1. Review is being published. The only negative described in the review is - LAG issue. Not only in populated hubs, but also in empty areas. Joe Iuliani mentions his system specs: 

"I am running AoC with Windows Vista Ultimate on a Dual Core E6750 @2.66, Dual ATI Radeon HD 3850, 2 Gig Corsair RAM and cable modem."

2. Twenty minutes after that, poster number 21 noticed that the reviewers system specs are below min. requirements to play Fallen Earth: 

http://www.fallenearth.com/node/16

Minimum Hardware Requirements
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz or Athlon 64X2 2.4 GHz
RAM: 2.0 GB for XP, 3.0 GB for Vista
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 6600/ATI Radeon X1300
RAM (dedicated): 256 MB
Free hard-drive space: 10 GB
 

3. An hour after that, Stradden comes into discussion (post number 51):

"Ok guys,

Obviously this was an oversight on my part in terms of the minimum requirements.

I've pulled the review while we look into this. I certainly don't want to see a game get saddled with a score that it doesn't deserve. My apologies for this mistake."
 

4. Half-hour after that, Stradden updates the situation:

Ok guys,

I've spoken extensively with the reviewer. There was actually a mistake made in the original text. Originally, he was talking about the RAM in the dual video cards, and neglected to mention system RAM. His machine, on top of the video cards, has 4 Gb RAM, more than enough to meet the minimum requirements.

He also assures me that the offending lag comes at peak times and the game does run more smootly when there are fewer players online.

My sincere apologies for any problems that this caused to people. As you can imagine, this has been a bit of an embarasing situation for me. I really should have caught this on my edit of the review. So, continue to crucify me if you want to, but that was my bad and I'm sorry.

As for the score: That's the score that the reviewer chose to give the game. You don't have to like it, you don't have to agree with it but in the end when asked that the game was worth, he told me 6.9. Not everyone is going to like the same kinds of game. In the end, a reviewer scores a game based on his or her own opinions of it.
 

5. Now, let's have a look at Iuliano's previous reviews:

Joe Iuliani system specs: aoc re-review

"I am running AoC with Windows Vista Ultimate on a Dual Core E6750 @2.66, Dual ATI Radeon HD 3850, 2 Gig Corsair RAM and cable modem."

CONS: System Lag
"For the most part, the lag through game play was not frequent. Although when the lag struck, it struck hard. During these lag moments, both the game and my computer would freeze. Additionally there were the occasional moments of game lag during my play time. I couldn't discern a particular pattern of lag, i.e. severe "City Lag" or such, just random moments of annoyance."

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/191/view/reviews/load/88/Age-of-Conan-Hyborian-Adventures-ReReview.html

Joe Iuliani system specs Wotlk:

Performance/Lag:

"I am running the game with Windows Vista Ultimate on a Dual Core E6750 @2.66, Dual ATI Radeon HD 3850, 2 Gig Corsair RAM and cable modem."
 

"CONS: Lag in Populated Areas "

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/15/view/reviews/load/67/World-of-Warcraft-Wrath-of-the-Lich-King-Review.html

Joe Iuliani Dungeon Runners:

"I am running the game with Windows Vista Ultimate on a Dual Core E6750 @2.66, Dual ATI Radeon HD 3850, 2 Gig Corsair RAM and cable modem."

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/247/view/reviews/load/59/Dungeon-Runners-Dungeon-Runners-Review.html

Joe Iuliania: Hellgate London

"I am running the game with Windows Vista Ultimate on a Dual Core E6750 @2.66, Dual ATI Radeon HD 3850, 2 Gig Corsair RAM and cable modem."

 Performance/Lag : 5

"Unfortunately, there were times in densely populated multiplayer areas that the game hung up a quite a bit. This happened almost every time I logged into a zone. The situation would correct itself in time but it became very tedious very quickly"
 

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/314/view/reviews/load/60/Hellgate-London-Review.html

6. Shortly after, the review is rewritten and the system specs reads now: "I am running Fallen Earth with Windows Vista Ultimate on a Dual Core E6750 @2.66, Dual ATI Radeon HD 3850, 4 Gigs of RAM and cable modem."

Right, Joe Iuliani complains about lag in his fourth game now in a row that he reviewed.  When he was confronted with the fact, that his computer doesn't meet not even minimal requirements, he lied to Stradden that he meant 2GB video ram (eventho he wrote exactly 2gb corsair RAM, as in every other review before)

Ironically, Jon Wood posted an article about incompetent press releases... http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/3647/Jon-Wood-Rants-on-Press-Releases.html .. a few hours before Fallen Earth got reviewed. Jon, when you expect higher level of professionalism of developers during press releases, do you realize that Joe Iuliano made the most unprofessional review ever published on a gaming website, where he complained about a lag eventho his computer didn't even meet the min. requirements for the game? Is this acceptable if you can't accept and tolerate typos and the use of improper english from non-english native developers during press releases?

/moved to Site Suggestions as that's a more appropriate section. 

Just as an area of interest for the OP, lag issues have been widely reported in ALL of those games. WotLK did have (and still does have in some cases) issues with lag in populated areas. Age of Conan was notorious for the issue when it first released and - when I reviewed it for another site - I encountered exactly the same issue. Same applies to Hellgate: London.

I'm not defending the reviewer. All I am saying is that his observation of the system latency issues caused by these games - as well as the network latency issues - is accurate regardless of his system specs. Fallen Earth DOES suffer from a lag issue and whilst his review may not be legitimate due to his system configuration, he is accurate in his observation.

The issue could be solved quite easily: All the MMORPG.com Editors have to do is contact the guy by SN and, "spot check," his dxdiag right then. That way, they would know his system specifications and that would allow them to make an educated decision about the legitimacy of the article.

Honestly OP has one of the better posts here

Originally posted by Infalible

Just as an area of interest for the OP, lag issues have been widely reported in ALL of those games. WotLK did have (and still does have in some cases) issues with lag in populated areas. Age of Conan was notorious for the issue when it first released and - when I reviewed it for another site - I encountered exactly the same issue. Same applies to Hellgate: London.

I'm not defending the reviewer. All I am saying is that his observation of the system latency issues caused by these games - as well as the network latency issues - is accurate regardless of his system specs. Fallen Earth DOES suffer from a lag issue and whilst his review may not be legitimate due to his system configuration, he is accurate in his observation.

The issue could be solved quite easily: All the MMORPG.com Editors have to do is contact the guy by SN and, "spot check," his dxdiag right then. That way, they would know his system specifications and that would allow them to make an educated decision about the legitimacy of the article.

no

The OP has a point, if the reviewer is running Vista with just 2 gig of ram on his mobo, and has stated as much in other reviews I think the reviewer needs to fess up and admit he is not playing with recommended specs for a PC running Vista and playing Fallen Earth.

Excellent investigative work.

Even in a thread as critical as this, the RoC must be observed.

If you think I acted incorrectly by moving this topic out of The Pub (Desc: Use this forum to talk about MMORPGs. Please stay on the topic about MMORPGs and use the "off-topic" forum for unrelated posts.) then please send an email to community@mmorpg.com

Please keep all comments on topic. 

What I do not understand is when you click on ths title of this thread in active threads it doesn't go to this thread it kicks you to the general forums listings.   Weird.

I'll have to agree, I doubt the reviewer really has the minimum specs, and MMORPG.com would do well to pull the review and let someone else do it.

Originally posted by Thillian

Right, Joe Iuliani complains about lag in his fourth game now in a row that he reviewed.  When he was confronted with the fact, that his computer doesn't meet not even minimal requirements, he lied to Stradden that he meant 2GB video ram (eventho he wrote exactly 2gb corsair RAM, as in every other review before)

Ironically, Jon Wood posted an article about incompetent press releases... http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/3647/Jon-Wood-Rants-on-Press-Releases.html .. a few hours before Fallen Earth got reviewed. Jon, when you expect higher level of professionalism of developers during press releases, do you realize that Joe Iuliano made the most unprofessional review ever published on a gaming website, where he complained about a lag eventho his computer didn't even meet the min. requirements for the game? Is this acceptable if you can't accept and tolerate typos and the use of improper english from non-english native developers during press releases?

Forget about his Review,  the very bad part about all of this is the lie. He lied and lied again, not only to us but to his Boss. I say MMORPG needs to get someone with a system up to spec to Re-Review Fallen Earth. I like how they apologize for overlooking the system spec issue but add that its one persons opinion on the game and that people like different types of games. Im sorry you need to take more responsibility than that. Whether you like it or not these Reviews, these Numbers will effect many peoples decision on what games to even give a chance at playing to see if they like it or not. Are you trying to sink these Indie companies who are trying to give the public or that "niche" crowd, something new and fresh?

MMORPG needs to take the initial Review down, it is obviously TAINTED! by a lying reviewer who needs to upgrade his PC PRONTO and who's score was largely influenced by the LAG" in the game, which could or could of not been caused mainly by his PC being under spec.

OK.  Clearly a mistake was made.   If one was made MMORPG.com should just state it and move on.    Pull the guys review and do another.  It really is a no brainer.   If MMORPG.com doesn't admit a mistake was made then clearly you're going to be shooting your validity as a mainstream online Mag about MMORPG's in the foot and you'll loose credibilty.   Best to be straight up with the readers on this.   Remember they can make or break you.

Originally posted by severity3

Originally posted by Infalible

Just as an area of interest for the OP, lag issues have been widely reported in ALL of those games. WotLK did have (and still does have in some cases) issues with lag in populated areas. Age of Conan was notorious for the issue when it first released and - when I reviewed it for another site - I encountered exactly the same issue. Same applies to Hellgate: London.

I'm not defending the reviewer. All I am saying is that his observation of the system latency issues caused by these games - as well as the network latency issues - is accurate regardless of his system specs. Fallen Earth DOES suffer from a lag issue and whilst his review may not be legitimate due to his system configuration, he is accurate in his observation.

The issue could be solved quite easily: All the MMORPG.com Editors have to do is contact the guy by SN and, "spot check," his dxdiag right then. That way, they would know his system specifications and that would allow them to make an educated decision about the legitimacy of the article.

 

no

Refuting my comments with the word, "no," is totally pointless.

I've played World of Warcraft for the last 5 years. I've been browsing the official forums - both EU and US - for the last 5 years. I've had great fun observing the game from both a players perspective and a critics perspective (due to my job) and I can tell you, that World of Warcraft DOES have lag issues in SOME situation in populated areas. This was especially prominent in Dalaran shortly after Wrath of the Lich Kings release and was acknowledged by Blizzard. The majority have been fixed but there are still places where the problem is evident.

Age of Conan was NOTORIOUS for system lag - which was again acknowledged by the developers - due to memory leaks in the AoC software :-) Funcom tried to fix this but have yet to solve all of the problems relating to it.

Hellgate: London also had system lag issues, especially in player hubs with a large amount of players running around. It wasn't a massive issue - it certainly wasn't as pronounced as Dalaran or AoC - but it was still an issue. Low and behold, FS acknowledged it and fixed it (prior to going bankrupt of course).

Originally posted by Infalible

Originally posted by severity3

Originally posted by Infalible

Just as an area of interest for the OP, lag issues have been widely reported in ALL of those games. WotLK did have (and still does have in some cases) issues with lag in populated areas. Age of Conan was notorious for the issue when it first released and - when I reviewed it for another site - I encountered exactly the same issue. Same applies to Hellgate: London.

I'm not defending the reviewer. All I am saying is that his observation of the system latency issues caused by these games - as well as the network latency issues - is accurate regardless of his system specs. Fallen Earth DOES suffer from a lag issue and whilst his review may not be legitimate due to his system configuration, he is accurate in his observation.

The issue could be solved quite easily: All the MMORPG.com Editors have to do is contact the guy by SN and, "spot check," his dxdiag right then. That way, they would know his system specifications and that would allow them to make an educated decision about the legitimacy of the article.

 

no

 

Refuting my comments with the word, "no," is totally pointless.

I've played World of Warcraft for the last 5 years. I've been browsing the official forums - both EU and US - for the last 5 years. I've had great fun observing the game from both a players perspective and a critics perspective (due to my job) and I can tell you, that World of Warcraft DOES have lag issues in SOME situation in populated areas. This was especially prominent in Dalaran shortly after Wrath of the Lich Kings release and was acknowledged by Blizzard. The majority have been fixed but there are still places where the problem is evident.

Age of Conan was NOTORIOUS for system lag - which was again acknowledged by the developers - due to memory leaks in the AoC software :-) Funcom tried to fix this but have yet to solve all of the problems relating to it.

Hellgate: London also had system lag issues, especially in player hubs with a large amount of players running around. It wasn't a massive issue - it certainly wasn't as pronounced as Dalaran or AoC - but it was still an issue. Low and behold, FS acknowledged it and fixed it (prior to going bankrupt of course).

 

  Yeah, I used to "lag" in WoW too. Then i got rid of the system i had build around my magnificent mx440 and built a real computer. My "lag" was suddenly gone. I have also played wow for the last few years off and on. I heard an awful lot of "my system cant handle shattrath(or dalaran) but saw next to no legitimate lag.........

      Unless you count when i was tanking, oddly enough , whenever the healer missed a heal it was also "whoops, lag".

   I agree with your other examples. If wotlk is lagging though, i think we are talking system specs-you know...kinda like the point of this thread.

Originally posted by MiguelAngelo

Originally posted by Thillian

Right, Joe Iuliani complains about lag in his fourth game now in a row that he reviewed.  When he was confronted with the fact, that his computer doesn't meet not even minimal requirements, he lied to Stradden that he meant 2GB video ram (eventho he wrote exactly 2gb corsair RAM, as in every other review before)

Ironically, Jon Wood posted an article about incompetent press releases... http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/3647/Jon-Wood-Rants-on-Press-Releases.html .. a few hours before Fallen Earth got reviewed. Jon, when you expect higher level of professionalism of developers during press releases, do you realize that Joe Iuliano made the most unprofessional review ever published on a gaming website, where he complained about a lag eventho his computer didn't even meet the min. requirements for the game? Is this acceptable if you can't accept and tolerate typos and the use of improper english from non-english native developers during press releases?

 

Forget about his Review,  the very bad part about all of this is the lie. He lied and lied again, not only to us but to his Boss. I say MMORPG needs to get someone with a system up to spec to Re-Review Fallen Earth. I like how they apologize for overlooking the system spec issue but add that its one persons opinion on the game and that people like different types of games. Im sorry you need to take more responsibility than that. Whether you like it or not these Reviews, these Numbers will effect many peoples decision on what games to even give a chance at playing to see if they like it or not. Are you trying to sink these Indie companies who are trying to give the public or that "niche" crowd, something new and fresh?

MMORPG needs to take the initial Review down, it is obviously TAINTED! by a lying reviewer who needs to upgrade his PC PRONTO and who's score was largely influenced by the LAG" in the game, which could or could of not been caused mainly by his PC being under spec.

Totally agree. This game deserves a new review, by someone that knows what he (or she) is doing. Not an amateur liar like this Iuliani.
 

Originally posted by Infalible

Originally posted by severity3

Originally posted by Infalible

Just as an area of interest for the OP, lag issues have been widely reported in ALL of those games. WotLK did have (and still does have in some cases) issues with lag in populated areas. Age of Conan was notorious for the issue when it first released and - when I reviewed it for another site - I encountered exactly the same issue. Same applies to Hellgate: London.

I'm not defending the reviewer. All I am saying is that his observation of the system latency issues caused by these games - as well as the network latency issues - is accurate regardless of his system specs. Fallen Earth DOES suffer from a lag issue and whilst his review may not be legitimate due to his system configuration, he is accurate in his observation.

The issue could be solved quite easily: All the MMORPG.com Editors have to do is contact the guy by SN and, "spot check," his dxdiag right then. That way, they would know his system specifications and that would allow them to make an educated decision about the legitimacy of the article.

 

no

 

Refuting my comments with the word, "no," is totally pointless.

I've played World of Warcraft for the last 5 years. I've been browsing the official forums - both EU and US - for the last 5 years. I've had great fun observing the game from both a players perspective and a critics perspective (due to my job) and I can tell you, that World of Warcraft DOES have lag issues in SOME situation in populated areas. This was especially prominent in Dalaran shortly after Wrath of the Lich Kings release and was acknowledged by Blizzard. The majority have been fixed but there are still places where the problem is evident.

Age of Conan was NOTORIOUS for system lag - which was again acknowledged by the developers - due to memory leaks in the AoC software :-) Funcom tried to fix this but have yet to solve all of the problems relating to it.

Hellgate: London also had system lag issues, especially in player hubs with a large amount of players running around. It wasn't a massive issue - it certainly wasn't as pronounced as Dalaran or AoC - but it was still an issue. Low and behold, FS acknowledged it and fixed it (prior to going bankrupt of course).

 

He was right you know, simply NO!

There is no way you can sugar coat this, you are making an excuse where one is simply unacceptable.

The Reviewer lied got caught than lied again and got caught again this time with proof.

Your point would stand and have validity if the Reviewer of the game had at least a PC that meets minimum requirement.

as it stands, he gave the game a low score due to lag, lag that anyone will experience in a game esp if its a MMORPG and ESP if its recently released and ESP if he is running it with windows VISTA and ESPECIALLY if he is running it with a system that does not meet minimum requirements.

There really is no lag noticeable enough to make it into even the most critical of reviews in WoW, I can say that and I hate everything about the game, at least be honest.

Originally posted by severity3

 

  Yeah, I used to "lag" in WoW too. Then i got rid of the system i had build around my magnificent mx440 and built a real computer. My "lag" was suddenly gone. I have also played wow for the last few years off and on. I heard an awful lot of "my system cant handle shattrath(or dalaran) but saw next to no legitimate lag.........

 

      Unless you count when i was tanking, oddly enough , whenever the healer missed a heal it was also "whoops, lag".

 

   I agree with your other examples. If wotlk is lagging though, i think we are talking system specs-you know...kinda like the point of this thread.

Yup - Core 2 Quad running at 3.2ghz, 8gb DDR2 Corsair Dominator RAM, 2x60gb OCZ Solid State HDDs and a 4870. I can see how my PC should lag in WoW :-) Interestingly, my system before that wasn't much different. Core 2 Duo running at same speed, 4gb DDR2 Corsair Dominator RAM, no SSDs and a 3870 instead of the 4870.

Getting a new one should solve my under spec'd PC problem.

Originally posted by MiguelAngelo

 

He was right you know, simply NO!

There is no way you can sugar coat this, you are making an excuse where one is simply unacceptable.

The Reviewer lied got caught than lied again and got caught again this time with proof.

Your point would stand and have validity if the Reviewer of the game had at least a PC that meets minimum requirement.

as it stands, he gave the game a low score due to lag, lag that anyone will experience in a game esp if its a MMORPG and ESP if its recently released and ESP if he is running it with windows VISTA and ESPECIALLY if he is running it with a system that does not meet minimum requirements.

As I CLEARLY STATED, I am NOT condoning the reviewers actions and even went so far as to suggest a solution to the problem. However I WAS pointing out that his observations ARE legitimate as they are WIDELY publicised problems with the aforementioned games INCLUDING Fallen Earth.

Why don't you read peoples responses before you go off on your merry rant instead of favouring ignorance?

Furthermore, Fallen Earth is a boring, bland and uninteresting who's entertainment value is rivalled only by drying paint. I don't agree with the reviewer based on his shortcomings but I certainly would find the game any more deserving of a 6 or a 7, even with my more than ample PC ;-)

Just piping in here to let you guys know we're going to let this thread run, but please do not discuss any moderator actions (such as why this thread was moved, etc). If you have an issue with any moderator actions please contact me directly at community@mmorpg.com.