Would it be possible to incorporate a simple 'moderator-enforced' poll into each User Review during the screening process? While posting replies/comments are blocked (and for good reason), how about a poll asking us to vote on how helpful / well written the review actually is? I've come across a variety of writing styles and ways reviews have been broken down: some which I felt were quite well written and others... well, not. For the person writing the review, i'm sure he/she would appreciate some feedback via the below options for a poll, for example? Rating System 5 - Well Written and Covered 4 - Good Review 3 - Average 2 - Not thorough enough or helpful 1 - Poorly written, missing many points Thoughts?
When things get rated it becomes a popularity contest it seems. People will mistake the categories and judge it on other factors instead -- hate the game personally = review gets a 1 star no matter how well written it is. If you really love a review you could always PM the writer to let them know your appreciation.
If you put labels similar to how I did above, I don't see how there could be confusion? I understand your point how it could with a simple numerical rating system though...
My point is that no matter how much wording you use to describe a choice, people will vote or give feedback on other factors - 1 means 1 (whether it is a poorly written review or I hate this game so you get a 1 no matter how well you wrote it) and 5 means 5 (no matter if it was the worst written review on the planet you get a 5 cuz I love the game) no matter what. If you look at the current user reviews there are several threads rated - some 5 some 1 some in between - some even done by the same writer with the same style. So people are going to rate on different factors, ignore the wording anyway, and of course you can't please everyone at any time - some people will love how a review is written, others will hate it. It's exciting to see the user review forum utilized more these days. I would hate to add something that might discourage people from contributing to it if they were afraid they might get judged. That's just me though. But as I said before, send a PM to acknowledge your appreciation to the writer, rate the thread with the star system if you must, but adding a poll each time will just lead us into trouble. Again, that's just how I see it, maybe others see it differently.