Who reads User Reviews?

Does anyone read the User Reviews? Its great that the site has them but ive always found that I ignore User Reviews, if I do look at them I usually only look at bad reviews to find the faults of a game. There are some great reviews (which makes sense, not as if "real" reviewers arent just normal dude who happen to get paid) so know how to make them "feel" more worthwhile?

Or maybe its just me, do you love reading user reviews?

I think they should have weekly user reviews on the front page. A lot of the games they never get to reviewing, so who better to do so than someone from the community. They have done it a few different weeks I think. I was featured for my "Pure" review. Made me happy.

I keep up with games so often, through news sites, site reviews, demos, betas, screenshots, videos, word of mouth; by that time I'm not in a position to go searching for a review. It's for older games, or retro that I go back and search individually because an honest opinion is easier to use than a outdated site. User reviews for me can provide essential knowledge on how well a game holds up by today's standards.

User reviews suck, yet I always write one as soon as I finish a game.

If I'm gonna decide whether to buy a game or not based on reviews, I always read user reviews in addition to the professional ones. Some of them are actually very well-written, you know.

I honestly don't ever read user reviews.

No offense to any user on GB, (well, actually it is a little offensive, I guess), but not a lot of people here know how to...uhh...write.

I always just see "OH MAN. ANYONE WHO'S ANYONE NEEDS TO PLAY DIS GAME LOLULZ!!1!"

I stick with the professionals ;)

I read the other reviews other than mine, see how similar they are and such.

I read a few others, but I mostly write them.

I never read them, why would I ? Most people who have anything to say on the internet cant do so objectively.

I've noticed I've been reading more of them... maybe it's a faze.

If the requirement wasn't at an awfully low 100 words for reviews, I think the quality would rise.

I'm in the process of writing a user review, but I know that I have to make it extremely special for it to gain any attention. It's effort that I don't mind going through, but I feel as if it will inevitably be lost within the pile of terrible reviews.

I don't really read reviews at all. Unless a game scores lower or higher than I thought it would. And if that happens, I only check to see why it was better/worse than I thought it would be and see those reasons could change my mind about the game.

Not usually, most of the time they are full of opinionated dicks who can barely write something that's remotely understandable. If it's not that, then it's a wall of text that gives the entire back story of the game with tons of information that really is not needed.

When they're well-written and longer than two paragraphs, yeah.

I can't say that I read a good load of them, but I do read them.

i have only read maybe one or two, not many

I read plenty of user reviews. They are often better than professional ones.

I'm more inclined to listen to the opinion of a person posting in a forum about a game (as long as it's well written) than a user review.

A person writing a user review in the first place makes me think of motivation for writing that review.  Are they fanboys?  Do they work for the game maker?

i read them but only if in undesided on a game and anything could swing me into buying i t

Not me

sad but true

I tend to glance at user reviews if there arent many youtube videos or 'professional' reviews around, and even then it's not the opinion i'm after (after all I can form my own, thats usually the reason im interested in the game, either because I already like the premise, or want to find out more info) it's details (preferably vids) of the game mechanics in action, opinions on how well the controls work, bits of the game that are broken? etc. Basicly im just looking for confirmation the product works as is intended before I buy.

Not I. They're way too unproffesional. Same reason why I ignore something like Amazon's user reviews (unless it's universally hated by users) because it's just people who really like the product/franchise unjustifiably 5*ing it or people that had some complaints with the product and 1* it.

If it's linked on the front page I'll give it a look and if someone posts a link to one in their post for whatever reason I'll look, but I don't really go out of my way to read them.
I write them but I don't do so expecting folk to actually pay them any heed - they aren't often well written, I just write them because I enjoy writing them and that's that.

I like to get many opinions before I buy something, and user reviews are an important part of the variety, so I read well written user reviews and don't seem really biased alongside the professional reviews.

When I'm unconvinced, I read user reviews.

I read them, and also write them.

I generally see them because, contrary to a professional reviewer, it tends to be less professional and more personal.

It points out stuff and a professional one possibly left unoticed, especially in games that don't appeal to everyone.

It's a review that wasn't made by someone who lives playing and reviewing till the point that it passes simple boredom, and becomes a painful task.

I definitely read user reviews, but before i start reading a review i take note of the review as a whole. I will not read a review that is just 100 words. I will not read a review that it a wall of text. I will not read a review that has "omg, rofl" etc. 

However, I do think that user reviews add a lot to whether or not i will buy a game, especially if it is a game that has been out for more than 6 months. I find that with newer released game i tend not to read user reviews as much, simply because there is so much information being pumped out on the game that i feel that i have made up my mind just off 1 or 2 site reviews, which usually are out way before any user review.

I do take the take the time to read a review if it is clear that a person has spent a lot of time writing it, and it is to a good standard.

I keep up with the User Reviews on a daily basis...

Sad... unfortunately so...

-- God Bless.

I will read them if the community around the site isn't full of fanboys. So far with my time here it seems the fan boy levels are actually quite low :D

I read many, many user reviews...though I also have a reason to do so :P ...if you want to read some pretty good user reviews, but don't want to go looking for them; pay attention to the front page of GB. We have new featured user reviews every 2-3 days and they always cover a game that hasn't previously been featured! Don't think, just do it!

I read the user reviews. Sometimes they point something out that was never covered, sometimes they give a better score than the professional review & explain why.  Lastly, if you're playing an old game, months or years later, sometimes you'll find a recent review on it that is more in line with how the game holds up after it has aged & any known gotchas or problems that might have come up which the reviewer resolved or worked around, or told you where to go to solve something that was too tough to do yourself.

So yes, user reviews have merit.  I don't think writing the review the same day as the professional review comes out is useful though. It needs to be before or weeks after, so you have time to process it, go over the professional review & write about the differences between your view & the professional reviewers review.  If you simply agree with the prof review, then no point in making one.