I'd say the reviews have gotten MORE professional over the years when compared to other review sites.

Seriously, giving WoW a 8.1?  Vanilla WoW's average score on metacritic is 93 with a lot of reviewers giving it a perfect 100.  The 8.1 seems just out of place.  At the time WoW at least deserved more.  Then that same reviewer goes and gives EVE Online a 8.3 which at the time it was released had a serious number of flaws and generally received pretty average (70s and lower) scores on review sites.  EVE might have appealed to the reviewer more, but reviewers should try their best to take unbiased approaches.  

Then again the scores recently do seem rather high.  I've never even heard of Freaky Creatures and Pixie Hollow and I don't see how if they were games truely deserving such a high rating I wouldn't have heard (considering I play or at least follow indie games that receive critical praise).  Free Realms definitely doesn't deserve 8.3, it's a buggy game with in my opinion no minigames that have lasting appeal.  I don't see how it can possibly be almost a point over Puzzle Pirates.

Warhammer and Aion also probably shouldn't have received such high scores, though they are reasonable enough.  The scores don't make much sense compared to the score they gave to WoW though.  After all Warhammer is fairly similar to WoW (with a more PvP oriented focus), but is plagued by far more problems than WoW had at release.

I think the scoring has become more liberal if anything.  The scores shouldn't be that much higher of other MMOs during their release time.  Though scoring will gradually rise because MMOs learn from eachother we still haven't seen a rise in quality like these scores indicate.  Interesting point.  Perhaps this staff will take a better look at their rating system.  Is it just me or do they love the themepark, level based crap:P

I believe the reviewers have gotten extremely generous with their ratings. Yes, Aion is a good game, but is it really a great game? It most definitely is not a 8.7, for it lacks PvE content (variety of quests, story based end-game raid instances, a wide variety of areas). WAR, well we all know that was no better than half the games on that list, there is no way that was a 8.3. I am just saying, although I love Aion as of now, I doubt I will be saying that in a few months, the same thing went for WAR. I loved WAR when i first started playing it, but as i reached my mid 20s I began to despise it. Variety is essential, and that is one thing many of the games recently rated lack. At best I would rate Aion an 8.1, I may be being too generous. All I have to say though about this really is that the reviewers are placing their reviews too much on the hype. Just read Aion's review, the reviewer sounds like no more than just another fan boy. A good review is based off weighing the good and the bad of the game against all the other top games on the market, and see where it falls in place on that list based on how it stands up to the competition. The reviewers on this site as of recent are much too biased, I believe someone needs to step in and tell them to look at the game from an objective standpoint.

Originally posted by xzyax

Here is a simple table of the top 5 MMO scores given each year (from 2004-2009) here at MMORPG.COM

(I am including only original reviews, not re-reviews, or expansions).

 

Top Review Scores by Year

MMO Title	Reviewer	Review Date	Score
Aion	Sean Bulger	10/15/09	8.7
Pixie Hollow	Carolyn Koh	07/02/09	8.5
WAR	Michael Bitton	04/23/09	8.4
Free Realms	Sanya Weathers	06/11/09	8.3
Freaky Creatures	Carolyn Koh	4/30/09	8.0
Dungeon Runners	Joe Iuliani	04/08/08	7.9
AOC (1-20)	Jon Wood	06/19/08	7.9
Hellgate: London	Joe Iuliani	04/15/08	7.0
Asda Story	Joe Iuliani	10/09/08	6.0
LoTRO	Donna Desborough	06/18/07	8.5
SotNW: Granada Espada	Adele Caelia	08/06/07	7.4
Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates	Donna Desborough	03/30/07	7.4
Vanguard	Laura Genender	06/26/07	6.8
Scions of Fate	Adele Caelia	04/09/07	5.1
RF Online	Brian Perry Jr.	04/07/06	7.6
Disney's Toontown Online	Garrett Fuller	01/24/06	7.5
D&D Online	Garrett Fuller	5/29/06	7.3
Dofus	James Pittiglio	01/10/06	7.1
Auto Assault	Andrew Cranston	6/19/06	6.9
WoW	Reed Hubbard	4/13/05	8.1
Guild Wars	David Souza	06/07/05	8.1
City of Villians	Laura Genender	12/16/05	8.0
EQ2	Reed Hubbard	01/03/05	7.9
The Matrix Online	Richard Cox	5/10/05	7.3
DAoC	Mark Schembri	4/13/04	8.4
City of Heroes	Richard Cox	08/20/04	8.3
EvE Online	Reed Hubbard	09/24/04	8.3
SWG	Richard Cox	06/04/04	7.0
Ryzom	Reed Hubbard	10/31/04	7.0

 

So, we are to believe (from the review scores above) that this is the BEST MMO year of releases EVER!

Cool... I guess. 

 

Just thought it would be interesting to see what other gamers take is on the "inflation" of Review scores.  Are the MMOs really getting better and therefore deserve the higher scores? 

Or, is there something else going on here? 

 

(And yes I know, there are only 4 listed for 2008.  I didn't feel the other reviews met my standard of being original, non-expansion, or a re-review... i.e. AOC was reviewed twice.  I put in the first review.  I also didn't include reviews done for the first time here on MMORPG.COM, but done quite awhile after the game was released... i.e. EQ and UO).

 

(If any mistakes are found, please let me know and I'll correct them asap).

Lol @ people who would take those ratings seriously.

I find it funny how the worst MMORPGs ever made happen to be top ranked, and they are even ranked above games like WoW. 

Lets face it, WoW is still the best MMORPG out there.  AION is a piece of shit, just like WAR.  Games are both WoW clones and massive failures.  

If those ratings measure anything, its hype.  Those games at the top were supposed to kill WoW, I wonder what happened.

And lol @ Sean Bulger, Carolyn Koh, Michael Bitton, Sanya Weathers. 

WAR or AION above WoW?  That is a joke

On a side note, MMORPGs either peaked at EQ or WoW and have been going downhill ever since.  

 lol ,lot of title you included were reviewed and published last year lol ,you included some game way past  the 12 month time lol

"Is this really the best year of MMOs EVER? Really???"

Short answer ... no.

I don't think a good year for MMORPGs has ever involved what came out new release that year, as MMOs very rarely appear bug free with a happy, settled community.

Good years for MMORPGs is when several good games exist in their 2nd or 3rd year. Not too old, not too new, good selection of games.

I would peg that at 2006 or 2007... when WoW and FFXI were fresh but established. But you could look back farther to the years when DAOC, EQ1, AO, and pre-NGE SWG were running strong.

If games like The Secret World, Old Republic, Star Trek, Fallen Earth, and perhaps Aion progress and do well into 2010, perhaps 2011 will be a good year.

Aion had smoother launch than WoW and just about ever other mmo,Ratings of games are 75% launch and 25% game play.Early rating for mmo do not matter just look at War and AoC.The problem with rating mmos is that reviewers can not play the endgame or predict the problems with fixing issues in the game.So yes based on Rating system Aion is one of the best mmo every released but for mmo the re rating are actually the most important rating.

Until MMOs test more for the end game this type of rating we will see,Could anyone predict that funcom would ingnore all the AoC probelms for months and would be unable to figure out probelms with sieges and pvp balance,or that War PVE would have so little depth that it couldn't keep the WoW players,It is impossible to predict how companies will fix probelms or how players will make gameplay the end. MMO are about endgame or endgame skills and their is no way 2 months and probably even 6 months you will get a proper review of how a game will be.

I will end with this Aoc was not 7.9 at the start it was probably 6.5 but right now it is probably 7.9 even though nobody is playing it.War was probably not 8.4  it was probably 7.1 right now it is 8.4 but nobody is playing it.MMO improve drastically for the better over time,if players are going to ingore improvements to game and game turns the game they wanted it what is the point then.

Originally posted by luckturtz

Aion had smoother launch than WoW and just about ever other mmo

 

 

LOL

12 hour queues for 2 weeks is "smoother than every other MMO"?

You all sure bring out the funny tonight.

Originally posted by bastii

Originally posted by luckturtz

Aion had smoother launch than WoW and just about ever other mmo

 

 

 

LOL

12 hour queues for 2 weeks is "smoother than every other MMO"?

You all sure bring out the funny tonight.

Go head name another problem that Aion had and i will wait on a reply.Never mind i will say for you

1.Gold/chat spam

2.Private shop spam

1 month later all of the problems are gone.Go ahead try to say after 1 month any other mmo all of the "major launch" problems where gone.Wow,Aoc,War,Darkfall all launch with out main features or many bugs and glitches.The haters will complain about the queues but ask any current AoC or War player if they prefer having to wait around a little in the beginning or watching their server die from lack players and then having to go through the sillyness of a server merge or character transfers.Aion could have made the quick fix and add bunch of servers but two months from when the pop drops the will have a bunch of low pop servers.Aion made the right choice.

Aion may be unoriginal game that brings nothing new to table but it is very well made unoriginal game.It has very few bugs or real problems

More like the year of clone and fail.

Originally posted by luckturtz

Go head name another problem that Aion had and i will wait on a reply.Never mind i will say for you

1.Gold/chat spam

2.Private shop spam

3. Horrible grind and lack of content. 

I'm waiting to resub when the patch comes out that actually makes Aion...fun.

This has been the year of shit MMOs.  Just like last year. 

Although reviews do provide a good insight on the potential quality of a game, it has to be taken into consideration the review himself. Because personally, I take note of which review liked what and if that particular reviewer is a person after my own tastes, then I will find myself tuning into that reviewer's work more often than others. I suppose it's a matter of similar taste. Except when it comes to general quality of aspects such as sound, graphics and performance. Features, can be subjective as some people favor some over others.

Originally posted by Eben

Originally posted by luckturtz

Go head name another problem that Aion had and i will wait on a reply.Never mind i will say for you

1.Gold/chat spam

2.Private shop spam

3. Horrible grind and lack of content. 

 

I'm waiting to resub when the patch comes out that actually makes Aion...fun.

This has been the year of shit MMOs.  Just like last year. 

Lack of content?As compare to what WoW?EQ? You can't compare games to WoW for content wise it has 3-4 year 2 expansion head start.The content is fine players need to stop rushing through games just to level. Aion due 6 month to 1 year delay and because it has been out Korea for awhile it is pretty filled with content and they have been pumping out new content in Korea which you will see in US/EU pretty soon.Content is not issue with aion.

Horrible Grind,I didn't think it was that bad while i was playing it,It has less grind than most Asian centric games.It is "grindie" some what,would i call it horrible grind not really i didn't find worse than WoW or CoX.

I don't play Aion anymore not because it is bad game but because it is not the type of mmo spefically the combat that i want to play.

I think mmo fans have unreal expectations for new mmos,More content than WoW from the beginning,The game is suppose to have a lot content but don't be too grind filled,You supposed to be able to level quickly but have a lots of content.You are suppose to try something new but be like old games.Honestly many of you guys will jump from one bad mmo to another bad mmo to another bad mmo,and never realize what problem is and here is a hint it is not the game.

In no world Aion and WAR should get a better score than WoW, those games aren't even in the same scale with WoW this is enough to tell you that these scrores worth 4$$.

Originally posted by luckturtz

Originally posted by Eben

Originally posted by luckturtz

Go head name another problem that Aion had and i will wait on a reply.Never mind i will say for you

1.Gold/chat spam

2.Private shop spam

3. Horrible grind and lack of content. 

 

I'm waiting to resub when the patch comes out that actually makes Aion...fun.

This has been the year of shit MMOs.  Just like last year. 

 

Lack of content?As compare to what WoW?EQ? You can't compare games to WoW for content wise it has 3-4 year 2 expansion head start.The content is fine players need to stop rushing through games just to level. Aion due 6 month to 1 year delay and because it has been out Korea for awhile it is pretty filled with content and they have been pumping out new content in Korea which you will see in US/EU pretty soon.Content is not issue with aion.

Horrible Grind,I didn't think it was that bad while i was playing it,It has less grind than most Asian centric games.It is "grindie" some what,would i call it horrible grind not really i didn't find worse than WoW or CoX.

I don't play Aion anymore not because it is bad game but because it is not the type of mmo spefically the combat that i want to play.

I think mmo fans have unreal expectations for new mmos,More content than WoW from the beginning,The game is suppose to have a lot content but don't be too grind filled,You supposed to be able to level quickly but have a lots of content.You are suppose to try something new but be like old games.Honestly many of you guys will jump from one bad mmo to another bad mmo to another bad mmo,and never realize what problem is and here is a hint it is not the game.

 

 

Sorry but i am not the problem! In my opinion a mmorpg has lack of content if it doesn't have an advanced crafting system completely separate from combat interaction, player housing, player vendors, completely player-driven economy and dynamic environments (sit down on a chair, light a campfire where you want, write actual texts in books and give them to people, i could go on forever).

Originally posted by luckturtz

Aion had smoother launch than WoW and just about ever other mmo,Ratings of games are 75% launch and 25% game play.Early rating for mmo do not matter just look at War and AoC.The problem with rating mmos is that reviewers can not play the endgame or predict the problems with fixing issues in the game.So yes based on Rating system Aion is one of the best mmo every released but for mmo the re rating are actually the most important rating.

Until MMOs test more for the end game this type of rating we will see,Could anyone predict that funcom would ingnore all the AoC probelms for months and would be unable to figure out probelms with sieges and pvp balance,or that War PVE would have so little depth that it couldn't keep the WoW players,It is impossible to predict how companies will fix probelms or how players will make gameplay the end. MMO are about endgame or endgame skills and their is no way 2 months and probably even 6 months you will get a proper review of how a game will be.

I will end with this Aoc was not 7.9 at the start it was probably 6.5 but right now it is probably 7.9 even though nobody is playing it.War was probably not 8.4  it was probably 7.1 right now it is 8.4 but nobody is playing it.MMO improve drastically for the better over time,if players are going to ingore improvements to game and game turns the game they wanted it what is the point then.

 

 

First, let me say that yes, AION is a good game and had a great NA launch.  2nd, Luckturtz, please use your brain.  While AION did have a great NA launch, the actual launch of AION was a JOKE!  It released in Asia a year ago and it was on par with release of most MMORPGs today.  The reason why the NA was so smooth is that they had a year of live gamers to fix all the issues so when it was our turn, AION was a smooth running game.  You can thank the Asian players for putting up with most of the normal launch "bugs" and which resulted in a better game for us.  Trying to compare the AIONs launch in the west against WoW, WAR, and AoC is just wrong.  imho, while WoW had one of the best launches in the west, one had a launch even smoother and that was LOTRO.

Originally posted by Shannia

Trying to compare the AIONs launch in the west against WoW, WAR, and AoC is just wrong.  imho, while WoW had one of the best launches in the west, one had a launch even smoother and that was LOTRO.

 

I'd like a word with you on that... First two months of release I was only able to play about 30 hours through no fault of my own.

Originally posted by Shannia

 

 

First, let me say that yes, AION is a good game and had a great NA launch.  2nd, Luckturtz, please use your brain.  While AION did have a great NA launch, the actual launch of AION was a JOKE!  It released in Asia a year ago and it was on par with release of most MMORPGs today.  The reason why the NA was so smooth is that they had a year of live gamers to fix all the issues so when it was our turn, AION was a smooth running game.  You can thank the Asian players for putting up with most of the normal launch "bugs" and which resulted in a better game for us.  Trying to compare the AIONs launch in the west against WoW, WAR, and AoC is just wrong.  imho, while WoW had one of the best launches in the west, one had a launch even smoother and that was LOTRO.

 

I mention year in Korea beta,Chinese beta and live in Korea in my other post.People where comparing Aion score to WoW and saying Aion doesn't deserve it score.Aion "true launch" may have been a bit have been a bit buggier(actually the Korean launch was pretty smooth too) but it doesn't matter for this topic.MMO ratings are based on 75% how it is at launch and 25% gameplay and guess Aion was beta test about 4 times and had about 6 months live in other country where it could be patched and tweaked before touching us soil.Based on what they rate games by Aion deserves its rating and point does not change Aion had one of the best if not the best NA launch of mmo ever.

I again i will say early rating for mmo don't mean much i have read three reviews for Aion,one guy didn't make it to abyss,one guy barely made it 25 and one guy passed level 25.The reality is most mmo are getting rated on the areas where you will spend the least time in a mmo.Even if a mmo gave the reviewer a max level character it does not mean much because it takes a whole community leveling up to a high level to get true feel of how the games is going to go be.

The success of  Abyss is what Aion is going to be judge on how in world is a reviewer going to tell you that now.If somebody reviewed less than half of any other game would you even take that serious.So when this happens with mmo why are people shocked

First review of a mmo-Is the state of the game at launch

The rereview six month later-is the review that you should have gotten at launch

A review a year later--is the most accurate picture you will probably get on mmo

I think everyone is saying a bit of truth but it still all comes down to the staff of MMORPG not being very professional.

What needs to happen is to have another MMO dedicated community site to launch and start posting serious content and taking some place. This will force MMORPG to unlazy their ass and start giving out valuable information.

The mods do not even check these forums, no one is actively gathering some information and most articles are stolen from posters at times. It’s completely absurd but it seems to work… all this for the sheer reason that MMORPG has no direct competition really.

Despite what I’m saying, I like his current staff… they just need to brush up!
 

WTH is Pixie hollow and Freaky Creatures?

Who gives a F what MMORPG.COM reviews say??

Originally posted by Ponico

I think everyone is saying a bit of truth but it still all comes down to the staff of MMORPG not being very professional.

What needs to happen is to have another MMO dedicated community site to launch and start posting serious content and taking some place. This will force MMORPG to unlazy their ass and start giving out valuable information.

The mods do not even check these forums, no one is actively gathering some information and most articles are stolen from posters at times. It’s completely absurd but it seems to work… all this for the sheer reason that MMORPG has no direct competition really.

Despite what I’m saying, I like his current staff… they just need to brush up!
 

Heh, I agree with you Ponico.
 

Despite it's faults I still like MMORPG.COM.  I just wish that they weren't so obvious with it sometimes.

Originally posted by xzyax

Here is a simple table of the top 5 MMO scores given each year (from 2004-2009) here at MMORPG.COM

(I am including only original reviews, not re-reviews, or expansions).

 

Top Review Scores by Year

MMO Title	Reviewer	Review Date	Score
Aion	Sean Bulger	10/15/09	8.7
Pixie Hollow	Carolyn Koh	07/02/09	8.5
WAR	Michael Bitton	04/23/09	8.4
Free Realms	Sanya Weathers	06/11/09	8.3
Freaky Creatures	Carolyn Koh	4/30/09	8.0
Dungeon Runners	Joe Iuliani	04/08/08	7.9
AOC (1-20)	Jon Wood	06/19/08	7.9
Hellgate: London	Joe Iuliani	04/15/08	7.0
Asda Story	Joe Iuliani	10/09/08	6.0
LoTRO	Donna Desborough	06/18/07	8.5
SotNW: Granada Espada	Adele Caelia	08/06/07	7.4
Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates	Donna Desborough	03/30/07	7.4
Vanguard	Laura Genender	06/26/07	6.8
Scions of Fate	Adele Caelia	04/09/07	5.1
RF Online	Brian Perry Jr.	04/07/06	7.6
Disney's Toontown Online	Garrett Fuller	01/24/06	7.5
D&D Online	Garrett Fuller	5/29/06	7.3
Dofus	James Pittiglio	01/10/06	7.1
Auto Assault	Andrew Cranston	6/19/06	6.9
WoW	Reed Hubbard	4/13/05	8.1
Guild Wars	David Souza	06/07/05	8.1
City of Villians	Laura Genender	12/16/05	8.0
EQ2	Reed Hubbard	01/03/05	7.9
The Matrix Online	Richard Cox	5/10/05	7.3
DAoC	Mark Schembri	4/13/04	8.4
City of Heroes	Richard Cox	08/20/04	8.3
EvE Online	Reed Hubbard	09/24/04	8.3
SWG	Richard Cox	06/04/04	7.0
Ryzom	Reed Hubbard	10/31/04	7.0

 

So, we are to believe (from the review scores above) that this is the BEST MMO year of releases EVER!

Cool... I guess. 

 

Just thought it would be interesting to see what other gamers take is on the "inflation" of Review scores.  Are the MMOs really getting better and therefore deserve the higher scores? 

Or, is there something else going on here? 

 

(And yes I know, there are only 4 listed for 2008.  I didn't feel the other reviews met my standard of being original, non-expansion, or a re-review... i.e. AOC was reviewed twice.  I put in the first review.  I also didn't include reviews done for the first time here on MMORPG.COM, but done quite awhile after the game was released... i.e. EQ and UO).

 

(If any mistakes are found, please let me know and I'll correct them asap).

Is that guy's name really "Richard Cox"?

LOL