Here's something I don't understand when some of you fanboyZ talk about that eurogamer review and say he didn't spend enough time in the game to be fair..... Did he imply in the review that he spent a lot of time in the game? Did he imply in the review that he spent weeks or months thoroughly testing and understanding hte game? Hell fucking no he didn't do that, he said exactly what he did, he played the game for a bit, saw that it was SHIT, and moved on to better games.
Whether he played for two hours or ten hours is a moot point, and makes no rational difference to the discussion at all!
When writing a review friend it is better to spend a decent amount of time playing the game, that way the people who are sitting on the fence and want to hear more have a chance to hear from somone who gave it a good go. thats what a review is for isnt it?
I wrote an opinion on the game myself, but i stated that it was just that! an opinion. that way i am in no way reviewing the game and it shouldnt be taken as one. But if you are reviewing a game and putting it out there its best to be as honest as possible and try as much content as possible imagine reviewing a ferarri and giveing it 1 out of 10 because you didnt like red! so you never even sat in the car let alone drive it.
No, you are missing the point. The eurogamer review was very clear that the guy did not spend a lot of time in the game. He did not try to imply otherwise. He tried the game out, his initial impression was that it was TOTAL SHITE, and he didn't bother with it anymore after that. Whether it was two hours or ten hours doesn't reall matter as he was not claiming the review was based on extensive play of the game, in fact he specifically states in the review that he DID NOT extensively play the game. The whole, "he only played two hours" is just a straw man argument from Tasos, even if it was true how does it change the nature of the review in any way at all? The reviewer did not play the game extensively, he specifically says he did not play the game extensively, so if your argument is he did not play the game extensively you are only agreeing with what the eurogamer reviewer already said in his article.
Incidentally, I don't have to drive a Yugo all day to see it is a piece of shit, I just see it there in the lot and it is easy to tell the build quality is poor. If I take it for a test drive and it runs like a pile of cow flop oozing across the ground then what do you want me to take it to the autobahn or can I just write in the magazine that it is a shit already? LOL.
God the intelligence of some people eh ... if a reviewer cant be bothered to play a game then he should'nt be Fucking reviewing it at all should he now ?
Come on now Superpoo its not fucking rocket science is it ...
Originally posted by summitus God the intelligence of some people eh ... if a reviewer cant be bothered to play a game then he should'nt be Fucking reviewing it at all should he now ? Come on now Superpoo its not fucking rocket science is it ...
Agreed. The guy should not have to state how much time he played because he works for a major publication. With the level of professionalism that is expected from someone working there, it should be assumed that any reviewer who is reviewing any game, MMO or not, is putting in enough time to put together a comprehensive review. I've seen other blogs besides mine, and forum posts that had more effort spent on them, both positive and negative, than was exhibited by Ed Zitron.
It's very different going in a movie, watching the first 5 mins and the then saying that the movie sucks, the director has to be shot, the actors are turds, and plot is a joke, and different saying I liked (or disliked) the start of the movie. The latter reviewer was honest in saying that he only played for 2 hours and his review is based on that. The eurogamer reviewer was an unprofessional jerk who should never write a review for any game ever again. Having said that I think all MMO's reviews by any media are crap. To make a good review about an mmo you need to play it for months, learn the mechanics,explore itemization,try class balance, explore endgame, combat system, leveling curve etc.
To make a good review you need to play it for months to do a good review? What, do you have a learning disability? If you cannot learn the mechanics of the game in the first couple hours, the game is really poorly designed. If you don't get the basics of itemization in the first few hours of gameplay, it is poorly designed. If you are worrying about class balances before you get to end game instead of just picking the class that interests you and you think you'd enjoy playing, you aren't playing RPGs correctly in my opinion. If you have to get to end game to enjoy the game, the game is poorly designed. If you need to play for months to understand the combat system, the game is plain terrible. And finally, the leveling curve is completely irrelevant if the game is fun and you want to keep playing day after day... assuming the game isn't poorly designed... which DF is.
Guess what ...after all you said I still think a review of an MMO after having only played it a few days is a crap review.
Is it just me or isn't it a bit strange for a gaming review in one publication to reference the review score given by a different publication? ......I wonder how much tAsus had to pay for this "review"? lol It's hard to believe this kind of "damage control" service is available for free!
I thought it was completely uncalled for as well. It makes me feel like the person writing the article wanted to prove Eurogamer wrong no matter what and as such, I cannot take that TTH article at face value. Not that I take anything written on that website seriously anyway.
Pretty much all that needs to be said about this thread. I've read plenty of "Previews", "First Impressions", and "Reviews". Not once do I ever recall one of them, referencing another publications writing in such a manner.
PS: Paragus I've noticed you saying the same thing alot lately. The funny thing is do you honestly believe any of the DF fans would have complained, if EG had given the game 8/10 with only 2 hours played? Nope, and sadly even though I respect your writing talent. I'd bet you wouldn't have said anything about it either. The only reason DF fans complained about the EG review was because it didn't paint the game in a good light.
He could have played for a month straight 8-10 hours a day. Gave it a 8/10, still had inaccuracies in the review. Yet you would still have DF fans praising EG and Ed for it. Simply because it's what they wanted to hear. That is what annoys me the most about 90% of the DF fans that pass through here. Everything is right as rain as long as you all are hearing and seeing what you want. As soon as reality hits though you all start flip flopping.
Someone mentions DF pop dying typical reply: "It's a niche game." or "Small Communities are better"
Press clipping about DF NA server "The population is growing." or "People are just beating down the door to play DF"
Someone mentions DF limited release: "They are doing that to keep the server from being crowded"
Tasos post about store selling out in minutes "DF is selling like Hotcakes everyone wants to play it."
In War - Victory. In Peace - Vigilance. In Death - Sacrifice.
"I won't repeat everyone else's assessment and note that Darkfall has "potential" - it's a solid, enjoyable game if you give it half a chance and play it on its own terms. I haven't played nearly long enough to give DF any kind of objective score, but sorry Eurogamer, this isn't a 4 / 10 game."
Sorry, I play games on MY terms.
That's exactly what I was going to say. I'm well aware that if I am willing to overlook the flaws in something and lower my expectations enough that I can find something good to say about anything. But I won't compromise my demand for quality in things I pay money for. And especially not in my favorite form of entertainment: MMORPG's.
Originally posted by summitus God the intelligence of some people eh ... if a reviewer cant be bothered to play a game then he should'nt be Fucking reviewing it at all should he now ? Come on now Superpoo its not fucking rocket science is it ...
Agreed. The guy should not have to state how much time he played because he works for a major publication. With the level of professionalism that is expected from someone working there, it should be assumed that any reviewer who is reviewing any game, MMO or not, is putting in enough time to put together a comprehensive review. I've seen other blogs besides mine, and forum posts that had more effort spent on them, both positive and negative, than was exhibited by Ed Zitron.
Thank god Ed Zitron is'nt a Surgeon or something eh ....
Pretty much all that needs to be said about this thread. I've read plenty of "Previews", "First Impressions", and "Reviews". Not once do I ever recall one of them, referencing another publications writing in such a manner. PS: Paragus I've noticed you saying the same thing alot lately. The funny thing is do you honestly believe any of the DF fans would have complained, if EG had given the game 8/10 with only 2 hours played? Nope, and sadly even though I respect your writing talent. I'd bet you wouldn't have said anything about it either. The only reason DF fans complained about the EG review was because it didn't paint the game in a good light.
Sorry if I am consistant, but the fact remains the same. You can not accurately review any MMO objectively after only 2 hours of playtime. I don't care if the end results gives the game a 2 or an 8 out of 10. If he had given the game an 8/10 after 2 hours, the trolls would have called him out on it and they would be right in doing so. I couldn't review WoW in 2 hours, let alone a sandbox game. Endgame is drastically different than what you see when you first start playing. It has taken me 3 months in Darkfall to see warhsips and warhulks in action, and I'd wager most people playing as long as I have still haven't seen them in action.
Remember this guy probably got paid money to write that as well. Me and other bloggers, as well as forum posters have written far more detailed reviews for free.
Is it just me or isn't it a bit strange for a gaming review in one publication to reference the review score given by a different publication? ......I wonder how much tAsus had to pay for this "review"? lol It's hard to believe this kind of "damage control" service is available for free!
I thought it was completely uncalled for as well. It makes me feel like the person writing the article wanted to prove Eurogamer wrong no matter what and as such, I cannot take that TTH article at face value. Not that I take anything written on that website seriously anyway.
Pretty much all that needs to be said about this thread. I've read plenty of "Previews", "First Impressions", and "Reviews". Not once do I ever recall one of them, referencing another publications writing in such a manner.
PS: Paragus I've noticed you saying the same thing alot lately. The funny thing is do you honestly believe any of the DF fans would have complained, if EG had given the game 8/10 with only 2 hours played? Nope, and sadly even though I respect your writing talent. I'd bet you wouldn't have said anything about it either. The only reason DF fans complained about the EG review was because it didn't paint the game in a good light.
He could have played for a month straight 8-10 hours a day. Gave it a 8/10, still had inaccuracies in the review. Yet you would still have DF fans praising EG and Ed for it. Simply because it's what they wanted to hear. That is what annoys me the most about 90% of the DF fans that pass through here. Everything is right as rain as long as you all are hearing and seeing what you want. As soon as reality hits though you all start flip flopping.
Someone mentions DF pop dying typical reply: "It's a niche game." or "Small Communities are better"
Press clipping about DF NA server "The population is growing." or "People are just beating down the door to play DF"
Someone mentions DF limited release: "They are doing that to keep the server from being crowded"
Tasos post about store selling out in minutes "DF is selling like Hotcakes everyone wants to play it."
No, Paragus and the fans would probably not be complaining, but you and your camp most certainly would. Attempting to reverse the facts is silly, because it focuses on reader perception and not the propriety of the act itself. Is it professional for someone to take money for something on which he didn't make an honest effort to do a good job? Most people, if they thought about that question reasonably and rationally would say no. However, most of the people in here when it comes to Darkfall don't think reasonably or rationally (at least their posts don't provide evidence that they do.) Lots of meaningless words and attacks from either side won't amount to anything. You can agree or disagree with the conclusion of the review, however riddled the body is with inaccuracies, but there's more than ample evidence for a reasonable person to conclude that Ed's attitude and methodology were far from circumspect.
Sorry if I am consistant, but the fact remains the same. You can not accurately review any MMO objectively after only 2 hours of playtime. I don't care if the end results gives the game a 2 or an 8 out of 10. If he had given the game an 8/10 after 2 hours, the trolls would have called him out on it and they would be right in doing so. I couldn't review WoW in 2 hours, let alone a sandbox game. Endgame is drastically different than what you see when you first start playing. It has taken me 3 months in Darkfall to see warhsips and warhulks in action, and I'd wager most people playing as long as I have still haven't seen them in action. Remember this guy probably got paid money to write that as well. Me and other bloggers, as well as forum posters have written far more detailed reviews for free.
The problem is how the guy who claimed the reviewer just played two hours, have said many lies in the past, like "Darkfall is feature complete", not to mention all the interviews and utterly unprofessional unmatched behavior.
If he was transparent about anything at least once, I would be more inclined to believe him. I don't believe I'm alone either.
Is it just me or isn't it a bit strange for a gaming review in one publication to reference the review score given by a different publication? ......I wonder how much tAsus had to pay for this "review"? lol It's hard to believe this kind of "damage control" service is available for free!
I thought it was completely uncalled for as well. It makes me feel like the person writing the article wanted to prove Eurogamer wrong no matter what and as such, I cannot take that TTH article at face value. Not that I take anything written on that website seriously anyway.
Pretty much all that needs to be said about this thread. I've read plenty of "Previews", "First Impressions", and "Reviews". Not once do I ever recall one of them, referencing another publications writing in such a manner.
PS: Paragus I've noticed you saying the same thing alot lately. The funny thing is do you honestly believe any of the DF fans would have complained, if EG had given the game 8/10 with only 2 hours played? Nope, and sadly even though I respect your writing talent. I'd bet you wouldn't have said anything about it either. The only reason DF fans complained about the EG review was because it didn't paint the game in a good light.
He could have played for a month straight 8-10 hours a day. Gave it a 8/10, still had inaccuracies in the review. Yet you would still have DF fans praising EG and Ed for it. Simply because it's what they wanted to hear. That is what annoys me the most about 90% of the DF fans that pass through here. Everything is right as rain as long as you all are hearing and seeing what you want. As soon as reality hits though you all start flip flopping.
Someone mentions DF pop dying typical reply: "It's a niche game." or "Small Communities are better"
Press clipping about DF NA server "The population is growing." or "People are just beating down the door to play DF"
Someone mentions DF limited release: "They are doing that to keep the server from being crowded"
Tasos post about store selling out in minutes "DF is selling like Hotcakes everyone wants to play it."
No, Paragus and the fans would probably not be complaining, but you and your camp most certainly would. Attempting to reverse the facts is silly, because it focuses on reader perception and not the propriety of the act itself. Is it professional for someone to take money for something on which he didn't make an honest effort to do a good job? Most people, if they thought about that question reasonably and rationally would say no. However, most of the people in here when it comes to Darkfall don't think reasonably or rationally (at least their posts don't provide evidence that they do.) Lots of meaningless words and attacks from either side won't amount to anything. You can agree or disagree with the conclusion of the review, however riddled the body is with inaccuracies, but there's more than ample evidence for a reasonable person to conclude that Ed's attitude and methodology were far from circumspect.
I'm confused. Are we discussing the Eurogamer review or TTH review? Both articles are suspect at best.
Interestingly enough, I see a lot of people trying to add validity to the TTH review by attempting to discredit the Eurogamer review, while both are guilty of similar offenses.
The way I see it: either we completely discredit both articles or we accept them both.
Originally posted by Roin Originally posted by heartless Originally posted by SuperCrap Is it just me or isn't it a bit strange for a gaming review in one publication to reference the review score given by a different publication? ......I wonder how much tAsus had to pay for this "review"? lol It's hard to believe this kind of "damage control" service is available for free!
I thought it was completely uncalled for as well. It makes me feel like the person writing the article wanted to prove Eurogamer wrong no matter what and as such, I cannot take that TTH article at face value. Not that I take anything written on that website seriously anyway.
Pretty much all that needs to be said about this thread. I've read plenty of "Previews", "First Impressions", and "Reviews". Not once do I ever recall one of them, referencing another publications writing in such a manner. PS: Paragus I've noticed you saying the same thing alot lately. The funny thing is do you honestly believe any of the DF fans would have complained, if EG had given the game 8/10 with only 2 hours played? Nope, and sadly even though I respect your writing talent. I'd bet you wouldn't have said anything about it either. The only reason DF fans complained about the EG review was because it didn't paint the game in a good light. He could have played for a month straight 8-10 hours a day. Gave it a 8/10, still had inaccuracies in the review. Yet you would still have DF fans praising EG and Ed for it. Simply because it's what they wanted to hear. That is what annoys me the most about 90% of the DF fans that pass through here. Everything is right as rain as long as you all are hearing and seeing what you want. As soon as reality hits though you all start flip flopping. Someone mentions DF pop dying typical reply: "It's a niche game." or "Small Communities are better" Press clipping about DF NA server "The population is growing." or "People are just beating down the door to play DF" Someone mentions DF limited release: "They are doing that to keep the server from being crowded" Tasos post about store selling out in minutes "DF is selling like Hotcakes everyone wants to play it."
exactly what i thought. DF fans are mad at EG for one thing mainly and thats because it was reviewed by someone whos not a DF cultist...cuz honestly I would have played the game for the same amount of time and given it a negative score. As for Paragus...you cant review DF when your all in favor of it. In your case its more like fan appraisal. A real review by someone who is actually professional in this industry is someone who does not favor one game more than others and can correctly review any game straight down the middle. There is a difference.
I played Darkfall for a week (not sure why). It wasn't good when I started and it didn't get any better, so I think it's safe to assume it still wouldn't get better (for me) after a month, 3 months, a year, etc. You don't have to play a game for 3 months to know whether you like it or not.
In the case of the guy who wrote the article. Completely unprofessional to "call out" another reviewer in the manner he did and it makes him look biased.
My advice to anyone who's looking for a decent review. Find a different game to play, because come to think of it, I don't know if a real review is coming out for this game anytime soon. And by the time one does, other games will be out and people will have moved on.
exactly what i thought. DF fans are mad at EG for one thing mainly and thats because it was reviewed by someone whos not a DF cultist...cuz honestly I would have played the game for the same amount of time and given it a negative score. As for Paragus...you cant review DF when your all in favor of it. In your case its more like fan appraisal. A real review by someone who is actually professional in this industry is someone who does not favor one game more than others and can correctly review any game straight down the middle. There is a difference.
How does that have anything whatsoever to do with what Paragus said? It's one thing to just throw out a bunch of words, but it's another to have an honest discussion about a topic. It's probably easy to point to Paragus, since he blogs about Darkfall, and say as a diversionary tactic that anything he says must be biased by his passion for the game that he plays and blogs about. Engaging in an honest, constructive discussion on the topic of the thread is another matter entirely.
No one has asked for a "cultist" or unduly biased "review" from either side. What people have asked for is more professionalism. If someone is paid by a magazine or website to write an article, whether it be a review or anything else, a reasonable person would expect that the one being paid would put an honest effort into researching and writing the article. There is ample evidence from which a reasonable person could logically conclude that Ed Zitron did not exert that effort. You might like his conclusion because it neatly coincides with your impression of the game, but the fact that you agree with the conclusion does not in and of itself controvert evidence of lack of professionalism.
As to whether the TTH "first impressions" article was right or wrong or equally unprofessional, that's open to debate. It is unusual to reference a different review, but the truth is that Ed Zitron's review was quite controversial because of the evidence of lack of professionalism, and it has therefore created quite a buzz. In light of the controversy, the reference doesn't seem so unusual. Trying to compare the two based on play time is inappropriate, because the TTH article does not even purport to be the same thing, and clearly contains caveats stating that the time played was insufficient on which to base a review or score. It will be interesting to see if TTH does a full review, and if they do, what the end result will be. The fact that both TTH and MMORPG refuse to review an MMO based on a few hours of play time would appear to be evidence of an industry practice that Ed Zitron chose to ignore. In ignoring what is considered good practice in an industry, people open themselves up to criticism, and perhaps rightfully so in many cases. Does that mean Ed's conclusions were wrong? People will probably continue to debate that endlessly, but his methodology and attitude are what I believe to be the real issue.
As we read he "KNOWS" what "Eurogamer" said.. so from that alone you could have stopped because hes going to up it alot more. He most likely felt sorry for DF yet KNOWING Eurogamer was wrong yet didnt play that long blah blah.. oh yeah then of corse whatever he says is right on.. and Eurogamer is lmao wrong.. huh? But Tentonhammer has always been like this
They should have left out everything about what some other gameing site said and just do a review. Yet he even says he didnt play it long enough.. so that covers his butt so he dont piss off to many people.. "the game sucks.. well he didnt play it long enough, the game ROCKS well he didnt play it long enough" lol
As to whether the TTH "first impressions" article was right or wrong or equally unprofessional, that's open to debate. It is unusual to reference a different review, but the truth is that Ed Zitron's review was quite controversial because of the evidence of lack of professionalism, and it has therefore created quite a buzz. In light of the controversy, the reference doesn't seem so unusual. Trying to compare the two based on play time is inappropriate, because the TTH article does not even purport to be the same thing, and clearly contains caveats stating that the time played was insufficient on which to base a review or score. It will be interesting to see if TTH does a full review, and if they do, what the end result will be. The fact that both TTH and MMORPG refuse to review an MMO based on a few hours of play time would appear to be evidence of an industry practice that Ed Zitron chose to ignore. In ignoring what is considered good practice in an industry, people open themselves up to criticism, and perhaps rightfully so in many cases. Does that mean Ed's conclusions were wrong? People will probably continue to debate that endlessly, but his methodology and attitude are what I believe to be the real issue.
It's not the fact that he referenced the Eurogamer review that I have a problem with. It's how the reference was worded that bothers me. It was worded more like a challenge than anything else.
That, as well as the fact that he has played for 2 hours combined with the fact that the whole TTH article read like he was appologizing and making up excuses for the game's short comings is enough for me to question his motives.
FACT is there's no unbiased review possible for DFO anymore not just bc i think Tasos & Co is in touch/on watch with every tester/reviewer since the ed zitron review (wich was honestly not pro too) and obviously emposes the pattern on how to rate DFO the right way .
And why the tentonhammer reviewer felt the need to qoute the eurogamer review is beyond any logic ...smells like he had Tasos finger in one of his bodypart.
Anyway i realy hope it doesnt become a habbit that reviewers become ripped to pieces by devs or whatsorever just bc they cant take the review.
"Good AI is a costly feature (in terms of server side performance) for any game. Darkfall enemy AI is very good, and as a result the PvE spawns in Darkfall are fairly sparse. Many of the things you try to do to mobs - debuff, kite, gang up - they'll try to do with you. When they run away, they seem to run at full speed (remember to sprint) toward other mobs, and the aggro radius is extremely large."
This part of the review alone makes me believe that Tasos had something to do with this review. The AI is crap, its buggy, explotiable and plain stupid.
The review makes it sound like the sparse PvE spawns are a good thing. This is not a good review. This is on par with the Eurogamer review. Both are very bad reviews by very bad reviewers.
"Good AI is a costly feature (in terms of server side performance) for any game. Darkfall enemy AI is very good, and as a result the PvE spawns in Darkfall are fairly sparse. Many of the things you try to do to mobs - debuff, kite, gang up - they'll try to do with you. When they run away, they seem to run at full speed (remember to sprint) toward other mobs, and the aggro radius is extremely large."
This part of the review alone makes me believe that Tasos had something to do with this review. The AI is crap, its buggy, explotiable and plain stupid. The review makes it sound like the sparse PvE spawns are a good thing. This is not a good review. This is on par with the Eurogamer review. Both are very bad reviews by very bad reviewers.
Not commenting on the review as a whole but he's not saying anything about the ability to bug the mobs, he can't be expected to review all aspects of the game at their most exploitable and buggiest, that makes no sense.
----- The person who is certain, and who claims divine warrant for his certainty, belongs now to the infancy of our species.
"Good AI is a costly feature (in terms of server side performance) for any game. Darkfall enemy AI is very good, and as a result the PvE spawns in Darkfall are fairly sparse. Many of the things you try to do to mobs - debuff, kite, gang up - they'll try to do with you. When they run away, they seem to run at full speed (remember to sprint) toward other mobs, and the aggro radius is extremely large."
This part of the review alone makes me believe that Tasos had something to do with this review. The AI is crap, its buggy, explotiable and plain stupid. The review makes it sound like the sparse PvE spawns are a good thing. This is not a good review. This is on par with the Eurogamer review. Both are very bad reviews by very bad reviewers.
Not commenting on the review as a whole but he's not saying anything about the ability to bug the mobs, he can't be expected to review all aspects of the game at their most exploitable and buggiest, that makes no sense.
If you are going to review a game, you need to do the good with the bad. Its super easy to bug out the mobs, hell most people do it everyday and do not realize it. The AI is not that good compared to other MMOs on the market.
That is why I am saying this review should be viewed as the Eurogamer review is viewed. Its the same review except one is positive and one is negitive. They are both garbage.
I played Darkfall in beta, I knew I would not buy it in beta because its not a game for me and I love PvP,, played shadowbane for a few years.
"I won't repeat everyone else's assessment and note that Darkfall has "potential" - it's a solid, enjoyable game if you give it half a chance and play it on its own terms. I haven't played nearly long enough to give DF any kind of objective score, but sorry Eurogamer, this isn't a 4 / 10 game."
Seems like this review was initiated by another review instead of a review being initiated by a game. So in that sense, it seems more bias than the first. Word of advice to such a reviewer, dont post about another review inside your review. It only shows that you have some alterior motive.
Is it just me or isn't it a bit strange for a gaming review in one publication to reference the review score given by a different publication? ......I wonder how much tAsus had to pay for this "review"? lol It's hard to believe this kind of "damage control" service is available for free!
I thought it was completely uncalled for as well. It makes me feel like the person writing the article wanted to prove Eurogamer wrong no matter what and as such, I cannot take that TTH article at face value. Not that I take anything written on that website seriously anyway.
Pretty much all that needs to be said about this thread. I've read plenty of "Previews", "First Impressions", and "Reviews". Not once do I ever recall one of them, referencing another publications writing in such a manner.
PS: Paragus I've noticed you saying the same thing alot lately. The funny thing is do you honestly believe any of the DF fans would have complained, if EG had given the game 8/10 with only 2 hours played? Nope, and sadly even though I respect your writing talent. I'd bet you wouldn't have said anything about it either. The only reason DF fans complained about the EG review was because it didn't paint the game in a good light.
He could have played for a month straight 8-10 hours a day. Gave it a 8/10, still had inaccuracies in the review. Yet you would still have DF fans praising EG and Ed for it. Simply because it's what they wanted to hear. That is what annoys me the most about 90% of the DF fans that pass through here. Everything is right as rain as long as you all are hearing and seeing what you want. As soon as reality hits though you all start flip flopping.
Someone mentions DF pop dying typical reply: "It's a niche game." or "Small Communities are better"
Press clipping about DF NA server "The population is growing." or "People are just beating down the door to play DF"
Someone mentions DF limited release: "They are doing that to keep the server from being crowded"
Tasos post about store selling out in minutes "DF is selling like Hotcakes everyone wants to play it."
"Good AI is a costly feature (in terms of server side performance) for any game. Darkfall enemy AI is very good, and as a result the PvE spawns in Darkfall are fairly sparse. Many of the things you try to do to mobs - debuff, kite, gang up - they'll try to do with you. When they run away, they seem to run at full speed (remember to sprint) toward other mobs, and the aggro radius is extremely large."
This part of the review alone makes me believe that Tasos had something to do with this review. The AI is crap, its buggy, explotiable and plain stupid. The review makes it sound like the sparse PvE spawns are a good thing. This is not a good review. This is on par with the Eurogamer review. Both are very bad reviews by very bad reviewers.
Yeah the crappy AI harks back to the intial beta leaks and are painful to see. You have to wonder if Tasos is going viral (well even more so than his usual forumfall lackies and IRC mods)
Personally I thought the Eurogamer review was rightly harsh though.
one they have showed to me they sell themselves out.
why do i think this way.
2 games.
Vanguard and Tabula rasa.
the way they managed to hype both game and completely ignore their glaring flaws blew my mind. it was not until the majority of the fanboys finally realized what problems both games had that we started to see a turn on both games.
While vanguard did get saved by soe and from what i hear it is ina much better state, tabula rasa hit the dirt.
Watching Fanbois drop their soap in a prison full of desperate men.
"Good AI is a costly feature (in terms of server side performance) for any game. Darkfall enemy AI is very good, and as a result the PvE spawns in Darkfall are fairly sparse. Many of the things you try to do to mobs - debuff, kite, gang up - they'll try to do with you. When they run away, they seem to run at full speed (remember to sprint) toward other mobs, and the aggro radius is extremely large."
This part of the review alone makes me believe that Tasos had something to do with this review. The AI is crap, its buggy, explotiable and plain stupid. The review makes it sound like the sparse PvE spawns are a good thing. This is not a good review. This is on par with the Eurogamer review. Both are very bad reviews by very bad reviewers.
Not commenting on the review as a whole but he's not saying anything about the ability to bug the mobs, he can't be expected to review all aspects of the game at their most exploitable and buggiest, that makes no sense.
If you are going to review a game, you need to do the good with the bad. Its super easy to bug out the mobs, hell most people do it everyday and do not realize it. The AI is not that good compared to other MMOs on the market.
Name an MMO that has better AI than Darkfall? Most MMOs conceal how bad their AI is by making mobs "evade", or disappear, or sprint back to their spawn when they get bugged out or detect potential exploitation attempts - but this is not "good AI", it's bad AI with bandaids.
That said, every MMO ever released has had exploitable mobs, eg: kiting mobs to uber NPC guards who kill the mob - i've done this in WOW to kill world elites, in DAOC to solo artifacts, you name it.
The real measure of what makes good AI is how repeatable & varied mobs responses are, and how well mobs react to the players action. WOW mobs for instance are RNG-based - their actions are random. WOW bosses are precisely scripted. That's why there is little to no variation at all between mobs & bosses of the same name/type.
It is done this way because good AI costs CPU cycles. A lot of them. When you sum the AI CPU cost of a few thousand active mobs in a world it ends up costing a large slice of your available CPU.
As the review guy correctly identifies, Darkfall has taken the approach of having a fewer, and some would argue, more realistic, number of mobs, with better AI. And DF is all manually targeted, so mobs have to be made to move, aim and behave semi-realistically as well. It's not easy. Just the simple fact that DF is one of the only MMOGs that have FPS-based combat with unscripted AI-controlled mobs tells you how hard it is.
Comments
When writing a review friend it is better to spend a decent amount of time playing the game, that way the people who are sitting on the fence and want to hear more have a chance to hear from somone who gave it a good go. thats what a review is for isnt it?
I wrote an opinion on the game myself, but i stated that it was just that! an opinion. that way i am in no way reviewing the game and it shouldnt be taken as one. But if you are reviewing a game and putting it out there its best to be as honest as possible and try as much content as possible
imagine reviewing a ferarri and giveing it 1 out of 10 because you didnt like red! so you never even sat in the car let alone drive it.
No, you are missing the point. The eurogamer review was very clear that the guy did not spend a lot of time in the game. He did not try to imply otherwise. He tried the game out, his initial impression was that it was TOTAL SHITE, and he didn't bother with it anymore after that. Whether it was two hours or ten hours doesn't reall matter as he was not claiming the review was based on extensive play of the game, in fact he specifically states in the review that he DID NOT extensively play the game. The whole, "he only played two hours" is just a straw man argument from Tasos, even if it was true how does it change the nature of the review in any way at all? The reviewer did not play the game extensively, he specifically says he did not play the game extensively, so if your argument is he did not play the game extensively you are only agreeing with what the eurogamer reviewer already said in his article.
Incidentally, I don't have to drive a Yugo all day to see it is a piece of shit, I just see it there in the lot and it is easy to tell the build quality is poor. If I take it for a test drive and it runs like a pile of cow flop oozing across the ground then what do you want me to take it to the autobahn or can I just write in the magazine that it is a shit already? LOL.
God the intelligence of some people eh ... if a reviewer cant be bothered to play a game then he should'nt be Fucking reviewing it at all should he now ?
Come on now Superpoo its not fucking rocket science is it ...
no shit
Agreed. The guy should not have to state how much time he played because he works for a major publication. With the level of professionalism that is expected from someone working there, it should be assumed that any reviewer who is reviewing any game, MMO or not, is putting in enough time to put together a comprehensive review. I've seen other blogs besides mine, and forum posts that had more effort spent on them, both positive and negative, than was exhibited by Ed Zitron.
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To make a good review you need to play it for months to do a good review? What, do you have a learning disability? If you cannot learn the mechanics of the game in the first couple hours, the game is really poorly designed. If you don't get the basics of itemization in the first few hours of gameplay, it is poorly designed. If you are worrying about class balances before you get to end game instead of just picking the class that interests you and you think you'd enjoy playing, you aren't playing RPGs correctly in my opinion. If you have to get to end game to enjoy the game, the game is poorly designed. If you need to play for months to understand the combat system, the game is plain terrible. And finally, the leveling curve is completely irrelevant if the game is fun and you want to keep playing day after day... assuming the game isn't poorly designed... which DF is.
Guess what ...after all you said I still think a review of an MMO after having only played it a few days is a crap review.
I thought it was completely uncalled for as well. It makes me feel like the person writing the article wanted to prove Eurogamer wrong no matter what and as such, I cannot take that TTH article at face value. Not that I take anything written on that website seriously anyway.
Pretty much all that needs to be said about this thread. I've read plenty of "Previews", "First Impressions", and "Reviews". Not once do I ever recall one of them, referencing another publications writing in such a manner.
PS: Paragus I've noticed you saying the same thing alot lately. The funny thing is do you honestly believe any of the DF fans would have complained, if EG had given the game 8/10 with only 2 hours played? Nope, and sadly even though I respect your writing talent. I'd bet you wouldn't have said anything about it either. The only reason DF fans complained about the EG review was because it didn't paint the game in a good light.
He could have played for a month straight 8-10 hours a day. Gave it a 8/10, still had inaccuracies in the review. Yet you would still have DF fans praising EG and Ed for it. Simply because it's what they wanted to hear. That is what annoys me the most about 90% of the DF fans that pass through here. Everything is right as rain as long as you all are hearing and seeing what you want. As soon as reality hits though you all start flip flopping.
Someone mentions DF pop dying typical reply: "It's a niche game." or "Small Communities are better"
Press clipping about DF NA server "The population is growing." or "People are just beating down the door to play DF"
Someone mentions DF limited release: "They are doing that to keep the server from being crowded"
Tasos post about store selling out in minutes "DF is selling like Hotcakes everyone wants to play it."
In War - Victory.
In Peace - Vigilance.
In Death - Sacrifice.
i played DF for about 3hours and after that time i realized this game is total crap
everyone can have thier own opinion (my score is 3/10)
all fanboys gonna yell at me now lol
Sorry, I play games on MY terms.
That's exactly what I was going to say. I'm well aware that if I am willing to overlook the flaws in something and lower my expectations enough that I can find something good to say about anything. But I won't compromise my demand for quality in things I pay money for. And especially not in my favorite form of entertainment: MMORPG's.
Agreed. The guy should not have to state how much time he played because he works for a major publication. With the level of professionalism that is expected from someone working there, it should be assumed that any reviewer who is reviewing any game, MMO or not, is putting in enough time to put together a comprehensive review. I've seen other blogs besides mine, and forum posts that had more effort spent on them, both positive and negative, than was exhibited by Ed Zitron.
Thank god Ed Zitron is'nt a Surgeon or something eh ....
Sorry if I am consistant, but the fact remains the same. You can not accurately review any MMO objectively after only 2 hours of playtime. I don't care if the end results gives the game a 2 or an 8 out of 10. If he had given the game an 8/10 after 2 hours, the trolls would have called him out on it and they would be right in doing so. I couldn't review WoW in 2 hours, let alone a sandbox game. Endgame is drastically different than what you see when you first start playing. It has taken me 3 months in Darkfall to see warhsips and warhulks in action, and I'd wager most people playing as long as I have still haven't seen them in action.
Remember this guy probably got paid money to write that as well. Me and other bloggers, as well as forum posters have written far more detailed reviews for free.
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I thought it was completely uncalled for as well. It makes me feel like the person writing the article wanted to prove Eurogamer wrong no matter what and as such, I cannot take that TTH article at face value. Not that I take anything written on that website seriously anyway.
Pretty much all that needs to be said about this thread. I've read plenty of "Previews", "First Impressions", and "Reviews". Not once do I ever recall one of them, referencing another publications writing in such a manner.
PS: Paragus I've noticed you saying the same thing alot lately. The funny thing is do you honestly believe any of the DF fans would have complained, if EG had given the game 8/10 with only 2 hours played? Nope, and sadly even though I respect your writing talent. I'd bet you wouldn't have said anything about it either. The only reason DF fans complained about the EG review was because it didn't paint the game in a good light.
He could have played for a month straight 8-10 hours a day. Gave it a 8/10, still had inaccuracies in the review. Yet you would still have DF fans praising EG and Ed for it. Simply because it's what they wanted to hear. That is what annoys me the most about 90% of the DF fans that pass through here. Everything is right as rain as long as you all are hearing and seeing what you want. As soon as reality hits though you all start flip flopping.
Someone mentions DF pop dying typical reply: "It's a niche game." or "Small Communities are better"
Press clipping about DF NA server "The population is growing." or "People are just beating down the door to play DF"
Someone mentions DF limited release: "They are doing that to keep the server from being crowded"
Tasos post about store selling out in minutes "DF is selling like Hotcakes everyone wants to play it."
No, Paragus and the fans would probably not be complaining, but you and your camp most certainly would. Attempting to reverse the facts is silly, because it focuses on reader perception and not the propriety of the act itself. Is it professional for someone to take money for something on which he didn't make an honest effort to do a good job? Most people, if they thought about that question reasonably and rationally would say no. However, most of the people in here when it comes to Darkfall don't think reasonably or rationally (at least their posts don't provide evidence that they do.) Lots of meaningless words and attacks from either side won't amount to anything. You can agree or disagree with the conclusion of the review, however riddled the body is with inaccuracies, but there's more than ample evidence for a reasonable person to conclude that Ed's attitude and methodology were far from circumspect.
The problem is how the guy who claimed the reviewer just played two hours, have said many lies in the past, like "Darkfall is feature complete", not to mention all the interviews and utterly unprofessional unmatched behavior.
If he was transparent about anything at least once, I would be more inclined to believe him. I don't believe I'm alone either.
Sorry, the lack of credibility takes its toll.
I thought it was completely uncalled for as well. It makes me feel like the person writing the article wanted to prove Eurogamer wrong no matter what and as such, I cannot take that TTH article at face value. Not that I take anything written on that website seriously anyway.
Pretty much all that needs to be said about this thread. I've read plenty of "Previews", "First Impressions", and "Reviews". Not once do I ever recall one of them, referencing another publications writing in such a manner.
PS: Paragus I've noticed you saying the same thing alot lately. The funny thing is do you honestly believe any of the DF fans would have complained, if EG had given the game 8/10 with only 2 hours played? Nope, and sadly even though I respect your writing talent. I'd bet you wouldn't have said anything about it either. The only reason DF fans complained about the EG review was because it didn't paint the game in a good light.
He could have played for a month straight 8-10 hours a day. Gave it a 8/10, still had inaccuracies in the review. Yet you would still have DF fans praising EG and Ed for it. Simply because it's what they wanted to hear. That is what annoys me the most about 90% of the DF fans that pass through here. Everything is right as rain as long as you all are hearing and seeing what you want. As soon as reality hits though you all start flip flopping.
Someone mentions DF pop dying typical reply: "It's a niche game." or "Small Communities are better"
Press clipping about DF NA server "The population is growing." or "People are just beating down the door to play DF"
Someone mentions DF limited release: "They are doing that to keep the server from being crowded"
Tasos post about store selling out in minutes "DF is selling like Hotcakes everyone wants to play it."
No, Paragus and the fans would probably not be complaining, but you and your camp most certainly would. Attempting to reverse the facts is silly, because it focuses on reader perception and not the propriety of the act itself. Is it professional for someone to take money for something on which he didn't make an honest effort to do a good job? Most people, if they thought about that question reasonably and rationally would say no. However, most of the people in here when it comes to Darkfall don't think reasonably or rationally (at least their posts don't provide evidence that they do.) Lots of meaningless words and attacks from either side won't amount to anything. You can agree or disagree with the conclusion of the review, however riddled the body is with inaccuracies, but there's more than ample evidence for a reasonable person to conclude that Ed's attitude and methodology were far from circumspect.
I'm confused. Are we discussing the Eurogamer review or TTH review? Both articles are suspect at best.
Interestingly enough, I see a lot of people trying to add validity to the TTH review by attempting to discredit the Eurogamer review, while both are guilty of similar offenses.
The way I see it: either we completely discredit both articles or we accept them both.
I thought it was completely uncalled for as well. It makes me feel like the person writing the article wanted to prove Eurogamer wrong no matter what and as such, I cannot take that TTH article at face value. Not that I take anything written on that website seriously anyway.
Pretty much all that needs to be said about this thread. I've read plenty of "Previews", "First Impressions", and "Reviews". Not once do I ever recall one of them, referencing another publications writing in such a manner.
PS: Paragus I've noticed you saying the same thing alot lately. The funny thing is do you honestly believe any of the DF fans would have complained, if EG had given the game 8/10 with only 2 hours played? Nope, and sadly even though I respect your writing talent. I'd bet you wouldn't have said anything about it either. The only reason DF fans complained about the EG review was because it didn't paint the game in a good light.
He could have played for a month straight 8-10 hours a day. Gave it a 8/10, still had inaccuracies in the review. Yet you would still have DF fans praising EG and Ed for it. Simply because it's what they wanted to hear. That is what annoys me the most about 90% of the DF fans that pass through here. Everything is right as rain as long as you all are hearing and seeing what you want. As soon as reality hits though you all start flip flopping.
Someone mentions DF pop dying typical reply: "It's a niche game." or "Small Communities are better"
Press clipping about DF NA server "The population is growing." or "People are just beating down the door to play DF"
Someone mentions DF limited release: "They are doing that to keep the server from being crowded"
Tasos post about store selling out in minutes "DF is selling like Hotcakes everyone wants to play it."
exactly what i thought. DF fans are mad at EG for one thing mainly and thats because it was reviewed by someone whos not a DF cultist...cuz honestly I would have played the game for the same amount of time and given it a negative score. As for Paragus...you cant review DF when your all in favor of it. In your case its more like fan appraisal. A real review by someone who is actually professional in this industry is someone who does not favor one game more than others and can correctly review any game straight down the middle. There is a difference.
I played Darkfall for a week (not sure why). It wasn't good when I started and it didn't get any better, so I think it's safe to assume it still wouldn't get better (for me) after a month, 3 months, a year, etc. You don't have to play a game for 3 months to know whether you like it or not.
In the case of the guy who wrote the article. Completely unprofessional to "call out" another reviewer in the manner he did and it makes him look biased.
My advice to anyone who's looking for a decent review. Find a different game to play, because come to think of it, I don't know if a real review is coming out for this game anytime soon. And by the time one does, other games will be out and people will have moved on.
exactly what i thought. DF fans are mad at EG for one thing mainly and thats because it was reviewed by someone whos not a DF cultist...cuz honestly I would have played the game for the same amount of time and given it a negative score. As for Paragus...you cant review DF when your all in favor of it. In your case its more like fan appraisal. A real review by someone who is actually professional in this industry is someone who does not favor one game more than others and can correctly review any game straight down the middle. There is a difference.
How does that have anything whatsoever to do with what Paragus said? It's one thing to just throw out a bunch of words, but it's another to have an honest discussion about a topic. It's probably easy to point to Paragus, since he blogs about Darkfall, and say as a diversionary tactic that anything he says must be biased by his passion for the game that he plays and blogs about. Engaging in an honest, constructive discussion on the topic of the thread is another matter entirely.
No one has asked for a "cultist" or unduly biased "review" from either side. What people have asked for is more professionalism. If someone is paid by a magazine or website to write an article, whether it be a review or anything else, a reasonable person would expect that the one being paid would put an honest effort into researching and writing the article. There is ample evidence from which a reasonable person could logically conclude that Ed Zitron did not exert that effort. You might like his conclusion because it neatly coincides with your impression of the game, but the fact that you agree with the conclusion does not in and of itself controvert evidence of lack of professionalism.
As to whether the TTH "first impressions" article was right or wrong or equally unprofessional, that's open to debate. It is unusual to reference a different review, but the truth is that Ed Zitron's review was quite controversial because of the evidence of lack of professionalism, and it has therefore created quite a buzz. In light of the controversy, the reference doesn't seem so unusual. Trying to compare the two based on play time is inappropriate, because the TTH article does not even purport to be the same thing, and clearly contains caveats stating that the time played was insufficient on which to base a review or score. It will be interesting to see if TTH does a full review, and if they do, what the end result will be. The fact that both TTH and MMORPG refuse to review an MMO based on a few hours of play time would appear to be evidence of an industry practice that Ed Zitron chose to ignore. In ignoring what is considered good practice in an industry, people open themselves up to criticism, and perhaps rightfully so in many cases. Does that mean Ed's conclusions were wrong? People will probably continue to debate that endlessly, but his methodology and attitude are what I believe to be the real issue.
As we read he "KNOWS" what "Eurogamer" said.. so from that alone you could have stopped because hes going to up it alot more. He most likely felt sorry for DF yet KNOWING Eurogamer was wrong yet didnt play that long blah blah.. oh yeah then of corse whatever he says is right on.. and Eurogamer is lmao wrong.. huh? But Tentonhammer has always been like this
They should have left out everything about what some other gameing site said and just do a review. Yet he even says he didnt play it long enough.. so that covers his butt so he dont piss off to many people.. "the game sucks.. well he didnt play it long enough, the game ROCKS well he didnt play it long enough" lol
It's not the fact that he referenced the Eurogamer review that I have a problem with. It's how the reference was worded that bothers me. It was worded more like a challenge than anything else.
That, as well as the fact that he has played for 2 hours combined with the fact that the whole TTH article read like he was appologizing and making up excuses for the game's short comings is enough for me to question his motives.
FACT is there's no unbiased review possible for DFO anymore not just bc i think Tasos & Co is in touch/on watch with every tester/reviewer since the ed zitron review (wich was honestly not pro too) and obviously emposes the pattern on how to rate DFO the right way .
And why the tentonhammer reviewer felt the need to qoute the eurogamer review is beyond any logic ...smells like he had Tasos finger in one of his bodypart.
Anyway i realy hope it doesnt become a habbit that reviewers become ripped to pieces by devs or whatsorever just bc they cant take the review.
"Good AI is a costly feature (in terms of server side performance) for any game. Darkfall enemy AI is very good, and as a result the PvE spawns in Darkfall are fairly sparse. Many of the things you try to do to mobs - debuff, kite, gang up - they'll try to do with you. When they run away, they seem to run at full speed (remember to sprint) toward other mobs, and the aggro radius is extremely large."
This part of the review alone makes me believe that Tasos had something to do with this review. The AI is crap, its buggy, explotiable and plain stupid.
The review makes it sound like the sparse PvE spawns are a good thing. This is not a good review. This is on par with the Eurogamer review. Both are very bad reviews by very bad reviewers.
Sooner or Later
Not commenting on the review as a whole but he's not saying anything about the ability to bug the mobs, he can't be expected to review all aspects of the game at their most exploitable and buggiest, that makes no sense.
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The person who is certain, and who claims divine warrant for his certainty, belongs now to the infancy of our species.
Not commenting on the review as a whole but he's not saying anything about the ability to bug the mobs, he can't be expected to review all aspects of the game at their most exploitable and buggiest, that makes no sense.
If you are going to review a game, you need to do the good with the bad. Its super easy to bug out the mobs, hell most people do it everyday and do not realize it. The AI is not that good compared to other MMOs on the market.
That is why I am saying this review should be viewed as the Eurogamer review is viewed. Its the same review except one is positive and one is negitive. They are both garbage.
I played Darkfall in beta, I knew I would not buy it in beta because its not a game for me and I love PvP,, played shadowbane for a few years.
Sooner or Later
Seems like this review was initiated by another review instead of a review being initiated by a game. So in that sense, it seems more bias than the first. Word of advice to such a reviewer, dont post about another review inside your review. It only shows that you have some alterior motive.
I thought it was completely uncalled for as well. It makes me feel like the person writing the article wanted to prove Eurogamer wrong no matter what and as such, I cannot take that TTH article at face value. Not that I take anything written on that website seriously anyway.
Pretty much all that needs to be said about this thread. I've read plenty of "Previews", "First Impressions", and "Reviews". Not once do I ever recall one of them, referencing another publications writing in such a manner.
PS: Paragus I've noticed you saying the same thing alot lately. The funny thing is do you honestly believe any of the DF fans would have complained, if EG had given the game 8/10 with only 2 hours played? Nope, and sadly even though I respect your writing talent. I'd bet you wouldn't have said anything about it either. The only reason DF fans complained about the EG review was because it didn't paint the game in a good light.
He could have played for a month straight 8-10 hours a day. Gave it a 8/10, still had inaccuracies in the review. Yet you would still have DF fans praising EG and Ed for it. Simply because it's what they wanted to hear. That is what annoys me the most about 90% of the DF fans that pass through here. Everything is right as rain as long as you all are hearing and seeing what you want. As soon as reality hits though you all start flip flopping.
Someone mentions DF pop dying typical reply: "It's a niche game." or "Small Communities are better"
Press clipping about DF NA server "The population is growing." or "People are just beating down the door to play DF"
Someone mentions DF limited release: "They are doing that to keep the server from being crowded"
Tasos post about store selling out in minutes "DF is selling like Hotcakes everyone wants to play it."
110%
Yeah the crappy AI harks back to the intial beta leaks and are painful to see. You have to wonder if Tasos is going viral (well even more so than his usual forumfall lackies and IRC mods)
Personally I thought the Eurogamer review was rightly harsh though.
I have a bone to pick with ten ton hammer.
one they have showed to me they sell themselves out.
why do i think this way.
2 games.
Vanguard and Tabula rasa.
the way they managed to hype both game and completely ignore their glaring flaws blew my mind. it was not until the majority of the fanboys finally realized what problems both games had that we started to see a turn on both games.
While vanguard did get saved by soe and from what i hear it is ina much better state, tabula rasa hit the dirt.
Watching Fanbois drop their soap in a prison full of desperate men.
Not commenting on the review as a whole but he's not saying anything about the ability to bug the mobs, he can't be expected to review all aspects of the game at their most exploitable and buggiest, that makes no sense.
If you are going to review a game, you need to do the good with the bad. Its super easy to bug out the mobs, hell most people do it everyday and do not realize it. The AI is not that good compared to other MMOs on the market.
Name an MMO that has better AI than Darkfall? Most MMOs conceal how bad their AI is by making mobs "evade", or disappear, or sprint back to their spawn when they get bugged out or detect potential exploitation attempts - but this is not "good AI", it's bad AI with bandaids.
That said, every MMO ever released has had exploitable mobs, eg: kiting mobs to uber NPC guards who kill the mob - i've done this in WOW to kill world elites, in DAOC to solo artifacts, you name it.
The real measure of what makes good AI is how repeatable & varied mobs responses are, and how well mobs react to the players action. WOW mobs for instance are RNG-based - their actions are random. WOW bosses are precisely scripted. That's why there is little to no variation at all between mobs & bosses of the same name/type.
It is done this way because good AI costs CPU cycles. A lot of them. When you sum the AI CPU cost of a few thousand active mobs in a world it ends up costing a large slice of your available CPU.
As the review guy correctly identifies, Darkfall has taken the approach of having a fewer, and some would argue, more realistic, number of mobs, with better AI. And DF is all manually targeted, so mobs have to be made to move, aim and behave semi-realistically as well. It's not easy. Just the simple fact that DF is one of the only MMOGs that have FPS-based combat with unscripted AI-controlled mobs tells you how hard it is.