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Old 21-02-17, 16:45   #301
Melonie Tomb Raider
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Originally Posted by ThatSassyKid View Post
The heavy-use of review-praising in the arguments in this thread is so messy, tbh.
I don't understand why people actually listen to people who get paid to talk the game up lol.
It is illegal for anyone to review a game and not disclose if they were paid off by the company. The FTC issues hefty fines to those who don't disclose paid partnerships to both the company doing the paying and the journalists.

I can say with confidence that game companies are not paying for these reviews.

Horizon's PR company reached out to me to give me a code for the game to stream. They were adament and mentioned in bold "YOU MUST DISCLOSE ON STREAM THAT YOU RECEIVED THE GAME FOR FREE." Again, they have strict rules for following FTC guidelines. I have to disclose I got the game free even though I don't do reviews and just play the games.

Any and every time I have ever been paid to promote a game on stream or youtube, it has been ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY for me to specify as such due to FTC regulations. Game companies take this VERY seriously, and they absolutely do not pay anyone for favorable reviews.

Last edited by Melonie Tomb Raider; 21-02-17 at 16:53.
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Old 21-02-17, 16:46   #302
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Originally Posted by HD Simplicityy View Post
When I first saw the preview for HZD, I wasn't sure it was going to be that good. Visuals looked great, but nothing else stood out. Then came the gameplay and story previews. Story looked...meh...but the gameplay looked fun. Now I read more reviews on it. It sounds like a solid, decently well written game. I am pleased to see it doing so well.

Given that I am buying my first Playstation, the 4, pretty soon to play TLOU Remastered, Uncharted, Beyond: Two Souls and Heavy Rain, this could very well be another future addition. Xbox's exclusives are lacking right now, so its time for something new. And its been over three years since I wanted to play TLOU.
Not me. When I saw that first trailer I KNEW this was going to be special.
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Old 21-02-17, 16:55   #303
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I don't see why you guys are getting worked up with either situation.. while critical acclaim is all well and good its nothing more than one person's opinion. I plan on buying the game for sure but the hype around it has nothing to do with it..nor does the reviews. I'm just ready for a new IP..
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Old 21-02-17, 17:18   #304
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Originally Posted by domino92 View Post
Yeah, also some people are drinking a bit too much of the Koolaid on this one. Getting angry when people point out technical faults with the game, or getting upset with people who don't like it. That kind of behaviour just baffles me.
Exactly this, and especially when you say something looks bland, boring, bad, etc, and the response you get is "AHHHH BUT THE REVIEWS PROVE YOU WRONG EURHGEUJRG!!!!!!"

Quote:
Originally Posted by Melonie Tomb Raider View Post
It is illegal for anyone to review a game and not disclose if they were paid off by the company. The FTC issues hefty fines to those who don't disclose paid partnerships to both the company doing the paying and the journalists.

I can say with confidence that game companies are not paying for these reviews.

Horizon's PR company reached out to me to give me a code for the game to stream. They were adament and mentioned in bold "YOU MUST DISCLOSE ON STREAM THAT YOU RECEIVED THE GAME FOR FREE." Again, they have strict rules for following FTC guidelines. I have to disclose I got the game free even though I don't do reviews and just play the games.

Any and every time I have ever been paid to promote a game on stream or youtube, it has been ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY for me to specify as such due to FTC regulations. Game companies take this VERY seriously, and they absolutely do not pay anyone for favorable reviews.
Welp, thanks for informing me
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Old 21-02-17, 17:18   #305
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The problem isn't the review but people's interpretation of them. A game with such a high score could give the impression of being a "perfect game", leading more than often to disappointments.
I followed the game's development, the interviews. I'm fully geared and I know what to expect. I know there are parts of the game I might not like just like there are parts I will probably praise until my own death.

But Mr. Everybody didn't necessarily put as much work... In fact most didn't... Which could lead to some non-objective and biased bashing.

Players just need to learn to look deeper into the games they want to buy. Reviews are just one side of the coin.

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Originally Posted by Melonie Tomb Raider View Post
It is illegal for anyone to review a game and not disclose if they were paid off by the company
Well, it's not like nobody in the industry never did anything illegal, right? Being illegal never stopped anyone of doing anything. Who would admit they got paid to give good scores? The devs? The journalists? It's a lose/lose case for both of them if any open up about the practice.

There are shady stuffs in every sphere of life, I wouldn't be surprised if paid reviews happened a fair amount of time. It would explain many things in fact lol.

I'm not saying it happened in Horizon's case, but you would have to be terribly naive to think everybody followed the rules all the time. These are games after all, in which it's all about breaking rules and boundaries.

Last edited by Isaac; 21-02-17 at 17:25.
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Old 21-02-17, 17:36   #306
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Jeez, this is depressing as hell, instead of celebrating great games you're fighting over them.

Play the game for yourselves then see if you agree with the reviews or not

And talking about "paid reviews" in 2017 is hilarious.

To be fair, I happen to love many games that have a metacritic around 60 and dislike others that have a 90, so I certainly agree that reviews shouldn't be taken like the word of God, they're just opinions afterall.

Last edited by DOPE; 21-02-17 at 17:45.
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Old 21-02-17, 17:45   #307
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Originally Posted by DOPE View Post
Jeez, this is depressing as hell, instead of celebrating great games you're fighting over them.

Play the game for yourselves then see if you agree with the reviews or not

And talking about "paid reviews" in 2017 is hilarious.
This, it's really sad.

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Originally Posted by ThatSassyKid View Post
Welp, thanks for informing me
You look so dumb right now, hopefully you'll stop assuming things in the future.

Last edited by Peep Show; 21-02-17 at 17:47.
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Old 21-02-17, 17:51   #308
Melonie Tomb Raider
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Originally Posted by ThatSassyKid View Post

Welp, thanks for informing me
I GOTCHU BOO! <3

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Originally Posted by Isaac View Post

Well, it's not like nobody in the industry never did anything illegal, right? Being illegal never stopped anyone of doing anything. Who would admit they got paid to give good scores? The devs? The journalists? It's a lose/lose case for both of them if any open up about the practice.

There are shady stuffs in every sphere of life, I wouldn't be surprised if paid reviews happened a fair amount of time. It would explain many things in fact lol.

I'm not saying it happened in Horizon's case, but you would have to be terribly naive to think everybody followed the rules all the time. These are games after all, in which it's all about breaking rules and boundaries.
The fines are way too hefty, and despite skeptics, MOST game companies care a lot about their integrity. So, say a reviewer decided to NOT disclose they were paid. The game company would be down their throats to enforce it. There is way too much on the line being caught that would not only cost A LOT of money in fines, but also completely ruin the integrity of the game company and the journalists.

I've worked with tons of game companies over the span of 7 years. I have been told EVERY SINGLE TIME that disclosure is ABSOLUTELY necessary. No disclosure, no money (it is 100% of the time IN THE CONTRACT that disclosure is 100% necessary). Of course I would never NOT disclose if I was being paid to promote a game, because I have integrity, but I'm just pointing out that this is a very big and serious issue in the gaming industry. Those caught without disclosure risk extremely hefty fines and completely ruined reputation. Again, being in this industry for over 7 years, I can say with absolute confidence that game companies do NOT pay people for skewed reviews.

The closest incident that comes to mind would be several years ago when Gamespot got paid a butt ton for ads on their site for Kane and Lynch, which gave them a bias to give the game a good review. They were under so much fire for that and their reputation took a massive hit. Journalists websites and content creators in general are extremely careful not to have their reputations messed with because it could very likely ruin the company/ person's career for good. Paid reviews absolutely DO NOT happen, but in extremely rare cases there are biased actions like the Gamespot incident I just mentioned.

However, being that Horizon's reviews are freaking unanimously good, it is an absolute joke to think that they all were biased, and even worse to think that they all got illegally paid by Guerilla/ Sony. If someone is being biased then typically they are the scarce good review in a sea of mediocre to bad reviews. But if EVERY REVIEW is good, then it is an extremely far fetched call to say it was due to bias.

Last edited by Melonie Tomb Raider; 21-02-17 at 17:55.
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Old 21-02-17, 17:51   #309
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Originally Posted by DOPE View Post
Jeez, this is depressing as hell, instead of celebrating great games you're fighting over them.
Nobody is 'fighting', we're merely discussing. In fact there has been only one single member who has shown an agressive behavior so far.... and he just posted after you.

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Originally Posted by DOPE View Post
And talking about "paid reviews" in 2017 is hilarious.
Why? You don't have anything else to prove your point than your own beliefs and assumptions, just like us.

Luckily, Melonie cleared things up a little bit.

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Originally Posted by DOPE View Post
To be fair, I happen to love many games that have a metacritic around 60 and dislike others that have a 90, so I certainly agree that reviews shouldn't be taken like the word of God, they're just opinions afterall.
And that's what I was trying to say.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Melonie Tomb Raider View Post
-snip-
Thanks for these additional details. It's conforting to read. I never truly cared about reviews anyway since I happened to love tons of bad games and vice versa. But it's nice to have an additional perspective on the matter.

I'll just end with this part:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Melonie Tomb Raider View Post
However, being that Horizon's reviews are freaking unanimously good, it is an absolute joke to think that they all were biased, and even worse to think that they all got illegally paid by Guerilla/ Sony. If someone is being biased then typically they are the scarce good review in a sea of mediocre to bad reviews. But if EVERY REVIEW is good, then it is an extremely far fetched call to say it was due to bias.
Personally, I think there is a fair amount of bias in reviews. Most will probably follow the hype train or be told by their boss to give the game a good score for visibility and such. In the end the message we were all trying to give was to be objective toward reviews and make your own opinion on the game instead of blindly following them.

I know Horizon deserve its score and success, but we shouldn't dismiss or call anyone a joke for saying the reviews are biased or else because there is some truth to it. Outside independent reviewers, the amount of freedom is often discussable.

Last edited by Isaac; 21-02-17 at 18:01.
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Old 21-02-17, 17:59   #310
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Why? You don't have anything else to prove your point than your own beliefs and assumptions, just like us.
Just the thought seems ridiculous to me; by that logic every big publisher game should get 8's and 9's and that doesn't happen; also I think it's kind of against the law.

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And that's what I was trying to say.
Alright
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