Why do MMOs score low?

I know this sounds like a stupid question but its come to my attention that MMOs score pretty low even if its phenominal.

In my eyes MMOs are the best kind of games out there because they are extremely fun and last for months/years!

Currently, only 3 MMOs have a 9+ rating

And the majority of them are 6/7!!

Are MMOs really that bad and i cant see why?

They seem so amazing, especially Age Of Conan which was bloody and revolutionary but got a cold 8.5 :( :( (Not that 8.5 is bad, just that even phenominal mmo's get lower ratings that a normal xbox shooter)

What do u think is up with the low MMO score?

Its pissin me off!

They review them at around launch in which case the game has a long way to go before it's polished to the point in which it should be.

And most MMO games never get there.

because most MMO's suck at launch and thats when they review them... i think its kind of a stupid way to review a game like an mmo but meh.Lilgunney612

O, yah it is pretty stuped

Good input guys

I know I've said this in another thread before. But the reality is its hard to review an mmo. I think its pretty much pointless. Really the only thing a reviewer can give a score on objectively is gameplay mechanics and content. As others have said the review is done shortly after launch. Down the road many of the problems the reviewer faced may not even exist anymore thus their reasons for giving it a low score eventually become moot. The real problem lies in the fact that content and mechanics only make up I would say roughly 30 or 40% of a persons overall experience with an mmo. Most of what determines whether its a positive or negative experience is how the player interacts with the community. Obviously thats different for everyone.

Becaues MMOs are reviewed at the time of their release, and most MMOs suck at release due to bugs.

And also, 8.5 is in no way a "Cold" rating. 7.0 is considered average.

Plus, please spell "Stupid" correctly

Couple of problems with your reasoning:

8.5 is a fairly high score. Few games score so well.

Most MMOs are truly horrible games. This has nothing to do with them being MMOs. Most games are truly horrible games. This can be due to bugs. It can be due to lack of imagination in their design. It can be due to poor implementation of what was an otherwise good idea. This applies to all genres, not just MMOs. Thus the vast majority of games get mediocre scores reflecting their mediocrity.

You're relying on (or so it would seem) from one site (this one?) for ratings. Look at the games average score by comparing numerous review sites as well as non-professional reviews. Remember too that ratings are always going to be subjective.

Lol im not disputing the 8.5 (though if ur fav game got an 8.5 ud b a little angry)

The majority of MMOs score very low, even compared to other websites

An average xbox shooter game would get the same rating as an amazing mmo that you can play for years

wierd?

yeah they review them at lauch...and never do a update. eve for example is totally different and has had like 6 free expansions but no updated score based on how the game is nowdarkmagician06

Yah thats a big problem

Like Guild Wars now is much better than it was at launch

Age of Conan was destined to get a lower score. It's because it tried too hard to push the graphical envelope when it comes to MMOs. If you make a great game require a high end rig, a lot of people are going to be mad. World of Warcraft on the other hand would run on the worst systems, even around launch. As for actual bugs - World of Warcraft at launch had just as many as I'm having in Age of Conan. To be honest, I've had very few to no bugs with Age of Conan, so I'm just going with what other people said. But at WoW's launch, I did have a bunch of issues.

If you have a good enough rig : it's better than an 8.5

Age of Conan was destined to get a lower score. It's because it tried too hard to push the graphical envelope when it comes to MMOs. If you make a great game require a high end rig, a lot of people are going to be mad. World of Warcraft on the other hand would run on the worst systems, even around launch. As for actual bugs - World of Warcraft at launch had just as many as I'm having in Age of Conan. To be honest, I've had very few to no bugs with Age of Conan, so I'm just going with what other people said. But at WoW's launch, I did have a bunch of issues.

If you have a good enough rig : it's better than an 8.5

GodLovesDead

Hm interesting.

Yah all the bugs with AOC are extremely minor except for that trader issue at the beggining, which was anoying.

Smart comment about the rig though, never thought about it like that.

The thing is though, MMOs just have so much more to offer than typical games.

Most MMO's are shipped with alot of problems.

Even the best MMOs (wow, AOC, Everquest, etc...) all had some big problems at launch, some more problems then others.

But i dont think ive ever seen a MMO that was 100% finished with no problems what so ever. They tend to be pretty ambitous (my spelling is horrible 2night, please dont mind it) so i think thats why they score a little lower .

I remember playing Ultima Online at a friends house the first day it came out... the lag was so bad it literally was going in slow motion. So when the game first arrived it was for most people a 3 or 4/10 (see gamespot review), but months and months down the road the game was alot more playable and deserved a far better score imo (8-9). But as a reviewer you cant really wait 4 months to do a review and wait for the fixes to be done.

Age of Conan was destined to get a lower score. It's because it tried too hard to push the graphical envelope when it comes to MMOs. If you make a great game require a high end rig, a lot of people are going to be mad. World of Warcraft on the other hand would run on the worst systems, even around launch. As for actual bugs - World of Warcraft at launch had just as many as I'm having in Age of Conan. To be honest, I've had very few to no bugs with Age of Conan, so I'm just going with what other people said. But at WoW's launch, I did have a bunch of issues.

If you have a good enough rig : it's better than an 8.5

GodLovesDead

Couldnt agree more, ive seen a few freinds playing it on ancient pcs and while it still runs (on lowest settings) it definatly wasnt the same as playing it maxed out with beautiful graphics and no lag/framerate problems. Low end pc for AOC = 8/10 imo and high end pc for AOC = 9 or 9.5

[QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]

Age of Conan was destined to get a lower score. It's because it tried too hard to push the graphical envelope when it comes to MMOs. If you make a great game require a high end rig, a lot of people are going to be mad. World of Warcraft on the other hand would run on the worst systems, even around launch. As for actual bugs - World of Warcraft at launch had just as many as I'm having in Age of Conan. To be honest, I've had very few to no bugs with Age of Conan, so I'm just going with what other people said. But at WoW's launch, I did have a bunch of issues.

If you have a good enough rig : it's better than an 8.5

kozzy1234

Couldnt agree more, ive seen a few freinds playing it on ancient pcs and while it still runs (on lowest settings) it definatly wasnt the same as playing it maxed out with beautiful graphics and no lag/framerate problems. Low end pc for AOC = 8/10 imo and high end pc for AOC = 9 or 9.5

Id give it a 10 on High Settings :P

But you do have a good point

Did anyone else notice that it took 12 days to rate the game?

The MMO rating is flawed :(

Its crazy how far weve coem as far as videogames go over the years.

I remember playing Pong on atari.. and now we have games like AOC and other MMO's that have so many people playing at once in teh same game. It really is funny looking back to my first days of gaming and then playing Crysis or other games that have crazy amazing graphics

After a certain MMO got GOTY over HL2 I think they have scored quite enough Mister!!biggest_loser

I gotta disagree, only 3 MMOs have scored over a 9.0, tahts pathetic. Most of them score 6/7 when there funner than alot of 8/9 xbox games.

Its crazy how far weve coem as far as videogames go over the years.

I remember playing Pong on atari.. and now we have games like AOC and other MMO's that have so many people playing at once in teh same game. It really is funny looking back to my first days of gaming and then playing Crysis or other games that have crazy amazing graphics

kozzy1234

So true man, even if you play games from a couple years ago theres a big difference

Would you really have given WOW GOTY over HL2? biggest_loser

That would be a big hell no from me `:P

Would you really have given WOW GOTY over HL2? biggest_loser

Lol hard choise, one hand you have a revolutionary MMORPG which 9 million people play vs Freakin' Halo, enough said

Tie :D

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"]Would you really have given WOW GOTY over HL2? Phenom316

Lol hard choise, one hand you have a revolutionary MMORPG which 9 million people play vs Freakin' Halo, enough said

Tie :D

Uhh, excuse me? Halo?

[QUOTE="Phenom316"]

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"]Would you really have given WOW GOTY over HL2? biggest_loser

Lol hard choise, one hand you have a revolutionary MMORPG which 9 million people play vs Freakin' Halo, enough said

Tie :D

Uhh, excuse me? Halo?

What u mean? WoW definately deserves some votes for GOTY there.

I know this sounds like a stupid question but its come to my attention that MMOs score pretty low even if its phenominal.

In my eyes MMOs are the best kind of games out there because they are extremely fun and last for months/years!

Currently, only 3 MMOs have a 9+ rating

And the majority of them are 6/7!!

Are MMOs really that bad and i cant see why?

They seem so amazing, especially Age Of Conan which was bloody and revolutionary but got a cold 8.5 :( :( (Not that 8.5 is bad, just that even phenominal mmo's get lower ratings that a normal xbox shooter)

What do u think is up with the low MMO score?

Its pissin me off!

Phenom316

Actually from my perspective, the MMOs scores are realistic...

It was hard for me to seperate the facts that the games as a whole arent particularily good, but very often it is the community that make the game good... Thats why many people quit if their friends quit, why many people quit after earning a bad reputation, why many people quit if the server population is low, etc...

Additionally, of course the reviewers review the game at launch, just like every other game... They keep that score forever and arent reviewed despite major overhauls they get even though they change the quality of the game completely. Liek Hellgate London, or countless other games...

[QUOTE="Phenom316"]

I know this sounds like a stupid question but its come to my attention that MMOs score pretty low even if its phenominal.

In my eyes MMOs are the best kind of games out there because they are extremely fun and last for months/years!

Currently, only 3 MMOs have a 9+ rating

And the majority of them are 6/7!!

Are MMOs really that bad and i cant see why?

They seem so amazing, especially Age Of Conan which was bloody and revolutionary but got a cold 8.5 :( :( (Not that 8.5 is bad, just that even phenominal mmo's get lower ratings that a normal xbox shooter)

What do u think is up with the low MMO score?

Its pissin me off!

potentv

Actually from my perspective, the MMOs scores are realistic...

It was hard for me to seperate the facts that the games as a whole arent particularily good, but very often it is the community that make the game good... Thats why many people quit if their friends quit, why many people quit after earning a bad reputation, why many people quit if the server population is low, etc...

Additionally, of course the reviewers review the game at launch, just like every other game... They keep that score forever and arent reviewed despite major overhauls they get even though they change the quality of the game completely. Liek Hellgate London, or countless other games...

True, all these expansions and stuff make the game so much better, yet no increase in rating

Wow, am i the only one that thinks that MMOs are scoring low? Only 3 9+ MMOs and the majority are 6/7? I guese its just me that thinks that mmo's are much better than normal games because of the unlimited features and months/years of fun.

I think MMOs have a huge ammount of replayability because of the community/classes and wide classes with starting quests, etc. As I said, I think a large part of the success comes from the community.

Anyone dare to test a MMO without a guild/clan and keep minimal friends and then care to give a score?

I think MMOs have a huge ammount of replayability because of the community/classes and wide classes with starting quests, etc. As I said, I think a large part of the success comes from the community.

Anyone dare to test a MMO without a guild/clan and keep minimal friends and then care to give a score?

potentv

True a great community helps but it is too ez to make friends and still makes it much better than alot of xbox games lol.

I guese i am the only one who thinks mmo's are that amazing

Reiterating to stress the point:

99% of games, movies, music, books, etc. are mediocre or crap. There are tons of crappy MMOs out there, as there are tons of crappy games of all genres out there.

Would you give games as poor as Vanguard, Tabula Rasa, or Fury high scores?

Age of Conan got an 8.5 and you're acting like it was shafted. 8.5 is a VERY high score for games. Only a handful of games every year get scores that high.

You seem to be comparing some scores for PC games to XBox game scores. Don't bother unless you see the same reviewers for both the Xbox and PC games. Otherwise it's apples and oranges. Compare them only to other reviews for the same platform. Also remember that numbers and reviews are all arbitrary. One person's opinion.

Two reasons I can see:

1. MMOs all launch a few months before they're finished - MMO development is an ongoing process.

2. General games publications do not and can not review MMOs properly. They simply don't have the resources.

Reiterating to stress the point:

99% of games, movies, music, books, etc. are mediocre or crap. There are tons of crappy MMOs out there, as there are tons of crappy games of all genres out there.

Would you give games as poor as Vanguard, Tabula Rasa, or Fury high scores?

Age of Conan got an 8.5 and you're acting like it was shafted. 8.5 is a VERY high score for games. Only a handful of games every year get scores that high.

You seem to be comparing some scores for PC games to XBox game scores. Don't bother unless you see the same reviewers for both the Xbox and PC games. Otherwise it's apples and oranges. Compare them only to other reviews for the same platform. Also remember that numbers and reviews are all arbitrary. One person's opinion.

WDT-BlackKat

Wow, thats very interesting

So ur saying that you cant compare a score on one platform to another?

Like an 8.5 on PC cant be compared with a 8.0 on xbox because of genres

It just pisses me off how MMOs n PC Games r tons of fun and better than alot of the 9.0 Xbox Games and get much worse scores.

Btw i dont mean the 8.5 is bad because i know its "great" but i think it is deserved much more. It is better than alot of 8.5 xbox games, MUCH better. Like a 9.0 MMO seems much better than a 9.0 shooter.

Well, whatever, those are my 2 cents.

Two reasons I can see:

1. MMOs all launch a few months before they're finished - MMO development is an ongoing process.

2. General games publications do not and can not review MMOs properly. They simply don't have the resources.

fatshodan

Too true

[QUOTE="Lilgunney612"]because most MMO's suck at launch and thats when they review them... i think its kind of a stupid way to review a game like an mmo but meh.Phenom316

O, yah it is pretty stuped

Good input guys

It is almost like for a game with continuously updated content, they should perform secondary reviews. Like after a year, is the game improved since it was last reviewed? If after a year it still sucks, then it is probably safe to say the game is garbage.

AoC just got an 8.5 (thats a great score)

and wow got a 9.6

what exactly do you mean?

[QUOTE="Phenom316"][QUOTE="Lilgunney612"]because most MMO's suck at launch and thats when they review them... i think its kind of a stupid way to review a game like an mmo but meh.df853

O, yah it is pretty stuped

Good input guys

It is almost like for a game with continuously updated content, they should perform secondary reviews. Like after a year, is the game improved since it was last reviewed? If after a year it still sucks, then it is probably safe to say the game is garbage.

Yah, for MMOs that would REALY HELP

AoC just got an 8.5 (thats a great score)

and wow got a 9.6

what exactly do you mean?

zero9167

I mean an average 8.5 MMO is MUCH better than an 8.5 console shooter.

As youv red in my other posts MMOs are underrated and underappreciated

3 9+ MMOs with the majority getting a 6/7 when so many of them just kick the crap out xbox games with ratings 2 above them.

[QUOTE="WDT-BlackKat"]

Reiterating to stress the point:

99% of games, movies, music, books, etc. are mediocre or crap. There are tons of crappy MMOs out there, as there are tons of crappy games of all genres out there.

Would you give games as poor as Vanguard, Tabula Rasa, or Fury high scores?

Age of Conan got an 8.5 and you're acting like it was shafted. 8.5 is a VERY high score for games. Only a handful of games every year get scores that high.

You seem to be comparing some scores for PC games to XBox game scores. Don't bother unless you see the same reviewers for both the Xbox and PC games. Otherwise it's apples and oranges. Compare them only to other reviews for the same platform. Also remember that numbers and reviews are all arbitrary. One person's opinion.

Phenom316

Wow, thats very interesting

So ur saying that you cant compare a score on one platform to another?

Like an 8.5 on PC cant be compared with a 8.0 on xbox because of genres

It just pisses me off how MMOs n PC Games r tons of fun and better than alot of the 9.0 Xbox Games and get much worse scores.

Btw i dont mean the 8.5 is bad because i know its "great" but i think it is deserved much more. It is better than alot of 8.5 xbox games, MUCH better. Like a 9.0 MMO seems much better than a 9.0 shooter.

Well, whatever, those are my 2 cents.

It's true though, you can deny it but it is true. You cannot compare the PC to any other platform. The PCs standards are much much higher.

It's true though, you can deny it but it is true. You cannot compare the PC to any other platform. The PCs standards are much much higher.

death1505921

Are they?? Could you explain that a little more?

So like a 9.0 on PC is on a Different Rating Scale than a 9.0 on xbox?

[QUOTE="death1505921"]

It's true though, you can deny it but it is true. You cannot compare the PC to any other platform. The PCs standards are much much higher.

Phenom316

Are they?? Could you explain that a little more?

So like a 9.0 on PC is on a Different Rating Scale than a 9.0 on xbox?

Here's the perfect example:

Compare Halo 2's rating on XBox vs. Halo 2's rating on PC.

http://www.gamespot.com/search.html?type=11&stype=all&tag=search%3Bbutton&om_act=convert&om_clk=search&qs=halo+2

When the title is compared against other XBox games, particularly shooters, it shines. When it's compared against other PC shooters it's at best average and bland.

But still dont you find it flawwed/messed that such an amazing game would get a 7.0 making it look like nothing compared tto the xbox version. It makes it look like Xbox's versions of the games are better.

Still VERY confusing to me :S

Damn, thanks, that eye openin BlackKat!!

But still dont you find it flawwed/messed that such an amazing game would get a 7.0 making it look like nothing compared tto the xbox version. It makes it look like Xbox's versions of the games are better.

Still VERY confusing to me :S

Phenom316

In fact I find it surprising that such a bland game got as high as a 7.0.

It's not really confusing at all. All reviews are OPINIONS. Everyone's got a different one.

Hardware is much easier to review. Everything is black and white, and is much easier to categorize with numbers.

Fortunately most games have demos. And even if you do get a lemon... well what's $50 anyhow. For most of us that's only a couple hours of work earnings.

[QUOTE="Phenom316"]Damn, thanks, that eye openin BlackKat!!

But still dont you find it flawwed/messed that such an amazing game would get a 7.0 making it look like nothing compared tto the xbox version. It makes it look like Xbox's versions of the games are better.

Still VERY confusing to me :S

WDT-BlackKat

In fact I find it surprising that such a bland game got as high as a 7.0.

It's not really confusing at all. All reviews are OPINIONS. Everyone's got a different one.

Hardware is much easier to review. Everything is black and white, and is much easier to categorize with numbers.

Fortunately most games have demos. And even if you do get a lemon... well what's $50 anyhow. For most of us that's only a couple hours of work earnings.

True

I find it confusing though because of if a game gets a 7.0 and the same game on a different platform gets a 9.0 it makes the 7.0 game look much worse. A 9.5 game on one system would then be MUCH better than a 9.5 on another system?

Urm, i think im overthinking

Bottom Line = PC Games Pown :P

I was surprised by the Age of Conan review. I expected in the nines. Will it get a new review when it isn't bugged as much? Every MMO has bugs at the beginning and while I wasn't playing WoW at it's release I doubt it could've been a bugless 9.5. Age of Conan offered a new interactive combat system, has stunning graphics, and Battlekeep sieges that the reviewers haven't gotten to. 8.5 is a good score...for now. I just hope it gets another chance after its done with the release bugs.xRyanforever

Too True man

Damn True

Guild Wars got a 9.2 and its probaly one of my favorite PC games ever it introduced alot game mechanics and eliminated fees

AoC seems kind of gimmky to me but i havent played it plus its launch so of course its going under perform

but the ones that got higher than a 9.0 sure as hell deserved it

Well, I think its because like you said. An MMO can be played for year. Can a reveiwer actualy play for years just to rate a game. No, so he/she will only discover part of the game. Thus basing it on that. Sucks ehh :(sergeantscul

The MMOs are pretty much the same, the only source of its replayability is from the community really...

Well, I think its because like you said. An MMO can be played for year. Can a reveiwer actualy play for years just to rate a game. No, so he/she will only discover part of the game. Thus basing it on that. Sucks ehh :(sergeantscul

Yup, MMOs really have a world of features in them and are underrated.

Like that other guy said though maybe its on different rating scales like with Halo 2 platforms:S