Originally posted by BadSpock

FINAL SCORE:

8.9/10

Buy this game. Enjoy it. I know I will be.

Final score is too high imo, game deserve a 7.5 not a pinch more.

Originally posted by Betaguy

Originally posted by BadSpock

FINAL SCORE:

8.9/10

Buy this game. Enjoy it. I know I will be.

Final score is too high imo, game deserve a 7.5 not a pinch more.

And what if you compare it to other MMORPGs like Rift, Tera, TSW, WOW, SWTOR, AOC, WAR etc. Just compare what they offer. For me each of those games lose by 7-3 at least if you take 10 random aspects. Thus if I would give GW2 a 7.5 then the best of those named MMOs deserves 7.0 at best. To make it simple, (for me) GW2 is better than all the other MMOs that are out there by now.

Originally posted by Betaguy

Originally posted by BadSpock

FINAL SCORE:

8.9/10

Buy this game. Enjoy it. I know I will be.

Final score is too high imo, game deserve a 7.5 not a pinch more.

 Everybody has their own little private rating scale that tends not to agree with anyone else.  The scale that I use is based on the US school system where 7-7.9 = C, 8-8.9 = B, 9-10 = A.

So by my scale, a 7.5 seems very low.  I really don't think GW2 is a "C" game no matter how you slice it.  Keep in mind that "C's" are generally regarded as failure among anyone who is serious about academics.  By my scale, GW2 is a 9, an "A" MMORPG.

But I know that not everyone scales games like I do, so I just try to get into their frame of reference to understand what their rating actually means.  For example, there was a guy who gave GW2 a 7.5, but he gave WoW and Aion a 6, and SWTOR a 5.  He obviously is just a very harsh reviewer that doesn't like to give out high numbers.  So from him a 7.5 was very good.

Each individual aspect of GW2 is probably safely in the 7-8 / 10 range.

Because EVERy aspect of GW2 is "above industry standards" the game gets a bump, there are no "bad" or "tacked on" features - like PvP in TOR/TSW or questing in TERA - EVERYTHING in GW2 is top quality.

Since GW2 is "the game with at all" - it gets a bump. Sure, some of things like WvW and the sPvP and DE's have "been done before" but have they all been done in the same game at the same time? And with AAA quality? No. +score

Since GW2 is Buy 2 Play, it gets a bump.

All of the above, in a game that is AAA quality from a major pub/developer AND is not subscription based or F2P (P2W?) it gets a MAJOR +score bump

All of these things + "the little things" as my review says = X factor - brings the game up to 8.9/10

Originally posted by Kyleran

A very well written review, (would expect no less from the OP) and other than some overly high scores (he's a much easier grader than I am) I'd say a solid read and does make me more positive on purchasing GW2. (I'm one of the last 3 people on earth who still hasn't preordered)

Well done sir..thanks for sharing your experiences.

Agreed.

There are several people on mmorpg.com which I have come to respect and BadSpcok is one of them.

I've played all the BWE and pretty much agree with this review. I'm curiuos to how the game plays at much higher levels, does it lose it's sparkle?

Originally posted by BadSpock

Each individual aspect of GW2 is probably safely in the 7-8 / 10 range.

Because EVERy aspect of GW2 is "above industry standards" the game gets a bump, there are no "bad" or "tacked on" features - like PvP in TOR/TSW or questing in TERA - EVERYTHING in GW2 is top quality.

Since GW2 is "the game with at all" - it gets a bump. Sure, some of things like WvW and the sPvP and DE's have "been done before" but have they all been done in the same game at the same time? And with AAA quality? No. +score

Since GW2 is Buy 2 Play, it gets a bump.

All of the above, in a game that is AAA quality from a major pub/developer AND is not subscription based or F2P (P2W?) it gets a MAJOR +score bump

All of these things + "the little things" as my review says = X factor - brings the game up to 8.9/10

Sometimes (in most cases in my opinion) it's not all about new things, but doing things better. In the case of GW2, I think they have done an excellent job (overall). I'm looking forward to release and to all the patches and expansions that will be coming our way.

Cheers!

If anything the hillarious, ill-informed, and/or down right fallacious arguments people are making against GW2 on this site prove the quality of the game.

Originally posted by BadSpock

If anything the hillarious, ill-informed, and/or down right fallacious arguments people are making against GW2 on this site prove the quality of the game.

It's kind of sad that that's true.

I'm not sure what is up w/ the slander campaign against GW2 (if it's financed, or just ignorance), but it's been pretty blatant for a while now. I still can't help but laugh when I see people still throwing the argument of 'this game is not the messiah!' like fans of this game are actually saying that it is anymore.

GW2 is most definitely one of the most feature-complete, and polished MMOs I've ever seen.

Originally posted by aesperus

Originally posted by BadSpock

If anything the hillarious, ill-informed, and/or down right fallacious arguments people are making against GW2 on this site prove the quality of the game.

GW2 is most definitely one of the most feature-complete, and polished MMOs I've ever seen.

Is my preview a little glowing? Yeah, I'd say it is.

But right now the only unknowns are the mid-end game content. Could that be a major deal breaker?

I doubt it.

Anyone with common sense will assume, like I do, that the 30-80 content will YES be less polished and "complete" than the 1-30 content. That's just logical - there is limited time for polish + bug fixing, your prioritize the 1-30 so people get "hooked" and can then deal with the issues 30-80.

That being said, based upon what I've/we've seen so far, and the fact they've been demo'ing small sections of later game content at shows AND that we no there is no "end game" and 30-80 will be "more of the same, but bigger/better" it's pretty safe to say that 30-80 will be well polished and relatively bug free as well.

We'll see, but I have faith.

Originally posted by BadSpock

Each individual aspect of GW2 is probably safely in the 7-8 / 10 range.

Because EVERy aspect of GW2 is "above industry standards" the game gets a bump, there are no "bad" or "tacked on" features - like PvP in TOR/TSW or questing in TERA - EVERYTHING in GW2 is top quality.

Since GW2 is "the game with at all" - it gets a bump. Sure, some of things like WvW and the sPvP and DE's have "been done before" but have they all been done in the same game at the same time? And with AAA quality? No. +score

Since GW2 is Buy 2 Play, it gets a bump.

All of the above, in a game that is AAA quality from a major pub/developer AND is not subscription based or F2P (P2W?) it gets a MAJOR +score bump

All of these things + "the little things" as my review says = X factor - brings the game up to 8.9/10

 

 

The way I see Guild Wars 2 is, yes, it's doing similiar things than most MMORPGs before it, however, it does enough different and is feature rich enough that it takes on its own identity. 

Once your factor in what you REALLY get for the price of entry, with no subscription cost, it's pretty staggering. 

Is it the best MMORPG ever produced? Depends upon what you are looking for.  For me, it's one of the best ever.  

- PvE, SPvP and WvW game types provide many different type of experiences

- The combat is different enough to make the encounters interesting.  They've hit a home run with this. 

- The game oozes polish and shows what quality design decisions mean to a game.  

- Lastly, the game is just fun. 

It's without a doubt the biggest "bang for your buck" experience I've ever had in a MMORPG.  Quality content. engaging combat, Interesting gamemodes, and lastly fun in droves. 

I don't know what anyone else could ask for. 

Originally posted by Crackbone

Originally posted by BadSpock

All of these things + "the little things" as my review says = X factor - brings the game up to 8.9/10

I don't know what anyone else could ask for. 

FFA PvP and full loot and other decade + old "tried and true failures" game mechanics?

Originally posted by BadSpock

Originally posted by Crackbone

Originally posted by BadSpock

All of these things + "the little things" as my review says = X factor - brings the game up to 8.9/10

I don't know what anyone else could ask for. 

FFA PvP and full loot and other decade + old "tried and true failures" game mechanics?

 

Eh, been there done that, already seen that movie, and it's bad.  

I realize that there's a crowd out there that enjoys that type gameplay, too bad there isn't enough of them to make games that fit that model financial successes. 

Originally posted by Crackbone

Originally posted by BadSpock

FFA PvP and full loot and other decade + old "tried and true failures" game mechanics?

I realize that there's a crowd out there that enjoys that type gameplay, too bad there isn't enough of them to make games that fit that model financial successes. 

Yes I should have clarified I am talking financial / critical success and failure - to each their own in terms of personal preferences.

Badspock for president <3

Thanks for the great review, BadSpock. I was not seriously looking at GW2 at all. Your thoughts caused me to take interest and do some digging. I may just be buying this title and give it a shot.

Originally posted by bigcheeseuk

I've played all the BWE and pretty much agree with this review. I'm curiuos to how the game plays at much higher levels, does it lose it's sparkle?

I've gotten to 30.

If you like the 1 - 15 zones, you'll love the later zones.

They get  harder, faster and MUCH better paced.

Originally posted by BadSpock

Originally posted by aesperus

Originally posted by BadSpock

If anything the hillarious, ill-informed, and/or down right fallacious arguments people are making against GW2 on this site prove the quality of the game.

GW2 is most definitely one of the most feature-complete, and polished MMOs I've ever seen.

Is my preview a little glowing? Yeah, I'd say it is.

But right now the only unknowns are the mid-end game content. Could that be a major deal breaker?

I doubt it.

Anyone with common sense will assume, like I do, that the 30-80 content will YES be less polished and "complete" than the 1-30 content. That's just logical - there is limited time for polish + bug fixing, your prioritize the 1-30 so people get "hooked" and can then deal with the issues 30-80.

That being said, based upon what I've/we've seen so far, and the fact they've been demo'ing small sections of later game content at shows AND that we no there is no "end game" and 30-80 will be "more of the same, but bigger/better" it's pretty safe to say that 30-80 will be well polished and relatively bug free as well.

We'll see, but I have faith.

I'd like to preface this that I am a very long term member and I have not been on this site in quite some time; however your post here made me "come out of retirement" so to speak.

Part of the reason I quit this site was because of the inability for people to understand that this is an opinion based site, and that people who give negative opinions or reviews about a game are not trolls.  This simple viewpoint seems to be something that is still not completely understood by the majority who frequent this site from what I can see.  Anyhow, now that my aside is done with let me get to why I'm responding here.

The main reason I'm reading reviews is because I am interested in Guild Wars 2, however not fully convinced.  I have not been lucky enough to get invited to any of the beta events, and I refuse to Pre-Order a game just to get into those events.  If a game does not want to have an open beta event, then they don't get a pre-order from me anymore.  I've been burned one too many times for that. (Star Trek Online, I'm looking at you!)

While your review of the game is very glowing, something about it bothers me.  Any detractions you spoke about the game are very casually pushed to the sidelines.  Personally I don't care about mechanical bugs, graphics bugs, et al because eventually those will get fixed as any newly released game will intend to do.  The meat of the game is in it's mechanics, the skills, talents (traits), and the combat system.

While your review definitely went into some details I feel like that parts of it were smoothed over a bit too much.  People are wired to want that end-game content.  DE's/Hearts will only go so far.   The player base GW2 is drawing from is those same people who will probably want end-game content.  I could be completely off-base here, but I suspect that within 2 months you'll see people clamoring for End-game Content (Aka Raids or something as close to a raid as GW2 can get).

A good review openly discusses the pros and cons (no matter what they are) so that people can try and make an objective opinion for themselves. 

Again, this is not a strike at you.  You did a good job of providing a review, but to someone who is looking for the good and the bad of the game, when I hear nothing but good, it just makes me that much more hesitant to buying it.

Originally posted by Sykomyke

Again, this is not a strike at you.  You did a good job of providing a review, but to someone who is looking for the good and the bad of the game, when I hear nothing but good, it just makes me that much more hesitant to buying it.

It does sort of limit all future reviews to a 7/10 (+/- 1) range though, does it not?

Depeats the purpose of having a 10-point rating system, in the same way that "every member votes 0 or 10" does.

I wish that everyone in the world conformed to my vision of "reasonable", but they certainly don't all agree with my gaming preferences, so how could they possibly all produce scores in a range I would judge "reasonable"?

Statistically, it's a downright laughable concept.

I think we're better off just accepting that reviews I may not agree with may nevertheless be "honest" reviews.