MMORPG.com and some others grade games based on the school grade system. Ie, a 60 is a D-, and anything below 60 is failing. A 70 is average, and 80+ is a B. Only games with a 90+ rating are 'A" games.
So based on that curve, his 4.5, which is meant to be just below average, would score about a 6.5 on the MMORPG scale.
You can't compare the way education is graded and the way products are reviewed, that just doesn't work. In education, to be considered "Learned" in a specific area, you have to understand and answer correctly the majority of the questions or do well on the majority of the work. That's why a 60 or below is failing because you cannot be considered Proficient only knowing barely above half of the required information.
In a "product review" failing is 0. ANything above is an average of how you score specific areas of the product. Average or the middle ground on a 1-10 scale must be 5, other wise the reviewer loses credibility in not fully utilizing the entire number scale used.
There, I just learned you in something lol. I dont' post this trying to be a jerk, but trying to shed light on the mentality and methodology behind reviewing products.
I agree with you whole heartedly about using the school system for reviews, but it is the way it is. No review column online is actually using a true 1-10 point scale unless they actually state that. They are using a five point scale with ten point numbers. It just makes people feel better I guess. I have linked an actual quote from Bill Murphy on this twice in this post.
Yes, you are correct (and thanks for taking the time to actually find that- I got your PM but for some reason cannot respond)
I would much prefer a 4-5 star rating if they are only utilizing a 4-5 point system. That way something currently rating as a 7 (above average the way I would determine it) it would actually be a 3 (average) which would just make more sense.
I also understand the reasons behind them doing this- Its still deceptive imho. Makes average games come out looking far better.
I played Skyrim prior, loved it, but did NOT expect nor demand ESO to be like Skyrim to begin with. I'm also an
Sure the story is cool, but MMOs were not made for "Story", they were made for social interaction on a massive online scale. So after awhile you find yourself so bored out of your mind that you're frantically hitting the "#1" key on your keyboard for the first dialogue option to just get to the quest itself. Found myself doing this after a week of actually reading the quests (some are poorly written, others a complete 180 and are decent to read!).
Final Score: 4.5 / 10
Khm, not at all. Story is VITAL for MMO. Unless you have PVP only MMO game.
Btw, MMO means just a lot of players at same time on server. What they do is their business. Of course from perspective of end game is hard to imagine not to have group play and this is scope of MMO. But player should be able to solo mainly QUEST content up to end if he/she wish. But in many games after certain level you can level game only doing dungeons. And majority I'm sure agree. This is also obvious from steps companies has taken. They just listen to population. If you like it or not. And if they make mistake in this (or other) ... they simply fail. Of course to fail there can be also many other reasons.
I would also rate your review as 4.5(F school grade).
It is just lenghty, which at the end hurts you the most as your thoughts are inconsistent, contradictory, consiting of self made arbitrary qualifiers and often you make no sense at all.
Review score shouldn't be based on your liking/dislike but rather be as much objective as possible, something you utterly failed at.
Less personal bias, more review.
All reviews are biased, it is the nature of the thing, it is totally impossible to provide an 'unbiased' review because a review is by necessity, from the point of view of the person doing the review. Also if your going to 'grade' someones review at least try to explain why, rather than use the 'because i said so' excuse, its lame. As for it being lengthy, i think realistically any review has to be, unless their going to use the old 'because i said so' variety, which is about as uninformative as it is possible to be.
At the end of the day, the guy gave a comprehensive review with reasons given for each individual score, of which not all were bad, even if the overall score was, but its a review from one person, which you may or may not agree with, you are perfectly free to also give a counter review - with reasoning of course, as to why you think those categories score higher from your own viewpoint, rather than just attacking the person making the review because you disagree with it, which those of a less generous nature might consider to be a bit puerile.
I find ESO a mediocre game, but i think the point is about how the critics are giving the scores. Do they think a mediocre game is a 5/10 or they moved the bar up to 7/10? Because in my mind when you find a game mediocre you either give it a 5/10 or you just don't find it mediocre and score it with a 6+/10. I think a solution for every critic would be a small signature of him on every review, explaining whats his score for a bad/mediocre/superb game.
All Time Favorites: EQ1, WoW, EvE, GW1 Playing Now: WoW, ESO, GW2
While I agree with a lot of the gripes, a 4.5 is ridiculously low. I am still playing this game and enjoying the hell out of it. I am also not so blind that I can't see the problems. However, this "review" is one of two things: a doctoral dissertation on why you didn't like it, or an attempt to jump on the "I hate ESO" bandwagon. Either way, your dismally low score screams bias, and destroys any objectivity you claim to have.
Originally posted by Ganksinatra While I agree with a lot of the gripes, a 4.5 is ridiculously low. I am still playing this game and enjoying the hell out of it. I am also not so blind that I can't see the problems. However, this "review" is one of two things: a doctoral dissertation on why you didn't like it, or an attempt to jump on the "I hate ESO" bandwagon. Either way, your dismally low score screams bias, and destroys any objectivity you claim to have.
I am curious though- Why do you think its ridiculously low?
If a 5 is considered average I would say its spot on. If a 7 is considered average would say its very low.
Without the OP clarifying though- I am going to assume he was saying that ESO is essentially average to a tiny bit below average- Which I would agree with.
I also think he took the time to explain his reasoning as to each point and those who disagree (which is fine) should elaborate a bit as to what they specificly held issue with.
In my review (if I ever took the time to write one) the only things I would rate as "above average" would be graphics (top notch imho) and the voice acting. The questing would be a double edged sword because while its above average in writing and execution- It is really 95% of the game with little deviation from quest grinding.
This is one of the most awful reviews I have ever read. It lacks a comprehensible rating system and shows that the OP does not know much about the game, yet he calls it an in-depth review.
Leveling section
The leveling system is rate 3 out of 10. To understand what this rating means, let's have a short look on school grades and how they are measured:
Grade A - Performance exceeds the expected knowledge by far.
Grade B - Performance completely meets the expected knowledge.
Grade C - Performance meets the expected knowledge.
Grade D - Performance meets the expected knowledge in general.
Grade E - Performance does not meet expected knowledge. Basic understanding for further improvement is given.
Grade F - Performance does not meet expected knowledge. There is no basic understanding for further improvment.
Please note that school grade systems are objective and measurable. A 3 out of 10 would translate into Grade E, but Grade E would actually mean that the leveling system was broken, but that the core system for improvement exist.
Something like Grade B would be more appropriate, because the leveling system works (=meets expectations=C). The B is granted, because the leveling system includes compelling stories and allows the player to quest wherever he wants to start to quest instead of sending him from hub to hub.
Also, what the author missed to say is, that the leveling system is interconnected with for example the crafting system. You can easily boost up your experience gain by up to 48% by equipping armor with exploration bonus. That's a lot.
Crafting section
Again, the score lacks fundamental understanding of how rating systems work. A 2 out of 10 translates to a E-, though it deserves at least a C (5/10), because it works.
Especially when talking about the enchantment craftsmanship, the author acclaims to show off his missing knowledge. All crafts can be easily powerleveld simply by cooperating with another player. The inspiration point gain on dropped items or items that have been crafted by other players is very good. The same goes for all other crafts, except for alchemy - there simply are no items to salvage.
Another point is the complaint about durability. Using repair kits is the very no-go, because they are more expensive than repairing your equipment from time to time. Also, trying not to die helps a lot. I guess the author died and died and died and died.
If there was a motto to describe ESOs crafting system, one could eventually say that it is easy to learn, but hard to master. Hard to master in terms of engagement, because researching all traits means a hefty time span. Also, acquiring the upgrade materials is not as easy as the author claims. Crafting highest quality gear is an achievement.
Graphics section
I am impressed. Really. it is an astonishing achievement to say that with little tweaks the game looks like modded Skyrim and then rating it a 6 out of 10. Seriously?
ESO looks great ans when considering that it can reach modded Skyrim graphics niveau while maintaining a good performance when hundreds of players are displayed, it should deserve a 10 out of 10.
Audio section:
A 7 out of 10. Hmmm, yes. It seems you must be a Mozart and that your musical genius can not be satisfied that easy. Nothing more to say about this section.
Art style section:
I consider this a subjective rating that should not be counted in the overall rating. There is little room to argue about art, because the beauty of art lies in the eye of the beholder.
When rating art style in an objective manner one should focus on the overall art line within the game. Does the art style fit into the Elder Scrolls world. Is there a red line in the overall impression of the quality how the art was created.
The author focusses on equipment, because this is where his main complaints are. Aaaaand again, he shows off missing knowledge about the game. Crafted equipment for example changes colors and sometimes sightly appearance, when it is upgraded to higher quality levels. You can easily see, if a player uses green drop equipment or if he is wearing crafted blue-yellow gear.
Character progression section:
Yawn. Please check out the leveling section and the summary on how to create objective ratings.
While the game only offers 4 base classes, the options to develop these classes are diverse. For example, I play a Nightblade. From 1-25 I played it as pure mage (Warlock build) while at the same time spending points into crafting. At 15 I equipped a healer staff and finally at roundabout lvl25 started spending points in healing staff. When I reached Veteran Rank I decided to spec in dual wield, heavy armor and sword & board, mices with siphoning and shadow abilities.
So, in the end with one single character I can play 4 different roles: DPS Caster, Healer, Melee DPS, Tank
I agree that there have been more complex games in the past. As a DAoC veteran I love the DAoC class system with its over 40 classes. You simply need to understand that ESO and all future MMOs cater to the needs of the modern gamer and these needs include to be able to play different roles with the same character.
ESO offers tons of skills. Many of them at first look bad, but when understanding synergies become very powerful.
Combat section
Yawn. Please check out the leveling section and the summary on how to create objective ratings.
While the melee combat feels a bit clunky - yes, by now I agree to this but can live with it - the number of active skills suffices. See, even in MMOs like DAoC with a combined sum of roundabout 40-50 skills per class, you usually only used a small percentage of the available abilities. Human being tend to always make use of the most efficient things. The same applies for MMOs. In the end, in DAoC while having access to 40-50 skills per class, most classes used to use maybe 3-5 major skills. Thats it.
The number of offered skills does not automatically make a great game, you know.
PvP/RvR
Yawn. Please check out the leveling section and the summary on how to create objective ratings.
Have you really ever played DAoC before? I very much doubt it. DAoC RvR always took place in Emain Macha, the main RvR zone. A zone that could be travelled through in 5-10 minutes featurig zergs rolling from milegate to milegate. Group RvR was taken out in other zones like Odins Gate and was only available to the best of the best ... ok, sometimes easy pickings aka sheep went into this lair of wolves.
ESO AvA has many similarities to DAoC RvR, yet offers a free super huge zone. And yes, it makes sense to roam around with a group of 4-12 players. You simply need to lure out the sheep.
Interesting try to create a review. If I had to rate your review, I would rate it 4/10. You tried hard, unfortunately did not meet the expectations when it comes to reviews, but in the end there exist potential for improvement ... you can write lenghty stuff.
This is one of the most awful reviews I have ever read. It lacks a comprehensible rating system and shows that the OP does not know much about the game, yet he calls it an in-depth review.
Leveling section
The leveling system is rate 3 out of 10. To understand what this rating means, let's have a short look on school grades and how they are measured:
Grade A - Performance exceeds the expected knowledge by far.
Grade B - Performance completely meets the expected knowledge.
Grade C - Performance meets the expected knowledge.
Grade D - Performance meets the expected knowledge in general.
Grade E - Performance does not meet expected knowledge. Basic understanding for further improvement is given.
Grade F - Performance does not meet expected knowledge. There is no basic understanding for further improvment.
Please note that school grade systems are objective and measurable. A 3 out of 10 would translate into Grade E, but Grade E would actually mean that the leveling system was broken, but that the core system for improvement exist.
Something like Grade B would be more appropriate, because the leveling system works (=meets expectations=C). The B is granted, because the leveling system includes compelling stories and allows the player to quest wherever he wants to start to quest instead of sending him from hub to hub.
Also, what the author missed to say is, that the leveling system is interconnected with for example the crafting system. You can easily boost up your experience gain by up to 48% by equipping armor with exploration bonus. That's a lot.
Crafting section
Again, the score lacks fundamental understanding of how rating systems work. A 2 out of 10 translates to a E-, though it deserves at least a C (5/10), because it works.
Especially when talking about the enchantment craftsmanship, the author acclaims to show off his missing knowledge. All crafts can be easily powerleveld simply by cooperating with another player. The inspiration point gain on dropped items or items that have been crafted by other players is very good. The same goes for all other crafts, except for alchemy - there simply are no items to salvage.
Another point is the complaint about durability. Using repair kits is the very no-go, because they are more expensive than repairing your equipment from time to time. Also, trying not to die helps a lot. I guess the author died and died and died and died.
If there was a motto to describe ESOs crafting system, one could eventually say that it is easy to learn, but hard to master. Hard to master in terms of engagement, because researching all traits means a hefty time span. Also, acquiring the upgrade materials is not as easy as the author claims. Crafting highest quality gear is an achievement.
Graphics section
I am impressed. Really. it is an astonishing achievement to say that with little tweaks the game looks like modded Skyrim and then rating it a 6 out of 10. Seriously?
ESO looks great ans when considering that it can reach modded Skyrim graphics niveau while maintaining a good performance when hundreds of players are displayed, it should deserve a 10 out of 10.
Audio section:
A 7 out of 10. Hmmm, yes. It seems you must be a Mozart and that your musical genius can not be satisfied that easy. Nothing more to say about this section.
Art style section:
I consider this a subjective rating that should not be counted in the overall rating. There is little room to argue about art, because the beauty of art lies in the eye of the beholder.
When rating art style in an objective manner one should focus on the overall art line within the game. Does the art style fit into the Elder Scrolls world. Is there a red line in the overall impression of the quality how the art was created.
The author focusses on equipment, because this is where his main complaints are. Aaaaand again, he shows off missing knowledge about the game. Crafted equipment for example changes colors and sometimes sightly appearance, when it is upgraded to higher quality levels. You can easily see, if a player uses green drop equipment or if he is wearing crafted blue-yellow gear.
Character progression section:
Yawn. Please check out the leveling section and the summary on how to create objective ratings.
While the game only offers 4 base classes, the options to develop these classes are diverse. For example, I play a Nightblade. From 1-25 I played it as pure mage (Warlock build) while at the same time spending points into crafting. At 15 I equipped a healer staff and finally at roundabout lvl25 started spending points in healing staff. When I reached Veteran Rank I decided to spec in dual wield, heavy armor and sword & board, mices with siphoning and shadow abilities.
So, in the end with one single character I can play 4 different roles: DPS Caster, Healer, Melee DPS, Tank
I agree that there have been more complex games in the past. As a DAoC veteran I love the DAoC class system with its over 40 classes. You simply need to understand that ESO and all future MMOs cater to the needs of the modern gamer and these needs include to be able to play different roles with the same character.
ESO offers tons of skills. Many of them at first look bad, but when understanding synergies become very powerful.
Combat section
Yawn. Please check out the leveling section and the summary on how to create objective ratings.
While the melee combat feels a bit clunky - yes, by now I agree to this but can live with it - the number of active skills suffices. See, even in MMOs like DAoC with a combined sum of roundabout 40-50 skills per class, you usually only used a small percentage of the available abilities. Human being tend to always make use of the most efficient things. The same applies for MMOs. In the end, in DAoC while having access to 40-50 skills per class, most classes used to use maybe 3-5 major skills. Thats it.
The number of offered skills does not automatically make a great game, you know.
PvP/RvR
Yawn. Please check out the leveling section and the summary on how to create objective ratings.
Have you really ever played DAoC before? I very much doubt it. DAoC RvR always took place in Emain Macha, the main RvR zone. A zone that could be travelled through in 5-10 minutes featurig zergs rolling from milegate to milegate. Group RvR was taken out in other zones like Odins Gate and was only available to the best of the best ... ok, sometimes easy pickings aka sheep went into this lair of wolves.
ESO AvA has many similarities to DAoC RvR, yet offers a free super huge zone. And yes, it makes sense to roam around with a group of 4-12 players. You simply need to lure out the sheep.
Interesting try to create a review. If I had to rate your review, I would rate it 4/10. You tried hard, unfortunately did not meet the expectations when it comes to reviews, but in the end there exist potential for improvement ... you can write lenghty stuff.
Congrats!
Applying the 'grade school' method is silly.
A 50% (average ) grasp of information is not enough to pass because you are expected to grasp at least 70% of the knowledge given. Outside of essay questions the criteria is usually "correct vs incorrect" with little room for "partially correct" as we would have in an MMO (or any other type of review). It isnt a pass/fail situation since there becomes many, many shades of grey with an MMO (or other) review.
It would be impossible to get a 1 on the grade school rating system when failure is happening at anything below a 6. So that gives 6 degrees of failue, 1 below average,1 average , 1 above average and 1 perfect. Thats silly. It isnt utilizing the points.
In other words- Taking the silly "grade school rating" out of a review makes far more sense and is the reason most places choose either a 4-5 star system or a % based system or an actual 10 point (or 5 point) system.EDIT- OR attach an actually letter grade (i.e. C+). It gets overly complex when a 10 point system is being used but in the "school grading method" but without actually attaching a letter to the score. So then, 7/10 (a C) sounds very good but isnt.
Anything else is silly and overly complex (and dishonest)
I understand where the OP is coming. To be honest, there isn't enough differentiation between MMO's to warrant a 10 point review system. Just go to five points, stars, swords, whatever. It really doesn't matter. Nobody uses five or below as anything but a fail anyway and usually reserve a one for complete and utter hatred of a game.
This is one of the most awful reviews I have ever read. It lacks a comprehensible rating system and shows that the OP does not know much about the game, yet he calls it an in-depth review.
<--SNIP-->
Interesting try to create a review. If I had to rate your review, I would rate it 4/10. You tried hard, unfortunately did not meet the expectations when it comes to reviews, but in the end there exist potential for improvement ... you can write lenghty stuff.
Congrats!
Irrespective of any agreement/disagreement with the OP's review, your review of his review is specious at best, childish at worst, and shows a fundamental lack of understanding of academic grading systems.
I'll let you talk to my wife of forty years sometimes; she's a teacher. You're somewhere out in left field... way out in left field.
The hate this poor sod is getting is impressive. Wonder whether all this hate might be because he might have hit a nerve me thinks. Perhaps worry that more might be persuaded by this review so attempts to attack the reviewer rather than the review are made.
Anything under 5/10 is completely unplayable and has no business to even glance gaming industry, they are those joke games like that truck game that people actually bought for laughs because it's that bad.
5-10 score range is where the actual reviewing happens, so that's why this review is bad and misleading, and that's why I hate number scores on reviews anyway, it's a very odd system where the first 5 numbers basically mean nothing since anything from 1 to 5 is cyberwaste.
Just dont use number scores, you cant score these things with numbers, just dont please. Use words rather, a lot better way, and then do the final summary, with numbers half of your review is wasted on deciphering the numbers and arguing what they really mean.
Having said that, the game is actually very fun, looks great, and plays quite smooth too, but the completely one dimensional quest grind is where it falls on its face. The game needs badly other ways to gain XP like crafting, gathering, and killing mobs so you dont have to do every single damn side quest out there. Also get rid of the VR grind and we have quite a good themepark in our hands.
An otherwise good review is ruined by a poor choice in scoring system. He obviously rated it based on 5 being average. Unfortunately, his comments just don't match up with the number system he uses, so it looks like a troll attempt to get a rise out of people with a low score.
Although I gof a refund, I think this game has good potential , as above, the game is just lacking a bit in some areas, for me I felt the virtual world and questing was a bit dull - needed more exotic locations and monsters to fight. It's in no way a terrible game though - close competitor with gw2 I would say.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
I will say this... I do NOT agree with how MMORPG.com uses a grading system that seems to be 1 - 10 but in reality all scores are at least 5 and above at a bare minimum. Hogwash I say and because of it I consider their scoring system FUBAR. A system such as this is designed to do one thing.... to kiss the Devs rearends and get Players to believe a deception. It's a Used Car Salesman dirty sales tactic and nothing more.
Sorry if my opinion offends but that how I see it. To be fair most of American Business is plagued with this kind of nonsense deceptive crap and I'm about as tired of it as I can get. If I could hop on a starship and get away from this greedmonger culture we have now (which is everywhere on Earth now) I would be the first in line to go... but that is even more of a unattainable fantasy then expecting Reviewers to go back to using a grading system that is truly 1 - 10.
The OP seems to be using a system that is truly 1 - 10, and for that I applaud them. Well Done.
To me that means a score of 4.5 is just below middle ground or average. I don't play ESO so I won't comment on the score other than to say It is not necessarily a bad thing to have a score of 4.5 on a 1-10 because the MMO is new and the Devs have room for improvement. I encourage the Devs to keep at it because they do have faithful customers (even I see that) and Elder Scrolls is an IP worthy of a great MMO.
I played eso and would give it a 6.5/10. That stated my problems with this review:
Leveling gets a 3? Leveling in ESO is industry standard with well written quests and a few bugs. I encountered 2 bugs on my way to 45 and they were on side quests. If you ask me I'd say standard leveling gets a 5, quality story gets 2 bonus points and it loses one on bugs for 6, that would be fair. If a 3 is fair then show me what game gets 10, and i'll start playing it now as i am looking for a game.
Crafting a 2? Crafting isn't great but it is well thought out and you can upgrade any gear you get. Also from my experience crafting gear is on par with anything in the game. You also don't have to PVE for weeks to get rare recipes like a lot of games, just find a piece of gear and study it. It is your basic run of the mill get x of this y of that and go to crafting table, but the fact that the gear is as good as dropped gear and can be made in the style you want should give it at least a 6.....Once again if this gets a 2 show me a 10 and like leveling i'll start playing it as well.
Also Art Style gets a 4, but is listed as a Pro....A pro should be at least above a passing grade. If you ask me art style is well done and fits the game nicely i'd give it a 7, as a grade it should get a B in my books.
I would also rate combat slightly higher, but I understand your points.
I think that if leveling, crafting and art style are fairly rated this game deserves a minimum of a 5.5/10....Not a great game, but one I will surely revisit in a few months and enjoy myself.
I will say this... I do NOT agree with how MMORPG.com uses a grading system that seems to be 1 - 10 but in reality all scores are at least 5 and above at a bare minimum. Hogwash I say and because of it I consider their scoring system FUBAR. A system such as this is designed to do one thing.... to kiss the Devs rearends and get Players to believe a deception. It's a Used Car Salesman dirty sales tactic and nothing more.
Sorry if my opinion offends but that how I see it. To be fair most of American Business is plagued with this kind of nonsense deceptive crap and I'm about as tired of it as I can get. If I could hop on a starship and get away from this greedmonger culture we have now (which is everywhere on Earth now) I would be the first in line to go... but that is even more of a unattainable fantasy then expecting Reviewers to go back to using a grading system that is truly 1 - 10.
The OP seems to be using a system that is truly 1 - 10, and for that I applaud them. Well Done.
To me that means a score of 4.5 is just below middle ground or average. I don't play ESO so I won't comment on the score other than to say It is not necessarily a bad thing to have a score of 4.5 on a 1-10 because the MMO is new and the Devs have room for improvement. I encourage the Devs to keep at it because they do have faithful customers (even I see that) and Elder Scrolls is an IP worthy of a great MMO.
You're reaching, sorry. Check out any gaming magazine for the past 20 years and you'll see that this is how the 1-10 ranking system has worked since the beginning of time. 5/10 has never meant an OK game. Shoot, I think that in the 30ish year history of Nintendo Power they rated a handful of games below 4, a handful, like you could count on a single hand. So we're talking, what? Thousands of games?
Anyway, just thought I'd throw it out there. The review really isn't well done because there's never any logical argument made. It's "This is great, but I'm going to give it a 2/10" "Story is great, " but I wish I could just grind mobs. It's an extremely contradictory review, sorry. Plus, you introduce things like art style and crafting as actual review topics (not typical), weight them against the final average, and then give no measure of what 10/10 looks like.
I will say this... I do NOT agree with how MMORPG.com uses a grading system that seems to be 1 - 10 but in reality all scores are at least 5 and above at a bare minimum. Hogwash I say and because of it I consider their scoring system FUBAR. A system such as this is designed to do one thing.... to kiss the Devs rearends and get Players to believe a deception. It's a Used Car Salesman dirty sales tactic and nothing more.
Sorry if my opinion offends but that how I see it. To be fair most of American Business is plagued with this kind of nonsense deceptive crap and I'm about as tired of it as I can get. If I could hop on a starship and get away from this greedmonger culture we have now (which is everywhere on Earth now) I would be the first in line to go... but that is even more of a unattainable fantasy then expecting Reviewers to go back to using a grading system that is truly 1 - 10.
The OP seems to be using a system that is truly 1 - 10, and for that I applaud them. Well Done.
To me that means a score of 4.5 is just below middle ground or average. I don't play ESO so I won't comment on the score other than to say It is not necessarily a bad thing to have a score of 4.5 on a 1-10 because the MMO is new and the Devs have room for improvement. I encourage the Devs to keep at it because they do have faithful customers (even I see that) and Elder Scrolls is an IP worthy of a great MMO.
It's based on education grading systems. Not sure what's so hard to figure out about that.
4.5 out of 10 would mean that there are more games better than ESO than worse than ESO. If we are talking one Genre (MMO), than that statement is garbage and you are just hating....
Now Playing: Bless / Summoners War Looking forward to: Crowfall / Lost Ark / Black Desert Mobile
Comments
Good revieuw, can this man be hired for the next themepark that comes out so we dont waiste more money at half assed mmo's ?
Yes, you are correct (and thanks for taking the time to actually find that- I got your PM but for some reason cannot respond)
I would much prefer a 4-5 star rating if they are only utilizing a 4-5 point system. That way something currently rating as a 7 (above average the way I would determine it) it would actually be a 3 (average) which would just make more sense.
I also understand the reasons behind them doing this- Its still deceptive imho. Makes average games come out looking far better.
Khm, not at all. Story is VITAL for MMO. Unless you have PVP only MMO game.
Btw, MMO means just a lot of players at same time on server. What they do is their business. Of course from perspective of end game is hard to imagine not to have group play and this is scope of MMO. But player should be able to solo mainly QUEST content up to end if he/she wish. But in many games after certain level you can level game only doing dungeons. And majority I'm sure agree. This is also obvious from steps companies has taken. They just listen to population. If you like it or not. And if they make mistake in this (or other) ... they simply fail. Of course to fail there can be also many other reasons.
All reviews are biased, it is the nature of the thing, it is totally impossible to provide an 'unbiased' review because a review is by necessity, from the point of view of the person doing the review. Also if your going to 'grade' someones review at least try to explain why, rather than use the 'because i said so' excuse, its lame. As for it being lengthy, i think realistically any review has to be, unless their going to use the old 'because i said so' variety, which is about as uninformative as it is possible to be.
At the end of the day, the guy gave a comprehensive review with reasons given for each individual score, of which not all were bad, even if the overall score was, but its a review from one person, which you may or may not agree with, you are perfectly free to also give a counter review - with reasoning of course, as to why you think those categories score higher from your own viewpoint, rather than just attacking the person making the review because you disagree with it, which those of a less generous nature might consider to be a bit puerile.
All Time Favorites: EQ1, WoW, EvE, GW1
Playing Now: WoW, ESO, GW2
I am curious though- Why do you think its ridiculously low?
If a 5 is considered average I would say its spot on. If a 7 is considered average would say its very low.
Without the OP clarifying though- I am going to assume he was saying that ESO is essentially average to a tiny bit below average- Which I would agree with.
I also think he took the time to explain his reasoning as to each point and those who disagree (which is fine) should elaborate a bit as to what they specificly held issue with.
In my review (if I ever took the time to write one) the only things I would rate as "above average" would be graphics (top notch imho) and the voice acting. The questing would be a double edged sword because while its above average in writing and execution- It is really 95% of the game with little deviation from quest grinding.
This is one of the most awful reviews I have ever read. It lacks a comprehensible rating system and shows that the OP does not know much about the game, yet he calls it an in-depth review.
Leveling section
The leveling system is rate 3 out of 10. To understand what this rating means, let's have a short look on school grades and how they are measured:
Grade A - Performance exceeds the expected knowledge by far.
Grade B - Performance completely meets the expected knowledge.
Grade C - Performance meets the expected knowledge.
Grade D - Performance meets the expected knowledge in general.
Grade E - Performance does not meet expected knowledge. Basic understanding for further improvement is given.
Grade F - Performance does not meet expected knowledge. There is no basic understanding for further improvment.
Please note that school grade systems are objective and measurable. A 3 out of 10 would translate into Grade E, but Grade E would actually mean that the leveling system was broken, but that the core system for improvement exist.
Something like Grade B would be more appropriate, because the leveling system works (=meets expectations=C). The B is granted, because the leveling system includes compelling stories and allows the player to quest wherever he wants to start to quest instead of sending him from hub to hub.
Also, what the author missed to say is, that the leveling system is interconnected with for example the crafting system. You can easily boost up your experience gain by up to 48% by equipping armor with exploration bonus. That's a lot.
Crafting section
Again, the score lacks fundamental understanding of how rating systems work. A 2 out of 10 translates to a E-, though it deserves at least a C (5/10), because it works.
Especially when talking about the enchantment craftsmanship, the author acclaims to show off his missing knowledge. All crafts can be easily powerleveld simply by cooperating with another player. The inspiration point gain on dropped items or items that have been crafted by other players is very good. The same goes for all other crafts, except for alchemy - there simply are no items to salvage.
Another point is the complaint about durability. Using repair kits is the very no-go, because they are more expensive than repairing your equipment from time to time. Also, trying not to die helps a lot. I guess the author died and died and died and died.
If there was a motto to describe ESOs crafting system, one could eventually say that it is easy to learn, but hard to master. Hard to master in terms of engagement, because researching all traits means a hefty time span. Also, acquiring the upgrade materials is not as easy as the author claims. Crafting highest quality gear is an achievement.
Graphics section
I am impressed. Really. it is an astonishing achievement to say that with little tweaks the game looks like modded Skyrim and then rating it a 6 out of 10. Seriously?
ESO looks great ans when considering that it can reach modded Skyrim graphics niveau while maintaining a good performance when hundreds of players are displayed, it should deserve a 10 out of 10.
Audio section:
A 7 out of 10. Hmmm, yes. It seems you must be a Mozart and that your musical genius can not be satisfied that easy. Nothing more to say about this section.
Art style section:
I consider this a subjective rating that should not be counted in the overall rating. There is little room to argue about art, because the beauty of art lies in the eye of the beholder.
When rating art style in an objective manner one should focus on the overall art line within the game. Does the art style fit into the Elder Scrolls world. Is there a red line in the overall impression of the quality how the art was created.
The author focusses on equipment, because this is where his main complaints are. Aaaaand again, he shows off missing knowledge about the game. Crafted equipment for example changes colors and sometimes sightly appearance, when it is upgraded to higher quality levels. You can easily see, if a player uses green drop equipment or if he is wearing crafted blue-yellow gear.
Character progression section:
Yawn. Please check out the leveling section and the summary on how to create objective ratings.
While the game only offers 4 base classes, the options to develop these classes are diverse. For example, I play a Nightblade. From 1-25 I played it as pure mage (Warlock build) while at the same time spending points into crafting. At 15 I equipped a healer staff and finally at roundabout lvl25 started spending points in healing staff. When I reached Veteran Rank I decided to spec in dual wield, heavy armor and sword & board, mices with siphoning and shadow abilities.
So, in the end with one single character I can play 4 different roles: DPS Caster, Healer, Melee DPS, Tank
I agree that there have been more complex games in the past. As a DAoC veteran I love the DAoC class system with its over 40 classes. You simply need to understand that ESO and all future MMOs cater to the needs of the modern gamer and these needs include to be able to play different roles with the same character.
ESO offers tons of skills. Many of them at first look bad, but when understanding synergies become very powerful.
Combat section
Yawn. Please check out the leveling section and the summary on how to create objective ratings.
While the melee combat feels a bit clunky - yes, by now I agree to this but can live with it - the number of active skills suffices. See, even in MMOs like DAoC with a combined sum of roundabout 40-50 skills per class, you usually only used a small percentage of the available abilities. Human being tend to always make use of the most efficient things. The same applies for MMOs. In the end, in DAoC while having access to 40-50 skills per class, most classes used to use maybe 3-5 major skills. Thats it.
The number of offered skills does not automatically make a great game, you know.
PvP/RvR
Yawn. Please check out the leveling section and the summary on how to create objective ratings.
Have you really ever played DAoC before? I very much doubt it. DAoC RvR always took place in Emain Macha, the main RvR zone. A zone that could be travelled through in 5-10 minutes featurig zergs rolling from milegate to milegate. Group RvR was taken out in other zones like Odins Gate and was only available to the best of the best ... ok, sometimes easy pickings aka sheep went into this lair of wolves.
ESO AvA has many similarities to DAoC RvR, yet offers a free super huge zone. And yes, it makes sense to roam around with a group of 4-12 players. You simply need to lure out the sheep.
Interesting try to create a review. If I had to rate your review, I would rate it 4/10. You tried hard, unfortunately did not meet the expectations when it comes to reviews, but in the end there exist potential for improvement ... you can write lenghty stuff.
Congrats!
Applying the 'grade school' method is silly.
A 50% (average ) grasp of information is not enough to pass because you are expected to grasp at least 70% of the knowledge given. Outside of essay questions the criteria is usually "correct vs incorrect" with little room for "partially correct" as we would have in an MMO (or any other type of review). It isnt a pass/fail situation since there becomes many, many shades of grey with an MMO (or other) review.
It would be impossible to get a 1 on the grade school rating system when failure is happening at anything below a 6. So that gives 6 degrees of failue, 1 below average,1 average , 1 above average and 1 perfect. Thats silly. It isnt utilizing the points.
In other words- Taking the silly "grade school rating" out of a review makes far more sense and is the reason most places choose either a 4-5 star system or a % based system or an actual 10 point (or 5 point) system.EDIT- OR attach an actually letter grade (i.e. C+). It gets overly complex when a 10 point system is being used but in the "school grading method" but without actually attaching a letter to the score. So then, 7/10 (a C) sounds very good but isnt.
Anything else is silly and overly complex (and dishonest)
Irrespective of any agreement/disagreement with the OP's review, your review of his review is specious at best, childish at worst, and shows a fundamental lack of understanding of academic grading systems.
I'll let you talk to my wife of forty years sometimes; she's a teacher. You're somewhere out in left field... way out in left field.
You mistake opinion for review.
I did explain what is wrong with OP's so called review, and other posters went into details further elaborating on points I listed.
And yet you felt the need to comment.I agree with the OPs review
Bringer of Eternal Darkness and Despair, but also a Nutritious way to start your Morning.
Games Played: Too Many
Anything under 5/10 is completely unplayable and has no business to even glance gaming industry, they are those joke games like that truck game that people actually bought for laughs because it's that bad.
5-10 score range is where the actual reviewing happens, so that's why this review is bad and misleading, and that's why I hate number scores on reviews anyway, it's a very odd system where the first 5 numbers basically mean nothing since anything from 1 to 5 is cyberwaste.
Just dont use number scores, you cant score these things with numbers, just dont please. Use words rather, a lot better way, and then do the final summary, with numbers half of your review is wasted on deciphering the numbers and arguing what they really mean.
Having said that, the game is actually very fun, looks great, and plays quite smooth too, but the completely one dimensional quest grind is where it falls on its face. The game needs badly other ways to gain XP like crafting, gathering, and killing mobs so you dont have to do every single damn side quest out there. Also get rid of the VR grind and we have quite a good themepark in our hands.
You make me like charity
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
I will say this... I do NOT agree with how MMORPG.com uses a grading system that seems to be 1 - 10 but in reality all scores are at least 5 and above at a bare minimum. Hogwash I say and because of it I consider their scoring system FUBAR. A system such as this is designed to do one thing.... to kiss the Devs rearends and get Players to believe a deception. It's a Used Car Salesman dirty sales tactic and nothing more.
Sorry if my opinion offends but that how I see it. To be fair most of American Business is plagued with this kind of nonsense deceptive crap and I'm about as tired of it as I can get. If I could hop on a starship and get away from this greedmonger culture we have now (which is everywhere on Earth now) I would be the first in line to go... but that is even more of a unattainable fantasy then expecting Reviewers to go back to using a grading system that is truly 1 - 10.
The OP seems to be using a system that is truly 1 - 10, and for that I applaud them. Well Done.
To me that means a score of 4.5 is just below middle ground or average. I don't play ESO so I won't comment on the score other than to say It is not necessarily a bad thing to have a score of 4.5 on a 1-10 because the MMO is new and the Devs have room for improvement. I encourage the Devs to keep at it because they do have faithful customers (even I see that) and Elder Scrolls is an IP worthy of a great MMO.
I played eso and would give it a 6.5/10. That stated my problems with this review:
Leveling gets a 3? Leveling in ESO is industry standard with well written quests and a few bugs. I encountered 2 bugs on my way to 45 and they were on side quests. If you ask me I'd say standard leveling gets a 5, quality story gets 2 bonus points and it loses one on bugs for 6, that would be fair. If a 3 is fair then show me what game gets 10, and i'll start playing it now as i am looking for a game.
Crafting a 2? Crafting isn't great but it is well thought out and you can upgrade any gear you get. Also from my experience crafting gear is on par with anything in the game. You also don't have to PVE for weeks to get rare recipes like a lot of games, just find a piece of gear and study it. It is your basic run of the mill get x of this y of that and go to crafting table, but the fact that the gear is as good as dropped gear and can be made in the style you want should give it at least a 6.....Once again if this gets a 2 show me a 10 and like leveling i'll start playing it as well.
Also Art Style gets a 4, but is listed as a Pro....A pro should be at least above a passing grade. If you ask me art style is well done and fits the game nicely i'd give it a 7, as a grade it should get a B in my books.
I would also rate combat slightly higher, but I understand your points.
I think that if leveling, crafting and art style are fairly rated this game deserves a minimum of a 5.5/10....Not a great game, but one I will surely revisit in a few months and enjoy myself.
You're reaching, sorry. Check out any gaming magazine for the past 20 years and you'll see that this is how the 1-10 ranking system has worked since the beginning of time. 5/10 has never meant an OK game. Shoot, I think that in the 30ish year history of Nintendo Power they rated a handful of games below 4, a handful, like you could count on a single hand. So we're talking, what? Thousands of games?
Anyway, just thought I'd throw it out there. The review really isn't well done because there's never any logical argument made. It's "This is great, but I'm going to give it a 2/10" "Story is great, " but I wish I could just grind mobs. It's an extremely contradictory review, sorry. Plus, you introduce things like art style and crafting as actual review topics (not typical), weight them against the final average, and then give no measure of what 10/10 looks like.
Crazkanuk
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Azarelos - 90 Hunter - Emerald
Durnzig - 90 Paladin - Emerald
Demonicron - 90 Death Knight - Emerald Dream - US
Tankinpain - 90 Monk - Azjol-Nerub - US
Brindell - 90 Warrior - Emerald Dream - US
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It's based on education grading systems. Not sure what's so hard to figure out about that.
You make me like charity
Looking forward to: Crowfall / Lost Ark / Black Desert Mobile
Final Word About You
WHO CARES?!?!
You are no one. I am having fun. So go go try to bury some other MMO please.
"This may hurt a little, but it's something you'll get used to. Relax....."