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Gaming Illustrated 94%, Gamer's Hell 93%, Gamestar (Hungary) 95% scores
DonnieBrasco
Member Posts: 1,757
The first 2 can be found here:
http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/middleearthonline
A bit disappointed in PC Gamer UK this time (all the ratings under 80% can only bring up the "no novelty" phrase exclusively for criticism, which is a but unfair...)
DB
Denial makes one look a lot dumber than he/she actually is.
Comments
That is plain wrong. I know Gamer's Hell for pretty honest reviews, and they do play every MMO on the market for years. The guy from the hungarian mag is also an MMO veteran, by profession (lives out of gaming journalism). These are not "user" reviews, and especially not from MMO newbies
DB
Denial makes one look a lot dumber than he/she actually is.
LOTRO is a solid and fund but uninspiring MMO. It does what it sets out to do quite well but has no innovation about it and it certainly shouldn't be near the top 5% of games. Top 20-25% is much more reasonable.
If you look on that same site at what games like Everquest, DAoC and WoW go when they were released, games that really did add things that transformed MMO's, they all got 75-90% which is much more reasonable.
Out of all those reviews, the PC Gamer UK one where it calls it 'Middle Of The Road' instead of 'Middle Earth' was about the most honest one there. I remember when 95+ ratings were given to games that were truely awesome such as Street Fighter or Grand Theft Auto 3. You used to be able to get a game that had such a high score and know you were going to love it and get something special but that just doesn't seem to be the case nowadays with almost any game that isn't complete tripe getting such high scores.
CoH/CoV - D-Zol/Kinslayer
Auto Assault - Slayer
WoW, LOTRO, DDO - Kinsul
Matrix Online - Tempest
A wild guess here but maybe the game is getting good reviews because it is just plain old fun to play. I am not sure where the notion came about that something has to be innovative to be good. Maybe the concept if something meets its design criteria and serves the purpose it was intended for that is not enough for it to be good.
I can point out half a dozen games on the sidebar that were innovative as heck and still are lacking in subscriptions. Saga of Ryzom, The Matrix, Auto Assault, Neocron, and WWII online would all fit the bill nicely if innovation is all that it takes for a game to rate at 90% plus in your opinion.
We don't demand that every movie or every book be innovative to be good, why should we expect more from MMORPGs. Just the fact that it is a excellent product that serves it's purpose should be enough.
I miss DAoC
Innovation doesn't automatically = high score
I think that LOTRO will get better when they start adding more features like Housing and Fishing.
Turbine focused on releasing a stable game. Sure it has its limitations, but release in the US went smoother than any MMO I've played in the past 3 years. I am glad that I didn't have the problems with servers that they had in Europe.
They will add more bells and whistles in the months to come.
LOTRO is better at higher levels, and it didn't hook me until around level 30. Usually I am hooked after a few levels, but LOTRO does grow on you.
That doesnt make it as innovative as one would like but:
a) Why do you think people like innovation. I mean, I have been playing for 2,5 years Eve Online and I have tried other MMO's, like WoW and Guild Wars, which just couldnt be compared, they seemed childlike. However, Eve after 4 yeras only has close to 200k subscribers, were are WoW and Guild Wars have a lot more (you can attribute some to the different setting, SciFi vs Medieval Fantasy).
b)Innovation is only part of a game's score. Why should overall score reflect innovation? It should reflect the game in general and what Lotro does is taking a recipe that works superbly so far (WoW) and expanding it a bit (mostly on graphics and a bit on gameplay).
Vanguard is probably the most innovative game up to now (I haven't played it and I am not planning to until they make it a proper game), but other issues such as bugs and gameplay imbalance and fixes has made it get very low scores (or not as high as expected).
One other factor to consider is that lotro appeared to fill up a pretty empty spot, first in line of the major MMO's to provide a solid gameplay after the vanguard fiasco.
Finally, dont forget the advantage that the Tolkien lore license has to provide for the game. Everything was already setup and just had to be visualized.
Sony Online Entertainment Steals Customers Money
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
And I AM NOT a newbie, I've been in this "business" for years and have played many titles. This game is still a 9 out of 10 after 5 weeks of playing it. And to burning hell with innovation. I had innovation in EvE, I tasted innovation in Dark and Light, I saw it in Vanguard. And all those games didn't have LotROs spirit and fun in one of their toes. Oooh suuure, they were complex, like MAX was complex back in 96, or Wizardry XY, or Daggerfall... TO HELL with complexity....
I linger in the prancing pony roleplaying my a** off, I finally roleplay questing with my fellowship, I compose songs, I strive through the lands, just because. No game mechanic in the world could provide this, only spirit and style can. THAT's why it's a 93 and 94... THAT's what makes the difference...
Meridion
To many games over the years have relied on the awe and oohhhs of innovation to carry them thru. This was added with the lack of true content in the game. LOTRO has the content down the innovations can come later. To me innovations in a game are the cart and the actual game is the horse that pulls it. We all know the old saying don't put the cart before the horse.
Well turbine hasn't fallen into the cart before the horse thing, they let their horse pull the cart. The innovations will come in time as it should be. The result is we have a fun to play game that is full of content and is going to expand. The first content expansion was announced before launch and they have said they are already working on the next two after it. Show me another game that has done this.
For the record i have been playing MMO's since 2000. So i am not a first timer who has only played LOTRO. I will admit i never played WOW cause to me the saturday morning cartoon look for the characters (my opinion) doesn't cut if for me. I don't think i would give this game a 95. But i would give it a 90. But that is me and my opinion of the game.
http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/asheronscall2fallenkings?q=ac2
I like how GamersHell gave LOTRO a 9 in the "Multiplayer" category. I mean.. its an MMO...
Equal opportunity troll.
I was misled by reviews like this (and the rating here) into buying the game
But as long as it floats your boat, then that's shiny.
Well, I guess that proves what they say about assumptions. I've played many MMORPG's over quite a many years. Perhaps it's just not your type of game. Don't assume because you don't like it it's for noobs or people who don't know any better.
EVE - Sharvala
FFXI - Shazamalicious
Guild Wars - Xavier Lucifer & Charlize the Necro
"Ranged...stuck...tree...15 random words... suck... noob fanboy... I MAKE GUIDE!"
It got good reviews because it is a very good game.
Many of the comments above seem to assume that people don't play games, they play feature lists. Nonsense.
The innovation that counts is that Turbine has reached a new high in MMO's; more depth, more content, more humor, more polish, and above all, more fun.
I've come to suspect that the reason for knocking innovation, is that the assertion needs no facts, and is more or less irrefutable.
And when innovations are pointed out, they're ignored.
Stephan Moffett
I can certainly understand why you wouldn't play a game ripped from the flix. Some major turkeys have resulted.
However! LotRO is based (very closely) on the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. Turbine does not have rights to use the movie material at all, just the books. If you haven't read the books, you're in for quite a good time when you do.
I have no idea what a hardcore game is. Lots of grind? Free for all PvP, gankin' noobs? No crafting? LotRO has no direction finding for quests; a supposed hardcore game does... Does that make LotRO the harder core?
Or is hardcore just a marketing gimmick?
Stephan Moffett
You're giving it a 70% based on the fact that you've never played the game. You realize that when people read that, they wont care what you rate it? I wouldn't have to do this had you actually played the game but you have left us with no other choice. And your reasoning is that it's from a movie. Sorry...
*BANG!*
It had to be done...
EVE - Sharvala
FFXI - Shazamalicious
Guild Wars - Xavier Lucifer & Charlize the Necro
"Ranged...stuck...tree...15 random words... suck... noob fanboy... I MAKE GUIDE!"
Eh I dont give a rats butt about these kind of reviews. They havent played the game enough to know anything relevant about it.
"I cherish the memories of a question my grandson asked me the other day when he said..Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?...No, but i served in a company of heroes"
Sgt. Mike Ranney E-company 506PIR 101'st airborn
You know Asherons Call 2 was rated 9/10 on www.ignpc.com and it really did not deserve that.
This game is good if your looking for a casual mmorpg, thats smilliar to WOW. I personally do not like it at all.
------------------------------
Check out some of the mmo's I have played:
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/129987/page/1
PC STATS:
- Q9550
- Evga GTX 280 SSC x2 (SLI)
- 8GB DDR3
- Nforce 790i Ultra
So if LOTRO which is a solid, fairly fun title but not innovative gets a 95%. Where does the solid, fun, innovative game that changes the industry. I guess 100% but that would assume the game is perfect. Personaly I think anything over a 90 or 9/10 should be mind blowing, industry altering game. Not that from what I've played LOTRO isn't a solid title with alot of upside, it just doesn't have many things that will change the industry. The only one I see is releasing in a stable and playable state. I'd like to see more games release that way.
Which leads me to wonder what the ratings would have been had Vanguard not been so terribley implemented? I'd give LOTRO an 80-85 which I think is a good score for any game.
Or DaoC... Oh yes, DaoC, i remember, back in 2002, was working as a paramedic then and people were like "Wow, a game with mythological backround", and it was popular, but did it blow off peoples hats, was it innovative and scored 9X% everywhere? - No it didn't.
EvE, Everquest, Ultima Online (it had 86% in a PCGAMES review, i still have the magazine here somewhere)... You name it. That single game salvation, that will alter the industry and renew it, feed all mankind, stop pollution and save your souls WILL NOT COME !!!
A 9X% game is a game thats fun and well crafted, plain and simple. Whether you call it "Tetris" or "Lords of the Vanishing Mountains - The Sage of the Forgotten Diamond" - a game that's fun is top notch, because it cherishes the core virtue of any spare-time product - Entertainment.
Meridion