I think part of the problem here is an ingrained understanding of the 10 point scale as mirroring the American grading scale.
Following that schema, a good game would need a "passing" grade (i.e. a 7 out of 10 or greater) and other games can only go up from there. This is partially a reviewer problem, but it's ultimately (I think) a consumer interpretation problem.
If a consumer sees a review for a game that is 5 or 6 out of 10, I think the response is not "oh, this is an average game by the reviewers standards and understanding" but rather "this game failed to meet the bar of acceptable quality, and has received a "Failing" grade.
I'm not discounting that the 10 point scale is uninformative, but I don't think this is a reviewer specific issue. If you want to change the way the 10 point scale is used, you have to make an effort to re-educate your audience away from their understanding of the 10 point scale as a stand in for the 100 point grading scale used in schools (particularly when some reviewers use decimals to simulate two digit grades on a 100 point scale anyway).
As a temporary solution/alternative solution, I would leaning toward using a 0-5 rating scale, or 0-5 star scale. In that sort of scale, I think people are more likely to perceive 2.5 stars as "average" than a 5/10 score, despite them being indicative of the same value.
I think part of the problem here is an ingrained understanding of the 10 point scale as mirroring the American grading scale.
Following that schema, a good game would need a "passing" grade (i.e. a 7 out of 10 or greater) and other games can only go up from there. This is partially a reviewer problem, but it's ultimately (I think) a consumer interpretation problem.
If a consumer sees a review for a game that is 5 or 6 out of 10, I think the response is not "oh, this is an average game by the reviewers standards and understanding" but rather "this game failed to meet the bar of acceptable quality, and has received a "Failing" grade.
I'm not discounting that the 10 point scale is uninformative, but I don't think this is a reviewer specific issue. If you want to change the way the 10 point scale is used, you have to make an effort to re-educate your audience away from their understanding of the 10 point scale as a stand in for the 100 point grading scale used in schools (particularly when some reviewers use decimals to simulate two digit grades on a 100 point scale anyway).
As a temporary solution/alternative solution, I would leaning toward using a 0-5 rating scale, or 0-5 star scale. In that sort of scale, I think people are more likely to perceive 2.5 stars as "average" than a 5/10 score, despite them being indicative of the same value.