RPG Codex Review

i disagree with some points but overall the review is pretty much spot on.

 

And you'll note that @Preachyr is trying to review the reviews about the review

 

Hey, Comcast finally got it's act together and I don't have to type on my phone.

I thought the review was pretty accurate, but it mischaracterizes or omits quite a few things, almost to the point that they feel like outright lies. Which is fine, but then, when Port reads these, they're going to see the things that aren't true or inaccurate, and dismiss the whole thing as by someone with an axe to grind and not consider any of the feedback to be of value. The main ones, concerning the store, are also the ones most likely to prevent people from even giving the free trial a fair shake.

 

Why not, though?

I mean, I agree with a lot of things in the review, I disagree with some. But in the end, its just the guys opinion, and a lot of the forum members here have their opinions, too, and could probably get jobs as game reviewers, too, if they wanted to.

I think what's clear is that SotA has issues which creates a lot of detractors and this shows up in reviews. Yet different reviewers have different takes on what's wrong with the game. Some seem to think the problem with SotA is that it isn't "modern" enough, that it has old school elements, and if it junked all that and became a generic MMO it would be perfect. This reviewer, who I agree more with, faults SotA for falling into a lot of the traps of MMOs and not living up to the standards set by Ultima games and also says the single-player experience is broken.

So there's more than one take on what's "wrong" with SotA. Whenever a forum member here brings up a review, he's basically just saying he agrees with the reviewer. But, given that there's more than one view on what's "wrong", it seems to me that what a particular review gets right and what it gets wrong is the exact discussion we should be having.

 

90% of professional game reviewers, none of which (that I have seen) bothered to do anything with the housing system or get involved in the world other than to play the base game. A good portion of them never understood basic mechanics either, in this case XP, in others Focus/Health regeneration.

For the players, it's 50/50 on Steam. Some love it, some hate it. I think that's the more important number because it shows that we have a solid thing going on for a certain subset of players.

The reviewers will never see past the learning curve, combat, and story, we just have to accept that. But the actual players that get in, for 50% of them this is a game of a totally different level. So lets keep getting them.

Agreed, that was probably on his end. If there's one thing I've never had a problem with it's this. When I get booted it's because my internet connection went down, I can look over and see the little blinky lights have gone out, and I have to wait for the Internet Gods to bring it back.

 

And that should be an evocative fact for us, nothing else. Housing is stuck behind a paywall (a bit less since the last release I admit). The combat system is just unreadable and unwelcoming, when it's not simply unsuited to the desires of the players. A good portion of the reviewers never tried to understand the basic mechanics, but maybe it's also the case with a lot of players... the players we are looking for in order to fund this game.

Just saying.

 

Your value as a reviewer is tied not only to your ability to deliver that review in a way that others WANT to read it, but also in the veracity and depth of said review. If others can easily deflect or even outright refute the things claimed in your review (reviewing the reviewer), then you need to take a round turn on your reviewing acumen, or find another line of "work".

 

Is that anything like the guy behind the guy?

 

Correct. That is the author of the article.

 

Also fair to point out the review has been written sometime ago as he said in forums. The game has improved a lot in last months imho, but we all know this is just a personal review, and each of us has an opinion equally valid.

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/rpg-codex-review-shroud-of-the-avatar.122699/

 

I love how they call for a New Britannian Tea Party...

It will always be my number one fun fact about SotA that the game journalist who gave the game the best rating so far was banned and labeled as a troll by this community.

 

Interesting... a link to the review?

 

I like the line: "Adding pirate hats to skeletons as a last resort to increase enemy variety seems more than a bit problematic."

 

Correct. Every article on the Codex is from a persons personal view.

Of note, anyone can submit a review to the Codex.

However, unless your review is very well written and informative, it probably won’t get published.

 

The main problem is the skeletons should be wearing bandanas, not hats ! Tricorner hats are for captains !

Actually my view on this is that the 'enemy variety' complaint, which I see sometimes here on the forums, is a bit overreaching. If the problem is the game is grindy, adding more varieties of enemy to a grindy game won't make the game less grindier, or more fun. If there was just one type of enemy in the game, but the gameplay was fun, the game would be fun.

There's a lot of cool enemies I think the devs can add, as well as a lot of standard ones that we've seen before from past Ultima games, as well as 'boring' animals and such just to add to the game atmosphere. But I don't really want to see the devs tripping over themselves to put in more enemy variety as if its a top concern. New enemies should go in as the devs feel they add to the game and they have good assets.

The skeleton pirates are fine. Give them bandanas

(Same for the human pirates, they should be wearing bandanas !)

 

It's German Gamestar but there is google translate for you. Rating is on page 5 of the review -> 69 out of 100
Author: banned Lord_Darkmoon here on the forums

 

@Corv aren't you a moderator? I thought you were. Wrong person?

 

right person

 

Ummm.. okay?

 

https://www.gamestar.de/artikel/shr...e-genres-verderben-den-spass,3328221.html#top

Hah! Yes