Every new game hits the Pinside Top 100 list as soon as it's released (see Mando at number 1). I see a lot of people pumping the ratings up and getting stars, while a lot of people who have valid criticisms getting flagged. I think it would be best to impose a ban on ratings for new releases until they mature and the hype dies down. My initial thought was 6 months, but maybe to be in contention with the greats that have stood the test of time 30+ years, it should be longer... or maybe you think it's a dumb idea. VOTE NOW!!!!!

I didn't wanna say it in my initial post, but yes, this is a big reason IMO. I don't care about the ratings either; play what you like. But right now they pretty much mean nothing. I think this fix could help a lot

Do you have a Hardbody? Would suit your name

Is the rating aspect what really drives people to the site? I would have thought it would have been the buying/selling and discussion forum part. I don't mean this as a rhetorical question. I'm genuinely asking, because I'm no Pinside veteran. I'm not saying the quality of the game can't be discussed (obviously!)

I think I would have to disagree, I don't think people unfamiliar with Pinside are typing "Stern Mandolorian ratings" into Google. The info/about page for the machine would still exist, the forum topics discussing it would still exist (hell, people could even make unofficial polls about the quality of the game if they wanted), it would still be able to be bought and sold. All I'm doing with this suggestion is trying to make the top 100 list more accurate, not stifle discussion or search results.

I've pretty consistently thought and expressed that people should play whatever they like in spite of the ratings, but this "Why do you even care, bro?" argument is so lame. How are the ratings rigged? What would you do to change that instead of my suggestion? Let's have an interesting discussion here and not act like you're too cool for it.

For me personally, most newer games don't grab my attention (look at my wishlist/collection). Most games in the top 100 are 90s or newer. My interests have no correlation to the Top 100 list, but that doesn't stop the list from being a joke. I have no horse in this race besides trying to make the forum better, and having an interesting discussion about it.

I think the argument that "The game will settle down to its proper spot" is bunk because those initial insanely biased hype ratings still count toward the aggregate score, so they still artificially raise the game's position in the list. If you could filter out ratings made in the first 6 months or year of the game's release instead of having a temporary ratings ban that would work too.

Also more and more people with the really cool "why do you care?" argument. I primarily spend time on KLOV/VAPS where the ratings for arcade games mean literally nothing, nobody talks about them. They aren't integral to the site so people aren't interested in reforming them (myself included). Seems like discussions of ratings happen very often so I thought this would be a good idea to help the ratings have more legitimacy.

I disagree with pretty much everything you've said here. Look through my post history and you can see I'm not someone obsessed with the ratings. You don't have to be obsessed with the ratings to make a suggestion on how they can be improved. If you think my suggestion is so complex that sounds like a 'you' problem.