AAA is actually a credit rating, different organistations in different countries do these ratings but internationally there are 3 major ones, Moodys, S&P and Fitch, I think.

And indeed, it says nothing about a companies product, it just says that the company is fiscally (  sp? ) sound.

No idea which of the different MMO companies are rated triple A.

And it is not the actual size of a company that matters, almost any company can get it, at least on a national level.

It just a measurment on how much risk is involved when investing in said company.

MMO's are high risk business for any company, so to be honest I doubt any of them are AAA, with the possible obvious exception of blizzard.

But feel free to look that up and tell us?

Originally posted by nate1980

Originally posted by NinjaNerf

Originally posted by nate1980

Quit being daft, the guy already answered your question. Things like this don't typically have a 100% good reason for being done or can be justified. AAA rating is really determined by the players and journalists. No one official. If you need someone official to validate a rating, then you won't find one. Just like the term sandbox, themepark, grind, questing, and so on; AAA is just a term the majority labels a game with.

So Nate, if no one official labels them, who is anyone to tell me I can't label such and such game as a AAA title? No one if you want to be daft and argue feverishly with the majority, but it's commonly accepted that only the big budget games get that rating.

 

What made Funcom a big budget company then? They are smaller than at least a couple indie ones.

 

This is why I call you daft. Read your question and ask yourself if you're not asking dumb questions. You asked, what made Funcom a big budget company? What makes any company a big budget company? A big budget, right? Now is that really hard to figure out? No, which leads anyone to the conclusion that you're just being daft on purpose. Size and budget, are not synonomous.

Didn't you read my other posts? By small I meant not only in term of 'size' but also in "budget" too.

Originally posted by NinjaNerf

Then we can discuss and let people decide whether these AAA games are really AAA in the eyes of the general public.

You've already been told multiple times that 'the general public' (read: MMO gamers, in this case) uses the term differently than the industry does. Does the industry consider them AAA titles? Yes, because their gauge is budget. Do MMO gamers consider them AAA titles? No, because they use quality as the gauge.

What part are you having the most trouble with?

Originally posted by LynxJSA

Originally posted by NinjaNerf

Then we can discuss and let people decide whether these AAA games are really AAA in the eyes of the general public.

 

You've already been told multiple times that 'the general public' (read: MMO gamers, in this case) uses the term differently than the industry does. Does the industry consider them AAA titles? Yes, because their gauge is budget. Do MMO gamers consider them AAA titles? No, because they use quality as the gauge.

What part are you having the most trouble with?

 

I don't have trouble with anything. I want to know the exact origin of "AAA mmorpg". Who said that and based on what. Everything has an origin.

As far as " mmo gamers using quailty as the gauge", I am afraid it is only "SOME mmo gamers using quality as the gauge". My case has already been illustrated by the case of RS and Jagex. What the REAL people in the REAL world don't seem to agree with what the VIRTUAL people in the VIRTUAL worlds.

Originally posted by NinjaNerf

Originally posted by LynxJSA

Originally posted by NinjaNerf

Then we can discuss and let people decide whether these AAA games are really AAA in the eyes of the general public.

 

You've already been told multiple times that 'the general public' (read: MMO gamers, in this case) uses the term differently than the industry does. Does the industry consider them AAA titles? Yes, because their gauge is budget. Do MMO gamers consider them AAA titles? No, because they use quality as the gauge.

What part are you having the most trouble with?

 

 

I don't have trouble with anything. I want to know the exact origin of "AAA mmorpg". Who said that and based on what. Everything has an origin.

As far as " mmo gamers using quailty as the gauge", I am afraid it is only "SOME mmo gamers using quality as the gauge". My case has already been illustrated by the case of RS and Jagex. What the REAL people in the REAL world don't seem to agree with what the VIRTUAL people in the VIRTUAL worlds.

And your argument against my post is actually a reworded agreement, so at this point you're either an idiot or a troll.  Sorry I wasted my time here. Later.

Originally posted by NinjaNerf

Originally posted by LynxJSA

Originally posted by NinjaNerf

Then we can discuss and let people decide whether these AAA games are really AAA in the eyes of the general public.

 

You've already been told multiple times that 'the general public' (read: MMO gamers, in this case) uses the term differently than the industry does. Does the industry consider them AAA titles? Yes, because their gauge is budget. Do MMO gamers consider them AAA titles? No, because they use quality as the gauge.

What part are you having the most trouble with?

 

 

I don't have trouble with anything. I want to know the exact origin of "AAA mmorpg". Who said that and based on what. Everything has an origin.

As far as " mmo gamers using quailty as the gauge", I am afraid it is only "SOME mmo gamers using quality as the gauge". My case has already been illustrated by the case of RS and Jagex. What the REAL people in the REAL world don't seem to agree with what the VIRTUAL people in the VIRTUAL worlds.

And as others have said you are asking for an answer that cant be nailed down to a specific date/time/place/person. Its like asking who was the first person to ever use the term 'Woot!' in a game, what date and time it happened.

It just cant be nailed down to any specifics.

Originally posted by Umbrood

AAA is actually a credit rating, different organistations in different countries do these ratings but internationally there are 3 major ones, Moodys, S&P and Fitch, I think.

And indeed, it says nothing about a companies product, it just says that the company is fiscally (  sp? ) sound.

No idea which of the different MMO companies are rated triple A.

And it is not the actual size of a company that matters, almost any company can get it, at least on a national level.

It just a measurment on how much risk is involved when investing in said company.

MMO's are high risk business for any company, so to be honest I doubt any of them are AAA, with the possible obvious exception of blizzard.

But feel free to look that up and tell us?

Wow out of all the post I have read THIS guy is the ONLY one who has gotten it right. Games were NEVER intended to be labeled AAA and no one in the gaming community uses it FOR games....metascores, alpha ratings, numeric rating, smiley faces....you name it it has been used. But the AAA label is only been used to describe COMPANIES backing these games. And what this guy posted above is the very reason ALONE.

How much clout does a company have? Who can they bring aboard to start a major project, as far as industry talent, and get the job done? How much financial support can they muster through investors to fund their projects? These are the questions asked by people who understand what the AAA title really means. The misuse of it here only further goes to show how many players tend to confuse themselves and corrode a term in the hopes of trying to define it.

Let's just get this straight:

Triple A companies can produce quality games

Triple A companies can produce crap games

Triple A companies DO NOT always have the players best interest in mind

Triple A companies are NOT limited in creating multiple hits

Triple A companies are NOT only limited to developers

Triple A companies ALWAYS have at least 1 blockbuster game that puts them on the "map"

Originally posted by Ramonski7

Originally posted by Umbrood

AAA is actually a credit rating, different organistations in different countries do these ratings but internationally there are 3 major ones, Moodys, S&P and Fitch, I think.

And indeed, it says nothing about a companies product, it just says that the company is fiscally (  sp? ) sound.

No idea which of the different MMO companies are rated triple A.

And it is not the actual size of a company that matters, almost any company can get it, at least on a national level.

It just a measurment on how much risk is involved when investing in said company.

MMO's are high risk business for any company, so to be honest I doubt any of them are AAA, with the possible obvious exception of blizzard.

But feel free to look that up and tell us?

 

Wow out of all the post I have read THIS guy is the ONLY one who has gotten it right.

Actually, you are the only two to get it wrong:

http://www.gameproducer.net/2006/05/26/what-are-aaa-titles/

http://www.raphkoster.com/gaming/arey.shtml

You are confusing company ratings with a game description.

Originally posted by fyerwall

Originally posted by NinjaNerf

Originally posted by LynxJSA

Originally posted by NinjaNerf

Then we can discuss and let people decide whether these AAA games are really AAA in the eyes of the general public.

 

You've already been told multiple times that 'the general public' (read: MMO gamers, in this case) uses the term differently than the industry does. Does the industry consider them AAA titles? Yes, because their gauge is budget. Do MMO gamers consider them AAA titles? No, because they use quality as the gauge.

What part are you having the most trouble with?

 

 

I don't have trouble with anything. I want to know the exact origin of "AAA mmorpg". Who said that and based on what. Everything has an origin.

As far as " mmo gamers using quailty as the gauge", I am afraid it is only "SOME mmo gamers using quality as the gauge". My case has already been illustrated by the case of RS and Jagex. What the REAL people in the REAL world don't seem to agree with what the VIRTUAL people in the VIRTUAL worlds.

 

And as others have said you are asking for an answer that cant be nailed down to a specific date/time/place/person. Its like asking who was the first person to ever use the term 'Woot!' in a game, what date and time it happened.

It just cant be nailed down to any specifics.

Woot! doesn't sound too interesting so I don't bother to find out. Noob and such will be more worthy to find out.

Anyway. if nobody knows then fine. I think we can't take the term "AAA mmorpg" too seriously. Not that those WOW and such aren't good but "AAA mmorpg" is not much different than those numerous of whatchamacallit awards WAR won.

Originally posted by LynxJSA

Originally posted by Ramonski7

Originally posted by Umbrood

AAA is actually a credit rating, different organistations in different countries do these ratings but internationally there are 3 major ones, Moodys, S&P and Fitch, I think.

And indeed, it says nothing about a companies product, it just says that the company is fiscally (  sp? ) sound.

No idea which of the different MMO companies are rated triple A.

And it is not the actual size of a company that matters, almost any company can get it, at least on a national level.

It just a measurment on how much risk is involved when investing in said company.

MMO's are high risk business for any company, so to be honest I doubt any of them are AAA, with the possible obvious exception of blizzard.

But feel free to look that up and tell us?

 

Wow out of all the post I have read THIS guy is the ONLY one who has gotten it right.

 

Actually, you are the only two to get it wrong:

http://www.gameproducer.net/2006/05/26/what-are-aaa-titles/

http://www.raphkoster.com/gaming/arey.shtml

 

You are confusing company ratings with a game description.

 

 

These are self proclaimed epeens that are blogging to try to define what the title means when trying to apply it to games.....but in both accounts there is ONE glaring reality to what each of the bloggers include in their definitions: AAA titles HAVE to have big budgets. Nice try but you still have NOT pointed out one PROFESSIONALLY known media outlet that actually USES the term AAA to RATE anything other than companies.

Games decsriptions are not the issue here as many reviews use it as a means to reflect the quality of the company's success to a games worth, but production value does not equate ranking. Like I said people tend to twist a term to fit their own ambitions, but in this case AAA does not equal ranking, it's just a means to describe something.

There is no such thing as a AAA rated MMO......triple A description yes, but not rated....maybe you're thinking 4 stars?

This question is like... which came first, the egg or the chicken?

And that's not even considering the fact that "AAA" ratings in MMOs are simply subjective.

Originally posted by Ramonski7

These are self proclaimed epeens that are blogging to try to define what the title means when trying to apply it to games.....but in both accounts there is ONE glaring reality to what each of the bloggers include in their definitions: AAA titles HAVE to have big budgets. Nice try but you still have NOT pointed out one PROFESSIONALLY known media outlet that actually USES the term AAA to RATE anything other than companies.

Again, it isn't a rating. It is a description. The industry and most gamers uses it to refer to big budget games. MMO gamers (a subset of gamers) use it to describe quality games.  I can't show you a single media outlet that uses it as a rating because it doesn't.

Does the industry regularly use the term in panels, discussion, reviews and industry publications? Definitely.

At major worldwide conferences

In Developer Job Descriptions

In gamer Media Coverage and industry media coverage

EDIT: If you rather not click the links, it is various sources where GDC, IGN, EDGE, Microsoft, and id Software use the term to refer to a big budget title. They aren't rating their games rather indicating the scale of the development.

Originally posted by LynxJSA

Originally posted by Ramonski7

These are self proclaimed epeens that are blogging to try to define what the title means when trying to apply it to games.....but in both accounts there is ONE glaring reality to what each of the bloggers include in their definitions: AAA titles HAVE to have big budgets. Nice try but you still have NOT pointed out one PROFESSIONALLY known media outlet that actually USES the term AAA to RATE anything other than companies.

 

Again, it isn't a rating. It is a description. The industry and most gamers uses it to refer to big budget games. MMO gamers (a subset of gamers) use it to describe quality games.  I can't show you a single media outlet that uses it as a rating because it doesn't.

 

Does the industry regularly use the term in panels, discussion, reviews and industry publications? Definitely.

At major worldwide conferences

In Developer Job Descriptions

In gamer Media Coverage and industry media coverage

 

EDIT: If you rather not click the links, it is various sources where GDC, IGN, EDGE, Microsoft, and id Software use the term to refer to a big budget title. They aren't rating their games rather indicating the scale of the development.

 

 

 

 

 

And that's exactly my point, the use of the term in describing their games has been overused so much by both developers and some media outlets that we now have MMO players actually thinking that it's a rating system magically bestowed upon us by the magical MMO fairybabe.

And thus that is the stark reality I believe we are both trying to point out to the misinformed masses here:

There will never be a AAA rated MMO. Triple A quality is a far different beast that's more fitting and a little more cut-and-dry for discussion of MMOs. I can see a triple A quality MMO like Eve, but it doesn't mean I have to enjoy playing it.......

It's just a vague term related to a rating scale with no definite heuristics, that is thrown around by people who want to sound like they know what they're talking about.

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet but.... WHO CARES.

It's a term that the majority understands, and they take it to mean a big budget title. So if it's a term that a lot of people can recognize then that makes it's use worth using.

Also, WHO CARES. Yes jaded player will find any issue on any topic to complain and whine about because nothing in life makes them happy and it is also why there are studies showing the depressed people flock to video games. If you care that this term is used or think a great injustice has been done by people using it, then you don't have a grasp on reality.

It's a term that is used by both gamers and developers, get used to it. It also was derived from how AAA is used in other forms of industry. Did some guy write up an official "Here are the terms MMOs shall use hence forth...." nope. So just move on and stop being bitter about the world. It's already forgotten about you.

Like others have said numerous times on this thread, AAA means different things to developers and consumers. Developers use it to show they are putting a lot of funds and resources in the project, while consumers use AAA as a great MMO. I don't know why you keep asking the same question again and again.  

---

Originally posted by SnarlingWolf
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet but.... WHO CARES.
 
It's a term that the majority understands, and they take it to mean a big budget title. So if it's a term that a lot of people can recognize then that makes it's use worth using.
 
Also, WHO CARES. Yes jaded player will find any issue on any topic to complain and whine about because nothing in life makes them happy and it is also why there are studies showing the depressed people flock to video games. If you care that this term is used or think a great injustice has been done by people using it, then you don't have a grasp on reality.
 
It's a term that is used by both gamers and developers, get used to it. It also was derived from how AAA is used in other forms of industry. Did some guy write up an official "Here are the terms MMOs shall use hence forth...." nope. So just move on and stop being bitter about the world. It's already forgotten about you.

---

Actually, the other industries that actually use rating scales, have clearly defined heuristics for rating, which is usually done by one or more organizations that exist explicitly to rate and monitor performance within said industries. This usually occurs in mature industries, and the MMO industry is anything but a mature industry.

So trying to claim that an MMO is "AAA", when there is no definite rating scale for the MMO industry, is an exercise in futility. While it may imply 'high quality' or 'heavily funded', it really ends up meaning nothing because it can mean anything due to the lack of a proper definition within the MMO industry.

Until there is a definitive rating scale for MMOs, people need to just stop throwing around terms that have no specific meaning in the context they're being used in.

 Just wanted to point out that AAA has been used in the gaming industry before MMOs and sometimes still used when reviewers review a game. AAA, AA, A, B, C are the ones i know.  It also comes from before teh gaming industry, the movie industry uses it more when using it for movies. I am pretty sure you have heard a A movies and B movies.

For movies it refers to the financial investment put into the movie, has nothing to do with quality. Same applies to MMOs. Firms that invest lots of money into games consider their titles AAA since they are an AAA company, companies that aren't AAA and don't have the financial backing, are not considered AAA. Also like said previously, AAA isn't really even related to the game, its a measure for the company financial status really.\

No one really takes the AAA rating seriously for MMOs anyway, I don't get the big deal. Everyone gauges the game based on tehir personal tastes and likes. A lot of MMOs are from AAA companies, doesn't mean they are good, or even worth our time.

Originally posted by Ceridith

 

---

Originally posted by SnarlingWolf
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet but.... WHO CARES.
 
It's a term that the majority understands, and they take it to mean a big budget title. So if it's a term that a lot of people can recognize then that makes it's use worth using.
 
Also, WHO CARES. Yes jaded player will find any issue on any topic to complain and whine about because nothing in life makes them happy and it is also why there are studies showing the depressed people flock to video games. If you care that this term is used or think a great injustice has been done by people using it, then you don't have a grasp on reality.
 
It's a term that is used by both gamers and developers, get used to it. It also was derived from how AAA is used in other forms of industry. Did some guy write up an official "Here are the terms MMOs shall use hence forth...." nope. So just move on and stop being bitter about the world. It's already forgotten about you.

---

 

Actually, the other industries that actually use rating scales, have clearly defined heuristics for rating, which is usually done by one or more organizations that exist explicitly to rate and monitor performance within said industries. This usually occurs in mature industries, and the MMO industry is anything but a mature industry.

So trying to claim that an MMO is "AAA", when there is no definite rating scale for the MMO industry, is an exercise in futility. While it may imply 'high quality' or 'heavily funded', it really ends up meaning nothing because it can mean anything due to the lack of a proper definition within the MMO industry.

Until there is a definitive rating scale for MMOs, people need to just stop throwing around terms that have no specific meaning in the context they're being used in.

You shouldn't use languages to communicate, as all words and their uses stem from common usage. It's not that someone one day wrote a dictionary and everyone else started following it. A dictionary was made to have a written form of the languages already used. And as such dictionaries continue to expand even to this day as words that originally had no meaning and didn't exist, become commonly used and are considered now part of the language.
 

So get off your high horse about the issue that no  one actually cares about and except the truth. People use the phrase, it is derived from other places, it has become fairly common place. So because of that it is language that people will continue to use. Whether you do or don't use it because you can only use things with specific universal definitions matters not to anyone else, and all those other people will continue to use it.

Most reply was so AAA it was ubertasterific.

Originally posted by Ramonski7

And that's exactly my point, the use of the term in describing their games has been overused so much by both developers and some media outlets that we now have MMO players actually thinking that it's a rating system magically bestowed upon us by the magical MMO fairybabe.

Can you link to an example?

"There will never be a AAA rated MMO."

I think you're arguing a non-existent point as I haven't seen anyone use it as a rating scale anywhere. I know I could very well be wrong on this, so could you post links to where a site or publication is using it as a rating?