As a fan of the original Guild Wars, I was always going to at least give Guild Wars 2 the one-month test on release. Rubi has done her best to get me excited about the upcoming sequel, but nothing has convinced me to get the game more than getting some hands-on time with it at Eurogamer Expo. NCsoft set up several stalls at the convention to accommodate the huge numbers of fans in attendance. Even with enforced 40-minute demo slots, the stalls were permanently packed, and attendees could expect to wait up to an hour for a chance to play. Watching other players exploring the game while waiting for my turn only served to increase the anticipation
Guild Wars 2 is a game still firmly in the alpha stages, and yet NCsoft managed to put together an impressive demo of everything that's currently ready for use. Not all the character customisation options were available, but there were enough options to make a unique character. Three dye colours are selected for each piece of starting gear, and any equipment that drops for you in the game will be automatically dyed these colours. After designing a character and selecting a class, a player is asked a few in-character questions to determine his character's personality and customise storyline quests.
Final thoughts
Guild Wars 2 was undeniably my favourite game of the entire expo, with fantastic controls, gorgeous zone designs and an innovative RIFT-like dynamic event system. While RIFT only really has one trick with its zone-wide invasions, the variety of events in Guild Wars 2 is massive. Each zone has multiple events tailored to the local lore, with event chains pushing back and forth on a battlefield.
The Guild Wars-style fast travel system returns with a slight twist inspired by traditional MMO flight paths; players may teleport to any waypoint they wish, but there's a fee for doing so. I was already going to order Guild Wars 2 on release, but the demo at Eurogamer Expo has made me incredibly excited for the game. I went back to play it four times over the course of the weekend, and I captured a few photos that you can see in the gallery above.
He gives a raving review for the game he plays as a longtime fan for a 'enforced' 40 minute demo but a most dissapointed review for the game he got to play for ten minutes.
I like GW2 and think it's going to be a great game as well (I'm playing both GW2 and SWTOR since GW2 is B2p). But this underscores the reason the SWTOR review was treated the way it was and why the author saved all his gusto for this one.
I still don't get his fixation on character creation this far out from releases or why you'd want to spend so much of your time in a demo doing that.
Although the hype was strong with this one the truth will prevail, glad i didn't have to wait till after launch to find out my kids and i were right all along.
Please forgive my ignorance, but I don't understand what the problem is.
We've known for years that SWTOR is going to be generic hotkey MMO gameplay with a Bioware story. This article only confirms (again) what we've already known for a long time.
The guy simply does not like that type of game. What's the big deal?
Not everyone is going to like the same type of game you do, get over it.
Edit: If you're worried this is going to somehow hurt the game, it already has the most preorders in the history of MMOs. I think it'll be ok that some guy that works at a niche website who wrote a review that may be seen by a couple hundred people doesn't like the game.
There is no problem, except for the fact that every ToR/WoW/Bioware fanboi reacts with righteous indignation in the least negative publicity.
....or the fact that haters like you attack the game at every single opportunity like a rabid pit bull. Instead of moving on to something you guys would actually like to play, you gnaw on this game as if your life depended on it. Any positive reviews and you're on it like stink on offal.
Every concern I had voiced for the game, every aspect I'd brought up critically all feature in the artical.
Empyros - 1
You all -0
You know what's hilarious Empyros?
How someone's impression which happens to mirror your own is something you regard as empirical evidence of you being right, while another guy's impression which doesn't match your opinion of the game (but who actually had much more hands-on time with Swtor) is dismissed because of yet another reviewer's opinion of another game. An opinion which you even grossly misquoted:
"This is the same magazine that heralded Dragon Age 2 as the RPG of the Decade.
Yeah, forgive me for ordering 1000 tonnes of salt. "
To which I replied with the original quote from that review:
Anyway, excuse me for not valuing your opinion so much as you seem to take a hike with the truth and are just as good at cherry picking as the most rabid fanboy.
oh man this is still going on? myself i don't worry about (p)reviewers. People hate things, people love things. From everything i've seen about the game and played it looks to be a game right up my alley. So reviews are kind of pointless as i'm past their point now.
Once the game comes out it will live or die on it's merits.
As for me? i'm out of this whole what reviewers think of the game that they got to play. So feel free to discuss but personally myself seeing the MMO industry as a whole. I'm sure TOR will do well, it's pretty simple to do well in this idustry, and people tend to enjoy it. It's just those that are burnt out on the industry and didn't know when to stop that have a problem with it.
If by worse case scenario swtor is just wow with a better more interactive story then that is great news to me because i didn't burn myself out on tab targeting gameplay. For those that have..there are other games.
Help me Bioware, you're my only hope.
Is ToR going to be good? Dude it's Bioware making a freaking star wars game, all signs point to awesome. -G4tv MMo report.
Every concern I had voiced for the game, every aspect I'd brought up critically all feature in the artical.
Empyros - 1
You all -0
You know what's hilarious Empyros?
How someone's impression which happens to mirror your own is something you regard as empirical evidence of you being right, while another guy's impression which doesn't match your opinion of the game (but who actually had much more hands-on time with Swtor) is dismissed because of yet another reviewer's opinion of another game. An opinion which you even grossly misquoted:
"This is the same magazine that heralded Dragon Age 2 as the RPG of the Decade.
Yeah, forgive me for ordering 1000 tonnes of salt. "
To which I replied with the original quote from that review:
Anyway, excuse me for not valuing your opinion so much as you seem to take a hike with the truth and are just as good at cherry picking as the most rabid fanboy.
*wakes up for work*
*checks internet, see's thread and looks at it*
*laughs*
*leaves for work*
+1 DarkPony for pointing out the DA2 "RPG of the decade" review
Every concern I had voiced for the game, every aspect I'd brought up critically all feature in the artical.
Empyros - 1
You all -0
You know what's hilarious Empyros?
No, but I have a sinking feeling you're going to tell me.
How someone's impression which happens to mirror your own is something you regard as empirical evidence of you being right, while another guy's impression which doesn't match your opinion of the game (but who actually had much more hands-on time with Swtor) is dismissed because of yet another reviewer's opinion of another game. An opinion which you even grossly misquoted:
Ugh, here it is. I discarded your post because honestly, your response is so pedestrian. So much so that I can't help but think if you're grasping at straws. Still, you obviously were pleased with your "find" hence your need to bring it to my attention AGAIN. Okay, I will indulge you..
"This is the same magazine that heralded Dragon Age 2 as the RPG of the Decade.
Yeah, forgive me for ordering 1000 tonnes of salt. "
To which I replied with the original quote from that review:
I am willing to give your intellect credit by asking you to look past semantics.
The point I was making was this - the reviewer is from a body that profits off of games and their respective hype. They have written skewed reviews in the past. DA2 was in no shape or form the best RPG of the decade, let alone 2011.
I know you're probably itching to argue dates with me. I won't have it. I want to believe you're smart enough to transcend insignificant details like this and revel in the truth.
Dragon Age: Awaken, that came out 12 months before iot was a better game. Not in that decade you say? Okay, The Witcher 2 came out 2 months later. Better game. Skyrim, comes out this year. Diablo 3, spiritual successor to the best ARPG series of all time was thought to be coming out this year.
What i am getting at is this: here is a reviewer that comes from a series of sensationalist material and it should not be seen as gospel . My post said as much (I just realised you cross-posted. My, my I am flattered). The review is written to generate hits (with SWTOR enthusiasts), and to garner points with BioWarEA because that is what this company does. IT IS HOW IT SURVIVES. Previews + Reviews games. Of course they are going to be fuelling the hype, otherwise companies wouldn't give them products to preview and review, ie. PC Gamer's lifeblood.
I am disappointed that you didn't understand this, thus resulting in this tedious task of explaining myself to you to the T.
Anyway, excuse me for not valuing your opinion
If it will make you happy, then I will say, "DarkPony, I will lose sleep over the fact that you discarded that post I made". That's how much I like you.
Oh, and why do I "believe" this review and not the other? Because this review does not make absolute, outrageous claims. I mean no game really can be "the best" before it is out, can it? I am stoked for GW2, Diablo 3, WoD, TSW -- but even I have my reservations. I am not going to sit here and say GW2 is infallible and that it will be the best MMO of all time.
The Massively article (in the OP) sheds light on many of my fears and concerns (that I have cited in almost each of my SWTOR posts). Unfortunately, it did not put them to rest, only confirmed them.
"Never argue with a fool; onlookers may not be able to tell the difference."
Just what I thought it would be. Good for people who like 'WoW' type gameplay (which is stupid, because WoW wasn't first, but anyway..) but not so good for people who don't like WoW, like me. I think it's rather a taste, more than a game being good or bad. But I do get his point. I mean, we're not far off 2012, and still they bring a game with more or less the same mechanics. Hard to get excited me thinks.
Just what I thought it would be. Good for people who like 'WoW' type gameplay (which is stupid, because WoW wasn't first, but anyway..) but not so good for people who don't like WoW, like me. I think it's rather a taste, more than a game being good or bad. But I do get his point. I mean, we're not far off 2012, and still they bring a game with more or less the same mechanics. Hard to get excited me thinks.
wow wasnt first MMO, but they were the first to introduce the now tried and true quest system seen in most every MMO since 2004. this system now defines a sub-genre in MMO's known as a themepark, which essentially didnt exist prior to wow's release. and yes, i am sick of it. give me my shadowbane back.
Just what I thought it would be. Good for people who like 'WoW' type gameplay (which is stupid, because WoW wasn't first, but anyway..) but not so good for people who don't like WoW, like me. I think it's rather a taste, more than a game being good or bad. But I do get his point. I mean, we're not far off 2012, and still they bring a game with more or less the same mechanics. Hard to get excited me thinks.
wow wasnt first MMO, but they were the first to introduce the now tried and true quest --> task<-- system seen in most every MMO since 2004. this system now defines a sub-genre in MMO's known as a themepark, which essentially didnt exist prior to wow's release. and yes, i am sick of it. give me my shadowbane back.
Sorry, I had to! But I know what you mean.. thanks for pointing it out to me.
Still, it's just that guys opinion. So if you like a generic theme park mmorpg with a star wars skin: rejoice, preorder it, be happy. If you expected anything more: well, tough luck.
That's the thing it's one guys opinion that it's a "generic themepark MMO" that doesn't make it a generic themepark MMO.
Except it's more then one guy's opinion. It's a lot of guy's opinion. It's definitely my opinion.
The game has good aspects, it will sell well on hype and IP, but I agree with the linked article in the OP fully.
Gamers should cherish this kind of insight pre launch tbh, bcause once we get closer and EA roll out the threat of the 'black list' to anyone that gives it a bad review we won't see it's like again ('it's like' as in honest reviewer views that put truth over advertising revenue) until 1-2 months after launch.
It certainly isn't mine. I can't say what mine is, but I can say I'm in beta. Why should I "cherish" his opinion again?
Because businesses aim to get people like him into their game. It's how they stay afloat and pump out the products YOU like.
Empyros, I wouldnt even bother tbh.
If folks can't understand the need for views from both the impressed and unimpressed to be out there in internet land in order to get a complete picture out there to those that havent betad the game then it's nothing you can teach them here. If they cannot see the value in that... well, you get it.
Some would prefer the world to be awash with opinions that just agree with their own.
Anyone who actually did not play the game at the Eurogamer Expo is just bloating the conversation up with their useless, opinionated babble.
The majority of posters in this thread, on both sides of the debate, have done way more then that.
I really doubt that, assuming you are implying most of the posters are currently in the beta. No matter your beta status, my point is still valid. We are bound by NDA and can't discuss what we've seen. It is pointless to try to drop in hints here and there, you aren't allowed to.
The dialogue here has to come from people who've played SWTOR at a tradeshow and can comment on their experience.
Anyone who actually did not play the game at the Eurogamer Expo is just bloating the conversation up with their useless, opinionated babble.
The majority of posters in this thread, on both sides of the debate, have done way more then that.
I really doubt that, assuming you are implying most of the posters are currently in the beta. No matter your beta status, my point is still valid. We are bound by NDA and can't discuss what we've seen. It is pointless to try to drop in hints here and there, you aren't allowed to.
The dialogue here has to come from people who've played SWTOR at a tradeshow and can comment on their experience.
I think he meant the later part the one marked in red.
Help me Bioware, you're my only hope.
Is ToR going to be good? Dude it's Bioware making a freaking star wars game, all signs point to awesome. -G4tv MMo report.
10 minutes on a demo of a starter world. Wow. Did you look at the guys picture that wrote the article, he looks like a hippie who still lives in his mom's house. And here I have thought I have seen everything from the haters. Sad really to see the same 3-4 people visit these forums everyday to bash this game. Don't worry, this game will make back the development costs alone just from the first month's sales and will probably are start turning a profit by month 2. As long as they got enough money to make a profit and cover development costs,I am a happy gamer.
Anyone who actually did not play the game at the Eurogamer Expo is just bloating the conversation up with their useless, opinionated babble.
The majority of posters in this thread, on both sides of the debate, have done way more then that.
I really doubt that, assuming you are implying most of the posters are currently in the beta. No matter your beta status, my point is still valid. We are bound by NDA and can't discuss what we've seen. It is pointless to try to drop in hints here and there, you aren't allowed to.
The dialogue here has to come from people who've played SWTOR at a tradeshow and can comment on their experience.
im pretty sure we can discuss what is publicly available such as the article posted by OP, and other readily available media supplied through official bioware/EA channels for public view.
10 minutes on a demo of a starter world. Wow. Did you look at the guys picture that wrote the article, he looks like a hippie who still lives in his mom's house. And here I have thought I have seen everything from the haters. Sad really to see the same 3-4 people visit these forums everyday to bash this game. Don't worry, this game will make back the development costs alone just from the first month's sales and will probably are start turning a profit by month 2. As long as they got enough money to make a profit and cover development costs,I am a happy gamer.
Actually he looks kinda cute. But the way he looks is not relevant to this conversation and has nothing to do with how accurate or innacurate his impression of the game is.
There are a number of things wrong with this post .. for one it sounds like he was unimpressed he had to wait in line to try a demo of the game and that there were not a lot of stations to try it at.... Well it is very costly to move all that stuff and maybe the turnout was a lot higher than expected .. Sucks to be you.
Also
1) 10 min in any game is never going to tell you anything about a game or how the game as a whole works.
2) He even says in the article how he was looking for somethign new and inovative (I think the first 10 minutes has been gone over a number of times so your not going to find anything new there)
3) Combat uses the WOW game play style ... Well it is what a lot of people know and it has proven itself as a very workable and intuitive UI... so why mess with it. Call it a WOW clone if you want but it does not make it so.
4) If he wants to say that everything is so messed up and not working ... where is the solution? if you want to complain about it you had better have a solution to back it up. Dont like the UI .. better learn to write code and make a new one.
If the game was so bad and you still have not placed your pre order .. then do not buy it and it means there will be one less person playing .. big whoop
Comments
Brendan Drain's review of GW2, same convention as his SWTOR review (surprised?)
He gives a raving review for the game he plays as a longtime fan for a 'enforced' 40 minute demo but a most dissapointed review for the game he got to play for ten minutes.
I like GW2 and think it's going to be a great game as well (I'm playing both GW2 and SWTOR since GW2 is B2p). But this underscores the reason the SWTOR review was treated the way it was and why the author saved all his gusto for this one.
I still don't get his fixation on character creation this far out from releases or why you'd want to spend so much of your time in a demo doing that.
"TO MICHAEL!"
Although the hype was strong with this one the truth will prevail, glad i didn't have to wait till after launch to find out my kids and i were right all along.
....or the fact that haters like you attack the game at every single opportunity like a rabid pit bull. Instead of moving on to something you guys would actually like to play, you gnaw on this game as if your life depended on it. Any positive reviews and you're on it like stink on offal.
You know what's hilarious Empyros?
How someone's impression which happens to mirror your own is something you regard as empirical evidence of you being right, while another guy's impression which doesn't match your opinion of the game (but who actually had much more hands-on time with Swtor) is dismissed because of yet another reviewer's opinion of another game. An opinion which you even grossly misquoted:
"This is the same magazine that heralded Dragon Age 2 as the RPG of the Decade.
Yeah, forgive me for ordering 1000 tonnes of salt. "
To which I replied with the original quote from that review:
"The best RPG of this decade? Nine more years will tell, but for now, yes."
Anyway, excuse me for not valuing your opinion so much as you seem to take a hike with the truth and are just as good at cherry picking as the most rabid fanboy.
My brand new bloggity blog.
oh man this is still going on? myself i don't worry about (p)reviewers. People hate things, people love things. From everything i've seen about the game and played it looks to be a game right up my alley. So reviews are kind of pointless as i'm past their point now.
Once the game comes out it will live or die on it's merits.
As for me? i'm out of this whole what reviewers think of the game that they got to play. So feel free to discuss but personally myself seeing the MMO industry as a whole. I'm sure TOR will do well, it's pretty simple to do well in this idustry, and people tend to enjoy it. It's just those that are burnt out on the industry and didn't know when to stop that have a problem with it.
If by worse case scenario swtor is just wow with a better more interactive story then that is great news to me because i didn't burn myself out on tab targeting gameplay. For those that have..there are other games.
Help me Bioware, you're my only hope.
Is ToR going to be good? Dude it's Bioware making a freaking star wars game, all signs point to awesome. -G4tv MMo report.
All you need to know about this game is that it's about 8 weeks or so from release and the NDA is still going strong. Do the math.
*wakes up for work*
*checks internet, see's thread and looks at it*
*laughs*
*leaves for work*
+1 DarkPony for pointing out the DA2 "RPG of the decade" review
How is this stupid thread still going? Let sleeping troll lie...
-------------------------
"Searchers after horror haunt strange, far places..." ~ H.P.Lovecraft, "From Beyond"
Member Since March 2004
"Never argue with a fool; onlookers may not be able to tell the difference."
I need to take this advice more.
I'm sorry if TOR has you so hyped.... It's just a game, so it's okay.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Am I evil for automatically reading this post in no-bark's voice?
I'm half-convinced now that PC gamer is run by commie ghosts who's end-goal is to paint the moon pink and draw a lenin face on it....
We are the bunny.
Resistance is futile.
''/\/\'''''/\/\''''''/\/\
( o.o) ( o.o) ( o.o)
(")("),,(")("),(")(")
I am in the beta.
I like the article OP cited.
Just what I thought it would be. Good for people who like 'WoW' type gameplay (which is stupid, because WoW wasn't first, but anyway..) but not so good for people who don't like WoW, like me. I think it's rather a taste, more than a game being good or bad. But I do get his point. I mean, we're not far off 2012, and still they bring a game with more or less the same mechanics. Hard to get excited me thinks.
wow wasnt first MMO, but they were the first to introduce the now tried and true quest system seen in most every MMO since 2004. this system now defines a sub-genre in MMO's known as a themepark, which essentially didnt exist prior to wow's release. and yes, i am sick of it. give me my shadowbane back.
Sorry, I had to! But I know what you mean.. thanks for pointing it out to me.
Empyros, I wouldnt even bother tbh.
If folks can't understand the need for views from both the impressed and unimpressed to be out there in internet land in order to get a complete picture out there to those that havent betad the game then it's nothing you can teach them here. If they cannot see the value in that... well, you get it.
Some would prefer the world to be awash with opinions that just agree with their own.
Anyone who actually did not play the game at the Eurogamer Expo is just bloating the conversation up with their useless, opinionated babble.
The majority of posters in this thread, on both sides of the debate, have done way more then that.
I really doubt that, assuming you are implying most of the posters are currently in the beta. No matter your beta status, my point is still valid. We are bound by NDA and can't discuss what we've seen. It is pointless to try to drop in hints here and there, you aren't allowed to.
The dialogue here has to come from people who've played SWTOR at a tradeshow and can comment on their experience.
I think he meant the later part the one marked in red.
Help me Bioware, you're my only hope.
Is ToR going to be good? Dude it's Bioware making a freaking star wars game, all signs point to awesome. -G4tv MMo report.
10 minutes on a demo of a starter world. Wow. Did you look at the guys picture that wrote the article, he looks like a hippie who still lives in his mom's house. And here I have thought I have seen everything from the haters. Sad really to see the same 3-4 people visit these forums everyday to bash this game. Don't worry, this game will make back the development costs alone just from the first month's sales and will probably are start turning a profit by month 2. As long as they got enough money to make a profit and cover development costs,I am a happy gamer.
In Bioware we trust!
im pretty sure we can discuss what is publicly available such as the article posted by OP, and other readily available media supplied through official bioware/EA channels for public view.
It really is.
Personally, I'm jealous that someone has that much free time to waste, must be nice.
Actually he looks kinda cute. But the way he looks is not relevant to this conversation and has nothing to do with how accurate or innacurate his impression of the game is.
There are a number of things wrong with this post .. for one it sounds like he was unimpressed he had to wait in line to try a demo of the game and that there were not a lot of stations to try it at.... Well it is very costly to move all that stuff and maybe the turnout was a lot higher than expected .. Sucks to be you.
Also
1) 10 min in any game is never going to tell you anything about a game or how the game as a whole works.
2) He even says in the article how he was looking for somethign new and inovative (I think the first 10 minutes has been gone over a number of times so your not going to find anything new there)
3) Combat uses the WOW game play style ... Well it is what a lot of people know and it has proven itself as a very workable and intuitive UI... so why mess with it. Call it a WOW clone if you want but it does not make it so.
4) If he wants to say that everything is so messed up and not working ... where is the solution? if you want to complain about it you had better have a solution to back it up. Dont like the UI .. better learn to write code and make a new one.
If the game was so bad and you still have not placed your pre order .. then do not buy it and it means there will be one less person playing .. big whoop