Changes to BGG

As the newly-appointed BoardGameGeek Director of Public Relations, I am here to give an overview of a new set of policies to help make BGG a better place for all. Lately there's been far too much negativity on the site. We want BGG to be a place where everyone feels comfortable and enjoys themselves. With that in mind, the following changes are being made:

BGGian Average

All games will get a base 100 ratings of the value 10. This will artificially increase a game's rating. All final game ratings below 5 will be set to 5. All users' individual ratings below 5 will factor into all calculations as 5. The new normal curve pictured above reflects this adjustment. If you don't like a game, we will "like" it for you.

Designers and Publishers Are Perfect

Therefore, all their games are perfect. They do not need to be harassed with your opinion. If you do not like something about a game, they do not care. Even if everyone who bought a game has lots of constructive feedback to give, it won't make any difference since all games are perfect. We only care what you think if you have lavish praise to give. In fact, we prefer that you say how great the game is before you have played it. Any disagreements with a publisher or designer will get the thread locked or deleted, or your account removed. To accommodate this, we have added a "Go Crying to Aldie" button on their profile pages.

One-Month Correction Period

During the transition into these new policies, there will be a one-month period where we will allow users to atone. Please scan for low ratings under all games. Send the misguided users lots and lots of GeekMail explaining their mistakes. Make it clear you are speaking on behalf of the games' respective designers and publishers. If they give you any grief that they are entitled to their opinion, please forward the reply to us, and we will take care of it.

Friendly Atmosphere

We will not tolerate unfriendly users. BGG is a place where we all sit around patting each other on the back and hug a lot. People who have real feedback to give (ie whiners) can do so elsewhere. Users who come to BGG are not looking for honest information; they are looking for a positive attitude.

It has come to our attention that this policy will likely result in a huge drop in activity by our core users who actually want honest feedback. Go figure. Therefore, we will be downgrading our server to a 100MHz 386 running Windows 95 on a dialup connection.


[In case you didn't figure it out, the above is not a criticism of BGG or its policies. It is a poke at some of the users on BGG who just don't get it.]