Telltale Games employees found feeding perfect 10 reviews to Metacritic

[caeska]

With all due respect, the people saying that they will never buy Telltale games because of employee reviews and "because Telltale wrecked that guy's Jeep" are complete idiots.
I've only played the first 2 episodes but I'm actually enjoying the game for its story and its feel.

The people who posted that stuff on Gamespot and Metacritic are just losers living in their parents' basement taking every opportunity to jump on the bandwagon to dish out negative criticism.

[Sadonicus]

Are you kidding guys? A developer just dont review his own work, especially on a site where people go to make a buying decision, and especially when its not perfectly clear that the maker is advertisng his own game with a "review". Its just something you dont do, and when other studios does it, that doesnt mean its ok. That was just a very bad and unwise move telltale.

I bet if EA did something like this the shitstorm here would be huge, but when telltale does it its just freedom of speech? Yeah, very unbiased...

[Johro]

Is it just me, or is anyone else saddened that we live in a world where proper punctuation, grammar, and spelling are considered suspicious? That is pretty pathetic.

[SirBors]

Originally Posted by MasCot

Bad spelling was the cause of suspicion.

It could also mean the game is for people with brains.

[lombre]

Originally Posted by Sadonicus

Are you kidding guys? A developer just dont review his own work, especially on a site where people go to make a buying decision, and especially when its not perfectly clear that the maker is advertisng his own game with a "review". Its just something you dont do, and when other studios does it, that doesnt mean its ok. That was just a very bad and unwise move telltale.

I bet if EA did something like this the shitstorm here would be huge, but when telltale does it its just freedom of speech? Yeah, very unbiased...

As much as I love Telltale, I have to agree with this. I've seen developers do this in the past and I've always disliked it, so to see it happen again with a company I really love is just saddening. I haven't played Jurassic Park and thus don't have an opinion on the game, sure, but that doesn't change anything. User reviews are just that, reviews by the users, and as ridiculous as they often are, trying to influence them by pretending to be an average reader is just a poor business practice.

I hate to see Telltale getting all this bad press, I really do, but I can't say they don't deserve a negative reaction this time around.

[Planeforger]

What's worse now is that the game is being swamped with 0/10 reviews. No matter what you think of the employees' conduct, the game doesn't deserve to be buried like that.

[Johro]

well, I'm glad I never use that site. It's one thing to plant reviews, it's another to be vindictive about it. I know when I read reviews, I read more than one...and I tend to ignore reviews under 3/10 or above 9/10 anyway just because it's either hatred or fanboys. Even if the planting of the reviews is true, it wouldn't really affect much in the long run(no, I don't condone it either). *shrugs* oh well.

[Shadowknight1]

i said it earlier and I don't know why people haven't thought of this. Isn't it just plain possible that the TellTale employees that did that were ones that didn't work on Jurassic Park and just played it?!

[coolsome]

Originally Posted by Shadowknight1

i said it earlier and I don't know why people haven't thought of this. Isn't it just plain possible that the TellTale employees that did that were ones that didn't work on Jurassic Park and just played it?!

It's still considered biased since they would be more inclined to say good things about a game from there company.

[Tyraa Rane]

Originally Posted by Johro

Is it just me, or is anyone else saddened that we live in a world where proper punctuation, grammar, and spelling are considered suspicious? That is pretty pathetic.

Indeed. If that's the case, I'm the most suspicious person alive.

Ahem. On one hand: yes, of course, Telltale employees (and anyone else who works in the game industry) are allowed to have opinions about their work, or their company's work. It's pretty naive to assume they wouldn't.

The trouble comes when they post them on a review site like Metacritic without identifying themselves as employees or someone affiliated with the company that made the game. We've seen before with stuff like the DA2/Bioware incident that this sort of thing is Just Not Done™ in the games industry. You don't meddle in user reviews.

("Official" critical reviews, however, are A-OK. Just ask Gamespot and the Kane & Lynch devs. )

If this is the case of new employees, or maybe employees who didn't work on JP but played the game and liked it, just voicing their opinion then I feel sorry for the backlash they're getting, but...this sort of thing still strikes me as inappropriate on some level, if only for the bias involved and the connotations "review stacking" has already gotten on Metacritic.

[LuigiHann]

Tycho from Penny Arcade always has a knack for words for tough situations:

Telltale Games, I want you to listen to me very closely. No. No, no, no. Never no never, ever. Maximum no. Never, ever do this. The Internet is too big, and too fast for you to get away with it. I want you to understand that it is bullshit, and I know it’s bullshit, that you aren’t allowed to have a public opinion on your work. I once received a four out of ten from Edge Magazine; I am no stranger to impotent rage. I understand that this state of affairs abrogates your fundamental humanity and that it is deeply, incredibly unfair. People like to think that little whirring modrons are making these things, and that having a perspective on your work’s reception is somehow gauche. It doesn’t matter. You can never, ever, ever give them the satisfaction. The next time you want to post an “anonymous” message, I want you to picture a resolute Soviet submarine commander standing firm as the water rises to claim him. Draw on his strength.

[WARP10CK]

Originally Posted by Planeforger

What's worse now is that the game is being swamped with 0/10 reviews. No matter what you think of the employees' conduct, the game doesn't deserve to be buried like that.

Well I personally would give the game a 7/10 because I had some issues with it.

But all in all I had fun playing through it and I felt the nostalgia all the way through.

So I had fun but with all respect to telltale there is still quite a few flaws that I think should have been adressed and in a game like this, a multiple way of solving things would have been interesting.

And increased the replay value but instead no matter what you do it seems to lead down the same path, and I believe if they borrowed a little more from heavy rain with the multiple choices, I think this would have gotten better reviews.

[Bunnyman]

I became aware of this situation through Penny Arcade. I think Tycho makes a sad, yet true, viewpoint. I support developers having views and opinions of their own games. However when people see user reviews, they expect that they come from an unbiased consumer. It's really unfair as even politicians can vote for themselves. I can see how people can see it as a deceiving tactic if you don't announce that you worked on the game. I agree that the developer blog would be ideal for this. I enjoy reading what developers thought of a game they made (although it is usually comparing it to an upcoming sequel).

While it is also sad (for humanity) that the good grammar made the posts suspicious, I think it was also the fact that they all gave the game a 10, (which is rarely given out by the more critical, unbiased reviewers) on a game that has had mixed reviews so far.

[HooblaDGN]

Highly unethical. And, really... I like the game, but was it legitimately a 10-score in their eyes?

[Pirateguybrush]

Telltale, I'm disappointed in you.

[jpsandhu]

Lol

[RAnthonyMahan]

Originally Posted by LuigiHann

Tycho from Penny Arcade always has a knack for words for tough situations:

I wonder if this hurts the chances of another At the Inventory game?

[ZerosTheWizard]

Originally Posted by HooblaDGN

Highly unethical. And, really... I like the game, but was it legitimately a 10-score in their eyes?

Thats the world of user reviews, where people tend to rate either 0 or 10 in order to bring the average up or down.

Someone might get on and say "hey i really liked this game though it had some issues, ill give it an 8/10" then notice others who have logged on and maybe said "i hate adventure games, this game sucks 0/10" so the guy who liked it pushes his to a 10 to try to bring the average higher.

It doesnt even have to be that, a reviewer might just be thinking "hey i really liked this game 10/10" based off of nothing more than he liked it.

people really need to not put so much stock into user or even critic reviews. its unlikely your going to find many completely unbiased / uninfluenced reviews and in the end the only one you can really trust on how much youll enjoy a game is yourself.

[tarasis]

That's unfortunate, hopefully the TTG reviews can be removed and those 0 ratings slamming TTG.

I have no issue with TTG employees, contractors or whatever wanting to review but they should clearly mark it so the reader can judge it based on that.

And yes, the reviews being flagged for being well written is dreadful.

[JedExodus]

Poor form.