Jade Raymond wants to be left alone.

[stray]

On a related note, does anyone else think putting the hottie developer in front of the publicity engine made the game sites throw softball reviews?

I've usually defended gaming sites to some extent. They can only get their news through industry cooperation, because there aren't really opportunities to get pre-release access to games and screenshots unless the developer gives the publication access to the games. The only way a site can reasonably have completely independent reviews is to give up their preview access.

I'm willing to tolerate that the restrictions on access to games under development means that the sites are obliged not to pass judgment on the incomplete games that they see. I think idiots who believe the undeserved praise in previews and the false Gamestop contention that you can't get a game the day it comes out unless you preorder generates revenue for some shitty games.

However, I generally think that the sites are aware that they lose their credibility and readership if they recommend bad games. So, in spite of a 1-10 rating system that rarely goes below 7, I think, once you understand how to read their reviews, It's really easy to tell which games are generating enthusiasm, particularly using a site like metacritic or gamerankings.

Assassin's Creed was a very uncommon situation, in which some sites rated in the 7s and some in the 9s. I rarely see mixed reviews for games. I kind of suspect some reviewers went easy on AC because they dig Jade.

Or... They went a little too easy because it's been one of those in-public-the-eye-hyped-up-eagerly-expected titles for a couple of years now. Some were really looking forward to the game, so now that it's finally come, perhaps their vision is a little skewed. Common occurrence as far as game reviewing goes.

Again though, it's certainly not a bad game in the sense that it would even need a marketing conspiracy (and really, wtf is THAT bad anyways? Serek Dmart titles maybe...? Perhaps, but I really don't know why you guys are entertaining the notion in this case).

[UnSub]

I agree with Stray - this past year has seen a number of gaming sites give critic-proof games good scores because imo they want to be on the right side of the argument.

I've often thought the professional game review gig is skewed, because all you do is review games. You get it for free, you play it through (which takes you a day, maybe, for a lot of console titles) and you write a review. "Was this game worth AUS $90?" is a question that doesn't occur to a lot of reviewers because they don't have to pay for it plus they've got another 3 titles coming in next week, so if it's fun for now, that's all that matters.. Plus there have been numerous occasions where bugs still exist in the version played by the reviewer, but they get assured that those bugs were cleaned up in the gold version so they don't write about them. Game gets launched, bugs still there, reviewer looks stupid.

It's a stretch to go "Jade is pretty, so Assassin's Creed got a good score". It's more like the reviewer runs through the game and thinks that it was a bit different and fun enough. Plus the whole use of a 10 point scale that sees a score of 7 as a poor result.

Still haven't played Assassin's Creed, but it seems to suffer from Tenchu Syndrome according to the reviews I've read - killing your first guy by stealth is awesome. Doing it for the 1000th time is less interesting.

[rk47]

I disagree on pretty face = good review. But Unsub's comment about reviewer getting a free game and not thinking about 'is it worth the $$' is pretty much my suspicion as well. I wondered what they're smoking when they gave Oblivion near perfect scores but never really mentioned any flaws on the game design (level scaling, poor NPC dialogue and one solution quest)

What made it worse was the 'good games' that has slight flaws but refined itself such as Mask of the Betrayer and Witcher gets slammed for having longer load times and slightly dated graphics. Oh, and get this, MOTB is too wordy. What the hell. And I love it when a reviewer feels AD&D games are too heavy on maths and docked the game overall review scores because of that. Thanks for caring for us uninformed gamers my dear game reviewers and to hell with paper mags, they're not worth the dollars anymore. If I want more informed opinions I rather go to gaming forums (NOT the OFFICIAL one) and see what they like and dislike about it.

[Rasix]

Is Mask of the Betrayer a complete improvement over NWN2 in the same way SoU and HoU were for the original?  I enjoyed the expansions to NWN1 but I thought NWN2 was terrible. And yes, it looks absolutely dreadful for how badly it ran on my PC.  Ugly like Arcanum in the way that it actually impacts your ability to enjoy the game.

Game reviews you have to read for context and be prepared to add or subtract from the score based upon what you take away from it.  Most game reviews won't hesitate to point out the flaws but based upon whatever set of circumstances (payola, hype, advertising, protecting their own asses, axe to grind, etc) will end up making sizable subtractions or just a point or less.  I've seen sites either seemingly unfairly eviscerate a game and at the same time give some an overly hyped game with obvious and numerous flaws a 9+ score. I'd give overinflated AC scores on the hype/wait factor.  (I've yet to play the game, however.)

My decisions for buying are mostly based on what folks say here, chatting with gamer friends, and genre/company preferences.  A review from a site like Gamespot hasn't sold me a game in years, but they can be slightly helpful.

[rk47]

MOTB is a high level content expansion. Personally I despise high lvl play because the numbers are heavily inflated but it doesn't really matter since your enemies are that powerful as well, but people who went deep into the game said there were a lot of choices to be made in game and quest variable solutions that went further than:
[Good] I'll do it
[Jerk] Gimme gold and I'll do it
[Absolute Jerk] No and I like seeing you suffer mwhaahhhahha

The companions are more dimensional than a dwarf that loves fighting, a tiefling that likes thieving and a mage that loves fireballing. So I can't see any downside unless if you're really sick of the D&D rules, it's a highly recommended RPG. Oh if you hate reading don't play it. 

[stray]

Same prob as Rasix. I could sit through NWN2 if it looked OK -- and ran well while doing it. Haven't kept on the status of it though for a very long time.

[Margalis]

The reviews (or opinions anyway) on *this site* have been pretty mixed. It just seems like one of those types of games. Not love/hate but love/think is merely ok.

[Zane0]

I don't have anything conseqential to say about Jade Raymond, but MOTB is very very good.

[Mrbloodworth]

Something just occurred to me... I wander if jade is her real name.





Oh snap!

[Ironwood]

What ?

[Nija]

If you've not played NWN2 lately, they've released some performance-increasing patches that make the game run almost 100% better than it did on release.

[Mrbloodworth]

What ?

Oh, you know. Like how people adopt a " stage name".

 

[Rasix]

You stay classy, internet.

[Ironwood]

*blink*

[stray]

Probably is her real name. She's half Chinese, and has green eyes. Her parents probably thought it'd be clever.

[Mrbloodworth]

You stay classy, internet.

COME ON, like I’m the first person to think of this. Its not uncommon for celebrities to doctor up there name. Hay, and for the record, my girlfriend brought it up... It could be a pen name thats part of the package. Of course, no one will ever be able to prove it ,most likely.

I really think the entire thing is laughable, from the marketing pimping, to the "industry reactions" to the comic to the reaction to said comic to the people with their blinders on..

[stray]

Thing is, she's not a celebrity.

[Mrbloodworth]

Thing is, she's not a celebrity.

Yeah she is. She currently one of the industries top celebrity's... Just like Mr. British, or Will Wright. (EDIT: For now.)

Every industry has its clebs.

I mean, come on.

[stray]

Just like Mr. British

Thanks for proving my point 

[Mrbloodworth]

Just like Mr. British

Thanks for proving my point 

Your joking right?

Walk by a game store lately? Read the NY time? Game informer, or really and game outlet lately? ETC... Christ, the mans going into space if you didn't know.

[stray]

Walk by a game store lately?

Thanks for proving my point... Again 



Seriously though.

[Mrbloodworth]

Walk by a game store lately?

Thanks for proving my point... Again 



Seriously though.

You don't have to be on TV or movies to be a celebrity. But this little derail is beside the point.

But a supporting point would be . Richard Garriott = Lord British. AKA: Pen name, or stage name.

[Samwise]

I mean, come on.

That site makes my skin crawl.

[stray]

Walk by a game store lately?

Thanks for proving my point... Again 



Seriously though.

You don't have to be on TV or movies to be a celebrity. But this little derail is beside the point.

But a supporting point would be . Richard Garriott = Lord British. AKA: Pen name, or stage name.

I don't think you have to be in movies to be a celeb. But you probably have to be a bit more than that guy. I didn't even know who the fuck he was until I came to this little dark corner of the internet. And if he IS a celebrity, then no wonder some people make a big deal out of Jade Raymond.

[Mrbloodworth]

Walk by a game store lately?

Thanks for proving my point... Again 



Seriously though.

You don't have to be on TV or movies to be a celebrity. But this little derail is beside the point.

But a supporting point would be . Richard Garriott = Lord British. AKA: Pen name, or stage name.

I don't think you have to be in movies to be a celeb. But you probably have to be a bit more than that guy. I didn't even know who the fuck he was until I came to this little dark corner of the internet. And if he IS a celebrity, then no wonder some people make a big deal out of Jade Raymond.

Not sure how one would avoid not knowing who he is. Especially now.

And if he IS a celebrity, then no wonder some people make a big deal out of Jade Raymond

Welcome, enjoy your stay.

[Mrbloodworth]

I mean, come on.

That site makes my skin crawl.

Yeah, but it holds an interesting tidbit.

Her biggest break came at the 2003 Game Developer Award's Ceremony where she was one of the presenters. After the ceremony, Victor Lucas, the co-host and executive producer of the popular G4 TechTV's show called The Electric Playground came up to her and asked her to join the crew along with Tommy Tallarico, Julie Stoffer and Geoff Keighley. Although she never thought that I would be doing tv, she said it's a lot of fun and liked her experience very much. Because of this, Jade is now known to game fans throughout the world. As a result, she also gets to help out other game designers and producers by interviewing them for the show, which allows fans to put faces with names.

To me, not knowing this, seems she was a cleb way before she was a producer.

[Sutro]

I have the totally unquantified and sexist belief that almost all of the men writing ardent defenses of Jade portraying her as a victim have a secret fantasy. Namely, the fantasy of her e-mailing them saying how "right on" they are , including an invite to Montreal for dinner, followed by a movie at her pad and passionate anal about a quarter of the way into the film.

[stray]

Not sure how one would avoid not knowing who he is. Especially now.

Even the name Miyamoto would get a bunch of blank stares from the majority of people, even gamers.

I was like that once. I just played games. A few years ago though, I stumbled upon MMO's, saw a lot of potential, but came to the conclusion that I really fucking hated them. I happened to find Waterthread after being linked to a writeup I agreed with, found that the rest of the place was pretty informed (and funny), and decided to stay and mostly talk about bullshit in General Discussion. I am not here because I like any of it, or because I was keepin dibs on "MrBritish" beforehand though.

Point is, it was a lengthy process for me to even find out about LordBritish. You think the average gamer, let alone outsider, is going to know who he is?

[Mrbloodworth]

Not sure how one would avoid not knowing who he is. Especially now.

Even the name Miyamoto would get a bunch of blank stares from the majority of people, even gamers.

I was like that once. I just played games. A few years ago though, I stumbled upon MMO's, saw a lot of potential, but came to the conclusion that I really fucking hated them. I happened to find Waterthread after being linked to a writeup I agreed with, found that the rest of the place was pretty informed (and funny), and decided to stay and mostly talk about bullshit in General Discussion. I am not here because I like any of it, or because I was keepin dibs on "MrBritish" beforehand though.

Well, considering that she was on G4 before all this...she may just be more of a "Household name" than lord whats his face is.

My comment about "Especially now" was to point out the many many Non-gaming outlets that he, not necessarily the game, has been plastered on. I mean. Fuck. There was a long story on the BBC Via NPR about him, ingoring the NYT, Wall street, Business week, and all the TECH outlets. YEah, i think allot of people know who is is thees days, not just the hardcore. He was even in alot of space publications and media because his daddy was an astronaut and he, himself is going into space.

[Bunk]

I asked my buddy the other day if he'd heard about all the Jade Raymond shit going on. He responded with "who?"

This is an avid gamer who would know the names Wright, Miyamoto, Garriott, etc. He's watched every demo and trailer for AC he could find, likely including the ones hosted by Jade. He had no fucking clue who she was.

[stray]

I have the totally unquantified and sexist belief that almost all of the men writing ardent defenses of Jade portraying her as a victim have a secret fantasy. Namely, the fantasy of her e-mailing them saying how "right on" they are , including an invite to Montreal for dinner, followed by a movie at her pad and passionate anal about a quarter of the way into the film.

I'm Eurasian myself. Which is to say, I don't get off on the idea as much as you white boys do. She's old news! Only blondes and redheads inhabit my fantasies.

Yes, I'm being serious.

[schild]

Stray
Foozle
Posts: 9999

[Mrbloodworth]

I asked my buddy the other day if he'd heard about all the Jade Raymond shit going on. He responded with "who?"

This is an avid gamer who would know the names Wright, Miyamoto, Garriott, etc. He's watched every demo and trailer for AC he could find, likely including the ones hosted by Jade. He had no fucking clue who she was.

*Shrug*

And i am sure there is a complete non-gamer that does. I'm not stating FACTS here, so i am sure we can all find examples of both extremes rather well.

Only thing i am saying, is she is a celebrity. There are lots of celebrity's with many varying degrees of public eye and limelight.

And i suspect, thats not he real name, its part of the package. For the record, i don't know who Miyamoto is.....So OMGWTF i guess hes not a cleb.

[Signe]

Stray
Foozle
Posts: 10000

oooooo! 

[Margalis]

I'm a celebrity on my block. For real.