I'm not sure what to think about the Market Place ratings.  I use to think only a relatively small percentage of buyers actually provide input to the ratings. Yet there are planes that are not particularly inexpensive with low ratings, below 2.0, with hundreds of votes. If in fact (don't really know) only a small percentage of buyers vote, then hundreds of votes means that there were many more hundreds of buyers, and so it would seem the rating did not play a significant role in the purchase decision for many.

Although it likely varies quite a bit do to different factors (cost, type of plane, developer, buyer's age, etc) it would be interesting to know about what approximate percentage of buyers provide input to the ratings. And are those disappointed with a purchase more likely to vote than those happy with the purchase? There are a lot of factors that I would think impact on the degree of trust one has in the ratings.

I would be interested in what others think about the Market Place ratings. 

Al

Edited September 17, 20223 yr by ark

Given the fact that ASOBO sold over 1 million copies of MSFS already in the first 2 Months after release, I think many more copies were sold till today.

It is resonable to think that some of the ACFT were also sold to the million mark, leaving 200 ratings beeing a rather small  percentage (0,02%).

Any kind of public rating is always suspicious to me, the same would apply to Trip Advisor for example. A rating depends on WHO rates: if an avid hamburger eater gives 5 stars to his preferred hamburger restaurant and a 2 stars to a 3 star Michelin because he does not like this type of food, he is honest with himself and with others, but does this rating represent anything at all for the gourmet eater who would never set a foot at McDonald?

Translate that to flight simulation and you have your answer. I would rather trust what I read on AVSIM, trying to understand if the reviewer has the same preoccupations, objectives as mine, watch videos when available, but I would never trust a rating on a commercial site. Satisfied customers - unfortunately - rarely take the time to express their positive opinion. Guests feedback in hotels for example are essentially (but not only) about what went wrong, not often about what made their experience a pleasant one.

A rating that is not supported by arguments?

I don't know about MP sceneries (I've never purchased any), but as far as MP planes go, the "Rate this" box comes up only after I've purchased and downloaded the plane . Once rated, I can can go back and change the rating, but it doesn't count as a new rating. So on the face of it, I assume all those MP ratings are individual verified purchasers.

But I agree with what was said above, that the MP ratings would be more useful if there was a comment section, and I generally go looking first for a review with commentary and decent video of the product. 

As to why people purchase products in the face of numerous bad ratings, well, I can only assume that, just like me, with a type of plane that I really, really  want in the sim, hope always springs eternal that this time I will actually get more than what I paid for 😛 .  

-Bob