I agree that one of the problems inherent to a rating scale - whether the proposed 5-star system or the existing 10-point system - is that each reviewer calls "balls and strikes" a little differently. Suppose you played a game and found it to be reasonably enjoyable, but serious flaws hampered the experience (a game like
this one or
this one comes to mind, but there are many possible examples). One reviewer might give it a 4/10, another might give it a 6/10, and another one might give it a 9/10. That's a pretty wide range of opinions, and this disparity is reflected in the review scores. However, if you're browsing the mainsite, you can look at the average score of 6.3/10 and come to the conclusion that this game will probably offer a decent (but potentially flawed) gameplay experience.
As long as the sample size of reviews is reasonably large, the average score should provide a reasonably accurate gauge of a game's quality, at least relative to other fangames released during a comparable time period. Of course, some games don't attract a good number of reviews, but we hope that streamlining the review process will encourage people to submit more reviews.
I agree that one of the problems inherent to a rating scale - whether the proposed 5-star system or the existing 10-point system - is that each reviewer calls "balls and strikes" a little differently. Suppose you played a game and found it to be reasonably enjoyable, but serious flaws hampered the experience (a game like [url=http://mfgg.net/index.php?act=resdb¶m=02&c=2&id=32310]this one[/url] or [url=http://mfgg.net/index.php?act=resdb¶m=02&c=2&id=29506]this one[/url] comes to mind, but there are many possible examples). One reviewer might give it a 4/10, another might give it a 6/10, and another one might give it a 9/10. That's a pretty wide range of opinions, and this disparity is reflected in the review scores. However, if you're browsing the mainsite, you can look at the average score of 6.3/10 and come to the conclusion that this game will probably offer a decent (but potentially flawed) gameplay experience.
As long as the sample size of reviews is reasonably large, the average score should provide a reasonably accurate gauge of a game's quality, at least relative to other fangames released during a comparable time period. Of course, some games don't attract a good number of reviews, but we hope that streamlining the review process will encourage people to submit more reviews.