Originally posted by slickbizzle

I started playing this game and so far, I'm finding it to be a refreshing change of pace.   Then again, I'm looking at it objectively. 

 

I'm not one of those "defend mah game I spent years in" type people, so I can have fun in another game.

 

When it's not fun for me, I'll move on.

 

But all in all, I can understand why it has been getting high ratings based off of the fun I've had so far.

I think this is one of the best posts I've seen in a while . Shame all fans of the genre can't think in the same way .

When I was a kid there was this big thing in comic Marvel vs DC . At school when I was about 9 or 10 you either read one or the other and you couldn't understand why other kids read books by the other company .

Unlike most kids I kept reading them and when my friend started up a local comic shop . I finally picked up a DC comic . It was the New Teen Titans no.1 and to my suprise it was just as good as anything Marvel put out .

I think when your young your trying to fit in so much with your friends you tend not to see things as they are and you mature if your lucky you try new things and accept maybe they arn't going to be exactly what you expect  .

I can honestly say theres no mmo I've played I've not enjoyed on some level . ToR isn't perfect . Theres things I would have liked to have been different I find mobs a little to easy to kill and there needs to be more patrols and critters in the game to make it feel a tittle less static . But none of these things make it a bad game . Also its not a genre changer but that doesn't not make it fun .

I think the critics probably appraoched it from a similar perspective .

Which is the reason no one has as yet been able to post a link to a bad review .

So I guess only paid reviewers are to be listened to and anyone who thought the game was less than an 8 or 9 is just not looking at the game "objectively".  Right... glad I understand now.

Originally posted by Eir_S

So I guess only paid reviewers are to be listened to and anyone who thought the game was less than an 8 or 9 is just not looking at the game "objectively".  Right... glad I understand now.

 Im starting to think you own stock in EA and LA.

Originally posted by oobla

Originally posted by slickbizzle

I started playing this game and so far, I'm finding it to be a refreshing change of pace.   Then again, I'm looking at it objectively. 

 

I'm not one of those "defend mah game I spent years in" type people, so I can have fun in another game.

 

When it's not fun for me, I'll move on.

 

But all in all, I can understand why it has been getting high ratings based off of the fun I've had so far.

I think this is one of the best posts I've seen in a while . Shame all fans of the genre can't think in the same way .

When I was a kid there was this big thing in comic Marvel vs DC . At school when I was about 9 or 10 you either read one or the other and you couldn't understand why other kids read books by the other company .

Unlike most kids I kept reading them and when my friend started up a local comic shop . I finally picked up a DC comic . It was the New Teen Titans no.1 and to my suprise it was just as good as anything Marvel put out .

I think when your young your trying to fit in so much with your friends you tend not to see things as they are and you mature if your lucky you try new things and accept maybe they arn't going to be exactly what you expect  .

I can honestly say theres no mmo I've played I've not enjoyed on some level . ToR isn't perfect . Theres things I would have liked to have been different I find mobs a little to easy to kill and there needs to be more patrols and critters in the game to make it feel a tittle less static . But none of these things make it a bad game . Also its not a genre changer but that doesn't not make it fun .

I think the critics probably appraoched it from a similar perspective .

Which is the reason no one has as yet been able to post a link to a bad review .

I read Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, X-men and Spawn. I had strict DC friends, strict Marvel friends and strict independent friends. None of those friends liked each other, and the fact that I read all of them was a subject which we quickly learned to avoid.

Like you, I see this in mmo's in the exact same way as those old comic book days, and I fear what it really means is that I am still hanging out with 8 to 15 year olds.

Originally posted by oobla

I rarely use this website unless I want to guage what a new games like before buying it . To look at some of the comments here you would think StarWars the Old Republic is a terrible game . So I went searching the web to see if I could find a review thats negative about it . So far every one I've come across sings its praises.

So I would like to challege someone to find a negative review (as long as its from a reasonably legitimate source ie a relativly well known gaming website ,newpaper or magazine website . Not someones blog review or a gaming site that invites people to submit thier own reviews .

I'm sure there must be a few out there  but all in all the reviews I've seen are overwealmingly possative .

when I decide on whether or not to play a game, I base my decisions on my own judgements not what anyone else says.  Hasn't failed me once.

Originally posted by BullseyeArc1

Originally posted by Eir_S

So I guess only paid reviewers are to be listened to and anyone who thought the game was less than an 8 or 9 is just not looking at the game "objectively".  Right... glad I understand now.

 Im starting to think you own stock in EA and LA.

Me?  I have nothing against LA but I am wary of EA.  I just think it's silly to say "there are no bad reviews" when plenty of players have given the game less than the magazines have.  Are their criticisms less valid?  Does it matter that there are negative few paid reviews?  This entire thread is a big troll.  It's basically the OP saying "Nyeh nyeh I'm statisically correct thus SWTOR is infallible"

Originally posted by slickbizzle

I started playing this game and so far, I'm finding it to be a refreshing change of pace.   Then again, I'm looking at it objectively. 

 

I'm not one of those "defend mah game I spent years in" type people, so I can have fun in another game.

 

When it's not fun for me, I'll move on.

 

But all in all, I can understand why it has been getting high ratings based off of the fun I've had so far.

TOR is just another in a long line of "junk food" MMOs that taste good at first bite, but start to leave a bad after taste and make you feel a bit queezy the longer you partake.

It's understandable for players to be caught up in that web, but for professional reviewers and MMO players who have been in the genre long enough to become justifiably jaded, the warning signs should have been pretty obvious.

Heck, I saw the warning signs and still bought the game with the expectations of having something to play for a month or two. That the game soured even more quickly than I anticipated was an unwelcome surprise, (I was hoping against hope to be pleasantly suprised as I played more), but I still knew right from the start this was just a medoicre MMORPG who's flaws would prevent it from being a long term success. I most certainly would never have rated this game higher than a 7.7, even when I was most enjoying it, now I'm thinking 7.3 may prove to be a bit generous.

See how many reviews ONLY review the Esseles/Black Talon flashpoints which were the ONLY ones Bioware showcased and which just by complete accident happen to be the only ones that live up to the hype.

Most reviewers have only two modes, either they tear a game down or hype it up. Because reviewing a game as mediocre, just a run of the mill, a dime a dozen, game. That doesn't deliver headlines.

SWTOR ain't bad it just ain't good either. It is a perfectly average MMO with the same old bugs, the same old gameplay and complete lack of innovation in gameplay.

It is the same as The Rift which really only could expect to last until the next game comes along.

The next game will either be Guild Wars 2 (if they can ever get that one out) or The Secret World (same) for me.

Bioware never really stood a chance. I only like Kotor because... well, I like RPG's and that means there is one RPG per year so I had no choice. I never thought they could make a truly ground breaking MMO or even a MMO that simply learned from those that had come before.

Paid reviewers are not paid for writing a game is average and will make do until the next game comes out.

It is the same with the news. Report "nothing really intresting happened today and now the weather" and you won't have a job for long.

Originally posted by fiontar

Originally posted by slickbizzle

I started playing this game and so far, I'm finding it to be a refreshing change of pace.   Then again, I'm looking at it objectively. 

 

I'm not one of those "defend mah game I spent years in" type people, so I can have fun in another game.

 

When it's not fun for me, I'll move on.

 

But all in all, I can understand why it has been getting high ratings based off of the fun I've had so far.

TOR is just another in a long line of "junk food" MMOs that taste good at first bite, but start to leave a bad after taste and make you feel a bit queezy the longer you partake.

It's understandable for players to be caught up in that web, but for professional reviewers and MMO players who have been in the genre long enough to become justifiably jaded, the warning signs should have been pretty obvious.

Heck, I saw the warning signs and still bought the game with the expectations of having something to play for a month or two. That the game soured even more quickly than I anticipated was an unwelcome surprise, (I was hoping against hope to be pleasantly suprised as I played more), but I still knew right from the start this was just a medoicre MMORPG who's flaws would prevent it from being a long term success. I most certainly would never have rated this game higher than a 7.7, even when I was most enjoying it, now I'm thinking 7.3 may prove to be a bit generous.

So much generalisation going on in here. I am also a long time MMO player..so i think i just put a hole in your theory and yes i am enjoying SWTOR a lot and also beta tetsted it for 5 months before release. I was one of the lucky ones who got in with second wave of closed beta.

Originally posted by Shivam

Originally posted by fiontar

Originally posted by slickbizzle

I started playing this game and so far, I'm finding it to be a refreshing change of pace.   Then again, I'm looking at it objectively. 

 

I'm not one of those "defend mah game I spent years in" type people, so I can have fun in another game.

 

When it's not fun for me, I'll move on.

 

But all in all, I can understand why it has been getting high ratings based off of the fun I've had so far.

TOR is just another in a long line of "junk food" MMOs that taste good at first bite, but start to leave a bad after taste and make you feel a bit queezy the longer you partake.

It's understandable for players to be caught up in that web, but for professional reviewers and MMO players who have been in the genre long enough to become justifiably jaded, the warning signs should have been pretty obvious.

Heck, I saw the warning signs and still bought the game with the expectations of having something to play for a month or two. That the game soured even more quickly than I anticipated was an unwelcome surprise, (I was hoping against hope to be pleasantly suprised as I played more), but I still knew right from the start this was just a medoicre MMORPG who's flaws would prevent it from being a long term success. I most certainly would never have rated this game higher than a 7.7, even when I was most enjoying it, now I'm thinking 7.3 may prove to be a bit generous.

So much generalisation going on in here. I am also a long time MMO player..so i think i just put a hole in your theory and yes i am enjoying SWTOR a lot and also beta tetsted it for 5 months before release. I was one of the lucky ones who got in with second wave of closed beta.

Well, I did qualify it with "should have been obvious", but I guess that wasn't enough of a qualifier. It should be obvious, but I guess it's actually only obvious to many, rather than all. :)

Electronic Arts is a HUGE company, owning a huge amount of development studios.

They publish the vast majority of Western games.

Game magazines, review sites live and survive mainly on advertisement money.

EA doesn't even have to bribe these magazines and review sites to give SW:TOR a High score review.

Most of these magazines and review sites are simply afraid that when they gave this game a bad score, they are goinig to lose on Advertisment money from EA, especially since there is a lot at stake for EA depending the succes of this game.

That's why you see that in a lot of Magazines and review sites, games coming from Large publishers (that spend lots of money on advertisment) their games are often getting higher scores, than games coming from smaller publishers and indy companies, unless there games are simply truthfully good!

There is no conspiracy, there is no EA paid them directly for praising reviews. EA simply already basically owns them in the pocket via Advertisment money.

In relation to this thread - and the announcement that SW:TOR is in low rez I checked back on all the reviews in Metacritic and found which reviewers didn't even notice.

The thread is here

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/4678674/thread/337825#4678674

Enjoy

Originally posted by JeroKane

Electronic Arts is a HUGE company, owning a huge amount of development studios.

They publish the vast majority of Western games.

Game magazines, review sites live and survive mainly on advertisement money.

EA doesn't even have to bribe these magazines and review sites to give SW:TOR a High score review.

Most of these magazines and review sites are simply afraid that when they gave this game a bad score, they are goinig to lose on Advertisment money from EA, especially since there is a lot at stake for EA depending the succes of this game.

That's why you see that in a lot of Magazines and review sites, games coming from Large publishers (that spend lots of money on advertisment) their games are often getting higher scores, than games coming from smaller publishers and indy companies, unless there games are simply truthfully good!

There is no conspiracy, there is no EA paid them directly for praising reviews. EA simply already basically owns them in the pocket via Advertisment money.

Does EA publish all the national press it all North America and Europe ?

Its a good theory but it doesn't account for decent reviews in newspapers who arn't reliant on advertising revenue from games companys .

Also it doesn't account for bad and mediorce reviews of single player games by companys such as EA which exist on plenty on gaming websites .

So essentially it may be true in some instances I wont dispute that but generally speaking it falls apart when you look at the facts .

Theres also plenty of smaller gaming websites that also have nothing to lose by a bad or mediocre review yet again no ones managed to link one from one one of those ( or an online newspaper review )

Originally posted by oobla

Originally posted by JeroKane

Electronic Arts is a HUGE company, owning a huge amount of development studios.

They publish the vast majority of Western games.

Game magazines, review sites live and survive mainly on advertisement money.

EA doesn't even have to bribe these magazines and review sites to give SW:TOR a High score review.

Most of these magazines and review sites are simply afraid that when they gave this game a bad score, they are goinig to lose on Advertisment money from EA, especially since there is a lot at stake for EA depending the succes of this game.

That's why you see that in a lot of Magazines and review sites, games coming from Large publishers (that spend lots of money on advertisment) their games are often getting higher scores, than games coming from smaller publishers and indy companies, unless there games are simply truthfully good!

There is no conspiracy, there is no EA paid them directly for praising reviews. EA simply already basically owns them in the pocket via Advertisment money.

Does EA publish all the national press it all North America and Europe ?

Its a good theory but it doesn't account for decent reviews in newspapers who arn't reliant on advertising revenue from games companys .

Also it doesn't account for bad and mediorce reviews of single player games by companys such as EA which exist on plenty on gaming websites .

So essentially it may be true in some instances I wont dispute that but generally speaking it falls apart when you look at the facts .

Theres also plenty of smaller gaming websites that also have nothing to lose by a bad or mediocre review yet again no ones managed to link one from one one of those ( or an online newspaper review )