Game of Thrones review (MyGaming)

Game of Thrones review (MyGaming)

A strong, regal leader, or and impotent, failed usurper?

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Originally Posted by James

Game of Thrones review (MyGaming)

A strong, regal leader, or and impotent, failed usurper?

Not hot steamy sex either... :mad:

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If you have ever questioned whether you have a soul or not, play this title for more than 15 minutes and you’ll feel a little part of you die as its soul sucking failure destroys the light that lives behind your eyes.

Eh, I played for about an hour and I thought it wasn't all as bad as people made it out to be.

Also,

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You have to queue up your next three moves, whether its a block or an attack. This was very frustrating and I couldn’t figure out why until I did some research on Cyanide Studios;

Has this guy ever played either of the KOTOR games?

I'm surprised to see I actually read this review before and didn't notice this. More than likely I just skimmed the review, though. Anyway, moving the discussion here so as not to clog up the LEGO Batman thread with off topic stuff.

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Originally Posted by Graal

Looking at his stuff, no offence to Gareth, but how is he a reviewer here at all? I'm reading his GoT review now, and it's raising my eyebrows a bit. He slams Game of Thrones for having to queue combat moves. Uhm... KotoR did the exact same thing? And that was an outstanding game.

Not only that, but he claims you play as Mors Westford, with no mention being made of the second playable character, Alester Sarwyck. This leads me to believe he spent almost no time at all playing the game, as you literally get to play as Alester 1 hour into the game. And it's not like Alester is a minor character either. The game is split between following the stories of both Mors and him. They're both major characters. Shouldn't there be some kind of review criteria that dictates you need to play at least more than an hour before you can review a game?

That's more than likely why the review score is so crap. I know of very few games that can be judged favorably based on the first hour of gameplay. He doesn't even make any mention of the pretty good choice and consequence system the game employs, which lends it a lot of replayability. Why? Because the first hour of gameplay doesn't really reflect a lot of choice and consequence.

No offence, MyGaming, but seriously? You let Tarryn go and then keep clowns like this on? I can understand the need for having someone to review all the sports and casual titles no one else wants to review, but really? A guy who doesn't even seem to play the games he reviews past the tutorial chapter?

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Originally Posted by Tsar

Maybe the oke isn't getting paid :p

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Originally Posted by Lyt

I rather enjoy his reviews. Silly games, silly reviews, all in good spirits.

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Originally Posted by Graal

It's not that I want to pick on the guy, as I don't know him at all and this is my first time reading his reviews, but one expects a certain level of quality from a site such as MyGaming.

Anyone who has played the GoT RPG past the tutorial chapter will be able to see right through his review and notice he barely bothered playing it. His entire 'review' basically consists of running you through the character customization screen, then discussing the combat and graphics (and seriously, the graphics aren't that bad either). He doesn't talk about any other aspects of the game, simply because that's the only things he could glean from the +- 1 hour he spent with the game. His 'review' is worthless. It's akin to reviewing a movie after only watching its trailer.

In fact, I wonder if he even bothered playing the game at all, and didn't just watch a gameplay video of the first part of the game on Youtube?

I've come to love MyGaming over the past year and it's my main site for gaming-related news, but things like this do nothing to inspire confidence in me. This review shouldn't have passed quality control. I would expect a 'review' like this in the user reviews section on Gamespot, not a prolific gaming site such as MyGaming.

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Originally Posted by Wlad

LOL, it's quite funny that somebody is complaining about a review for a game that nobody gives a shit about ...

Cut the guy some slack, it's clearly not his cup of tea ...

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Originally Posted by Graal

No, I'm complaining because someone isn't doing his job properly, regardless of which game it is. If someone does a half-assed review of a game, it reflects badly on the rest of the site.

If this were any other major international gaming site this mockery of a 'review' wouldn't even have made the site. How the hell are we supposed to take a site's review seriously when considering a purchase of a game when the reviewer couldn't even be arsed to play past the tutorial before writing the review.

Whether you care about the game or it's 'not his cup of tea' is totally irrelevant. If it's 'not your cup of tea,' then either pass the game on to another reviewer or don't review it at all. Don't do what this guy did. There's a little something called journalistic integrity.

And I'm not making a fuss for the sake of it, I'm making a fuss over this because I actually like MyGaming. It's my main hub for getting gaming-related news. I don't want to see it brought down by people who couldn't be bothered with doing their jobs properly.

Edit: I also think it's apt to say that while the GoT RPG is no GotY, it's really not that bad. It's got a lot of redeeming qualities.

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Originally Posted by Wlad

You seem, in general, to take things way too seriously. No offense meant, just an observation.

I don't know any sane gamer who would read one review and then based on that review alone decide whether or not they should buy a game, especially a licensed game. IMO a review is there to give you a basic idea of the game, but at the end of the day it's still just someone's opinion and it will differ from yours or that of someone else.

We also don't know his side of the story yet. Maybe he just played the tutorial, maybe he didn't ... It doesn't always have to take the time it takes you to finish a game to form an opinion about it. If I had to play through and finish every (IMO) shitty game I ever bought I would go mental.

People tend to read multiple reviews, watch gameplay videos, talk to friends, chat on forums, etc. to get info about games so I really don't see the big deal if the dude didn't bother finishing the game.

To a certain extent, I understand where your coming from about "not doing his job properly", but this is still about a review for a game (almost) nobody cares about ...

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Originally Posted by Graal

I don't really think it's acceptable for a reviewer for a professional gaming news and review site to do a half-arsed job. I don't expect reviewers to finish every game they review, but playing only the tutorial segment is not enough content to do a review on. Sorry.

I didn't really know that expecting a site you frequent's journalists to do a proper job was 'taking things too seriously' either. Next time I see a journalist here do a rubbish job I'll just shrug it off and move on. :)

I doesn't matter whether 'almost nobody cares about the game' (even though that's not true, as the game was favorably received by many people, including RPGCodex). I don't recall ever reading a review on another site where the reviewer only played the tutorial chapter before writing his review. Why should it be acceptable here? The excuse that 'nobody cares about the game' just doesn't work. This is a professional site. One expects professional quality journalism here.

Regardless, arguing about it is a bit pointless, so I'll just wait to hear what either James or Gareth has to say about it. I don't think Gareth can really deny not playing past the tutorial chapter, though, as he wasn't even aware of the fact that there is a second playable character who you meet within an hour of starting gameplay.

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Originally Posted by Ike_009

Question?

Who here would trust someone with their tax return if said tax consultant only knows the intro to the tax legislation or SILKE?

Therefore why trust someone's review when he hasn't given the game a proper run. We read reviews to get their opinion on the game, same way we have tax consultants opinion on how to save money. Thus I agree with the dominant view of the tread, do your job properly.

James, any comment on this?

Thanks. I've read your comments and have taken note of the concerns. Not having time to pre-play games before the reviewer gets hands on them means I put a certain amount of faith in them that they will do their job properly. I will discuss the issue with Gareth to see if we can improve going forward.

I've had a discussion with Gareth about the quality of his Game of Thrones review and he agrees it should have been better. I am generally happy with the quality of his reviews, and he assures me that this is an anomaly.

It is also a symptom of MyGaming being thin on reviewers at the time, and burdening Gareth with one title too many to review. Bear in mind that game reviewing in South Africa doesn't pay the bills and is usually done by enthusiasts in their spare time. That said, there are standards to maintain, and I am that gatekeeper. Community feedback is appreciated as it helps me gauge what readers think of the content.

I also take note of the light-hearted criticism of his LEGO LOTR review regarding the OCD joke. When editing I try to let a reviewer's personality and humour show through a little in their submission; readers may be surprised to see just how much I cut as well as leave in.

Going forward, Gareth has undertaken to improve the quality of his reviews. You will also be seeing some new reviewers entering the regular rotation as I try to bolster that aspect of MyGaming.

Thanks for caring everyone :D

Thanks for the clarification. It's nice to see things like this aren't just getting swept under the carpet.

I didn't really mind the jab at RPG players (even though it was a bit odd :p), but it's really not nice to read a review and realise the reviewer barely played the game. It's understandable that you might have limited time, but if you don't have time to play a game enough to do a proper review, it's better to rather not review it at all then. Posting a review on just the first hour of a game is somewhat misleading, and dare I say, dishonest, as with most games (especially RPGs), the first hour cannot be used as an indication of what the rest of the game is like.

So, yeah, all's well that ends well. :D