares more about the opinions of forum goers enough to hold back information that is actually beneficial in favor of trying to make a point out of an individual in the community? You call out people as raving fan boys, but do nothing to try and bring clarity to discussion. I do, and I'll readily admit that I'm sometimes wrong, but at least I try to keep things in perspective and present facts when they're known. I used to research things a lot more than I do now, but when I did that, people ignored anything that I researched, and even provided links for, because it went against their arguments. Despite me providing evidence that refuted arguments, the same arguments went on for days. If people choose to remain ignorant that's on them, and no reason to waste my time on them, so I stopped trying so hard. Unlike them though, I choose not to remain ignorant, and will use new information to form new opinions. In this case I didn't have all the facts, but it seemed to take a while before anyone brought that to the discussion, because they were more interested in playing the fan boy hypocrite card.

Unfortunately, people such as yourself just can't let things go, and when you find one thing that can be used to discredit something you take it to extremes, and then continue to harp on the subject with no real interest in actual discussion.

You won this battle. be proud you did so. It's what you should do more with more people. Next time try to leave the scathing attacks out of it.

[Big_Game_Hunters]

90% of reviewers are noobs with bad taste so it doesn't matter if they have plaed a game.

[MrBrofist]

Why even bother with a comment section at all then?