I'm a current subscriber and to tell the honest truth, I think the reviewer did get a very honest review of STO.

Even with S4 out next month, there is still no end-game in STO which makes the longevity of STO basicly non-existant.  I have now leveled 2 V-Ads and I really have no wish to go thru the exact same content I have done twice before to level another one.  The thought is almost painful.  I no longer even log into my main toon as there is basicly nothing within the game mechanics to make me even want to.  PVP is a constant NERF fest being driven by a very small amount of forum players that seem to dominate developer interest and time.  It is simply not worth it to take the time to get a build that is able to compete when these few can complain and Cryptic will fall in lockstep with these few cryers to insure nothing more than the cryers sucess.  With all that in mind, I think MMORPG.com even glassed over very large problems with STO.

All in all, I believe the score is a very optimistic view.

Second review in a row where this particular writer lowers the score from a previous review while praising the improvements to the game since the last review.  What I've gathered from this: Ignore all future reviews by this writer.

Agree with alot of the above posts.

The logic that the reviewer uses; stating it's improved since release yet it's score has been reduced, is deeply flawed in my opinion.

Again MMORPG.com own rating system in flawed & more importantly, in my own opinion, unmemorable. A simple 5STAR rating system that the hotel industry uses would not only be more memorable, but also more credible. STO would most likely be rated a 2 or 3 Star MMO.

should have waited till Season 4 to hit the live server

I too believe the score should of went up and not down.  The reviewer couldn't find things that made STO stand out from the rest of the MMO's?  How about player made missions?  Bridge crews with trainable skills for starters.  He also said the game plays more like a RTS and that grouping isn't a big factor in game play.  All this could be said about most MMO's as most can be played solo.  If you belong to a good fleet you would see that many missions require team work and the society/social aspect is very much alive if you chose it to be.  PvP without belonging to an team/Fleet is certainly a bad experience in my opinion.  As for the ground combat, it is much like any other MMO, you have skills to train up and use in the combat.  The big difference in my opinion is if you don't train up any ground skills you just gimped your character and are useless to your group/fleet for such missions.  Yes your bridge crews can make up for your lack of skills solo, but doesn't work at all when you group up.

Lets be honest in that STO wasn't designed as a game for those wanting detailed exploration instead of what it is, a game set in a time of open warfare.  That has dissolutioned many to the point they can't stand the fact that STO exists and see only failings.  to me the game is fun for what it was designed to be and hopefully they strengthen the end game.  I would like to see meaningful realm verus Realm type conquests!

Originally posted by Cohas

should have waited till Season 4 to hit the live server

This , and besides im not realy a fan of the game since it still doesnt manage to keep me around for longer than a week BUT..

the last time  i checked it has come long ways since startup (YUk!) and improved a fair bit.

Still not for me but this review was kinda bizzar.

It was an honest review, IMO. Personally, I don't think the previous review score needed to be used as the baseline for a new review. The reviewers gave their opinions based on what they played and scored the game to the best of their abilities; however, different people = different scores. Simple. Just because you don't agree with the review score, for any reason, doesn't invalidate the score.

BTW, I like the new review format direction you guys are taking.

Wow , nothing like an truthful article ( compared to the previous one that was more about Graphics, Sound, RPG , Value , Fun  ( WTF ), Community , it was a real fluff peice and it still got only 7.4  ) to bring out the fury of the CDF. Truth hurts and the subscribers just don't plain like it. In my opinion she was dead on , and that's what bothers most of these posters. In fact I think she struggled not to bury this game. She seemed like she was struggling to give it a 6 on the value end, and a 7 on the gameplay score. 

 People need to be little more objective.  While I agree the Ground combat will be an improvement , it's just an insignificant improvement that will not resurrect the fortunes of this game, no matter how much you yell and stamp your feet that the game has improved. It's improved too little to late. People are looking forward to new games not discredited old games. If it takes a Dev 1.5 to two years after release to get the game in an acceptable form or shape to play , it's forgotten.

Shouldnt this reviewer have waited until the ground combat revamp to do this?

I think STO is a good game, not great, but surely underscored in the re-review.

I've been a STO sub on and off since release (mostly off). The game was flawed from the beginning. It could have been great. Some of my complaints which will likely never change:

-You start the game as a Lt. and immediately have a ship command. I think you should start the game as a captain and stay a captain, advancing your skills (experience) within that rank.

-Its not viable to fly whatever ship you want. Say you like the original series Kirk Enterprise. You might say "screw it, I like and will fly it even if its weak, ill just put in the latest Mark XII equipement!" Nope, the gear actually scales down when you put it in a older ship.

I still play it occasionally because I think the space combat is actually fun, I just wish there was a reason to play it at max level.

Lol with all the other stuff that's went on with swg, and eve and  now this rofl.  This site is so interesting. It like a box full of chocolates, you never know what your going to get.

I love the score its dead on and should have been the first score they did.

I am still waiting for sto to go free to play.

So, are there any other examples here on MMORPG of current reviews being lower than the previous reviews, with the exception of SWG and the NGE? If this is just the result of the "new rating system" surely there would be other examples.

You guys all freaking out over the lowering of the score need to think about it realistically.  With two different reviewers, you are going to get two different scores, if Lori had done the initial review, it probably would have scored a 5.0 and this new score of 6.5 would be an improvement.

I do agree it does not make much sense to have different people review then re-review games based on each person having different tastes and preferences, but this is the nature of review sites, people come and go.  I like how Game Informer does it and actually has two people do the review so you can see the scores froming from two different people.  Maybe MMORPG needs to start having a panel of three or 4 people review the games and each gives a score.  This way, I can follow the score of the reviewer who best fits my play style. 

THE REVIEWERS ARE DIFFERENT

Patrick Gerard

Lori May

I liked the "Repititious game play" thing in the "Cons" section.  That is pretty much a given for any MMO you play.

Umm, what the hell? Ur saying that the game has improved and etc, but because of its failings it gets A LOWER SCORE THAN WHAT IT DID *ORIGINALLY* in the first review?

i mean U understad it fully well if you don't like this game, im  for example a fervent hater of C-store myself. BUT to indicate that the game has gotten WORSE since release DESPITE all the updates and etc is just rubbish! Rubbish, I tells ya!

Originally posted by Talonsin

You guys all freaking out over the lowering of the score need to think about it realistically.  With two different reviewers, you are going to get two different scores,

If that is truly the explanation, then what other games has this happened to?