Editor's blog: Darkfall aftermath Comments by Tom Bramwell

It'll probably score 1/10 in the second review.

Introduce a special -10/10 score just for this game.

Yeah, I'd totally go for the 1/10.
Or, instead of a written review, just a goatse with the darkfall logo coming at you out of the dark.

The only thing worse than Darkfall was the EG Darkfall review.

If you can learn one thing from this, it's that rabidly passionate fanbases are a mixed blessing.

well done

Problem is that if you review 5% of the game and even not understanding how it's played --- how can you even give points to it?

Like the rabidly passionate EG fanbase? ;)

4/10 - twice as good.

Lesson learnt: Don't review an MMO that has a fan base consisting of village idiots who love to grief.

To be fair, most of the Darkfall community judged this entire site by one review, so even 3 hours play would be too much to give a proportionally fair response.

I'm sure Kieron will be fair, though if it's a positive review I'll disown him. He'd no longer be my son!

Good idea, Tom. The problem you'll have, of course, is that if KG hates it too, the Darkfall community will be here en-masse with their grammatical amazingness accusing him of bias simply because he's written so many articles for EG before. They'll play the "loyalty" card.

So you can't win, but you're making the best of it and it'll be interesting to see what happens in the re-review.

So the mob has won
All I can say is please absolutely crucify it Kieron

/popcorn

It's hard to doubt Kieron's credentials and integrity when it comes to reviewing games, even if not everybody has to agree with his opinions and scores, of course. That's what reviewing is about.

If the next reviewer doesn't like the game fair enough but at least play the game before reviewing it, here are some reviews or feature reviews of the game:

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/...
http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/Paragus1
http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/Paragus1/032...

Looks like you listed every single positive review of Darkfall ever written there.


Both of them then.

I trust Gillen's thoughts 100%. I'd also agree that server logs aren't conclusive. Ed is a legend.

Looks like you didn't even open them because first is review and second is feature explanation more than a review.

Have fun.

How about removing the current score from the review. You can argue all you want about Darkfall and the gameplay and the skill system and the FFA-PvP full loot. You can argue back and forward about the review and its inaccuracies. It is all fine, all good, all part of a healthy (whatever that means) online community.

Just by Eurogamers scoring policy, the 2/10 can't be. Remove the score, leave the review, revisit it and then score it.

Hell hath no fury like a fanboy scorned.

This whole thing has raised some interesting questions on mmo scoring anyway.

Why remove the score from the review? Because you don't agree with it? It's that reviewer's opinion. And it doesn't need to be removed because it offends some people.

Otherwise, they'd also have removed the 10/10 for Bioshock or GTA4 as they offended tons of people. :P

While reading the comments of Darkfall fans I like to imagine they all look like that obese guy from the South Park WoW episode.

If Kieron Gillen spends anything less than 2 years of his life playing this game, the fanboys will cry foul if the review doesn't get the score they want.

It says much for this site that they're prepared to waste time and money to assure people that their reviews are honest.

The reviewer did play the game, and found a buggy, sluggish, unresponsive, ugly mess. Did you not read the review?

As for exploring only "5% content", who cares about that if the game is absolutely atrocious to play? Some people actually, y'know, play games for fun these days.

This was a very dignified response to pathetic claims from Aventurine, and I hope the second review is just as honest as the first.

even if Ed Zitron was right (which I think he isn't) and had played 9 hours instead of 2 (yay big difference) This game takes at least 1 month of playtime with around 15 hours a week to really explore a bit.
I remember playing Warhammer online and for the first 9 hours it seemed a great game, but soon enough the awe faded and boredom started and I started understanding how limited and dull the game was and how quickly it would fade away and be the same repetitive experience.
With DF, its after 1 month that I started seing how good and profound this game might actually be and how much things I could see if I carry on playing.
If you are to make a review about a hardcore MMO, give it the time or just dont make it. MMOs are NOT the average game they are meant to be played over months because they have a membership and all, they should be be reviewed over 3 hours like any other game.

"This was a very dignified response to pathetic claims from Aventurine, and I hope the second review is just as honest as the first."

Totally agree with that.

You reap what you sow EG. ITs that simple.

Keep up the 'good work'

LMFAO.

"It says much for this site that they're prepared to waste time and money to assure people that their reviews are honest. "

I would hope so, being like, a review site an all.

Just pointing out: If game is buggy and horrible to play - why it still has plenty of big and "famous" guilds playing it which have moved from games like WoW, WAR and AoC and they haven't gone back to those games?

Think about it.

This game takes at least 1 month of playtime with around 15 hours a week to really explore a bit.

So it's going to be a month before all the fanboys get ass-raped by every other reviews site giving it a 3/10, 2 stars, etc.?

Dang.

Lol how could you crucify this game, it's probably the best recent pvp mmorpg out at the moment. You response looks like forum pvp, that's just lame. You should review a game based on fact, not based on a newbie player that raged after getting ganked!

Bad luck Kieron!

Also, the blog title should have been Darkfallout.

/me gets coat

Alot of Darkfall hate here. Lets keep an open mind shall we. I thought the review was bad, it left a funny taste in my mouth after reading it. I dont doubt Darkfall is a bit rubbish but the passion with whch you are all jumping to EG's defence is a little embarissing.

I think that the level of disclosure and discourse exhibited by the Editor is a very good example of the levels of integrity and demcracy at work at Eurogamer, especially when contrasted against the "old media" publications (who are notoriously impervious to feedback and can write pretty much what they want, truthful or not, without risking feedback or dialog) and the syndicated American giants (who make no qualms about being in the pockets of the publishers, and who have repeatedly put this into system as a business proposition).

In this case, Eurogamer should be considered as an entity (and not a collection of individual writers), and only through measures like the ones taken by the Editor can we judge the (very subjective) weight of the expressed opinions.

A group of players repeatedly kill you in an online game. That's fair and you should just accept it and be all HARDCORE and STRONG about it.

Somebody expresses an opinion about your game that you don't like. You whine and moan and piss your panties about it and complain that it's not fair and you're the victim of a smear campaign.

Not very HARDCORE is it?

To be honest, even if KG's review of the game was much better, the comments from the rabid fanboys cnuts would be enough to completely put me off the game.
I've read other forum threads linking to the EG review where a lot of posters agree with it from experience, but then the fanboys wade in and start the flaming and trolling.
If any of them had a cogent, balanced argument, that might be OK. But making a load of new accounts calling themselves "EG_IS_BALLS" and "stupidreviewer" really say a lot about the people who play this game.

Regardless of the second score, I've been put off this game.

"Just pointing out: If game is buggy and horrible to play - why it still has plenty of big and "famous" guilds playing it which have moved from games like WoW, WAR and AoC and they haven't gone back to those games?

Think about it."

Are you really going with the 'lots of people like it so it must be good' defence?

No, but I am saying that 2/10 must be a joke.

Irrelevant of the foaming morons that support Darkfall’s cause, how is 9 hours playing time ever going to be justifiable for reviewing an MMO? I thought that was the whole point in having an MMO editor so you can't pull the whole innocent, "oh but it differs from game to game".

Oh well, looking forward to KG's review!

Sorry I don't agree with the review and i don't even play the game, given with what other sources have said, whats been said from both ends about this article in question the best option is a second opinion...

Is everyone that dissagrees with 'the truth' in what some casees claim it to be just going to be dubbed 'rabid fanboi'?

I wish the whole net would stop using 'go to' reponces and stop bracketing ppl, this is why the whole community section of the gaming industry is in the toilet - Your either a 'fanboi' or a 'hater', in ppls eyes theres no such thing as a balanced opinion, thus all hell breaks lose and you can't win no matter what you say

Kudos, Tom, for a nice, swift and mature response to this shitstorm otherwise full of annoying trolls on both sides of the "argument".

"No, but I am saying that 2/10 must be a joke."

Because lots of people like it? No.

I love how the Darkfail forums are packed to the brim with people moaning about every aspect of the game, but when it gets a review that appears to give it a score that their forum thinks it deserves, it's uproar.

Have to love that double standard.

OMG Driv3r only got 3/10 *rounds up all Driv3r fanboys to complain

2/10 is opinion of someone who played the game only for a few hours.

You can't review a mmorpg that has been developed for 8 years in 3 hours.

Btw, EG defenders as probably as dumb as Ed Zitron, looks like everybody is blind on this website.

I have to say, although I'm enjoying the internet drama, nine hours isn't enough to review an MMO. If it's so bad you can't be arsed to play it more, get someone else who will.

What famous guilds are in DFO?

It is sad that an exchange between 2 organizations had to go public, and the circle the wagons ensues.

What sticks out to me is that 2 accounts are provided, and really not used. The output of this review will impact AV negatively. Once they attempt to speak their side with a different reviewer as all games/software/hell life isn't for all people. Especially a first time reviewer wanting to make his name, they normally come in with intent to make an explosive piece. Were fans beating the door down saying where is that DF review? Hell first guy spent 2 - 9 hours (creating multiple characters does not count as playing either), it should be easy to get a second opinion.

The biggest thing is, Ed lied to your face. Well Ed can go all Bill Clinton on you and say "I count play time as the software is running on my system, even during nap" to defend his definition of "play" time, that is not dealing with common sense.

You can pull more "play/ui/game" data from watching a few youtube videos on how the controls are that was pulled improperly using the software provided, and if you were to investigate even half of the incorrect statements you would have wasted less time than all this back and forth has wasted of your time.

I wasted enough time here, Have fun.

Gillen's going to review it?

I'd better start building a shelter to take cover from that shitstorm right now.

The big question: is Kieron Gillen a "carebear"? Does he "live hardstyle" enough to handle this review?

Tune in later to find out.

How can you review a game without playing it?

So many faults in the review