Reviewers' Grades: Perfect 10+ Scores?

[Heroine Addict]

One thing that puts me off reviewing on here is the modern trend for mega-high scores, with anything less than 10/10 being seen as damning with faint praise. As if a high score of 8/10 is somehow the sort of scathing criticism that a “hater" might post because they’re “jealous".

If marks of 10/10 (or the mathematically impossible 11/10, 15/10 or 20/10) are being handed out routinely, how are we supposed to know when the reviewer finds a truly exceptional video?

For context, here’s the grading scale I’ll be using on all my reviews:

1. Awful. No redeeming qualities whatsoever.
2. Very bad, but with maybe one or two elements I liked.
3. Generally bad, but with a few things I liked.
4. Poor. The bad outweighs the good.
5. Average. Meh. Watchable, but I doubt I’d want to spend money on more of the same.
6. Good. The good outweighs the bad.
7. Very good. I’d definitely want more, but maybe a few things let it down slightly.
8. Excellent. Probably the highest mark I’d expect to give in most cases. Something I really enjoyed. My quibbles are only very minor ones.
9. Near-perfect.
10. Perfect. Literally the best video I could ever hope to see.

I understand there's a temptation to gush when a producer releases something you enjoy a lot. Particularly as fans of this genre are in the rare position of having direct contact with many of the actual producers on this board. It's just I don't see how it's possible to assess quality when marks of 10 (or even 10+) are so commonplace?

[tallyho]

For my money the best reviews evaluate the components not just the overall flick. I like Daggerfans style where he grades actress, production values, costume ,story, peril, sets, performance etc as individual components and then rates the final product. That way if some other elements score highly but the story is weak you can still make an informed choice as to buying it or not.
I think that's the way to go personally.


http://www.superheroineforum.com/viewto ... 42&t=24694.

I agree wholeheartedly about overscored reviews- just a waste of time.

[tamonicus]

Tallyho, I'm with you on Daggerfan's grading method. Daggerfan's method allows for emphasis for those elements that matter to some and discount those that don't.

[Heroine Addict]

While I like daggerfan's breakdown of ten components, I don't really agree with the scoring method which gives equal weight to each of the ten, calculating the average across all categories.

[tallyho]

But the point is what is important varies person to person. Some like a story, some like a good costume, some like good acting etc. By treating all components equally it allows a fair overall assessment and the readership can then judge for themselves if good story, sets and action outweighs bad acting and crappy costume or whatever it may be. It allows the reader to make an informed choice,based on their own preferences.

[Heroine Addict]

Oh, I agree. Grading the individual components is a good idea. The only thing I disagree with is the total score being the average of the ten equal components. As, like you say, some people will find some elements more important than others.