Newsletter Discussion: Critiquing the Critics

Age of Conan has been out for a little over a week, and the reviews have slowly trickled in. Some assign a numerical score to the experience, while others simply write about what they've seen so far. But how much can you trust a reviewer that has only experienced a fraction of a game's content? Is it even possible for a reviewer to play enough of an MMO to make an informed judgment? And considering how quickly MMOs can change, is there even a point? For this week's discussion, we want to know:

What do you feel makes an MMO reviewer qualified?

Give us your thoughts in the comments section!

Permalink

I don't believe in numerical scoring, although it does provide an at-a-glance view of the game, it'll be biased and personal to the reviewer's personal experience.

I believe MMO reviews should be incremental and episodic, throughout the MMO's entire experience, zones and gameplay elements. Reviewers should point out the cons and pros for each part of the game, and avoid generalizations.

As much as we would like to have a fair review system, it's almost impossible to cover an entire MMO unless you assign a dedicate reviewer to play it constantly, or until they exhaust the game's available options. And we're not even talking about updates!

Think people are to corrupt now . Maybe back in the 90's we could trust the reviewer because the industry wasn't as massive as it is now. Now in this later century the industry is to big, to much money to throw around and just to many shader people who except that money.

The day of the reviewer is over for me, I try the open beta when I can to make my own judgment and if I miss the OB and it is a game I wanted to try , I wait for the reduced price.

Shoot I bought VG last year for 9 dollars, and just now getting around to playing it , must say it is awesome ! Though the reviews couldn't focus on the actual game mechanics on release cause it was a broke game, but right now the game is running awesomely and it is massive .

I would rather see the words "My Opinion" instead oa review, to many wannabe Eberts running around giving great games bad scores.

I think it's too soon to give a proper review and one isn't enough. Sig's got the right idea for a reviewer. There should be more than one reviewer, if possible, to cover different classes.