Comments on: MMORPG reviews: tricky beasts to get right, eh?

By: Gantoris

Gantoris — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:54:35 +0000

Sadly this is the standard, but a few companies have done well at launch. I thought Wow was pretty damn decent at launch and was not only playable but enjoyable for the first six months. LOTRO, while its endgame content was some what lacking, was also enjoyable for the first six months due to large amounts of PVE content and the epic quest storyline – plus grinding traits if that was something you enjoyed. Even then, it was worth rolling an alt through at least lvl 20 to experience the different starter area content.

I’m hoping some of the more experienced companies have learned what makes a good game at launch. Turbine learned from AC, and it looks like Mythic has learned from DAOC. Though some companies struggle to get it right. I will give Funcom credit that AoC’s launch was much better than Anarchy Online – which isn’t saying much, but they improved. How a company responds with patches and tests those patches in the first couple weeks of a launch generally speak to how the company will treat the fanbase’s concerns as the game ages. Nevertheless…I will not be buying another MMO from them or SOE (SWG disgruntled vet here) in part due to their launches and patches following launches.

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 06:27:16 +0000

Exactly right! There’s no such thing as a good “early” MMO review.

By: Daedren

Daedren — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 09:46:21 +0000

You’re exactly right, Rob. The problem with reviewing MMO’s is that it takes an enormous amount of playtime to experience the game fully. We’re then left with the corporate mega sites like Gamespot paying some chumps to play the game for 15-20 hours and then write a “review” of the game – which, as you pointed out, was brilliantly illustrated in Age of Conan. I guess they figured they’d dupe enough customers into the game by showing them Tortage / reviewing Tortage. By the time everyone wizened up and realized the game was as fubar as it is, they’d already covered a lot of the initial cost of the game. Isn’t there a law against that or something? False advertisement or selling a product not as advertised?

Anyway, take any MMO review with a grain of salt, especially shortly after release.