Create rating for game difficulty

[csr]

I am getting tired of playing games that creators think are expert only, or hard, and they turn out to be boring easy  :P.
Maybe along with a game rating, players who complete the games should also be able to rate it as trivial to hard on a scale of 1 to 5. This way we know what we are really getting into when downloading a game.

Probably this idea has come up before and been shot down, but hey, worth a try.

[Sauffaus]

It actually isn't bad... who better to rate a maps difficulty, that the ones who have played it.

The problem here, is ... how do you secure, that only the ones who actually played the map, gets to rate it?... That would have to be integrated in the "Post your score"-screen, at the end of each game... in other words, it would have to be a part of the game itself.

[Sqaz]

This has actually already suggested a few times, I'm pretty sure someone with a good memory like UpperKEES could link you to those threads.

The main problem is that it's to subjective, especially if only the score-submitters may give a difficulty rating, cause if you manage to finish the map you are, let's say it's a hard map, a good player thus you'll rate it easier than a newbie will do.

[UpperKEES]

Yep, something similar was suggested here. You may also find this an interesting discussion.

I think it would be a nice feature to be able to only rate the quality of a map after finishing it (and also have the ability to submit a comment without visiting the forums).

I'm not so sure about rating the difficulty though. Map makers who rate their own maps incorrectly are often newbies who think they've created an insane difficult map after they've only finished the in-game levels. Of course many custom maps are much harder, so they'll learn fast and find out that this is something completely different.

But are players so much more experienced than the map makers? I don't think so, as there are many more newbie players than newbie map makers. They would have rated any of my maps 'Expert Only' and every map harder than 'Trivial' as 'Hard', so I agree with Sqaz here.

Just accept that everybody can misjudge something every now and then and just leave a comment. The next time their rating will be fine. A good map maker is also an experienced player (I don't believe in map maker who can't finish hard levels themselves but still try to create them) and I'm sure these authors are well able to rate their maps correctly. Just remember their names and play more of their maps.

When you're looking for some (well rated) hard/expert only maps, I recommend downloading some of mine (or have a look at this map maker overview). ;)

[Sqaz]

I'm not so sure about rating the difficulty though. Map makers who rate their own maps incorrectly are often newbies who think they've created an insane difficult map after they've only finished the in-game levels. Of course many custom maps are much harder, so they'll learn fast and find out that this is something completely different.

Only newbies heh, I remember the artist and the athlete ;)
And even I still rate my maps to easy, my last map (medium) had 50 downloads and not one other score.

But actually the proof of the difficulty is in the playing. So it's different for everyone and can't be rated.

[UpperKEES]

I remember the artist and the athlete ;)

The Athlete was actually rated too easy (so the other way around). The Artist shouldn't have been Expert Only, but still Hard (only 8 scores up to now). But you're right; it can happen to anyone, but it will always be a better indication than a rating by players (of which a majority is still rather inexperienced).

But actually the proof of the difficulty is in the playing. So it's different for everyone and can't be rated.

Partially true. I always define the difficulty relative to 'the average player'. Whoever that may be.... ;)

[csr]

When you're looking for some (well rated) hard/expert only maps, I recommend downloading some of mine (or have a look at this map maker overview). ;)

Thanks for the links, and also to the other responders for their comments. Now I know where to start looking for good maps.  ;).

My point about the original post is that all the factors that were pointed out as being reasons for not having the a rating for game difficulty apply to the existing rating system too. The same vagaries of individual opinion vs fact play themselves out in the existing game rating system as well.

And I do believe that when there are enough people voting on the level of difficulty of a game, the real difficulty level of the game based on comparison to the existing population of games - which is what a hard medium or easy rating is really supposed to mean- and not based on the mind of the creator, does eventually come out.

Reading the comments on the game is quite useful before playing it, but there is the trouble that some people give hints on how to win the game, and that spoils the fun. So I read comments after playing the game (or after I give up trying to win without reading the hints). Then I am like, a 100 people have commented that this so called expert only map is actually easy. And then I am like, if only there were some way to quantify these comments on actual difficulty, it would be quite cool. After all, many of the comments are only about the disparity between the creator's perception and actual experience. So, maybe a lot of people want to have their feelings heard on this aspect, and a difficulty rating system might just do the trick.

There, I said it and got it off my chest. Now, I can go back to battling the creeper- only on hard or expert only games - and only from the links given by UpperKEES :D