Quoted from iceman44:They don't always get to the top right away.
Two great pins, TWD and BM66, started out in the 100's for various reasons.
BM66 due to such early code and some Stern hate based on the way they launched that game and SLE send in a video request etc.
TWD, another Lyman game, had really early code too and was difficult to get dialed in.
Both games had potential greatness and finally got there.
THUS, due to the early barrage of negative voting those two pins will never reach the level they deserve based on more recent ratings.
Yes, that's true...but those two cases are the exceptions, and I would argue that this is reasonable.
For example, when I played TWD, I thought it sucked (and I still don't understand what people see in it) and it was likely that this was partially due to early code. But all too often, on location, the early code never gets updated by the operator (unless there is some problem that requires an update)...so that's the code that (non-owners) play and know (and rate by).
The BM66 near me still had no secondary villain modes the last time I played it (not sure what version it was, but was obviously early). And while I still like the game, I'm not going to give it a better rating just because someone on line says "the new code is great".
If you are going to release an unfinished game, you can't complain if people rate the game based on what they actually play, not what might eventually get released.