Let me help you guys out. Have you played the two games given as examples of 50% games? They are games with GREAT combat, bad story, and deliberate limitations on gameplay, because some of those parts aren't supposed to be the "real" focus of those games. Sound familiar?
Getting a great combat system is not enough. This game is supposed to be a full featured MMORPG. Everyone is glad you are having fun and supporting them, but nobody is in here claiming that the game has good questing, well designed levelling, or a great open world. No, what this game does right is combat, that is all they wanted to do right, that is what they focused on, that is what you guys are thrilled with. It is not enough for a full MMORPG.
If you could go back and play Painkiller right now, I bet you would say exactly the same things. Oh, this game has great combat, clearly online is the focus of the game, the shooting is done really well. Yeah, the single player mode is tacked on with a real lack of effort, but the game is MEANT to be a competitive shooter!
There are a lot of people managing to enjoy the entire game simply because of the good combat it has. I was like that for awhile on Skyforge, I really really liked the combat in that game. I thought it flowed really well, really offered players a chance to show their skill, and rewarded good playing. I still stopped playing it a bit later, because really the combat was the only good thing about it. Good combat may make the game fun for you, but it needs the other features to make it a complete MMORPG.
Based on that rating scale I would put it in the 70% - 79% I do not even enjoy playing the game but I think it is above mediocre. Saying 'the ideas may be interesting but do not work well' is not true to this game. Even the 60% - 69% Is not right by this sites (PC Gamer) review standard of scoring. 'An interesting idea that's been poorly expressed, or a derivative idea that's executed averagely. There's something here to like, but it can only be recommended with caveats' Wow that is harsh to say the game falls below that. I mean they have SimCity (2013) in the 60%-69% so they are saying that B&S is the SimCity of MMOs or even worse? Come on now. It is not that bad. This coming from someone who only played it for 10 hours in Beta and has no desire to play it again.
Playing devil's advocate here. The world pvp for example. You have these faction uniforms that enable Wpvp. The problem is there simply isn't much reason to put them on at all. The system amounts to nothing more than a flagging system typical of those on WoW style pve servers. You could say it just doesn't work very well.
So what you're saying is: the system works almost exactly like every other MMO they gave 8s and 9s to?
This game is supposed to be a full featured MMORPG.
This is were you went wrong. This is not suppose to be a full featured MMORPG. Its a hybrid, arcadey-type, action combat, MMORPG that by design is light on traditional MMORPG features. It plays as intended and the make no apologies for that.
This game is supposed to be a full featured MMORPG.
This is were you went wrong. This is not suppose to be a full featured MMORPG. Its a hybrid, arcadey-type, action combat, MMORPG that by design is light on traditional MMORPG features. It plays as intended and the make no apologies for that.
Actually, you may want to talk to NCsoft about that. Google NCSoft MMORPG and it is the first thing that pops up. I agree that what they delivered is clearly not a full featured MMORPG, but that is exactly what NCSoft makes, and exactly what this was supposed to be.
Never did they market it as "MMO-Lite" or as a fighting game with other players. It is an MMORPG. On the bright side, we found the root of your disagreement with everyone.
The problem is the text following the word mediocre is not how it's used in common parlance, the description they use of mediocre is more associated with bad or poor.
I associate mediocre with "meh"...
In my humble opinion B&S is pretty "meh". It has a cool arena system, above average combat, world pvp but with absolutely no meaning, gank for the sake of ganking.
If it was these systems alone that I'd judge the game on it would be about a 71. When you add in the horrible questing grind it brings the overall experience to right about "meh".
I just logged out btw. Making a new toon to play with friends.
The horrible questing grind? I'm sorry I don't mean to sound insulting but seriously? Grind? The levelling is so fast in B&S you can't really call it a grind. Couple that with the fun of the combat system and it goes by even faster.
How anyone can say this is a grind is beyond me. Then again I consider EQ to be the "proper" pace for levelling. In 2 weeks I've already hit the cap with 2 chars and that was after play testing every class to 14-15 to see which ones I would stick with.
Open world PvP is completely optional. If you don't want to be ganked simply don't wear a faction costume.
The 5/10 score is insulting and inconsistent with their own review system. It's not the best MMO in the world but what it does, it does well. Ok so it has no mounts, but it has the Wuxia movement which I find a lot more interesting tbh. No housing, but that's not a common feature for most MMO's in the last 10 years. The crafting leaves a lot to be desired but it's not a gear based game.
All those missing features are for a different audience anyway. This is firmly aimed at E-sports. As a combat MMO with Arena PvP as a focus you'd be hard pressed to find one better that isn't a rediculous kit grind or blatantly P2W.
This game is supposed to be a full featured MMORPG.
This is were you went wrong. This is not suppose to be a full featured MMORPG. Its a hybrid, arcadey-type, action combat, MMORPG that by design is light on traditional MMORPG features. It plays as intended and the make no apologies for that.
Actually, you may want to talk to NCsoft about that. Google NCSoft MMORPG and it is the first thing that pops up.
That's marketing talk. It's obvious by your, and everybody else's own experience and interpretation of the game, that it's not a full featured MMORPG. Coca Cola says "it's the real thing" and Lucky Charms claim they are "magically delicious" but are they really? You know better than that. Btw, I did google "NCsoft MMORPG" and I may have missed it but there is nothing there claiming BnS to be a full featured MMORPG.
This game is supposed to be a full featured MMORPG.
This is were you went wrong. This is not suppose to be a full featured MMORPG. Its a hybrid, arcadey-type, action combat, MMORPG that by design is light on traditional MMORPG features. It plays as intended and the make no apologies for that.
Actually, you may want to talk to NCsoft about that. Google NCSoft MMORPG and it is the first thing that pops up.
That's marketing talk. It's obvious by your, and everybody else's own experience and interpretation of the game, that it's not a full featured MMORPG. Coca Cola says "it's the real thing" and Lucky Charms claim they are "magically delicious" but are they really? You know better than that.
You know this is supposed to be an MMORPG, you know it is severely lacking as a standard MMORPG, and that it only does the one thing it intended to do well. Just like Hotline Miami 2 and Painkiller, it does one thing really well and lets the other parts suffer because they are not the focus of the game.
Anyways, I don't want to get any more involved in this debate than I already have. The people enjoying BnS seem to be very very invested in it, and riling them up seems like a bad idea. I just wanted to point out that the comparison to Hotline Miami 2 and Painkiller made a lot of sense to me, and I can really see the similarity in mindset that went into designing them. All these games have really fun combat, and to get the most out of them, you have to let the great combat distract you from the flaws.
Both of those games have a mountain of tired MMO tropes that are sometimes frustrating and rarely innovative, only they don't have excellent pvp underneath it...
PCGamer as an outlet did, but they all three (probably) had different writers. Steven Messner (one of our writers) actually wrote the B&S article. And while he scored it a lot lower than I would (or will probably), I see value in his criticisms.
In all things though folks, remember... you needn't let the tastes of others dictate your own.
The problem with that, though, is unfortunately reviews from places like PC Gamer and MMORPG.com do have repercussions. I know that Metacritic scores have been used to deny the people working on games bonuses or additional funding by publishers or other stakeholders. Sadly, "professional" reviews do matter and a review like this, which is far too low IMO (I would give give BnS a grade somewhere in the 70's), can have a negative impact on people's lives. The reviewer seemed to focus on and dock extra points for the amount of jiggly bits female characters can have. If I wanted to read reviews like that, I would go to Kotaku or Polygon. PC Gamer was once my go to source for info and reviews but they have been going downhill rapidly the past few years and a review like this only makes me less likely to change my opinion.
Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?
Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.
This game is supposed to be a full featured MMORPG.
This is were you went wrong. This is not suppose to be a full featured MMORPG. Its a hybrid, arcadey-type, action combat, MMORPG that by design is light on traditional MMORPG features. It plays as intended and the make no apologies for that.
Actually, you may want to talk to NCsoft about that. Google NCSoft MMORPG and it is the first thing that pops up.
That's marketing talk. It's obvious by your, and everybody else's own experience and interpretation of the game, that it's not a full featured MMORPG. Coca Cola says "it's the real thing" and Lucky Charms claim they are "magically delicious" but are they really? You know better than that.
You know this is supposed to be an MMORPG, you know it is severely lacking as a standard MMORPG, and that it only does the one thing it intended to do well. Just like Hotline Miami 2 and Painkiller, it does one thing really well and lets the other parts suffer because they are not the focus of the game.
I do know its an MMORPG but it is severely lacking in standard MMORPG features by design. The one thing that it does do well, is by design the core of the game. Again, it is a hybrid, arcadey-type, action combat MMORPG that by design is light on traditional MMORPG features. Its apparent that the misunderstanding here is that many are unfairly comparing this to a traditional MMORPG when that is not what it is. Where is the fairness in scoring something based on what its not? MMORPGs are an ever evolving genre. There is room in the MMORPG sphere to accomodate for a variety of hybrid MMORPGs so long as they stay true to the foundation of how an MMORPG plays. They cant all be scored, and should not be scored, on the same scale because they all have their different strengths and weaknesses. As such, they will appeal to different demographics of the gaming population based on their individual preferences and interpretation of how an MMORPG should be played.
The problem is the text following the word mediocre is not how it's used in common parlance, the description they use of mediocre is more associated with bad or poor.
Yep, lets just hop strait to arguing about the definition of a word. Their common usage of Mediocre and the following sentence is accurate.
It's a laughable score just by their previous ratings of seriously mediocre games. Also, if the writer thinks BnS is easy, just wait until BDO.
BDO has matured systems like trade, crafting, and hopefully some meaningful PvE end-game. I wouldn't say that BDO is going to be anything special but, to me, it's certainly far and away better than BnS. I also think they are fairly different in what they are and trying to be.
BDOs biggest complaints from Korean and Russian players is the lack of PvE endgame.
The problem is exacerbated by players not needing other players for anything PvE related, aa you can solo craft everything.
The new dungeons are a step in dealing with this issue but they have a long way to go.
Yes, which is why I had, hopefully adding some meaningful PvE end-game. However, given how these reviews are generally crafted, typically based off short lived play experiences, BDO offers far more of an experience than BnS if you're only basing it off the first 20 hours of play.
I agree that BDO is more solo than group, at least for the leveling period. Most of the PvP seems geared around GvG, which looks like a total mess.
It's not that I think BDO is going to be a great game, for the long term, I just feel it's far and away better than BnS for my own playstyle and game desires.
I meh-uninstalled BnS after about an hour. I still wouldn't give it a 5 across the board. Game Mechanics: 8, Challenge: 4, Fun/Immersion: 6, Value: 4 (Avg:5.5). That's what I'd settle with after my time in, but I wouldn't publish a real score unless I had at least a few more hours into it. At the same time a review is more than the sum of it's parts, or in this case the average of it's parts.
I meh-uninstalled BnS after about an hour. I still wouldn't give it a 5 across the board. Game Mechanics: 8, Challenge: 4, Fun/Immersion: 6, Value: 4 (Avg:5.5). That's what I'd settle with after my time in, but I wouldn't publish a real score unless I had at least a few more hours into it. At the same time a review is more than the sum of it's parts, or in this case the average of it's parts.
you played it for an entire hour? Wow, your opinion of the game is definitely going to be comprehensive with a lot of experience behind it to back it up!
I uninstalled as soon as I saw a lock box monitization model, but to complain about wobbly tits is just Feminist agenda whining. The guy needs to go write for Buzzfeed.
I uninstalled as soon as I saw a lock box monitization model, but to complain about wobbly tits is just Feminist agenda whining. The guy needs to go write for Buzzfeed.
It is interesting that you say it has a lockbox model...when in reality it doesn't. Yeah, you open up lock boxes in the game for class weapons (that is it) and you can take a shortcut and buy a guaranteed key off the cash shop (which is also purchasable with cash shop currency earned in game) if you have really bad luck or don't have time to try more than a few times...but you don't have to. I don't view this as a lockbox model at all, personally - hell, GW2 is way more of a lockbox monetization model than this game. In other words, they are not selling lockboxes that have a .00001% chance to get that rare cosmetic item like the vast majority of other F2P/B2P games...they sell keys that are 100% not mandatory and only serve to save you a little bit of time.
Blade and Soul does have great PVP, but I didn't like how it felt chained off until you leveled fully -- it's a philosophy other MMORPGs use ("Just wait, the real game begins at the endgame!") that I'm very tired of and feel is particularly harmful to Blade and Soul because of how the rest of the game feels lacking.
this bothers me. Dont like that feeling of being forced to level quick to get to content I wanted to play.
It's amazing to me how an internet commenters' brain can stop at the word "boob" and act all outraged as if the 5/10 score the reviewer gave the game is only because of boob physics, whereas it most likely did not even play a factor in the final score and only existed in the review as a paragraph to point out something the development team has done that was either over the top or simply useless.
Seriously, calm down people. A person did not enjoy the game you love and rated it poorly according to his own standards... boo-hoo. Get over yourselves and move on.
It's amazing to me how an internet commenters' brain can stop at the word "boob" and act all outraged as if the 5/10 score the reviewer gave the game is only because of boob physics, whereas it most likely did not even play a factor in the final score and only existed in the review as a paragraph to point out something the development team has done that was either over the top or simply useless.
Seriously, calm down people. A person did not enjoy the game you love and rated it poorly according to his own standards... boo-hoo. Get over yourselves and move on.
I've sort of concluded over the years that if a game is designed for a different market and it gets an english port, lower ratings are going to come with the territory. Korea is big on Cooperative and Competitive gaming so it makes sense they end up with more games that have always online components. Issue is that the US companies that publish "mmos" can't figure out better ways to market the games outside of "Hey look, another MMO from Asia!" plastered with boobed angel women or something else and hoping the testosterone will over power any kind of sane purchasing decision.
Asia sort of has it's own genre of MMO-lite that usually encompasses their version of quick fix games. People jump into them, play them for a time, and then just leave. It's not like they stick around in the dozens of MMO-lite games anymore than us US players do.
Played this game for about 5 days and uninstalled it. Waaaay too much chibi for my tastes and overall the game has about as much substance as a ketchup sandwich .
The problem I have with the game is that it's just way too instanced. Endgame is basically one instnced to the next, even the arena PvP. It doesn't feel like an MMO. It could have been an Arena fighting game and that's it.
I meh-uninstalled BnS after about an hour. I still wouldn't give it a 5 across the board. Game Mechanics: 8, Challenge: 4, Fun/Immersion: 6, Value: 4 (Avg:5.5). That's what I'd settle with after my time in, but I wouldn't publish a real score unless I had at least a few more hours into it. At the same time a review is more than the sum of it's parts, or in this case the average of it's parts.
My biggest problem with this is value:4. It's FREE. How can a free game have a value of 4? If it was complete and utter shite then I'd give you that one but clearly it isn't or you wouldn't rate the combat and fun/immersion at 8 and 6.
Considering the combat, the graphics quality, the PvP, the e-sport potential of the arena, as a free player the value has to be above average, 6 or 7 at least. Difficulty in the open world is no worse than any other MMO, and that's all you saw in the first hour. Later dungeons can be more difficult, particularly if you decide to not go with 6. You have options to try 4 man or duo to increase the challenge, but like you said, you didn't play that far.
I routinely try to solo all content and I've had my arse handed to me many times now. That's when I get a group and go again. Most of the Daily quests in dungeons require a group, some you can solo, depending on class. Most you can't but it's fun to try. Same for the open world bosses, some can be solo'd some can't. Again that depends on class. Summoners can do some stupid stuff solo.
Comments
Getting a great combat system is not enough. This game is supposed to be a full featured MMORPG. Everyone is glad you are having fun and supporting them, but nobody is in here claiming that the game has good questing, well designed levelling, or a great open world. No, what this game does right is combat, that is all they wanted to do right, that is what they focused on, that is what you guys are thrilled with. It is not enough for a full MMORPG.
If you could go back and play Painkiller right now, I bet you would say exactly the same things. Oh, this game has great combat, clearly online is the focus of the game, the shooting is done really well. Yeah, the single player mode is tacked on with a real lack of effort, but the game is MEANT to be a competitive shooter!
There are a lot of people managing to enjoy the entire game simply because of the good combat it has. I was like that for awhile on Skyforge, I really really liked the combat in that game. I thought it flowed really well, really offered players a chance to show their skill, and rewarded good playing. I still stopped playing it a bit later, because really the combat was the only good thing about it. Good combat may make the game fun for you, but it needs the other features to make it a complete MMORPG.
This is were you went wrong. This is not suppose to be a full featured MMORPG. Its a hybrid, arcadey-type, action combat, MMORPG that by design is light on traditional MMORPG features. It plays as intended and the make no apologies for that.
Never did they market it as "MMO-Lite" or as a fighting game with other players. It is an MMORPG. On the bright side, we found the root of your disagreement with everyone.
How anyone can say this is a grind is beyond me. Then again I consider EQ to be the "proper" pace for levelling. In 2 weeks I've already hit the cap with 2 chars and that was after play testing every class to 14-15 to see which ones I would stick with.
Open world PvP is completely optional. If you don't want to be ganked simply don't wear a faction costume.
The 5/10 score is insulting and inconsistent with their own review system. It's not the best MMO in the world but what it does, it does well. Ok so it has no mounts, but it has the Wuxia movement which I find a lot more interesting tbh. No housing, but that's not a common feature for most MMO's in the last 10 years. The crafting leaves a lot to be desired but it's not a gear based game.
All those missing features are for a different audience anyway. This is firmly aimed at E-sports. As a combat MMO with Arena PvP as a focus you'd be hard pressed to find one better that isn't a rediculous kit grind or blatantly P2W.
Credit where it's due.
That's marketing talk. It's obvious by your, and everybody else's own experience and interpretation of the game, that it's not a full featured MMORPG. Coca Cola says "it's the real thing" and Lucky Charms claim they are "magically delicious" but are they really? You know better than that. Btw, I did google "NCsoft MMORPG" and I may have missed it but there is nothing there claiming BnS to be a full featured MMORPG.
Anyways, I don't want to get any more involved in this debate than I already have. The people enjoying BnS seem to be very very invested in it, and riling them up seems like a bad idea. I just wanted to point out that the comparison to Hotline Miami 2 and Painkiller made a lot of sense to me, and I can really see the similarity in mindset that went into designing them. All these games have really fun combat, and to get the most out of them, you have to let the great combat distract you from the flaws.
Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?
Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.
I do know its an MMORPG but it is severely lacking in standard MMORPG features by design. The one thing that it does do well, is by design the core of the game. Again, it is a hybrid, arcadey-type, action combat MMORPG that by design is light on traditional MMORPG features. Its apparent that the misunderstanding here is that many are unfairly comparing this to a traditional MMORPG when that is not what it is. Where is the fairness in scoring something based on what its not? MMORPGs are an ever evolving genre. There is room in the MMORPG sphere to accomodate for a variety of hybrid MMORPGs so long as they stay true to the foundation of how an MMORPG plays. They cant all be scored, and should not be scored, on the same scale because they all have their different strengths and weaknesses. As such, they will appeal to different demographics of the gaming population based on their individual preferences and interpretation of how an MMORPG should be played.
거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
Yes, which is why I had, hopefully adding some meaningful PvE end-game. However, given how these reviews are generally crafted, typically based off short lived play experiences, BDO offers far more of an experience than BnS if you're only basing it off the first 20 hours of play.
I agree that BDO is more solo than group, at least for the leveling period. Most of the PvP seems geared around GvG, which looks like a total mess.
It's not that I think BDO is going to be a great game, for the long term, I just feel it's far and away better than BnS for my own playstyle and game desires.
Gaming since 1985; Online gaming since 1995; No End in Sight! My YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8POVoJ8fdOseuJ4U1ZX-oA
Philosophy of MMO Game Design
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Seriously, calm down people. A person did not enjoy the game you love and rated it poorly according to his own standards... boo-hoo. Get over yourselves and move on.
Asia sort of has it's own genre of MMO-lite that usually encompasses their version of quick fix games. People jump into them, play them for a time, and then just leave. It's not like they stick around in the dozens of MMO-lite games anymore than us US players do.
I feel absolute and generic with combo combat not more that
Considering the combat, the graphics quality, the PvP, the e-sport potential of the arena, as a free player the value has to be above average, 6 or 7 at least. Difficulty in the open world is no worse than any other MMO, and that's all you saw in the first hour. Later dungeons can be more difficult, particularly if you decide to not go with 6. You have options to try 4 man or duo to increase the challenge, but like you said, you didn't play that far.
I routinely try to solo all content and I've had my arse handed to me many times now. That's when I get a group and go again. Most of the Daily quests in dungeons require a group, some you can solo, depending on class. Most you can't but it's fun to try. Same for the open world bosses, some can be solo'd some can't. Again that depends on class. Summoners can do some stupid stuff solo.