Ethan

Game Developer

[thomasmahler @thomasmahler]

Hey folks,

I'm launching a website today: https://t.co/JolbgwKsO7

It started as a little database I built for myself. I use Metacritic and OpenCritic a lot and they're clearly useful, but to me as a designer the user experience always felt a bit lacking.

Then the thing kept growing, and at some point I realized it had become genuinely useful for any gamer, not just me. So here it is, for everyone.

My main problem with the existing aggregators: Their scores tell you how the press felt about a game, not how players did.

That made sense 20 years ago. I cared a lot what GameSpot gave a game back then. But today we can actually measure how players felt, and to me that will always matter more than how the press did. On https://t.co/JolbgwKsO7, players hold at least two-thirds of every score, by rule. Press still counts, it just can't outvote the people who bought the game.

The other big problem: Those sites rate a game once, at launch, and then never really touch it again.

But that's not how games work anymore. A game can launch rough and get patched shortly after, but on Metacritic and OpenCritic it carries that scarlet letter forever.

No Man's Sky is the obvious example: Famously rocky launch, and Hello Games has spent the years since relentlessly improving it. Its Metacritic score has never moved. On https://t.co/JolbgwKsO7 it launched at 50 and sits at 82 today, because scores here are LIVE: launch-era reviews fade out over time, and reviews written after a significant patch count the most. When player sentiment changes, the number changes. Simple.

And since press does still count, I ended up reviewing the reviewers too. Every outlet and creator gets a trust score based on one question: When they reviewed a game, did players end up agreeing? You can see who consistently calls games the way players see them, and who doesn't. Again, simple and fair.

And everything is transparent. Every game page shows exactly how its score was computed, and the full methodology is public. No editorial opinion, no magic number.

Anyway, I hope you get a kick out of it! Even just as a way to see the best games on each platform, find something you missed, or browse a site that isn't wallpapered in ads, I think it's already pretty useful.

Enjoy!👍❤️

[𝖛𝖊𝖝𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖎𝖆𝖈 @vex_maniac]

I drew fantasy unit portraits for an upcoming unannounced tactical RPG roguelike!

Can you guess what their classes are? ⚔️🧙

#pixelart #pixel #aseprite

[Ethan @ethan_indie]

@johnstejskal Looks great. I could see variants that squish enemies/spew blood on impact at the top working well, too!

[Chris 𓅨 @bigjuncofan]

Millennials who grew up in the pre-smartphone era are like Tolkein's elves who were the last to see the light of the Two Trees

[positive side of X 🌞 @positivityofx]

Me on weekends

[Ethan @ethan_indie]

Rendering reworks are fun

[Buitengebieden @buitengebieden]

When the tables have turned.. 😂

[Ethan @ethan_indie]

My anxiety is never as high as when I have to order food for someone, and the server starts asking questions the person didn't prepare me for.

[Rune Skovbo Johansen →🦋🐘 @runevision]

Did I ever explain how it works that you can get around the huge world in Eye of the Temple using your own feet, all while staying within your play area?🤔

🔊Sound on for this narrated peek behind the scenes!
#MetaQuest2 #gamedev #VR

[CIX 🦾 @cixliv]

What if you could punch a hole in your wall to go from AR to VR?

WELCOME TO REK! 😀 @REKfitness
Alpha coming end of March.

Tech showcased:
- Hand Tracking 2.1 👍
- Presence Platform
- Passthrough/Mixed Reality

[Ethan @ethan_indie]

@as0355 @Dilmerv Not yet, but that's the long term plan!

[Bryson @unamusedbryson]

Hi @LudwigAhgren

[SONII 🔜 WoW Forever @sonii]

my toxic trait is buying a box of cereal just to crush it in 1 sitting

[Ethan @ethan_indie]

I am empty after finishing #cyberpunkedgerunner

[Khena B @Khena_B]

Bubble particles/shader #UnrealEngine #VFX #screenshotsaturday

[Ethan @ethan_indie]

What VR game/concept would you like to see made?

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

How a book written in 1910 could teach you calculus better than several books of today

[Calculus Made Easy, by Silvanus P. Thompson, 1910 - full text pdf: https://t.co/W4gspJoGQc or with the table of contents: https://t.co/55dkZAeGmv]

[sk8er 🦇 @headabovewter]

avril lavigne recreating her debut album cover 20 years later, iconic

[Ethan @ethan_indie]

Having an impulsive urge to learn the ways of the bo staff