LOL, oh man. 500 people to determine all gamers in the largest country in the world? People are just getting too stupid on this planet. Back to the lab where I hope to find success creating a strain of bacteria that afflicts people with lesser brain activity and destroys them. /boggle.
A statement of your opinion... Haha. Humor is entirely arbitrary and individual, it is subjective. There is no wrong and there is no right, but what is right and wrong for each of us.
Anyone actually surprised that this game was relesed after 5 years of postponement with nary a change made in all that time, and thus felt extremely dated and lacking in features? Because I'd really like someone to laugh at, haven't had a good misfortune-of-others guffaw all day, and it's 5:30 PM, ffs.
On an ever-so-sightly more serious note, this game needed desperately to go back into development and be brought up to current industry standards before being released, but alas, such was not the case. This game deserved to die, just like many other games of a similar type (not necessarily thematically) which are rushed out to get people buying something without any regard for the long-lost art of responsibility. I think games were usually better in the days before you could hotfix, patch and expand on your game's content, where once you launched, your game was great or it was not - it put the pressure on teams to do their due diligence and to get it right the first time around, because tomorrow would never come, proverbially. These throwaway trash titles need to just stay in the basement in whence they were birthed, no one benefits from these kinds of ideas and this level of execution seeing the daylight.
Blizzard puts less money into their game for the amount they make from their players than any MMO I can recall - by a long shot. You would expect the highest grossing MMO in history - and the current leader by a country mile - to be number one with content/systems development by a relatively similar margin; Yet they are beaten by several other MMOs who make only a fraction of what they do.
I have no respect for Activizzard/Blactivision (take your pick) whatsoever, and will never buy another Blizzard product, unless/until such a time as their decisions are focused foremost on providing their paying customers with a quality experience - and secondarily by squeezing ridiculous amounts of capital out of unworthy products by abusing their once-potent brand name and the loyalty of their long-time fans. Not likely.
Sounds like an exaggeration and distortion of what was said. I never said that all that matters is how good a game looks - I still play some games that are 10+ years old and some which are 2D (and not newer games which are retro-2D), because the gameplay is so great. But in an RPG, a lot of people have a hard time forming a connection with their character when it looks disproportionate and moves like Johnny-5 from Short Circuit. I think it's sad when people can't look past their love for the IP and make criticisms of things which are subpar because they're so dazzled by a different, irrelevant feature.
If you can draw a rational line from the subject of story and richness to animation and character models, then perhaps something will remain beyond a hollow assumption.
While not the biggest fan of the LotR IP (It's good and I like it, but I'm not in love with it), if it weren't for the terrible character models and stiff animations, I might have played this game. I just couldn't get past how ugly everything to do with my character looked. Still, I suppose it's akin to SWTOR in that regard - the fans of the IP will probably love the game even with its flaws, while general gamers will find little beyond what's pertinent to the IP and will be less willing to forgive such blunders.
Unfortunately in a game without challenge, where teamwork and coordination are of minimal importance and groups are handed to you, can you really expect anything different? Other MMOs have their share of cretins, this is nothing new - but nothing beats the original casual MMO for sheer quantity. Casual gaming definitely has a place in the market, but I'm just not sure that MMOs are the best venue for it, at least in their current evolutionary stage.
The philosophy of "Let's make a game where many people come together to accomplish challenges and explore a massive world, with many freedoms for players to make their mark and be an individual" does not mix well with "Let's make a game that's basically a dungeon-crawler with a lobby, where everything is on guided rails and extremely easy, without any options to be an individual and where everyone has access to so many tools that it further simplifies the gameplay, trivializes player choice and thus homogenizes the entire experience".
Crying sexism where it doesn't fit should be dismissed, but it isn't nearly as often as it should be. By your "logic", nobody is allowed to use any words or images at the risk of offending someone. I sincerely feel like George Carlin, in that I eagerly await the coming of some kind of massive self-inflicted doom or widespread disease which wipes out most of the planet, because I feel it's the only way to take people away from the kind of stupidity - which thanks to so much free time and so few concerns - they so pitifully indulge in.
Everyone has such darling sensibilities in this era of our society, it's funny for people like me to see how bent out of shape people like you get about being offended. If physical pain isn't being inflicted upon you against your will, you are as free as a person is ever going to be while surrounded by other people. The problem isn't society, and it isn't sexism, it's people misusing terminologies and playing rhetoric and logical fallacies to try and earn favoritism, and it's so transparent I can scarcely believe that people think they're able to hide behind it. Bottom line - if this is something that actually bothers you, then perhaps you need to get out and experience some life, then come back and tell me this is a harsh and cruel injustice.
That bait is old. Not going to catch anything with that. Plus aren't you supposed to title the bait after what you're catching with it? In that case, it wouldn't be troll-bait, because it would be in use by a troll, trying to catch something else (presumably). Or maybe even to catch another troll. Come to think of it, maybe it is troll bait for trolls, sounds like a new dating medium.
I lol'd. Everything has to take a stance and make a statement, it falls into a case of ad-hoc ergo propter hoc logical fallacy, with a bit of does not follow. If I go to the store and I pick apple juice, it doesn't mean I hate orange juice, or that I'm saying other people can't enjoy orange juice - but an irrational ingrate might come up to me and start giving me shit about my choice to drink apple juice, because they are so strongly pro-orange juice. Those people are what you call "egocentric morons". Similarly, posting a picture of the most common sexual demographic on the planet - straight people - in regards to an article about dating doesn't mean that some people don't prefer orange juice - ye'savvy?
Report: 64% of Chinese gamers spend money on online games
Apr 4th 2012 1:21PM (Massively)LOL, oh man. 500 people to determine all gamers in the largest country in the world? People are just getting too stupid on this planet. Back to the lab where I hope to find success creating a strain of bacteria that afflicts people with lesser brain activity and destroys them. /boggle.
One Shots: None shall pass... until the sun comes out
Apr 1st 2012 5:54PM (Massively)A statement of your opinion... Haha. Humor is entirely arbitrary and individual, it is subjective. There is no wrong and there is no right, but what is right and wrong for each of us.
Gods & Heroes letter brings dire tidings
Mar 30th 2012 8:55PM (Massively)On an ever-so-sightly more serious note, this game needed desperately to go back into development and be brought up to current industry standards before being released, but alas, such was not the case. This game deserved to die, just like many other games of a similar type (not necessarily thematically) which are rushed out to get people buying something without any regard for the long-lost art of responsibility. I think games were usually better in the days before you could hotfix, patch and expand on your game's content, where once you launched, your game was great or it was not - it put the pressure on teams to do their due diligence and to get it right the first time around, because tomorrow would never come, proverbially. These throwaway trash titles need to just stay in the basement in whence they were birthed, no one benefits from these kinds of ideas and this level of execution seeing the daylight.
Blizzard opens the Mists of Pandaria floodgates for 100,000 annual passholders
Mar 30th 2012 4:45PM (Massively)Blizzard puts less money into their game for the amount they make from their players than any MMO I can recall - by a long shot. You would expect the highest grossing MMO in history - and the current leader by a country mile - to be number one with content/systems development by a relatively similar margin; Yet they are beaten by several other MMOs who make only a fraction of what they do.
I have no respect for Activizzard/Blactivision (take your pick) whatsoever, and will never buy another Blizzard product, unless/until such a time as their decisions are focused foremost on providing their paying customers with a quality experience - and secondarily by squeezing ridiculous amounts of capital out of unworthy products by abusing their once-potent brand name and the loyalty of their long-time fans. Not likely.
The Road to Mordor: Ride to ruin and the world's ending!
Mar 28th 2012 10:19PM (Massively)Sounds like an exaggeration and distortion of what was said. I never said that all that matters is how good a game looks - I still play some games that are 10+ years old and some which are 2D (and not newer games which are retro-2D), because the gameplay is so great. But in an RPG, a lot of people have a hard time forming a connection with their character when it looks disproportionate and moves like Johnny-5 from Short Circuit. I think it's sad when people can't look past their love for the IP and make criticisms of things which are subpar because they're so dazzled by a different, irrelevant feature.
If you can draw a rational line from the subject of story and richness to animation and character models, then perhaps something will remain beyond a hollow assumption.
The Road to Mordor: Ride to ruin and the world's ending!
Mar 24th 2012 7:15PM (Massively)World of Warcraft is the new Match.com
Mar 23rd 2012 12:56AM (Massively)Unfortunately in a game without challenge, where teamwork and coordination are of minimal importance and groups are handed to you, can you really expect anything different? Other MMOs have their share of cretins, this is nothing new - but nothing beats the original casual MMO for sheer quantity. Casual gaming definitely has a place in the market, but I'm just not sure that MMOs are the best venue for it, at least in their current evolutionary stage.
The philosophy of "Let's make a game where many people come together to accomplish challenges and explore a massive world, with many freedoms for players to make their mark and be an individual" does not mix well with "Let's make a game that's basically a dungeon-crawler with a lobby, where everything is on guided rails and extremely easy, without any options to be an individual and where everyone has access to so many tools that it further simplifies the gameplay, trivializes player choice and thus homogenizes the entire experience".
World of Warcraft is the new Match.com
Mar 22nd 2012 8:23PM (Massively)Crying sexism where it doesn't fit should be dismissed, but it isn't nearly as often as it should be. By your "logic", nobody is allowed to use any words or images at the risk of offending someone. I sincerely feel like George Carlin, in that I eagerly await the coming of some kind of massive self-inflicted doom or widespread disease which wipes out most of the planet, because I feel it's the only way to take people away from the kind of stupidity - which thanks to so much free time and so few concerns - they so pitifully indulge in.
Everyone has such darling sensibilities in this era of our society, it's funny for people like me to see how bent out of shape people like you get about being offended. If physical pain isn't being inflicted upon you against your will, you are as free as a person is ever going to be while surrounded by other people. The problem isn't society, and it isn't sexism, it's people misusing terminologies and playing rhetoric and logical fallacies to try and earn favoritism, and it's so transparent I can scarcely believe that people think they're able to hide behind it. Bottom line - if this is something that actually bothers you, then perhaps you need to get out and experience some life, then come back and tell me this is a harsh and cruel injustice.
World of Warcraft is the new Match.com
Mar 22nd 2012 6:39PM (Massively)That bait is old. Not going to catch anything with that. Plus aren't you supposed to title the bait after what you're catching with it? In that case, it wouldn't be troll-bait, because it would be in use by a troll, trying to catch something else (presumably). Or maybe even to catch another troll. Come to think of it, maybe it is troll bait for trolls, sounds like a new dating medium.
World of Warcraft is the new Match.com
Mar 22nd 2012 6:33PM (Massively)I lol'd. Everything has to take a stance and make a statement, it falls into a case of ad-hoc ergo propter hoc logical fallacy, with a bit of does not follow. If I go to the store and I pick apple juice, it doesn't mean I hate orange juice, or that I'm saying other people can't enjoy orange juice - but an irrational ingrate might come up to me and start giving me shit about my choice to drink apple juice, because they are so strongly pro-orange juice. Those people are what you call "egocentric morons". Similarly, posting a picture of the most common sexual demographic on the planet - straight people - in regards to an article about dating doesn't mean that some people don't prefer orange juice - ye'savvy?