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Allow 4.5 stars instead of only 4.0 or 5.0

A topic by Jon Topielski created May 03, 2021 Views: 233 Replies: 2

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Hi - I was thinking that it would be nice to have star scores on games in the "More information" tab that aren't just whole numbers like 4.0 stars or 5.0 stars.

It would be cool to have 4.3 stars or 4.7 stars shown because there is a big difference between a 4.0 star game and a 5.0 star game.

As an example, my most recent game https://jontopielski.itch.io/into-the-deep-web hovers right in the middle at 4.5 stars. It is currently shown as 4.0 stars but if someone rates it 5.0 stars right now, it will jump to a 5.0 star rating. It would be nice to just see 4.5 or 4.6 or whatever the score actually is.

I noticed that itch does show inbetween star scores on other places in the site, such as the "Top Rated" section.

Would be curious to hear what others think, but I think this would be good for the site!

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No Time To PlayModerator3 years ago

In most places on the site you're shown an average. So no, the average score doesn't jump. It changes smoothly as you get more ratings.

Now, speaking as a player and creator, star rating systems are iffy. Five are already too many. I think people only ever give one-star ratings out of spite. I only rarely give a two-star rating, and I often hesitate between four and five. Worse, I assign my own meanings to each rating, and so does everyone else, so it's ultimately meaningless.

Also, the system has been abused so often, and has caused so much bad blood, that it's set to be replaced with something else entirely.

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Jon Topielski3 years ago(+1)

Just to be clear - the section I'm interested in is the "More information" tab on game pages, which do in fact show a round number star score as opposed to an average.

As an example, this game https://laundrybear.itch.io/morticians-tale has a score of 4.6 but when you scroll down and click "More information", it is shown as 5 stars.

I don't love star rating scores but I do think they're better than Steam's recommended versus not recommended system because yes/no isn't granular enough.

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