PlanetPhillip

• Introduction
• How to use the System
• Recommendation Images and Comments
• The Results
• The Reader’s System
• Phillip’s System
• Personalized Recommendation Images
• Reader’s Recommendations
• Phillip’s Recommendations
• Hall Of Fame
• Most Recommendations
• Most ‘Personal Favourite’ Recommendations
• Standard Deviation
• Customize Your Lists
• Conclusion

The Recommendation System is the foundation for much of the site. Not only does it provide a visual representation of a reader review, but it also is used as the rating system. This page will explain how to use the system, how it works and the features based upon it.

I personally dislike systems that try to be too accurate. For example, how can you honestly rate something 83/100? How do you define the difference between 82 and 84? I don’t believe it’s possible. With my system, readers can quickly see the general feeling of a review and base their decision whether to download and play a mod on those recommendations.

A recommendation can be added to a review or comment but cannot be used on its own. It should not be seen a replacement for a proper review, just a visual representation of that review.
Back to Contents

To avoid spam and false recommendations you must be a registered and logged in member of the site. Registration is easy and free. You can register here or login here.

You can only add recommendations to maps and mods, and the system knows not to display the images on other posts. I request that a map or mod is finished before you post a recommendation. As with all comments, I reserve the right to edit or delete recommendations and comments.

The process to insert a recommendation into a comment is easy:

• Click the image directly above the comment text area to make your recommendation.
• Only one image can be insert into to a comment. Clicking the image again will deselect it.
• Write your comment and click Submit Comment when you are finished.

I highly recommend writing your comment in another application, where you can spell check and proof read it before posting. Currently it is not possible to edit your comment after you have posted it. It is possible to change you recommendation though. Simply type a new comment with a new recommendation and the old recommendation image will have “REVISED” placed over the top and the new one will be used to calculate the average and other details.
Back to Contents

There must be a clear agreement between the comment you make and the Recommendation Image you use. Don’t say soemthing like “This is quite a good map.” and then use an Avoid It! image. I reserve the right to change your recommendation image based on your comment.

Back to Contents

Each recommendation counts as a score out of 5. This is used to create some graphs to display the results and also to be able to filter and list various maps and mods based on the results.

In the excerpt of every map or mod is a simple chart showing the number of different recommendations. This should be considered a quick guide to the recommendations readers have given the map or mod. In addition, there is some text showing how many recommendations have been made and the general consensus. Hovering over the chart with your mouse will display tooltips showing what each colour represents regarding the recommendations.

The number of recommendations is also a link to the Reader Recommendations section of each mod page.

Within each map or mod page more details are displayed. The first thing is the average rating bar. This displays the average rating based on the number of recommendations and the score of each one. It also displays the Standard Deviation score, which will be discussed later on this page.

Under the average bar and text is the pie chart, which displays the number of individual recommendations.

All this information is produced dynamically, so adding or changing your recommendation will change the display.

There are two systems: The Readers’ system and Phillip’s system. I have a different system from you because I believe that only 3 basic images are needed, but readers requested 5 basic levels, so I made them available.
Back to Contents

The readers’ system consists of 5 basic levels; Play It Now, Play It Later, Consider It, Think Twice and Avoid It!

In addition to the 5 basic levels there is also one other; Personal Favourite. This counts as the same score as a Play It Now!, but just highlights the fact that it is one of your favourites.

The Personal Favourite image should be used for maps and mods that you consider to be the best of the best. There is no limit to the number of Personal Favourite maps and mods you can add the image too. Scores 5 out of 5.

The Play It Now! image should be used for maps and mods that you believe are worth the time and effort to download and play. They don’t have to be large, multi-map mods, they can be one-map efforts too. Scores 5 out of 5.

The Play It Later image should be used for maps and mods that you believe are very good and should be played by everyone. However, this map or mod is not good enough to stop what you are doing to play it. It should be played when you have time, rather than making time for it. Scores 4 out of 5.

The Maybe image should be used for maps and mods that you believe could be enjoyed by some players depending on the gameplay. Careful consideration should be given to the description, screenshots and other reviews. Scores 3 out of 5.

The Think Twice image should be used for maps and mods that you believe only serious SP HL fans will enjoy. Perhaps this has very specialized gameplay or design. Perhaps it’s not that much fun to play but offers something interesting. This is not a map or mod for everybody and only serious students of SP maps should download and play it. Scores 2 out of 5.

The Avoid It! image should be used for maps and mods that you believe are not worth the time and effort to play. This should have nothing to do with any bugs or problems, just purely the gameplay etc. Scores 1 out of 5.

Back to Contents

My images and recommendation system is different from the readers. The main reason is that I believe only three are needed. We either need to be told to play it, maybe or avoid it. However, I also have the WOW, which are MY personal favourites.

Don’t bother wasting your time with these maps or mods. Scores 1 out of 5.

These maps and mods might be worth playing but check the screenshots first. Scores 3 out of 5.

Yes, play it, you will probably like it. Scores 5 out of 5.

One of my favourite maps or mods. Remember, just because I really enjoyed it, doesn’t mean you will! Maps and mods that have this recommendation are the ones you see via the Phillip’s Recommendations links. Scores 5 out of 5.

Back to Contents

You may have noticed that some commenters have personalized recommendation images. These are available to all members who make a minimum donate of $10.00.

If you want to be part of this programme, please make a donation using the Chipin widget in the sidebar and then send me your username and a squarish image that is suitable for use as a small watermark. Here are some examples.

Back to Contents

Okay, so now we have the data it’s time to use it! Access to the Readers’ Recommendations are via the Browse menu, which is in the top menu (Orange bar) on every page.

The Readers’ Recommendations are split into games and years. Clicking one of the links will display the highest rated maps or mods for that year or game. By highest rated I mean the average score. The average score can’t be seen in the excerpts but the display is in descending order, with the highest rated at the top. I purposely don’t display the average in the excerpt because It is felt that it would influence too many readers.

Back to Contents

Access to the Phillip’s Recommendations are via the Browse menu, which is in the top menu (Orange bar) on every page and are split into game and year. These links display maps and mods where I have used my WOW recommendation. They are displayed in chronological order, with the most recent at the top.
Back to Contents

We all like to know what maps and mods are considered the best of the best, well the Hall Of Fame is just that list. For maps and mods to appear on here they must have an average rating of 4.5 or over and have received at least 25 recommendations.

These maps and mods are definitely the Best of the Best!
Back to Contents

Access to the Most Recommendations list is via the Browse/Special Interest menu, which is in the top menu (Orange bar) on every page. Clicking this link will display the maps and mods with the most recommendations. They are displayed in order of the most recommendations at the top.
Back to Contents

Access to the Most ‘Personal Favourite’ Recommendations list is via the Browse/Special Interest menu, which is in the top menu (Orange bar) on every page. Clicking this link will display the maps and mods with the most Personal Favourite recommendations. They are displayed in order of the most recommendations at the top.
Back to Contents

The standard deviation (SD)of a set of values is a mathematical measure of how fart apart the individual values are from the average. Given that the average isn’t always a good indicator of the overall set, the SD gives a better understanding of the overall set of values.

Let’s consider the following, very simple example – a post with only 2 recommendations and an average score of 3. The possibilities are:
1. both recommendations are “Maybe” – and in this case the SD is 0 – which means that the average is very representative of the individual recommendations
2. one “Think Twice” and one “Play It Later” – and in this case the SD is 1 – which means that the voting isn’t that uniform and the average is not so close to the individual values
3. one “Avoid It!” and one “Play It Now!” – and in this case the SD is 2 – which means that there is a significant divergence of opinions in the votes, better read the individual comments.

As you can see, the SD gives a measure to what you mean when you say that you need to look at the individual comments instead of the simple average – if you see a high SD you know that there will be a significant variation in the individual ratings without even looking at the summary bar on the post excerpt or the piechart.

What this means for the reader is that it is possible to view two very different lists: one where the maps and mods have a very low SD, called Highest Consensus and another list where the maps and mods have a very high SD, called Highest Divergence.

Both of these list can be found via the Browse/Special Interest menu, which is in the top menu (Orange bar) on every page. They offer some interesting results.

Back to Contents

In addition to being able to display those preset details, it’s also possible to customize the view.
(Please Note: We are working on a proper user interface for this function)

All pages understand the following parameters:

• g – specifies the game using the category slug
  e.g. /browse/readers-recommendations/?g=hl2-ep2 displays the readers’ recommendations for Half-Life 2: Ep 2 mods and maps. If this parameter is not defined, all maps and mods are included.
• y – specifies the year of the posts
  e.g. /browse/phillips-recommendations/?y=2008 displays Phillip’s recommendations for mods and maps posted in 2008. If this parameter is not defined, all maps and mods are included.
• t – threshold – this parameter has different meanings in each template.
  e.g. /browse/readers-recommendations/?g=blue-shift&t=2 displays the highest rated Blue Shift mods and maps that have received at least 2 recommendations.

It addition, the page parameters can be mixed, using & as a separator. Here is an example featuring all three:
/browse/readers-recommendations/?g=half-life-2&y=2009&t=10

This will display the readers’ recommendations for Half-Life 2 maps and mods of 2009 that have received at least 10 recommendations.

As you can see the system is both very capable and very flexible.

Back to Contents

The Recommendation System is a fantastic feature that allows readers to become involved in creating easy to navigate lists of the best and most interesting maps and mods.

Development continues, alongside other features on the site, and new elements are planned. If you have any comments or suggestions please post them on this Forum Thread Thank you.

This page was last updated on 30 January 2010