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Uber will let you see how many one- and five-star ratings you get
New York City has the lowest average rider rating among big US cities.
Loot box warning added to game rating labels in the US and Europe
The ESRB's 'Includes Random Items' label will more clearly reveal games with loot boxes.
Lyft will offer automatic tipping and driver ratings
Lyft is launching another campaign to improve the experience for its drivers, and at least a few of the changes could affect you as a passenger. In December, it's conducting a limited launch for both default tipping and mid-ride tipping. If you always tip at the end of a journey or occasionally forget to tip after you've stepped out, this will make sure your driver gets your money. Only "select" passengers will see this at first, but it'll be more widely available in 2019.
Lyft lets passengers provide feedback mid-trip
Lyft is rolling out a new feature that will let riders give feedback about their trip while they're still on it, Mashable reports. For now, it's only available for a small group of users and only for those who've opted for a shared ride, but those with access to it will see a "How's your route?" prompt when they open the Lyft app during a ride. Tapping the question, will give you three feedback options -- bad, ok and great -- and after selecting one, you'll be able to elaborate on what's making the ride good or bad through a selection of prepared options.
Uber will suspend low-rated riders in Australia and New Zealand
Uber is putting its passenger ratings to use, imposing temporary bans on riders with lower scores. The company introduced this policy in Brazil earlier this year and will begin imposing these bans on passengers in Australia and New Zealand later this month. Uber's ratings are out of five stars and passengers in these countries with ratings of four or lower will be banned from the service for six months.
Facebook is rating users based on their 'trustworthiness'
Facebook hasn't been shy about rating the trustworthiness of news outlets, but it's now applying that thinking to users as well. The company's Tessa Lyons has revealed to the Washington Post that it's starting to assign users reputation scores on a zero-to-one scale. The system is meant to help Facebook's fight against fake news by flagging people who routinely make false claims against news outlets, whether it's due to an ideological disagreement or a personal grudge. This isn't the only way Facebook gauges credibility, according to Lyons -- it's just one of thousands of behavior markers Facebook is using.
You can rate your Uber driver during your trip
If you've ever experienced a less than ideal Uber ride but then rushed through the rating process once you arrived at your destination, giving five stars for a ride that deserved less than that, you're not alone. And Uber is tweaking its app to take those sorts of situations into account, TechCrunch reports. While Uber riders previously had to wait to the end of a ride to give a star rating, feedback or a tip, they'll now be able to do so mid-ride.
Facebook's 'downvote' test spreads to more users Down Under
With Facebook's F8 developer event approaching, word has spread that more users can try its "downvote" button on post comments. While it's not the fabled "dislike" button that some would like to see, it is a way for users to flag comments Reddit-style on public posts. That may come in handy as it rolls out more video, VR and whatever else' we'll hear about during its 1 PM ET keynote. Facebook confirmed to CNET that its test is occurring in New Zealand, but many users in Australia report seeing the buttons too.
Uber highlights your rating to make you a better passenger
It's no secret that Uber assigns star ratings to passengers as well as drivers, but finding your passenger rating has practically required a small mining expedition. After today, though, you'll hardly have to lift a finger to understand your reputation. Uber is updating its ratings system to move your passenger rating directly under your name in the app menu. This isn't just a matter of convenience, mind you -- Uber is using the prominent rating as part of its bid to improve rider behavior. If you see your rating dip after a rough trip, Uber reckons, you'll be less likely to harangue your driver the next time around.
The internet knows how unattractive I am
Honestly, I'm fine with being unattractive, because owning your flaws is the best way to avoid becoming defined by them. But if the subject comes up in conversation, I'll joke that, on a hypothetical scale, I'm a "four ... in bad light." The internet, however, has enabled me to find out precisely how other people rate my attractiveness. It's been a fun week.
Netflix is swapping star ratings for thumbs up and thumbs down
When you finish watching something on Netflix, do you rate it? Maybe you'll sit (or stand) there, with all of that responsibility on your shoulders, for much longer than you need deciding whether that movie or TV show really deserves the coveted five stars. In the coming weeks, there will be a little less pressure on you to perform, because the streaming giant is scrapping the time-tested classification in favour or something a little more familiar: the thumbs up.
NBA 2K celebrates Steph Curry's MVP with a 99 rating
Today Stephen Curry collected NBA's Most Valuable Player award for the second year in a row, and also became the first unanimous MVP in NBA history. To celebrate that achievement (and his epic return from a knee injury to score 40 points in a playoff win last night) NBA 2K will issue an update to its game on Thursday maxing out his overall rating at 99. It's part of a promotion along with his shoe sponsor Under Armour and naturally the MVP colorway of his Curry Two will be available in-game. The 99 rating will be in place for 30 hours at 6PM ET (matching Curry's jersey number) and for a little bit, should make it easier for the videogame to replicate the real-life player's abilities.
Consumer Reports drops its Tesla Model S recommendation
Once upon a time, Consumer Reports gave the Tesla Model S P85D its highest rating ever, but the love affair is over, for now. While it still loves the way the sedan drives, the review organization has concluded after its Annual Auto Reliability Survey that reports from 1,400 owners show the cars have a "worse-than-average overall problem rate." While it also noted that these problems are mostly covered by Tesla's four year/50,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty or its eight year, unlimited mileage powertrain warranty, it still decided the vehicle isn't deserving of its "Recommended" rating. In response, Tesla says it strives to make hardware fixes "painless," and noted that the study also found owners rated the company's service as the best in the world.
Hotline Miami 2 refused classification in Australia [update]
Hotline Miami 2 is effectively banned from sale in Australia, following the Australian Classification Board's decision to refuse classification. According to Kotaku and Player Attack, the legislative body's report describes an implicit rape scene featuring "visual depiction of implied sexual violence" as part of the offending content. On its website, the ACB says the ruling is accordance with National Classification Code that refuses classification to games featuring "matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena" that offend accepted standards. The site's listing doesn't note the scene specified in the report obtained by Kotaku and Player Attack. According to both publications, the report notes that it doesn't include a complete list of the content that contributed to the ACB's decision. [Update: Devolver Digital published a response to the ruling this morning, which you can read in full below the break. The publisher says it's "concerned and disappointed that a board of professionals tasked with evaluating and judging games fairly and honestly would stretch the facts to such a degree..." Devolver added it has no plans to officially challenge the decision.]
Limbo limbering up for PlayStation 4, according to PEGI
It's GOTY Season here at Joystiq, so it's apt timing for Limbo to bend its way back into the news. 2010's #8 game looks set to make its debut on PS4 - yes, yet another system - following a new PEGI listing at the turn of the year. The European ratings board is rarely misleading on these things, but for now we're waiting on official confirmation. We approached developer Playdead this morning about the PEGI rating, but CEO Dino Patti said the company wasn't able to comment.
Sweden considers adding 'sexism' ratings to video games
In a world where 52 percent of gamers are female, it seems odd that women get such a rough treatment in so many games. That's what prompted Dataspelsbranchen, Sweden's game industry trade group, to ponder adding a sexism rating next to age and content ratings on newly-released titles. According to The Local, the organization has received a grant from the country's government to work out the idea. So far, the plan is to take an approach similar to the Bechdel Test to examine if women are given fair treatment in video games, but also to look at how publishers deal with the issue of gender equality given that Sweden's game industry only employs a female workforce of 16 percent. If you were wondering, there's no word on if the ratings would apply to all games or just those made in Sweden, but given that the country is the home of Minecraft, Just Cause, Hotline Miami, the Battlefield series and Goat Simulator, you can be sure that it'll be pretty visible.
Employee reviews blast Carbine Studios management
Whenever you hear of a studio laying off 60 people, you have to think things aren't going well. Sometimes it's a matter of bad luck and circumstance, but sometimes it's a case of bad management and poor decisions. Current and former employees of Carbine Studios attribute it to the latter, with the company holding a 41% rating on Glassdoor.com as reported by The Escapist. The reviews uniformly emphasize that WildStar is an excellent game, but they also point out universal flaws with management, decision-making, and communication. Several employee reviews characterize the studio as a "boy's club" with only the top decision-makers given leeway. There are also criticisms of the studio's overall implementation of strategies and willingness to adapt. As the reviews come from both present and former employees, the negativity speaks to some underlying problems at the studio and certainly does little to alleviate the sense of general anxiety for players regarding the state of the game.
How well do Uber drivers rate you? (update)
Uber's car service lets you rate your drivers, but it also lets them rate you. The customer might always be right, but some customers are simply jerks -- and the system lets drivers know what they might be in for. Until now, there's been no way to draw out your customer rating from the app, but with a little Javascript magic, courtesy of Aaron Landy, you can cajole Uber's mobile site into spitting out your rating, out of 5. Log into Uber's mobile site, then open the console (for Chrome: View -> Developer -> Javascript Console from the drop-down menu), and paste some javascript code in. The browser will reload, and you'll need to paste the code again. Another reload, and a popup will offer up your user details and your passenger rating. The hack might even the odds a little: drivers have been able to see how passengers have ranked their rides for a while. It's like leaving feedback on eBay all over again. Update: It appears Uber noticed the sudden influx to its mobile site and has now patched the JavaScript 'hack.'
Rating issues for Arena and RBG wins
There is a strange issue taking place at the moment with rating. Rating itself is a tricky thing to wrap your head around, especially as it's recently gone thorough something of a shift. Right now, your character has two ratings for every bracket of arena, and for RBGs. One is the MMR, the matchmaking rating. This is the rating the system uses to match you up against similar level players. It's shown at the bottom right of the scoreboard after every match, as an average of your group's character MMRs. The other type of rating is CR, Current Rating. This is the rating that your character earns by winning and losing matches, the one that's shown in green and red letters in the main part of the scoreboard. It's also the rating that gets you titles and mounts. Every season CR is reset to 0, while MMR remains what it was last season. So, if you ended season 14 on an MMR of 1800 and a CR of 1880, you'd have begun season 15 with an MMR of 1800 and a CR of 0. What happens next is that as you win games, your CR increases towards your MMR. You should expect it to stabilize as you reach a CR that's near your MMR. As you win and lose games, your MMR will also shift. Your MMR aims to give you a 50/50 win-loss rate, as when that's achieved you're being pretty evenly matched.
The Elder Scrolls Online receives Mature rating
The Entertainment Software Rating Board has given Elder Scrolls Online a Mature rating for "Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol, and Violence," ZeniMax posted on its Facebook page. The studio is none too happy about the decision, stating, "The ESRB advised us that it has given The Elder Scrolls Online a Mature rating. While we may disagree with the ESRB's determination, we do not plan to challenge the rating, and we are unwilling to change the game's content to achieve a different rating. The game we have created is the one we want our fans to be able to play." ZeniMax said that the ruling has forced the studio to put the Mature rating and age gates on the ESO site, trailers, and ads.
