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| Is morrowind inert and empty? |
| yes |
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20% |
[ 3 ] |
| no |
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73% |
[ 11 ] |
| undecided |
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6% |
[ 1 ] |
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| Total Votes : 15 |
Jung
Guest
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| Negative review on the way for Morrowind? |
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I got July issue of MaximumPC last night, and as I was reading this morning, I noticed a column about Morrowind from Thomas McDonald. To summarize, he said that he was undecided about MW, but at this point felt that the game is impressive in some aspects, but found it a "curiously inert and empty experience." Evidendly, his review will be out next month, and is leaning negative. He also complained about the slow movement, "pedestrian" combat and lack of parties.
I would have to agree with him on all his points except the parties, and add many more. I haven't played for hundreds of hours, but nothing in the game has really impressed or supprised me. Not even the vaunted graphics, which are chalky(with no reflective surfaces exept water), repetative and static. Heck, I was nearly sidetracked by a Dungeon Seige demo last night, which visually impressive, much smoother and was fun to play, but shallow. However, Morrowind doesn't seem to be as deep as people make it out to be, just big.
BTW, has anyone else noticed that some(all?) contained items are randomly placed? I found the goal object for a particular tomb, then reloaded a quicksave, and the object I found earlier was gone, and still cant find it. This is worriesome because it means that is not much rhyme or reason to the dungeons. You just search until you find what you were sent to find without having to solve any puzzles or fight particularly difficult "boss" monsters. How dull! |
Tue Jun 18, 2002 2:23 pm |
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maddog0606
Village Dweller
Joined: 06 May 2002
Posts: 20
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I don't care much about game reviews for the same reason I son't care much about movie reviews. The people doing reviews usually don't have the same taste in games or movies that I do and it shows in their reviews. I pay more attention to the relavent forums, newsgroups, and my friends when it comes to movies and games.
If a friend who likes the same types of games and movies that I do buys a game or sees a movie and says it is the cats meow while some reviewer who I don't now from Adam says it is a POS, I'll take my friends word before I'll take the reviwers. |
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Tue Jun 18, 2002 2:48 pm |
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Mattias Kreku
Magister of the Light
Joined: 13 Jun 2002
Posts: 387
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Just remember that most game reviewers seldom play a game for more than 30 hours. Morrowind lasted almost exactly that.. 30 hours. After that it's been tedious, repetitive and I am still searching for something to surprise me. Actually, this forum has given me a lot of ideas in that aspect but I haven't had time to try most of them yet. I am building a list though! So there's still hope..
But I have been waiting for a negative review. It's impossible for a game with so many complaints to keep getting these rave reviews. One thousand disappointed fans can't be wrong! I'm more surprised that none of the reviewers have mentioned any of Morrowind's faults yet. |
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Tue Jun 18, 2002 2:49 pm |
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Danicek
The Old One
Joined: 15 Dec 2001
Posts: 5922
Location: Czech Republic |
No, Morrowind is not empy for me. |
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Tue Jun 18, 2002 2:51 pm |
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XeroX
The MasterCopy
Joined: 13 Dec 2001
Posts: 7125
Location: The Netherlands |
some items in morrowing are random, for example stuf in chest and stuf you get from plant and animals.
Stuff that is on shells or just is in the world itself is not random.
Morrowind is a heavy game already ad reflections and it's unplayeble.
Then no system can run the game.
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Tue Jun 18, 2002 2:54 pm |
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Jung
Guest
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quote:
Originally posted by maddog0606
I don't care much about game reviews for the same reason I son't care much about movie reviews. The people doing reviews usually don't have the same taste in games or movies that I do and it shows in their reviews. I pay more attention to the relavent forums, newsgroups, and my friends when it comes to movies and games.
If a friend who likes the same types of games and movies that I do buys a game or sees a movie and says it is the cats meow while some reviewer who I don't now from Adam says it is a POS, I'll take my friends word before I'll take the reviwers.
Individual reviews don't make or break a game, but the overall composite of most reviews says something(or at least should). I use rottentomatoes.com which provides a composite score of each movie. Any game site do this?
I feel the that Morrowind reviews seem to be too skewd to the positive. Perhaps because it takes a while to figure out the game is not that great, or the hype influences. I don't know, maybe I am just wrong, but all the flaws I and others mention are not simple matters of personal preference. The problems should be factored into the review score or at least mentioned. It seems that many reviewers gloss over the many problems. |
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Tue Jun 18, 2002 3:02 pm |
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Ariel
Harmonious Angel
Joined: 21 Jul 2001
Posts: 432
Location: Germany |
Well, Dungeon Siege was hyped too, and got lots of waaaay too positive reviews, according to what I've read in the net. And DS lasted only 10 hours for lots of people, so if Morrowind has 30 hours of fun in it, my, that's three times as much. 
Besides, the modding community can effectively multiply those 30 hours, make the game's world deeper etc. Granted, not the way it is normally supposed to be, but a ray of hope all the same.
I personally don't like hyped games. I ignored Black & White from the beginning (although it looked promising at some time in the past), DS (couldn't play it anyway). Even Planescape: Torment, because I was just hearing good reviews of it, and I am not fond of AD&D... I'm glad, though, that I picked it up later anyway.
The exception to that rule is when hype is belated, or I haven't noticed it so much, because that sometimes means I have a hype of my own.
It was the case with Balur's Gate 1, contrary to the sequel, which I really enjoyed when it came out. It had mediocre reviews, which were suddenly revised when it became clear that the game was going to be a best seller. And, Morrowind of course. I liked the prospects of what the editor can do, and I like the graphics, both making it possible to do what I'm visualizing.
About NWN, on the other hand, I'm not so sure about. I don't like AD&D, as I said, and I don't like a zoomable/turnable "isometric" view in games, as it means that the game was designed to take advantage of that, and for me, this playstyle is seldom satisfactionary. But NWN has multiplayer support, so... mmmmmm..
Meow...
Arhu |
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Tue Jun 18, 2002 3:27 pm |
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MoonDragon
High Emperor
Joined: 25 May 2002
Posts: 1254
Location: Waterloo, Canada |
First you say:
quote:
Originally posted by Jung
Individual reviews don't make or break a game, but the overall composite of most reviews says something(or at least should).
Then you say:
quote:
I feel the that Morrowind reviews seem to be too skewd to the positive.
It seems to me you're contradicting yourself. First you say that many reviews saying the same thing should have the weight to be believed, then you go to say you don't believe them. Don't wanna start the argument--I'm just pointing out flaw in argumentation, that's all.
As far as I'm concerned, I wont' answer the above poll. Same as in real life politics, I refuse to pick the lesser of evils. None of the above fit the bill for me. I would by no means say the game is absolutely amazing. On the other hand, I would heartily recommend it to every single RPG fan. One thing that gave incredible depth to my experience were the moral dilemas the game demanded I solve. I am personally one of those casual RPers that RP to the limit, but when pushed I revert back to myself. When I first got this game, I found myself disappointed. I was not impressed by graphics (and to this day I still don't know what people are talking about). I don't like sounds (they are done wrongly and are mixed up--hostile things have cute sounds and benign creatures have hostile sounds). At first NPCs were confusing, then awsome, then boring like hell and I talked to them only when I had to (except few of the ones that had novel information to impart). But as I gave the game few more hours, it drew me in and made me become obsessed. Even starting with the ring of healing. You find it, it's semi-useful, yet you are immediately approached by a character that asks you to give it to him. What do you do? You are then approached by a bully that you've been told has a gambling problem, he tells you someone owes him money and you should go steal it for a cut. What do you do? And it just keeps on going. Mine and my character's moral fiber has been tested over and over and over again. This is why the game was so addictive. Every fourth character I'd meet would test the hardness of my backbone again and again. I loved it. It made it so immersive. I just wish the ending wasn't so one-dimensional. He asks you all those questions, but the answers don't realy have much meaning (that I know of). It would be nice if you actually could do things like turn on the mechanical god. Or join Dagoth Ur. Or become a god yourself. With potential consequences done through cinematics. I wish I could try and become a god myself, but Azura and other true dieties come and kick my ass for insolence. Or something like that. I find the game very emotionally involving for all the lack of surface "fluff."
So I can't answer yes or no. And no, I'm not undecided. My answer is some shade of grey between yes and no.
_________________
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Tue Jun 18, 2002 3:31 pm |
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Jung
Guest
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MoonDragon:
I understood the contradiction when I typed it. I was trying to sort out the contradictions between the reviews I've been reading and the game I've been playing. Not really trying to make an argument.
I really haven't had to many encounters like the ones you describe. I guess I will keep playing(unless I get sidetracked  ) |
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Tue Jun 18, 2002 3:44 pm |
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MoonDragon
High Emperor
Joined: 25 May 2002
Posts: 1254
Location: Waterloo, Canada |
quote:
Originally posted by Jung
I really haven't had to many encounters like the ones you describe.
Just to give you few examples of what I mean, hopefully without any spoilers.
Just in Seyda Neen(sp?):
- Ring of Healing, you find it and are approached by a character that claims to have lost it. Do you give it to him or not?
- Fighter-gambler in the tavern has a "job" for you to find the hidden stash of a person who "owes" him money. You're told by many people he has debts and his solution is to follow this person to their secret stash. Do you steal this person's money or not?
- Murder of tax collector. After you solve it, and hear the accussed's point of view, do you kill him or let him go? (I solved this both ways depending on the type of character I played. One was "law-obiding" and the other was more pacifistic.)
Some of the more memorable dilemas I had were with the Fighter's guild. That woman that gives you orders is just so deplorable. And she clearly keeps asking you to do Comonna Tong's dirty work. I kept asking myself over and over if I really wanted to be a member of the Fighter's Guild. Mage's Guild had similar instances, although not as profound. There was that instance with unsanctioned spell selling or whatever that guy in the Thief's Guild is doing. How do you deal with that? Then the healer that you're sent to kill under the pretense that she's a dirty necromencer. You are sent on a job to kill some evil person, but you find out that this person is like the best thing that happened to this town since the Nerevar was around. What do you do? First quest for the Imperial Legion... you're sent to get the land deed from the old widow... by whatever the means necessary. I never finished that quest for the duration of the game. It just didn't sit well with me. I know you can solve it with the happy and peechy ending, but that's not the point. I was not going to even begin trying to find the way. I was just plainly disgusted by the whole concept.
Anyways, I could go on and on about what do you do as you keep finding all these slaves (especially if you play one of the races that is mostly enslaved)? What about the corruption that becomes clear as you find evidence of price fixing and such? The game is full of it. You just have to let it draw you in.
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Tue Jun 18, 2002 4:19 pm |
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Mattias Kreku
Magister of the Light
Joined: 13 Jun 2002
Posts: 387
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Oh, right. The slaves. I have freed probably around a hundred slaves. They ALL have two things to say: "Will you set me free?" and "Thanks for setting me free."
Yeah, it might be a "moral dilemma" but uh.. Does anything happen in the game too? Not just in my head? |
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Tue Jun 18, 2002 4:24 pm |
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MoonDragon
High Emperor
Joined: 25 May 2002
Posts: 1254
Location: Waterloo, Canada |
Heheh, you're funny...
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Tue Jun 18, 2002 4:28 pm |
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Xanaki
Ghost of Asheron
Joined: 07 May 2002
Posts: 398
Location: Helsinki, Finland |
Why should I really care about reviews? If I like the game then no review can make me feel better or worse about it.
The world is full of different kind of persons. Some of us like the mother, some like the daughter and some even like the father. Everyone is entitled to have an opinion.
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Senior Editor @ www.mmorpgdot.com |
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Tue Jun 18, 2002 4:33 pm |
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Jung
Guest
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quote:
Originally posted by Xanaki
Why should I really care about reviews? If I like the game then no review can make me feel better or worse about it.
The world is full of different kind of persons. Some of us like the mother, some like the daughter and some even like the father. Everyone is entitled to have an opinion.
Some people base their purchase on reviews. There is no MW demo, so there is not much other choice than to read reviews and try to make a decision. Why not expect the review to be accurate? If readers don't point it out who will? |
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Tue Jun 18, 2002 4:49 pm |
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Rendelius
Critical Error
Joined: 06 Jul 2001
Posts: 16
Location: Austria |
I care for reviewers. I have some sites I heavily rely on with my purchase decisions. I'll just name to of them: Gone Gold and Desslock's. If they say a game is good, chances are I will like it.
A very nice source of info for me is the "top rated games" section of our site. It's where readers rate games. Now this is their top ten list (vote and number of votes):
1. Fallout - A Post Nuclear Adventure 9.2 231
2. Elder Scrolls 3 - Morrowind 9.12 234
3. Fallout 2 8.95 113
4. Ultima 7 - The Black Gate 8.78 94
4. Planescape: Torment 8.78 85
6. Betrayal at Krondor 8.76 42
7. Wizardry 8 8.69 95
8. Wasteland 8.65 52
9. Baldur's Gate 2 - Shadows of Amn 8.49 79
10. Ultima Underworld - The Stygian Abyss 8.48 21
For me, this is a picture perfect list of high quality RPG's. You may have a different opinion on one or more games, but overall, I think this is very accurate.
I would expect to see some negative reviews of Morrowind (coming back to the topic now), since different people have different taste. Bur looking at the "professional" reviews and readers' ratings alike, one has to admit that Bethesda has created an outstanding game...
And as a side note: Dungeon Siege received an average rating of 6.98 here at RPGDot from the readers, placing it 81st place.
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former Senior Editor RPGDot
now at http://www.theastronomers.com |
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Tue Jun 18, 2002 4:57 pm |
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