Rooks Bailey的最近内容

crimsonfilms 说:

Second, your comparison fails because M&B is relatively the same price as other games. If the Accord was $150,000 compared to a $225,000 Ferrari would you not give the Accord a mediocre to bad review? Of course you would. The Accord works well at $20k or less. There is value. I don't care of the budget.

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I think you're getting too caught up in my car analogy.  My main point is that you don't review a game by comparing it to another game.  Joseph Olin, president of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences made this point recently when he said "My pet peeve is that game reviewers are lazy," he said. "Not all, but in terms of the reviews [something like] 'This game isn't as good because let's compare it to that game over there and that game was great.' Who gives a, you know, bleep?" 

That was my point. 

In M&B there was absolutely no evidence to show that there was an attempt to create coherent narrative to tie in the wonderful combat and strategy.

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True, but likewise there was absolutely no mention of a coherent narrative by the devs; rather there was a mention of open sandbox play.  To criticize a game for something it didn't promise isn't fair. 

 

To me, M&B doesn't come across as unfinished.  Rather, M&B comes across as a game with a lot more potential.  I think this is an important distinction.  I have already invested far more time with M&B than I have with any other RPG I can think of, which doesn't indicate an unfinished game to me.  Rather, I think everybody senses that this game can go in some pretty exciting directions and wish it was included with this release.  Well, even WoW had to start somewhere.  Considering the price tag of M&B, it already delivers far more bang for its buck than many other games. 

Helldiver 说:

Reviews are not supposed to "go easy because it's indie", that's a bad review. A review should pit it against other titles of a similar genre regardless of budget.

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I disagree.  That's like saying that a Honda Accord needs to be compared to a Ferrari for an accurate review.  What a good review does NOT do is compare Game X to any other game - in fact, a game review should not mention any other game but the one being reviewed.  A good review judges each game on its own merits.

BTW:  I've only discovered M&B a few weeks ago, so this isn't fanboy-ism.  I'm just really interested to see how M&B is being handled vis-a-vis other titles. 

And, again, GameSpot did nothing wrong with its review - it was solid.  The problem with all these reviews is the scoring.  Would we even be having this debate but for the score?  Probably not.  This is one of the reasons why I think numerical scores do far more harm  than good to game journalism. 

Just my opinion, but for what it’s worth:

When it comes to reviewing a game - despite what many reviewers would have you believe - there is very little difference between reviewing a game and reviewing a movie – ultimately it comes down to a subjective judgment.  In short, it’s what the reviewer brings to the process that ultimately will decide if a game gets a good score or not.
 
Now why do I bring this up?

Because I have been noticing an interesting trend with M&B. Small to medium gaming sites have been praising M&B.  However, large gaming sites have had the most critical reviews of M&B.  What accounts for such a big disparity?  After all, it is the same game being reviewed. 
The answer: expectations.  I have always found that small to medium game sites have a much more accepting attitude towards the budgetary limitations that smaller, indie game companies have to face when producing a game.  In short, the reviewers of these mid-range sites aren’t predisposed to expect every game to dazzle the reviewer with cutting-edge graphics or million dollar production values.  For them, the quality of a game is more about the fun factor than any technical prowess or the prestige of being associated with a major design house.
 
Larger game sites, on the other hand, have become quite accustomed to spending a great deal of time with the uber-titles being released by the biggest gaming companies that pour millions into a single title.  As such, when a game lacks Hollywood design values, the review becomes far more critical.  Where’s the wiz-bang?  Where’s the voice acting (preferably from actual Hollywood actors these days)?  Where is the media blitz from the publisher?  If a game doesn’t have it, they quickly lose interest.  If a game does have the right pedigree, on the other hand, it automatically gets a bump in the ratings.

Case in point:  GameSpot’s review of M&B.  Score: 6.0 (fair).  GameSpot’s review of Age of Conan: 8.5 (great).

Think about that for a second.

In GameSpot’s review of Age of Conan, the review admits that AoC is “a flawed paradise. Funcom has been quick to handle the most egregious blemishes since the launch of its massively multiplayer online game, but a number of frustrating bugs remain. The most minor ones have little to no impact on the game proper....Others are more significant, such as broken quests and memory leaks that lead to the occasional crash. Launch imperfections are common enough in the genre, but while Age of Conan's release was hardly disastrous, it has been less stable than we should expect. Many bugs have already been fixed, but the game's edges are still somewhat jagged, and the software can buckle under the sheer weight of its own ambition.”

Hmm…has anyone seen a similar mention about a large number of bugs with M&B? But the review offers the advice that “You'd do well to look past these imperfections, though, because Age of Conan is the most brutal and immediately satisfying MMOG on the market, thanks to its unique slant on combat, resonant quest writing, and uncompromising maturity.”

Why hasn’t M&B received similar consideration?  To be fair, yes, AoC did bring some much needed innovation to the combat scheme found in most RPGs, but is it innovation on the scale of M&B?  Not even close.  Taleworld’s has accomplished something much more daring, much more visceral than anything AoC accomplished.  Yet, strangely, this “brutality” does nothing to boost a score for a game that is not “buckling” under the weight of its ambition.

Now, mind you, I am not saying that M&B deserves to tie AoC, but 6.0?  6.0 for a game that has far less flaws and far more innovation than AoC?

It is interesting to note that with hindsight, AoC’s review did not reflect reality at all.  Just last week, Funcom’s co-founder, Gaute Godager, had to step down “as a ‘consequence’ of failures in Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures,” according to GamesIndustry.biz.  Again:  this is an 8.5 game (to be fair, at least GameSpot did not drink the Kool-Aid by giving it an Editor’s Choice as many other major sites did)?  This is a “great” game?  It is also interesting to note that reviews of AoC by gamers were far more critical of AoC while, based upon the two I’ve seen to date, the gamers review of M&B has been far more generous….

I’m not here to pick on GameSpot, a site that does a good job for the most part.  But I do find it interesting how many of these reviewers who are used to being dazzled by every title have been far harsher on M&B than they have been with other titles that seem to have more problems than M&B.  It really is a fascinating study in contrast….

Archonsod 说:

They're still dependent on the "pull a number out of your arse" method to come up with those numbers out of five though.

A fairer way to review would be to actually do the job, ditch the number and tell people about the actual game your reviewing rather than telling them about your opinion. Few reviewers tend to manage it though.

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THANK YOU!  I've been arguing this point as well.  Scores tell us nothing but everybody uses them because the big sites such as IGN, GameSpot, whoever use them.  The logic goes that you need something that conveys the quality of a game while fitting on the front of a box.  Okay, but why does it have to be a score?  Why can't it be thumbs up, down, etc? 

If possible, you might want to remove the hyphen from "ultimate-gamer.org" as hyphens are considered a no-no in website URLs because it makes it harder for people to find your site (e.g., if they remember the name they might forget to put in the hyphen, etc.).

Otherwise, nice and good luck!

I don't know if this has been posted here, but I thought this was quite funny:

M&B Release Spoof:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45W_t5HNdWY

I came across this poor chap the other day.  I just figured it was some guy who couldn't stop playing M&B....

GaGrin 说:

I suppose this could work at setup as another character-gen option:

No Character Death
(As the game is now - neither the PC nor NPCs can die which creates long term relationships that change).

Hostile NPC Death
(Only enemy NPCs can die.  Not recommended, but would make the game easier and much shorter for those that want the option.)

Full NPC Death
(All NPCs including the recruitable heroes can be killed/excuted within the normal rules of the game)

Full Death
(All characters operate under the same rules of mortality, whether a random unnamed peasant, to the king of swadia to the player her/himself.)

I think theres an option there for nearly everyone - though I suppose you could add one that lets everyone die except the PC and the recruitable Heroes, or make it a bunch of tick boxes that you select if you want to make them mortal.

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That's the perfect solution, in my opinion.  I wouldn't imagine that would be all that hard to implement either.  I think the biggest problem would be providing the game with enough spawnable characters to replace all those who fall in battle over the course of a campaign.

Of all the tweaks I would make to M&B, I think this death issue is the most important to tackle as it could really spice up the game even more.

Cloud Breaker 说:

Gore: something like wound texture on a part of a mesh. Nothing too complicated.

I don't want dismemberment to be in M&B.

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I think if M&B adds more gore, it must be optional for the player.  Right now the game is pretty family friendly which is a good thing. 

As for actually doing some more gore, something along the lines of Age of Conan might work.  Or, if not that, maybe something along the lines of an instant replay like some of those console games have, you know, where after to score a particularly good blow, you get an enhanced, slow motion replay of the action.  That could be fun.

Toboe 说:

Rooks Bailey 说:

I see people taking some screenshots and videos from a distant perspective - how is this done?  I can only take shots from the FPS perspective or from the close third person.  How are you guys freeing the camera from your character? 

PS:  Also, is there a way to pause combat so as to be able to frame a shot of the action?

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something like cheat. try to ctr+e key 
and, can't Pause M&B 

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Okay, I'll give it a try.  Thanks!

(And we really need a pause in combat not to cheat but to frame some dramatic shots!  )

Morrowind 说:

i think it would be the best game ever. chosing your side building town and castles as stratigec points see if you could go at war with other nations or make peace with others so you can trade.

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Oh God, no!  We have enough of those, from the good (Medieval II Total War) to the bad (where to start?!?).  M&B currently occupies a niche all its own - but I suspect not for long.    Let's not turn what is essentially a medieval simulator to something less thoughtful.

Those are nice!  Where did you find them?  I haven't seen them in the game yet.

Boy, that was really nice! 

I have a question:

I see people taking some screenshots and videos from a distant perspective - how is this done?  I can only take shots from the FPS perspective or from the close third person.  How are you guys freeing the camera from your character? 

Thanks!

PS:  Also, is there a way to pause combat so as to be able to frame a shot of the action?

Some newb questions....

You can find me over at Chess.com as RooksBailey.  Anyone feel free to send me a challenge to a correspondence game anytime, but I probably won't be available for a live game until later tonight - say midnight EST. 

Hope to see you there.