A rotten rating system

» Why numerical ratings need to die

Benjamin Howard
Columnist

h, the golden glimmer of

the 10/10 rating on IGN,
or the 100 per cent on Rotten
Tomatoes. The concretely
defined numbers can make a
rating seem like a cold hard fact.
Unfortunately, these numerical
ratings are anything but factual
or scientific. No matter the
rating scale, whether it’s out of 5,
10, or 100, there are no common
rating criteria. A standard
is missing not only between
different review websites, such
as IGN or Destructoid, but
within these websites. A 10/10
from John Doe on IGN is not the
same as a 10/10 from Joe Blow
on the same website. With no
common grounds for numerical
ratings to stand on, it only
gets worse when one reaches
the core problem: numbers
do not convey feelings well.

This is easily demonstrated
by how often critics break their

: own scoring conventions, such
: as when a critic will give a work
? 4.5/5 stars, or 7.8/10. In that

: situation, the critic, feeling

: unable to properly convey a

: nuanced opinion within the

: rating system, has decided to

: cheat by giving out a decimal,

: ora half. One might ask, then,

: why not simply increase the

: total? So, instead of rating

: out of 10, why not 100? Well,

: there’s still a problem: feelings

: cannot be quantized. The

: difference between 78/100 and

: a 79/100 is completely arbitrary,
: especially when talking about

: something as subjective as art.

Of course, when ratings

: made by professional critics

: are failing to function, they’re

: only worse in the hands of the

: public. Websites such as Rotten

: Tomatoes and Metacritic use the
: combined scores of many critics,
: professional, and amateur alike,

: to calculate the average rating

: of a particular movie or video

: game. It sounds like a good

: idea; the voice of the people

: can average out the “snobby”

: voice of critics, and vice versa.

: Unfortunately, the voice of the
: people lacks nuance. They vote:
: to extremes. They either liked it, :
: in which case it gets five stars, :
: or they disliked it, so it gets one
: star. I might come off as elitist

: here, but coming from someone
: who enjoys a thoughtful

: critique, it’s disappointing to see :
: so many things grossly overrated :
: (and underrated) by the public.

Worse than the public’s

: tendency to overrate a product
: is its tendency to overrate the

: rating itself. This is partly due
: to the emphasis the reviewer

: himself puts on the numerical
: rating. For example, at the end of :
: an IGN review video, the screen
: is covered by a giant, out-of-ten
: score. And, sure enough, in the
: comment section of said video,

: most are arguing about the

: number the product received.

 

: In the end, the customer often
: gives more consideration to the
: score of the review than the

: review itself. All the nuance

: and detail of the reviewer

: will fly right over the viewer’s

: head when waiting for that

: big shiny number at the end.

Numbers and opinions

: don’t belong together; they

: serve only to deceive and

: confuse. That’s why I’m giving
: my review on reviews a 4.2/7.

Image via rottentomatoes.com

 

Give me give me

» What to do when you reek of desperation

Elliot Chan
Opinions Editor
Mopinions@theotherpress.ca

e.

==

W: all want something. We
all have objectives and
goals. That’s good. That’s the
fuel that propels us forward in
life. However, there are times
when we've been sitting idle

or maybe even fallen behind.
We end up thinking that good
things will never happen, and
that we'll never get back to
where we were or achieve what
we want. It could be money,
romance,

competition, You fear that
or personal you'll be :
pursuit— alone forever. :
when we ; You fear that
put all our Pivot ee WA aod ae) all your hard
chips down the problem, and work will be
on the table, L for nothing.
we can’t work on something To lose the
help feeling else for a bit. smell of
desperation desperation
creep up. on you, you :
Our need to wash :
desperation the fear off
is a response yourself,

to our stress. It’s useful in a life-
or-death situation. When we are
desperate for food, for example,
we would go to incredible
length to feast. There’s nothing
stronger than the will to live.
But when it comes to being
desperate in a social interaction,
such as a job interview or a first
date, our undeniable hunger
may be incredibly off-putting.

 

Nobody likes being around

people who are desperate.

: Nobody wants to work with

: someone who is on edge about
: every task, or go out to dinner
: with someone who has an

: agenda. Most of us want to

: relax and not feel our heart

: beating out of our chest. Now,
: | understand that simply

: saying “Don’t be desperate”

: is not the solution. It’s not a

: switch you can turn off and

: on. It goes deeper than that.

Desperation is rooted in

fear. You fear that you'll be in

debt forever.

: and be reminded that what

: progress you are going to make
: will be gradual. Do people

: win lotteries? Sure. But you

: cannot bank on that. What

: you need to do is accept that

: you'll have to take baby steps

: towards your goals. You'll feel

: less desperate if your tasks

: seem achievable to begin with.

Alternatively, you can

 

: just forget about it. So you are

: single, and worried that you'll

: be alone forever. You’ve gone on
: dates, but there’s no magic and
: it just didn’t click. Stop dating

: for a bit. Take a class. Go ona

: trip. Meet new people. Pivot

: away from the problem and

: work on something else for a

: bit. Build your confidence back
: up in something else and then
: dive back into dating after.

Nowadays, we are not faced

: with deadly situations. Our own
> fears are constructed inside our
: own brain, and that’s where they :

: fester. When you wonder why

: you are striking out, it could

: be because the people around

: you can smell your desperation.
: Get clean, relax, and know

: that you'll get many chances.

: But before you take another

one, maybe take a break first.

Illustration by Ed Appleby