How useful are Steam's Reviews?

What are your thoughts on Steam's "Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down" review process? Is it better or worse than score based reviews?
Looking up the distribution of steam game ratings, it turns out that half of all games on the store have above 75% positive reviews. If we were to think of this point as a 5/10, what would you consider games with the "Mixed" tier? "Mixed" games are those with 40 - 69% positive reviews.
Also some games (not naming any) have been reviewed bombed into "mixed" status, but is this another flaw of the steam review design? In a review bomb scenario, most would leave 1 out of 10, which you can either filter or lessen the impact.

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IMO I'm not a fan, I believe the score based review was better for me as a consumer to differentiate games that were "masterpieces/great" and games that were "alright/good".

Review Tiers:
95 - 99% : Overhwelmingly Positive
94 - 80% : Very Positive
80 - 99% + few reviews: Positive
70 - 79% : Mostly Positive
40 - 69% : Mixed
20? - 39% : Mostly Negative
0 - 39% + rew reviews: Negative
0 - 19% : Very Negative
0 - 19% + many reviews: Overwhelmingly Negative
Source for review tiers:
gamasutra.com/blogs/LarsDoucet/20141006/227162/Fixing_Steams_User_Rating_Charts.php

Useless. Just watch a YouTube review or raw game footage

I prefer a 5 point scale, thumbs up/down is okay but there should at least be a "no thumb" score for ambivalence.

no reviews are a good way of dictating the quality of the game.

i find them usefull for technical stuff and get an idea of how long the game is

I mostly only read the negative reviews.
If they're all shit like "my toaster can't run this" buying is usually a safe bet.

Yeah you should obviously read the reviews, but take for instance you want to find a game on the Steam store. You can sort by % of positive reviews, but when it comes to just browsing do you look to see whether a game is "Very Positive" or "Mostly Positive"?
Like how do you actually search Steam for great games compared to just average games?

I don't read reviews

Imagine actually reading reviews or caring about them at all ever in your entire life. I can't.

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I guess my question is "How do you find great games" then. Like do you solely rely on Yea Forums or other places to recommend games? Like how would you find games that don't have marketing or aren't that popular, but are still good?

if i want a game and see the reviews are blue i buy without doubt but if they are mixed i take my time to read comments and compare positives with negatives before making a decision

While I don't read reviews of any sort I get it through word of mouth and/or find games that appear like they would suit my interests, also if I have a good opinion of the developer/publisher in question. I don't tend to buy games anymore outside of fighting games, what with emulation and torrenting so widespread and every place gives something away for free so if I play a game and dislike it, typically I didn't waste any money.

I personally review things on a +- zero average scale with the zero set to Shadows of Mordor, the most completely average game I've ever played.

Anything mixed or below is a red flag, which prompts me to do further looking up before considering. Anything good is usually fine, at least a 5/10, by game journalist standard, so not an instant disqualification.

They are useful if you read them

I don't know how to read

I play and love many games that have even 60% ratings. A lot of times people are just brazilian and have shitty computers. It's easy to discern which games are unfairly scored.

if it;s a jap game I would check the reviews even if it's mixed. Usually means they don't have stuff people expect, that I don't really care about. Examples bad mouse and keyboard support locked at 60 fps etc.

Certainly, but how did you find those 60% games. Like what way do you circumvent using steam reviews to find you games that you might be interested in?

I dig them. Usually the first couple of reviews will outline the major pros or cons with the game including anti-consumer stuff. Of course I'll double check and look through multiple sources but if the reviews are mostly negative then I probably won't buy it.

Maybe I should rephrase this a bit.
20% of all steam games are labeled as "Mostly Positive", 30% of all steam games are labeled as "Very Positive".
How do you sift through the pile of all these games to find the ones you are interested in? Before you get to the game page store. If so many games are labeled as "____ Positive" how do you differentiate them?

Normally, I like them enough to leave positive reviews. A developer once even took the time to thank me for the positive review amongst a massive review bomb.

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>what way do you circumvent using steam reviews to find you games that you might be interested in?
Oh. It's really simple:

If a game has a mostly poisitive (80%+) raiting, I read only the negative reviews. If it's got a shit rating (40%-60%), I only read the positive reviews. If it's dismal (~%20) I ignore it.