Hi all. Been a bit since I've been here, but I'm noticing a "trend" in reviews.

Some time ago (well, long time ago), I quit putting a Percent (%) rating to the kits I reviewed. This was mostly because I felt the % to be inflated or deflated.

To wit....I just read a review. Sounded good to me. A kit I'd like to have in the future. It's like many of the reviews I've read recently; pros and cons. However, the "trend" I'm seeing is a kit rated "middle of the road:" 88%, 90%, 92%, et cetera...but the "Lows" are consistant: "Lows: None that I noted." "Lows: None that I could see." "Lows: Can't find any really."

Okay, we understand that a kit will most likely NEVER get 100%, but...how can a reviewer rate a kit at LESS than 95% if the "Lows" are, litteraly, "nothing I can find??"

It's not tracking in my gray-matter. If a kit is good, is great, is really nice, will build well, a builder of a decent skill-set will have no problem, et al; WHY are they being "percentized" so low?? It don't click. WHY do we still use the arcane method of assigning a PERCENTAGE when the "Percent-System" is sooo subjective? No Bueno, Ya'll.

Now, on my "Soap Box" (not that it didn't start out that way): WHY do we not let the populace determine a kit's WORTH by reading the review. WHY not us read, and scroll to the Summary, and judge a kit based on the text of the review and the Summary?? The review I'm focusing on had NOTHING negative to say. NOTHING! Yet, it received a "Less Than 90%." I don't get it.

Do away with the BS percentile system and let readers read. Yeah, yeah. A lot look at the percent. If it's low, they don't want it. If it high, they do. Crud on that. READ the review. Comprehend the review. Make your OWN judgement...NOT based on my, or another's, subjective view.

Read. Learn. Look. Judge for yourself. The Percentile system is hugely flawed.

Mike

I agree, and I don't understand why there are no comments after 3000 views...

I can understand that train of thought but sometimes you cannot define what makes you give a product a lower score than 95%. Just because you cannot identify any obvious faults it does not make it perfect, I looked at a kit and noticed a few missing bolts on a part, some would say so what, others would complain about accuracy. This would result in some giving a very high percentage and others a lower percentage, what it really tells you is if a product is good or bad at a glance according to the reviewer. I see any score over 80% as a good to fair product or at the very least worth a closer look.

Good point Roman. I think it has a lot to do with the topic and/or the reviewer. Something's are unique and unusual...those will elicit views. I do it all the time. I look. I comment if it's a great interest to me....and don't if it doesn't. There are exceptions of course.

Darren, how can one, in the "Lows" section, state they can't really find fault with the kit, and give less than a 90?? I've gone through several these reviews these last few hours and on occasion I'll find a somewhat negative comment. But it's usually one and it doesn't always show up in the "Lows" section.

I know no kit will get an honest 100%, but...a good kit, hell, a great kit...in the eyes of the reviewer...gets less than 90%?? That's just not justified.

If I write a review, I'd like the audience to read what I wrote...look at my hi's and low's after reading, and judge for themselves the worthiness of a kit...without a number attached.

I do understand the issue with "this is good" to many and "this is wrong" to others. Level of experience within modeling and subject matter expertise do make an impact. When it comes to certain topics, I lean more heavily in favor of some over others. It's simply a matter of watching and reading and...learning.

Regardless, a number assigned to a review is meaningless for the most part, but I can guarantee that that NUMBER does influence. Justifiably or not.

My 22 cents worth.

Mike

Mike, I just looked at the last 50 reviews published and found 3 that had no lows listed in the summary box...regardless of the percent rating...2 of those were in the mid-nineties. So, I'm not seeing a 'trend' of rating reviews low without reasons given.

Also, based on a 100% scale, I wouldn't consider 88%, 90%, 92% as anywhere near middle of the road. Now, if they were rated 75-80% with no lows listed I'd begin to wonder why...and the first place I'd look would be to the right to see the price.

The rating can be subjective as it's the writers personal score, and just another tool to use by the reader. Some reviewers tend to rate higher or lower than others, which is why the reviewer has their own 'rating average' listed in the summary box...another tool for the reader.

The rating is also optional to the reviewer, he/she can choose not to use any rating score if desired...many choose to use it as they see a 'not rated' review as not worth looking at...again personal preference.



That is the purpose of the reviews, and I would say that most readers are doing just that. (well, and looking at the pictures)

I have to chuckle though...I'd much rather see a topic on ratings that are too low than the other way around.

Hi Mike,

It depends on what you basing the percentage on, overall quality, accuracy, uniqueness, price, need for AM replacements etc, etc.

I tend to link the % to the recommendation based on the combination of all of the above. Anything over 85% to me would be Highly Recommended and thing below Recommended. Anything lower than 65% would most likely be Not Recommended.

As individual reviewers it's only a personal opinion so it is bound to vary depending on how the reviewer sees the kit.

Just my thoughts.

Al

Mike, so why out of 3000+ views only 3-5-6 people press on buttons "was review helpful"? And even if they press "yes", I would like to get any feedback from people so I can improve a review next time or focus on smth that people are interested to know about the model.

Hi Roman,

Very few people give feedback whether it's on Reviews or anything else these days. That seems to be pretty much the norm and there could be any number of reasons for that.

Al

Hi Mike. I think you answered your own question here. We are all individuals, and take from the reviews the information that we need. Some read through the entire text, some just look at the summary. The percentage points may be seen as a summary of the summary?
Personally, The first for me is the photographs ... Good clear photos are hard to beat and give me an opportunity to see for myself. I have already decided a lot before I read through the rest. Then I read the text followed by the summary. My mind is already made up ... the actual percentage has very little influence at this stage, but it serves to confirm my thoughts. If different, I may check again to see where and why it differs.
This is how I use the reviews, but I cannot speak for everybody here. We are all individual, and judge for ourselves. Maybe there are those who use the percentage points to make their mind up, and as a review is a tool for everybody to read with the idea being to aid and help, why take away something that somebody else feels is useful?
It is widely accepted in the modelling forums that Terry Ashley has set the standard for reviewing, and he uses a score ... 1-10 ... but effectively this is no different to perecntages. Why should Armorama remove their equivelent?
It appears that neither you or I place much weight on the percentage rating, but can we speak for everybody? I see it just as another level of reviewing and scoring.
My questions are rhetorical only.

This is a topic that cycles constantly between the alternatives, in all sorts of reviewing, not just plastic models. Every publisher that uses star ratings or whatever is right, except for every publisher that doesn't, all of whom are also right. There's no right answer; all you can say for certain is that the star ratings approach seems to be much more popular on the interweb. I can't think of a review site that doesn't use them in one form or another.

Mind you, I do think that awarding marks out of a hundred might be implausibly precise. I find it hard to work out the difference between 82% and 83%. In my reviews I treat it as marks out of 20 and go in 5% increments.

Having said that, what about this approach? If you like to read the text and the percentages, read both; if you like to read the text but not the percentages, don't read 'em. Unless a great horde of people comes steaming over the horizon, all shouting "death to the percentages", we can probably conclude that they're not seen as a great problem.