Elemental all-purpose thread

[JM1]

If a reviewer can’t spot something that is half-assed or half-baked without forensically examining exactly when it was implemented by the developer - perhaps they shouldn’t be a reviewer?

And in this particular scenario, you could write a goddamn essay on the problems that still exist with the game.

[Mark_Asher]

You still haven’t answered the question. How long do you wait?

Look, the reality is that game reviews need to be published in a pretty short window to get any readers. If the review was done prior to the actual public release (as most are) then a Day-0 patch won’t factor into the review anyway.

This is how long you wait: You start when you get the game in your hands, and if a patch is available, apply it. That same patch (or a later patch) will be available to the readers of the review also. Just mention that you patched the game.

Seriously, as a reader who hasn’t purchased the game, why wouldn’t I want the latest version reviewed?

It’s just a matter of disclosing what exactly you are reviewing. I think you actually over-complicate the process and do a disservice to the readers if you insist on not patching the game. “There was a patch available at the time we played the game, but we chose not to apply it. Your experience with the game may vary accordingly if your version is patched.”

Well thanks for letting me know your review doesn’t do me much good since I’ll be applying the patch.

[Talorc]

This is how long you wait: You start when you get the game in your hands, and if a patch is available, apply it. That same patch (or a later patch) will be available to the readers of the review also. Just mention that you patched the game.

Seriously, as a reader who hasn’t purchased the game, why wouldn’t I want the latest version reviewed?

It’s just a matter of disclosing what exactly you are reviewing. I think you actually over-complicate the process and do a disservice to the readers if you insist on not patching the game. “There was a patch available at the time we played the game, but we chose not to apply it. Your experience with the game may vary accordingly if your version is patched.”

Well thanks for letting me know your review doesn’t do me much good since I’ll be applying the patch.

A total victory for common sense! Other than some desire to flagellate the publisher/developer, it makes no sense to not use whatever is the latest available patch at the time of review.

[JM1]

So here’s the kicker - do you expect reviews to be available before or on the day the game goes on sale, so that people can make informed decisions?

[Telefrog]

So here’s the kicker - do you expect reviews to be available before or on the day the game goes on sale, so that people can make informed decisions?

Obviously you wait for the game maker to give you the green light.

[Damien_Neil]

So here’s the kicker - do you expect reviews to be available before or on the day the game goes on sale, so that people can make informed decisions?

Short answer: No.

Medium answer: It depends.

Long answer: I expect the highest-quality reviews of a game to not be available before or on the day a game goes on sale, because it takes time to do a good review. In order to review a game on release day, you pretty much need to have received a preview build from the publisher. There’s no guarantee that the publisher will have released preview builds to reviewers, however, so there’s no way you can expect a review to be available so quickly.

In addition, reviews based on preview builds are less trustworthy. The publisher can choose to limit preview builds to reviewers that they expect will turn in a favorable report. As such, I expect the highest quality reviews to come out some time after the game has been released.

[Talorc]

Obviously you wait for the game maker to give you the green light.

Haha! Very accurate :-)

Seriously, the whole “have to know before or on release day” is just less and less relevant I think.

In ye olden days of retail you bought a game on release or maybe in the next few months while it was still on the shelf. After that it disappeared or became very hard to find, perhaps to maybe come back in a budget or gold edition. So a review (in a print magazine) when it came out was important to inform buying decisions.

With digital, once a game is out, effectively it is available to buy whenever forever. I rarely buy a game on release now. I will sometimes buy in the first week, but honestly buying games digitally has very much trained me to wait for a price drop or sale before purchasing.

So from my point of view, reviewers can review it whenever - I’ll read their review when I am interested in purchase, likely as a result of a price drop or sale.

This suits me, but I realise this may be difficult for a review site in terms of their revenue model though.

Most of the regular gaming news / traffic for sites I consume / generate is at places like QT3 or generalist news/features sites like RPGwatch or RPS - not reviews.

[KevinC]

I can’t speak from the reviewer point of view, but as a gamer I’d be find a review to be less useful if it was reviewing a gold master copy with issues if there was a patch out (at the time of the review) that corrected those issues.

I certainly don’t expect reviewers to wait, but it’d be silly to not review with a patch if available. As a gamer, that’s what I’m going to be using and if a patch addresses problems in the game, then I want to know about it.

[JM1]

Long answer: I expect the highest-quality reviews of a game to not be available before or on the day a game goes on sale, because it takes time to do a good review. In order to review a game on release day, you pretty much need to have received a preview build from the publisher. There’s no guarantee that the publisher will have released preview builds to reviewers, however, so there’s no way you can expect a review to be available so quickly.

In addition, reviews based on preview builds are less trustworthy. The publisher can choose to limit preview builds to reviewers that they expect will turn in a favorable report. As such, I expect the highest quality reviews to come out some time after the game has been released.

Agreed on preview builds, but gold masters are available some time before release day and are what a lot of games get reviewed on.

[JustinFletcher]

Yeah, but what about piracy, guys? Or numerical ratings? Or the amount of time a reviewer should spend with a game?

Any info on when boxed copies are being shipped out? I still haven’t received my collector’s edition and have not gotten any emails regarding it.

I got my boxed copy on Saturday.

[Dunqan]

2.5 pages of conversation about when reviews should happen and what version they should be based upon - how about creating a new thread and letting this thread get back on topic?

[kerzain]

This isn’t the elemental thread, and hasn’t been for a long time, Dunqan. You want this one.

[Telefrog]

Okay, here’s my All-Purpose question. This weekend, I shopped at Target, Walmart, Gamestop, Toys R Us, and a few other places that carry games. I didn’t see Elemental at a single store.

Who is carrying this game at retail?

[kerzain]

I know Wal-Mart has them, maybe yours sold out. I haven’t been to the others in years.

[Telefrog]

I know Wal-Mart has them, maybe yours sold out. I haven’t been to the others in years.

That’s what I thought, but there wasn’t even a shelf tag for it.

[mkozlows]

A lot of time, retail stores are slow to get or stock non-major releases. Trying to get PC games on launch day was always a maddeningly frustrating experience.

But I’d expect Best Buy, at least, to carry it.

[Lloyd_Heilbrunn]

Any info on when boxed copies are being shipped out? I still haven’t received my collector’s edition and have not gotten any emails regarding it.

I got my regular copy today.

[JM1]

2.5 pages of conversation about when reviews should happen and what version they should be based upon - how about creating a new thread and letting this thread get back on topic?

Conversations take new directions. This isn’t Something Awful or some other forum that has specific threads for specific subjects and you must not deviate. Go with the flow.

[JustinFletcher]

I got my regular copy today.

Maybe this helps explain why it’s MIA in stores. Maybe they got into the shipping channels late.

[Skinner]

There is absolutely nothing to defend here, even ignoring the bugs. The UI is obtuse. The world is generic. The units are bland. The art style is amateur. The manual is laughable. The story and voice acting are worse than fan fiction.

Bingo.

Brad kept saying during development how the art was bad and it was going to change on release.

I had pre-ordered it but not participated in the demo. I kept an eye on the forum and journals. Upon release I loaded it up and watched through the intro. I almost fucking died. That intro was one of the worst looking and poorly narrated I have ever experienced. By the end of the intro I was afraid to start a game to see what I might find. Lo and behold, it was horrible. The art was profoundly bad for this day and age. I don’t mean the style but the actual graphics. I mean the hair for your sovereign was what, pulled from Sonic the Hedgehog circa 1991? I was appalled.

I found it difficult to continue but continue I did and I found nothing redeeming but a list of features that should have blown my socks off but did not. I’ll try it again in a few months. It’s the MOO3 deja vu all over again. It reminded my of why I tried to stop watching game development and just wait until release and a few patches.

You summed it up well Angrycoder and all I can add is what a fucking drag.