5 star ratings

[Issac]

I hope this is the right place to ask this, but... Developers! I was wondering what the impact of below a 5 star rating does to you? I am asking because I often see things like "only 5 star ratings matter to us", or "your high ratings ensure that we will continually support the game".

Do you loose funding? Does Apple penalize you?

I also ask because when I rate a game in the app store (I've only rated two, a 4 and a 5), I want to be honest, but at the same time a) not sh*t on hard working devs, and b) not be negative just for the sake of it.

Like I said, I hope this is the right place to post this, and thanks for your time!

[Blackharon]

Originally Posted by Issac

I hope this is the right place to ask this, but... Developers! I was wondering what the impact of below a 5 star rating does to you? I am asking because I often see things like "only 5 star ratings matter to us", or "your high ratings ensure that we will continually support the game".

Do you loose funding? Does Apple penalize you?

I also ask because when I rate a game in the app store (I've only rated two, a 4 and a 5), I want to be honest, but at the same time a) not sh*t on hard working devs, and b) not be negative just for the sake of it.

Like I said, I hope this is the right place to post this, and thanks for your time!

Devs like those are trying to trick users into giving them more stars then their app is worth (to the player). My personal opinion is that they should be asking for any honest rating, and not 5 star ratings.

Ratings motivate us smaller teams somewhat, and if I see we're getting decent sales and good ratings I'd be more inclined to add more content to a game.

[David Phan]

Be honest. You're not doing the developer a favor when you provide a 5 star review with minimal feedback. Be honest with your score and provide positive or negative (constructive) feedback. The biggest thing that helps and motivates developers is when they get honest and detailed feedback that they can act upon to improve their game.

Cheers,
DP

[Rubicon]

Originally Posted by Blackharon

Devs like those are trying to trick users into giving them more stars then their app is worth (to the player). My personal opinion is that they should be asking for any honest rating, and not 5 star ratings.

QFT.

Here's another angle on it. If you see any developer begging for 5 star reviews, how much do you think they're actually worth anyway? If their game was any good they'd let them accrue naturally and not look so desperate.

Avoid.

[Blackharon]

We have a review request pop up in our latest game.

I wanted it to say "Say anything you like about the game. We're listening" and 2 buttons [Not Now] and [Review it]. Sadly, beta testers didn't like the text so we went with the standard "Enjoying the game? Why not review it" approach.

[Rubicon]

We stopped doing even that in GBWG.

We still seem to get plenty of reviews. And they're generally better overall - less one star rantathons from players we dared disturb by asking for a rating. Such impudence!

[Juan_Arteaga]

Does Apple approve of those apps that send you "Please give us 5 stars and we will give you in-game coins" messages?

Personally I just find them unethical, but for Apple they might represent a problem if this method to get good reviews proliferates and turns the whole rating system more useless than it already is. *

* Well, most games have no reviews when I check them out, but I do stay away from those who have very low scores.

[EvilArev]

Originally Posted by Juan_Arteaga

Does Apple approve of those apps that send you "Please give us 5 stars and we will give you in-game coins" messages?

Personally I just find them unethical, but for Apple they might represent a problem if this method to get good reviews proliferates and turns the whole rating system more useless than it already is. *

* Well, most games have no reviews when I check them out, but I do stay away from those who have very low scores.

That's actually agains the rules of the AppStore. You're trying to influence the ratings/rankings. Any reviewer should reject something like this, most do even if it's not actually 5-star review you're asking for, but also the honest ones.
Save yourself the time for resubmitting the app and think of something else, like giving coins for social activity.

[psj3809]

Originally Posted by EvilArev

That's actually agains the rules of the AppStore. You're trying to influence the ratings/rankings. Any reviewer should reject something like this, most do even if it's not actually 5-star review you're asking for, but also the honest ones.
Save yourself the time for resubmitting the app and think of something else, like giving coins for social activity.

Yeah but look here as well, in the Promo section theres plenty of 'download our free app, write a review and the best review will be in with a chance of a $25 gift voucher'

So all the lemmings then write reviews about a ridiculous app such as 'Menstrual Calculator 2012' (okay made that up) saying how great it is just to try and win the gift voucher, depressing.

Wish those threads would be deleted or even the people who take part in them suspended/deleted.

[nvx]

Originally Posted by Rubicon

We stopped doing even that in GBWG.

We still seem to get plenty of reviews. And they're generally better overall - less one star rantathons from players we dared disturb by asking for a rating. Such impudence!

Depends on the quality of the game:
your GBWG is clearly a very high quality game, I loved playing GLWG so I'm sure the sequel is even better, so players feel inclined to let their feelings known and leave comments without needing to be told

For most of us still struggling to make even mediocre-quality games, it isn't a given that players will leave any comments, let alone positive ratings

But I totally agree with Blackharon, developers shouldn't be asking for "5 star" reviews for any reason.
And Apple should be enforcing that policy