Reviews are changing: Review System Updates and Policy Changes
It's been fairly clear for a while, both within and without the team, that the reviews system hasn't been working as intended. Stringent requirements for any review under 5 stars has led to a situation in which those reviews may as well be a 0 star, and any average under 5 is seen as an failure. This isn't how reviews should be operating, as a metric to be taken into account, along with price, review content and other considerations. This also combines with a disadvantage for new products, that have been unable to get the bulk of reviews. Overall, we feel that a system as it is currently unfit for purpose, forcing users to go through protracted effort to leave anything other than a 5 star review, whilst also forcing creators to immediately respond to such reviews.
To combat this issue, we've reworked both the review system and the review guidelines. In this, we've taken time to balance the loosening of some restrictions with tightening some others, promoting reviews which are more honest representations of user experiences, whilst also strengthening protections against false, irrelevant or hostage reviews.
In the new review system:
- Reviews cannot be submitted prior to a product's release.
- Reviews are hidden for 48 hours after release, allowing authors time to respond.
- Reviews no longer count towards job reputation.
- Product Ratings are hidden for 2 weeks, or until 5 reviews have been posted (replacing the stars field with a "new" flag).
In the review guidelines:
- Reviews must explicitly be in English, true, accurate and relevant.
- Reviews cannot be made for increasing support (cannot be a hostage review).
- A full list of guidelines can be found here.
With this, we also hope that both reviewers and creators work with each-other through this period of change, working to resolve conflicts without moderator intervention, allowing positive outcomes for both sides.
about time