User Ratings for Demos - Active or Not?

[Igor Hardy]

Inspired by the blue cup ratings discussion thread, I have a totally unrealted question concerning the user ratings system.

Several demos in the database (older ones) have user ratings like the full game releases. However, the majority of them, including those with high download counts (like the demo of The Marionette), as well as Best Demo Award winners (Dust to Water) seemingly don't have enough votes for the rating to be shown.

It seems to me unlikely that the players would not choose to encourage through positive ratings the creators of their favorite demos to finish up their games.

So my question is: Are the voting templates for demos actually active at the moment, or is adding ratings for them a thing of the past?

[auriond]

I'm actually embarassed that I added the demo of The Marionette to the games page.

I don't think they warrant a rating, to be honest. Demos are not full games and are not always indicative of the quality of the full game.

That said, I don't know what the system is for commercial games. I remember that when submitting games there is an option to mark it commercial, and something that said that if the game is commercial then the link would point to the demo. But I don't know if that automatically adds the game to the Demo category or something.

[Igor Hardy]

I don't think they warrant a rating, to be honest. Demos are not full games and are not always indicative of the quality of the full game.

I agree that they are not indicative of the full game's quality, but demos can still be evaluated independently of the full version. And their ratings are very valuable to game creators who are still working on improving their baby.

[LimpingFish]

Nope, demos aren't rated.

But users can still vote and leave comments, which can provide feedback for the developer.

[Dualnames]

Nope, demos aren't rated.

But users can still vote and leave comments, which can provide feedback for the developer.

Plus demos are likely to change content or be upgraded, and therefore if there was a rating it wouldn't probably reflect the truth.