So. It has been decided. 

Next  column? I'm going to be doing mini-reviews on three MUDs/MUSHes/MUXes/you name it.. But I would like to put this to a vote. The top three MU*s that get mentioned the most will get a look at. ^^

@Keogh I'll let Suzie know. However, she wasn't the original poster. I am. ;) It might, however, be entertaining to do two follow-up pieces on this. :) 

@Shadowrun suggestions I could be wrong but I believe there IS a Shadowrun MMO in the works. However, it's very much an indie project.

@TheNiteWolf One and half. Depending on the Block you're playing, elves may or may not exist. :P But as per the No Elves Manifesto, I'm willing to make exceptions for things that are, well, not Legolas clones. Discworld elves are creepy, inhuman and somewhat kick-ass in their casual cruelty and odd tricks. I could run with those. Seriously. (Someone make us all a Discworld MMO already.)

@Dayworld MMO ... I need to read that.

Originally posted by eyelolled

Originally posted by casskhaw

 

I'm just going to comment on one bit here. You're entitled to your opinions, otherwise. :) While APB Reloaded does have the most STUNNING character generation I've seen in an MMO yet, it's not new. Need for Speed allowed you to customize your cars. The Sims allowed you to customize your characters. Those are just two games that have been implemented chargen. Polish, regardless of how masterful it is, is just that - polish. Then again, I could have interpreted the word wrongly. ^_^; As far as I can tell, innovation means something that has been newly introduced. 

 

So the ability to take 25 different symbols and peice them together to make a custom symbol, then use three custom symbols to customize 1 article of clothing (up to 75 individual symbols for 1 peice of clothing) isn't innovative, it's just polish? You make it sound like it's no different then just adding some dye to your armor. The character customization in this game is well beyond any other game out there, bar none. Need for Speed customization is a joke in comparison to the ability for a player to use their own artistic talents to create the look they want in APB:R. And to even mention the Sims is just a slap in the face.

 

 

Oh and you said there was no garbage laying around....

 

 

Heh. :) Fair enough. 

Again, I suppose it's a difference in opinions. I'm fully aware of how comprehensive the personalization system is. It makes my jaw drop. But, is it really a new way of doing thingsor is it an improvement? I see it as the latter.

Originally posted by KhaosRJA

Perhaps it is the subjectiveness of the scores that is the issue, World of Tanks getting a 9 for innovation yet this game getting a 5 is beyond laughable. What use is a scoring system when the numbers mean different things to different reviewers? If your idea of what's innovative is so extreme compared to that of other reviewers then the scores end up being meaningless and arbitrary. Same with the social aspect, very few MMOs force any grouping, let alone communication, the points you have against this game could apply to any MMO yet very few receive such low scores.

 

 

Good points. Hrm. On a personal front, I've always been known to be brutally honest and somewhat harsh in my reviews. I seldom give glowing praise. However, in terms of the direction we're given as reviewers, the truth of the matter is the description of the categories is, well, very brief and very subject to interpretation. 

However, you've raised a number of fair points, points I'll bring up with the editors. If nothing else, this might mean a more comprehensive set of review criterias to ensure that future pieces don't feel so different. ^_^ 

Originally posted by KhaosRJA

So the game requires teamwork to play properly... but it gets a low social score? It is apparently one of the least innovative games ever reviewed on this site, but is the only game of its kind in MMO form. Ok then.

I don't know what makes this review more pathetic, the horrible grammar, the dated photos, that the game is continually refered to as an FPS, that the reviewer apparently thinks the 8 buttons needed to play are too complicated, or the nonsensical conclusions drawn like the ones outlined above. The game isn't amazing, but its certainly not "poor" or deserving of one of the lowest scores given out by this site.

Get a new reviewer, this one clearly isn't up to the task.

 

I'll certainly pass that remark to our editors. ;) 

(And, dear lord. I've used the word FPS so often, it sticks. Totally my fault on that one.)

But, I felt like I had to point out reasons for my scoring again. First of all, I think it's subject to personal interpretation. For me, I see 'social' as a way of cultivating interaction between people. Thus far, the matchmaking system has left me wanting in that respect. I find myself being dropped into groups which consist entirely of silent members. Do I see people communicating on the channels? Rarely. I also don't see game plans being established. It's often a simple rush to the objective. That does not feel socia lto me. 

In regards to innovation? After reading the comments, I do agree that it may be unfair to compare it to a single-player simulation game. However, I see innovation as something that makes me raise my eyebrows and go, 'Huh. Why hasn't someone thought about this before?'. A random example would be my first encounter with indie FPSes and how some people have transformed something like that into non-violent narrative sequences. That's innovative.

Originally posted by xwolf540

This is a poor review. It is very single minded.

Please MMORPG.com, get someone else to review this game. It looks to me that she just finished a bad game session and wanted to tarnish the game in her review. I've had my fair share of bad moments sure, we all have, but I can look past those and see that this game is impressive. She claims to have poor performance also, well, that's her problem but she factors it into the review?

Is she really looking for story in an FPSMMO? Good luck, show me a game that has one.

How can you possible give innovation a 5/10? There are so many great new things in this game that this sore isn't even possible. The character creater, clothing options, graphic designer for your cloths, car, and person. The music creater, death themes.

Does Cassandra know that these reviews are out of 10? It sounds to me while reading that she didn't make it too much past the turorial.

"An MMO should provide the option for solitary play. You should be able to enjoy this alone. You should not, if you choose so, be shackled to other players."

The game has an automatic grouping system and an LFG tool, it is ment to be play with other players, it is a PVP game but you want to fly solo? I do agree that match making still needs work however.

 

 

 

I'm just going to comment on one bit here. You're entitled to your opinions, otherwise. :) While APB Reloaded does have the most STUNNING character generation I've seen in an MMO yet, it's not new. Need for Speed allowed you to customize your cars. The Sims allowed you to customize your characters. Those are just two games that have been implemented chargen. Polish, regardless of how masterful it is, is just that - polish. Then again, I could have interpreted the word wrongly. ^_^; As far as I can tell, innovation means something that has been newly introduced. 

Originally posted by Senadina

 "An MMO should provide the option for solitary play. You should be able to enjoy this alone. You should not, if you choose so, be shackled to other players."

What a difference a decade makes. Go back and try to play EQ solo. You will die. A lot.

Now, I am all for solo play, don't get me wrong. I firmly believe it is primarily responsible for the original success of WoW ( which was the first MMO you could reasonably solo in).  But the assumption that MMOs have always been, and should always be, this way made me laugh.

 

Hmm. That was an odd impression I gave out there. I blame it on the fact English never was a first language. ^^; However, what I'm trying to implicate here is the fact that players should feel like they have the option to play alone or with people. Right now, APB Reloaded feels like it's built exclusively for group play to me.

Originally posted by RabbiFang

I almost stopped reading at San Pedro (San Paro iirc), then got as far as Van Diesel (VIN DIESEL) and actually stopped.

What, no editors here?

 

First bit is totally my fault. o_O For some reason, I've heard people use 'San Pedro' so frequently that it sort of stuck. I'm trying to get our editors to tweak it for me right now.

As for the Van Diesel, well, that's just a shameless brain fart. >_<; Sorry for the inconvenience. 

Originally posted by Blindchance

I find it rather ironic and hipocritical that this article comes so close after MMORPG.com 9/10 review of SWTOR. I don't blame you, it seems to be a wildly spread disease between gaming journalists. Are you all so afraid to lose preferential treatment by gaming industry ?

 

MMORPG genre is not stale, it is rotten. Its rather sad that the only healty dose of innovation and originality has to be delievered by unexperienced and poorly financed / managed developers. Just imagine how games like Earthrise or Darkfall could shine with a real studio behind them.

 

I'd like to point out that MMORPG.com gives us free reign on what we write. None of us are obligated to agree with everyone else. In fact, there's probably a reason why a non-fantasy column has steadfastedly refused to comment on SWTOR so far.. *cough*

Originally posted by AdamTM

"First-person shooters are prime examples of this. Call of Duty. Battlefield. Counterstrike. DOOM. Stripped of their audio-visual finery and emptied of all their little details, they're all the same. Cut them open and you'll see Wolfenstein 3D written across the entrails."

Nice strawman bro.

I'm sure if you strip away all the "little details and visual finery" from DeusEx it would be just like Wolfenstein

 

dear god, get some competent writers mmorpg.com

 

First of all, you may want to check the by-line again. Bro is a very gender-specific term. 

Secondly, yes. If you want to take it that far, Deus Ex might as well be another dolled-up Wolfenstein. XD

Originally posted by Ozivois

Elves are way better than any of the races that recent MMO's have been introducing. I will take an elf over a teddy bear, animal-faced creature or anime cat-lady every time.

 

 

... fair enough. I think we need to rename this column to "NO MORE GODDAMN CLICHES"

Originally posted by Dredphyre

The premise of this article seems rather misleading.  There are fantasy  genres that don't involve elves. And do we really need another thinly disguised marketing campaign for EVE?  I mean, I was sort of with the author through the Love commentary, but then came mention of EVE, and the author lost me.

 

I guess what bothers me about this article (and potential series of articles) is that the author attempts to tie horrid, tired gameplay to the Fantasy genre when, in fact, what is being lambasted is simply horrible gameplay. It has nothing to do with the fantasy genre.

 

Consider it a gross oversight then. n.n; Eve Online was a mention because I felt it necessary to bring an extremely popular name in as an example and I wasn't about prepared to write something on SWTOR which bugs me out somewhat. 

That said. I suppose I'm looking at this from an Asian perspective. Like one commentator (somewhere in the endless stream of comments) stated, there's at least twenty or so badly-executed WoW clones from Asia built with the same creepily similar chain of elves. 

Originally posted by gladosrev2

Replace all elves with clones of Spock and be done with it.

 

I hate you.

Originally posted by Lobotomist

Not bad article.

And while I agree with most. I also think that elves are not to bad. But oversaturation and copy cat buisness practices are what we are all tired off.

Look at elves in Witcher : Agressive militant terrorists, bent on suicide killing of any human they find.

Thats quite original. Why not...

 

 

 

 

Don't get me wrong. I could still stomach elves if they're presented properly. The elves I'm ranting about are the pretty ones you always see in MMOs. I can not name the last MMO that did not feature elves that were NOT willowly, inhumanly good-looking and ... yeah, you know what I'm talking about. 

Originally posted by vesavius

Originally posted by casskhaw

Originally posted by vesavius

I bet his first proper piece is about SWTOR, and that it is gushing and coincides with that launch.

.. actually, it's a toss-up between Fallen Earth and Shin Megami Tenshei Online

 

Excellent. If you can stay clear of SWTOR for at least 6 months I would be very grateful... just sick to the hind teeth of that game already.

If you find your own path, don't follow hype, and talk about the games that are usually pretty ignored I will have nothing but support for your column.

 

 

Ha ha. I can totally get behind that. My main writing gig involves indie games so you can imagine how all that has shaped my tastes. 

I also take suggestions! :D Open call for people to suggest underappreciated titles that need to be prodded at.

Originally posted by vesavius

I bet his first proper piece is about SWTOR, and that it is gushing and coincides with that launch.

 

Originally posted by Blasphim

Elves don't bother me much...it's the portrayal of a certain type of elf that does. The daisy eating, tree hugging, leaf wearing, glitter skinned elves bother me. If an MMO had some cigar smoking, gun toting, jeans and workboots wearin, smudged up kind of elf, I don't think it'd bother me at all (dear MMO gods, please let some AAA dev pick up the Shadowrun license).

 

All sorts of YES. 

@methos12 She! Not he! And blame it on far too much coffee. 

Also, in general, this would probably make far more sense if I had remembered to link to the corresponding games. That said, I totally recommend checking out Die2nite. It's a pretty nifty game: http://www.die2nite.com/