Nice article, although I was hoping to see this article a bit more fleshed out in terms of what you guys constitute the 1/5, 2/5, 3/5 and so on to look like in terms of certain levels of maps and even specific map examples. Other than that will definitely share this with other forgers!

I got you, I was thinking you could have used only positive examples of what Forgehub has certified to be strong, solid map entries from either your Top Maps Tab or Featured Maps Tab.

One more thing to include:
AT LEAST GO INTO THE MAP IN GAME BEFORE REVIEWING
all caps to emphasize importance
(but really, look at it in forge or have a quick match on it first!)

I've seen many false statements about maps based on the
fact that some reviewers don't see the map before reviewing.
Many people gather their opinion based on what they see in
the pictures on the map post, which is a very bad thing to do;
it tarnishes the purity of the reviews.

It's true too, that many forgers don't write enough about their
creations or take screenshots that portray what was meant.
This results in people skipping over it and even in the worst
case, giving it a bad review without giving it a chance.

It's a simple change in action, but it's very important.

Thanks for providing an article focusing on this important topic. It's been a while since I have putting some effort of sharing the idea of how to write a Review. It's a serious task that requieres player's experience and objective criticism. I hope after reading this everyone can do a better use of their opinions.

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 19, 2016 ---

And I was going to that point too!! PLEASE!

I'm going to make sure I rate all of Ascend Hyperion's maps from now on. "0/5 would not play" and "This map sucks"

It is possible to make it so you are not allowed to review maps unless your match history shows that you have played on it; that would likely decrease the number of reviews but completely eliminate all of the bogus ones.

I'd rather just stick to raw criticism.

Who cares how many stars I think a map should get?

It should obviously be shines instead.

Great piece, Hyperion.

How would people feel about users being able to give a star rating without a review, but not able to leave a full review without playing it as @RPAL suggested?

There's a reason why I don't write reviews. If I haven't had at least a few proper matches on a map in the manner in which it was intended, then what am I reviewing? If all I have is a comment, then I can do it in the forum below. Even still, I try not to critique a map from a few images. The only thing that I will do without any hands on knowledge of a map, is give words of encouragement. "Looks cool" "Sweet Aesthetics" "Good Job!"

If you like the look of a map but have never played on it, that's fine. Just hit the like button. Giving 5 stars for something you've never played is not helpful to anyone. Equally, giving 1 star for something that you've never played, or hate the playstyle of, is also useless.

If you don't like the style of gameplay that the creator has made, don't just blindly give it a 1. Learn to assess a map outside of what you like. I would rather see a map rated slightly too high than too low. We're not professional map designers, lets keep things upbeat.

I disagree with not voting on your own map. It's a bit cheesy but if you think you're awesome, then why note vote for yourself. Just maybe keep the majority of your self evaluation in your head and off your review. It's one vote, If a president can vote for themself, why can't you. In defense of the obvious counterpoint, I personally feel that review stars shouldn't be tallied until you get at least 3 reviews in there. I blame a lack of foresight by the BB coder, not the map creator.

Also, stop trying to bend map reviews to your will. Just because you see a dozen people review a map at 5 stars, or 1 star and you think it deserves 3, doesn't mean you choose 1 or 5 stars to bring it into the middle. Just vote the 3 stars that think it is worth. Others will respect your review more.

Great article and agree 100%. There is a lacking in these reviews nowadays and is truly needed for maps to see their full potential!

Xdemption

*insert link to ph here*

The current system forces people who haven't played on a map to leave unhelpful generic reviews just so they can give a map a high star rating while discouraging people from leaving legitimate negative reviews as their name is attached. That is absolutely one hundred percent the wrong way of doing it. I agree that separating the two would be better than the current setup.

I don't think anyone would view it that way. I personally believe reviewing or rating a map should mean that you have played on it, end of story. Film critics don't go around publishing reviews without having watched the film--if they did nobody would care about their opinion. We have a system where most reviews and ratings hold little to no meaning because:

A) There is nothing to back them up.
B) The system discourages anyone from reviewing a map that might only be worthy of a star or two.

If you don't want it to be a requirement, there could be a system where reviews are sorted by those who have played on the map and those who haven't where the prior has a much higher weight on the total score. I would be a lot more inclined to leave lengthy, valuable feedback if I knew my two star review held more weight than a five star review from someone who hasn't played on the map. You could have the reviews link directly to the most recent game a user has played on the map so the creator can bookmark the footage. You could even show the exact number of times someone has played on the map if you wanted.

The tools exist to do everything that I have mentioned through the Halo API or the CAPI. I know that the custom content mod for these forums is fairly limited, but I'm sure it could be modified to implement those features.

I'm a big picture person that tries to come up with ideas to solve problems instead of simply accepting them.

I never reviewed a map and probably never will. I don't think its my place to do so. My map knowledge and feedback is not great and my forging is even worse. I do give forgers compliments and like maps here and there and comment on them, but not in the form of a review. Like Given's piece usage is great, the lighting and atmosphere of Oblivion is sick, Goat's map is wonderful etc. but that is only my forging and aesthetic perspective. I have fun on them and love to see how they did what and why but that's about it. But what I do think is that there are very capable people here who do know a great deal about maps so I leave it up to them. What I'm saying is giving out stars because of the pretty factor only is pretty dumb so I don't do it. And my overall rating is pretty good because of some aesthetic maps or whatever. Nothing else.

Also, giving a one star rating without proper feedback is also kinda weird and should not be taking seriously. Rather than giving the map one star, give it constructive feedback and critisism in a few paragraphs to help one another.

Requiring someone to play on a map before submitting a review would mean that it would be impossible to submit reviews on Prefabs or Aesthetic maps. Plus, it would require taking extreme measures, by requiring members to link their Forgehub account with their GT. Even then, who's to say someone hasn't played a map on an alternate account?
I agree that ideally people should not review maps unless they've played on them. I just don't see it as being a realistic option.

This would be a good sticky subject, complete with its own community-based rubric and links to maps that show off basic "tiers" of gameplay for various gametypes; reminders of open-mindedness would be sown throughout. It could be something testing lobbies have linked into them to promote site interaction and simplicity.

It would be hard to avoid inevitable cookie-cutter reviews, but would be a nice first crutch for the "reviewing-impaired" as well as go hand-in-hand with the already present game design sticky.

EDIT: stupid small phone, stupid big fingers

This post fails to address why I should write them.

I'd be fine giving a map a star rating but this website requires me to write something along with it. I'm honestly just not going to do that.

As it is now, it's difficult to find particular maps. And for some, it's too time consuming to write something about it, considering the people who are likely to write a review likely already told the forger their opinion of the map in-game.

Also on the rare occasion I go to the map section, it's extremely difficult to see any of the pictures because of the obnoxiously large text on top of all of them.

The majority of the maps that get any feedback or words of praise are the works in progress that are posted in the forge discussion. Because that's the forum where people are actively checking for new posts and content.

I actually preferred the MLG forum for that exact reason, everything was on one page, map threads, discussions, sketch ups, stickys...

Now if you want to go to review a map, you have to go to the map section. And, oh look, I ended up in the halo3/reach map page. How the hell do I find the halo 5 maps again? Ehh, **** it, I already told them my opinion the other day when I played on it.