How do Metacritic ratings influence your purchasing decisions?

[compl3x]

I seen that Amazon is now adding Metacritic ratings  for games. Some people dislike Metacritic because they think it inaccurately rates games or is used an a negotiating tool by publishers with developers (e.g. if the game get over 85 of Metacritic, we'll give you bonuses). Also, while games can change with updates and patches MC scores do not.

 

I won't even go into how easily abused the User Score system can be.

 

Do you use MC to help you decide on what to buy?

 

 

Personally I only use MC because it compiles a lot of reviews in one place. I rarely pay attention to the scoring system itself.

[LittleNeutrino Veteran]

they absolutely never influence any purchase i make. Mainly because i look for unobjective reviews of games that just tell you about how things in the game function rather than liking the game itself.

[Liana]

Unless a game scores below half on any ratings system, it generally doesn't directly influence my purchasing decision. User reviews, on the other hand, can play a big part.

[spaceelf]

It kinda depends.  Usually I know what I'm going to buy in advance, but with stuff I'm not sure about if it gets below 80 (Thief) I can put it off, if it's below 50 (X: Rebirth) I can put it off indefinitely.  (I still plan to buy that someday, I'm just not sure when I'd want to.)

[compl3x]

Unless a game scores below half on any ratings system, it generally doesn't directly influence my purchasing decision. User reviews, on the other hand, can play a big part.

 

 

In my experience user reviews are the worst. If anyone has even the slightest issue they will give the game a brutally negative review. User reviews can be exploited by shills.

[+Eternal Tempest MVC]

It helps me spot bad or mediocre games. Very useful during the crazy steam sales.

[123456789A]

Zero influence, especially on the user reviews. Too many kids trolling the reviews to bring a score down undeservedly.

 

I can usually tell if I'm going to enjoy something before I buy it, based on studying how the game works.

[Liana]

In my experience user reviews are the worst. If anyone has even the slightest issue they will give the game a brutally negative review. User reviews can be exploited by shills.

That can certainly happen. I look for themes among user reviews, such as major bugs or flaws that many people have experienced, or gameplay elements that are missing or lacking. I don't really care about opinions in user reviews, but rather facts about the games. The more I can learn about a game before buying it (minus spoilers) the better.

[HawkMan]

There's only one persons whose opinion I care about, mine, so I never even look at MC. The only game I've held up on so far is the new X game but that's mostly because they say it's not like an X game and I didn't really have the time and money for it so I'll just wait until it's for sale or I have time to dedicate it. They seem to be fixing all the issues people had with it anyway, egosoft despite their name is very attentive to their fans.

[McKay]

No because I have liked several games/movies that got panned in the ratings etc. I watch reviews, and then gameplay vids if I'm not sure.

[JalexM]

Sadly in the back of my head it probably influences me but I try not to be sway unless I haven't heard of the game before

[Chasethebase Reporter]

Not at all, I haven't visited Metacritic for ages.

[Kriz]

I generally like to see what metacritic ratings are, but majority i disagree with anyway so most of the time do not have an impact

[Vykranth]

Depends, I usually go to Metacritic or Rottentomatoes to have more information on something I would like to buy and that I have found by luck while browsing the store.

On items I have made my decision before, no need.

As far as user reviews are concerned, they are basically useless: pointless at best, fanboyism at worst