In my opinion I take reviews as something to read that has to do with the game I'm waiting to be released. As I said in the other post, I don't care to play or not play a game based on one persons thoughts on it.
I take a review, read it, retain the pertinent information like "I did so and so quest on the starting island and the reward was well worth it" and then I move on to the next piece of information. I can usually tell if I want to play a game within days of the Beta gag being lifted. If I want to know exactly whats wrong with a game or what's great about a game I'm going to spend a couple of hours reading forums, plain and simple. Once you've trained your eye and learn to discard the posts that don't contain anything constructive then you can truly get a grasp on what problems a game has by reading forums.
I hate to use this as an example and no offense to the folks who enjoy it but lets look at AOC. I remember reading forums starting about a week before public launch, and between that time and two weeks after launch you could really get a grasp on what the problems were. At that point I knew that I wouldn't visit that game until they worked things out.
As for reviewing MMO's in general. It seems to me that it would be too difficult to give a make or break review of an MMO without it being out for at least a year. Look at WAR for example, the amount of fixes they have implemented during the first few months have been great. This weeks patch has basically made a new game for some folks like SH's. It's almost like it's a completely different game since launch. Another example would be EQ2, if you played eq2 for the first year and then left.. you haven't played eq2. It's a COMPLETELY different game. I mean the only thing that's still intact is the handful of zones and mobs that shipped with the original box set!
Anywho, I guess what I'm getting at is.. an MMO is an ever evolving organism and it's always changing. Within six months everything you hated about a game could be fixed or everything you loved about a game could be broken. I just think it's too hard to give any type of concrete review of an MMO anywhere close to it's release. Can you write an opinion column talking about what you thought about it, likes and dislikes, yes. But that's about all it's ever going to be.
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"That is strength, boy! That is power! What is steel compared to the hand that wields it? Look at the strength in your body, the desire in your heart, I gave you this! Such a waste. Contemplate this on the tree of woe. Crucify him!"
Bansaw der neue Herr Wunderbar des Jahres 2009
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