LAST PERSON TO POST WINS

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 5:42 pm

Well, if I were in a position to download lots of demos, I would use that as well. Still, demos don't tell the whole story either. Sure, you can't really tell if you'll like a game from reviews alone, but they can give you some idea of what to expect, just as a demo can. The difference is that reviews give you a more vague picture of the whole scope of a game, whereas demos give you an almost complete picture (provided that not much is changed between demo and final release) of a small part of the game. Neither can give you an absolute assurance, but they can both guide you.

By the way, what exactly do you mean by "reviews aren't lore"? If anything, I'd say that's exactly what they are, but whatever.

Yuka · Post by **Yuka** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:09 am

Oh man, I never knew it until earlier today... but Robo's theme from Chrono Trigger IS a rickroll!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ20N6syu ... re=related

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 8:53 am

Golbez.
True, but at least playing a demo guides you based on your own opinions rather than somebody else's

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 4:43 pm

Well, I tend to place a much greater emphasis on the points in reviews that are just relating facts about the game. If I'm going to base anything off of opinion in reviews, it has to be on points that are shared by the majority of reviewers. Of course, this isn't exactly foolproof. It's not altogether uncommon for a reviewer to give not just opinion but also fictions in place of facts in their reviews. This is presumably because these reviewers are idiots and can't figure out what they are writing isn't even really true after playing the whole game or because the reviewer simply hasn't played the whole game or much of the game at all. That's the biggest problem with reviews, IMO, not the opinions. which are easy to spot, but the antifacts.

stel · Post by **stel** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 4:52 pm

Damien wrote:It really doesn't seem that bad.
I have a friend who's playing, I'll ask him what he thinks.

It's pretty slow burning to start off, but that's purely for the 'getting to grips' part of the game. Once you've done enough to establish a knowledge of the game's dynamics and battle system, there's an explosion of story line. This happens about 3-4 hours into the game.

My guess is the reviews of the game vary depending on whether they passed this 3-4 hour mark. Those that picked the game up for 30 mins would probably feel this isn't going anywhere, and the battle system of the game is flawed and clunky. Those that progressed beyond begin to see the potential the game has, both in the storyline and the intricate battle system.

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 4:55 pm

To be honest, in this age of anybody being able to review games in a mass public way at whim, most reviews you see are going to be based on very limited impressions of a game (maybe even based on simply a demo).
People on the internet also tend to lie, and latch onto the thoughts and impressions left by others (or to oppose them simply because it's in their character).

Yuka · Post by **Yuka** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 5:19 pm

Urgh. Opera just went tits up and now I've lost all my settings.

The problem with reviews is that any old shmuck with a keyboard and a web connection can become a game reviewer, without giving it the time it needs, knowing anything about how games are made from a more industry based perspective and having little to no English skills whatsoever.

And then these shmucks infantile, worthless dribble of a review gets quoted, passed around and used as an attack and defence by all sorts of equally retarded little fanchildren, which is why I've grown so out of favour with it.

It started when I saw a UK magazine give Metal Gear Solid 2 78% and the backlash was like the world was over, and it reached a pinnacle with the Zelda 8.8 fiasco.

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 5:33 pm

Well, the poor English skills are quite obvious. I'm not sure the knowledge of the industry is altogether relevant though. As long as the reviewers have enough experience with games to have some decent standard by which to judge the games under review, and can at least contextualize their opinions enough to root them in some factual aspects of the game that they either liked or disliked, that counts for something. At least, in that case, I can get something out of reading the review, even if I'm not convinced that I would sharte the reviewer's opinion of the game.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 7:44 pm

reviews are for suckers. real gamers judge games by cover art.

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 3:14 am

God newegg is really starting to piss me off. It's been over 24 hours since they charged my account and they still haven't shipped Persona 4. I'm partially inclined to believe they did it intentionally to keep me from cancelling my order and ordering from a place that's more inclined to ship in a timely fashion. After all, that's what happened with Persona 3 FES. I'm not exactly sure what possessed me to preorder anything from newegg again after that, but if P4 doesn't get here by Friday, I'm pretty determined to never order anything, preorder or not, from them again. They must be punished with the loss of my dollars and a tarnished name!

Yuka · Post by **Yuka** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 11:44 am

Why are assignment introductions the hardest part to write?

I could waffle the rest no problem, when it comes to starting I just stare at a blank page for about an hour. Grr.

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 12:20 pm

newegg? Sounds silly

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 1:12 pm

They often have lower prices on games, but apparently it's not worth it!

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 1:26 pm

Still not sent it then?

Yuka · Post by **Yuka** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 2:40 pm

Assignment done

Now I never want to hear about German game censorship again.

Some mook wanted to make it a crime to inflict violence upon 'human or human looking characters' despite the fact that alienating german players and companies will probably be detrimental to the 1.7 billion euros it makes...

Oh and there was no evidence to support their case either. Lulz.

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 3:24 pm

Still not sent and it's been over 36 hours since I received the email about my account being charged. Even that came pretty late, as it was around 10 pm on the day of the game's release. I'm sure most other places had shipped off their preorders by then. I'm considering writing newegg a nasty note about how they have a responsibility to send off their preorders in a timely fashion and that if they can't manage to do this, they have no business taking preorders at all.

Also, I might mention that they should really do their best to make up for their tardiness, even if it comes at expense to themselves, by upgrading my shipping at no additional cost to me in order to ensure that it arrives as close to when it would have if they had shipped it promptly. I don't really care if their profit margins on game sales are thin enough that the might take a loss on the purchase if they do that. That's the way the cookie crumbles and it should be the company's loss rather than the consumer's when the company fails to meet its obligations. Point is, I can accept that it might have gotten here on Friday even if they had shipped it precisely when they should have. However, if it doesn't come until Monday (as I doubt it would be delivered on a weekend) because of Newegg's inepitude. I will never purchase anything from that site again. As it stands, I'm already pretty damn sure I'll never preorder anything from there again, but they can still save themselves from my wrath by doing everything they can to see to it that I have my hands on a copy of P4 this weekend.

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 4:52 pm

Give dem motherfuckaz hell!

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 5:07 pm

Yeah, but if they responded by taking even longer, that would sure suck.

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 7:01 pm

Why would they take longer if you complained?

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 7:40 pm

To be jerks? For revenge. just like I'll be getting revenge by never buying from them again if they don't get an employee to hand deliver it so that it comes on Friday.

Edit: Hey! How do search engines like google work? If I type "Newegg sucks! Newegg sucks Newegg sucks!" enough times, will it go to the top of the list for Newegg searches? It would be great if they were googling themselves to see the buzz on their site and one of the first things they came across was my ranting about their failure to deliver on my preorder in a timely manner. Then they would really regret screwing around with me.

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 12:05 pm

I think Kneepads is angry

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 2:21 pm

I sure am!

I just sent this note to Newegg. It would have been longer and included more ranting, but I was limited to 1000 characters.

This is truly going beyond the pale. Most internet stores would ship preorders on the release day of the product. Newegg apparently didn't even start processing m order until 10 pm of that day. That's bad enough, but now it's been almost 60 hours since my account was charged and no apparent movement has been made on this order. That's longer than the 1-2 days Newegg suggests processing and order might take even if we start the clock at 10 pm on the day of release, which, to be clear, we should not.
Preorders can be made well in advance. This one certainly was. Everything should be done to make sure things go smoothly and they ship on the day of release. If Newegg is unable or unwilling to handle preorders properly, perhaps you should not be taking preorders at all.
I had every reason to expect this game in hand by today at the latest. If you can not or will not get it to me before the weekend is up, forget it. Just give me my money back and I'll get it elsewhere.

I also wanted to say they could forget about repeat business from me, but I ran out of room. Hopefully, they could infer that part though.

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 3:12 pm

You forgot the swear words too.

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 3:31 pm

Ha ha. True. I'm not sure that would have been helpful though. Warranted? Yes. Helpful? I don't know.

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 3:42 pm

I can send them an email calling them a bunch of fuckzips if you want?

Yuka · Post by **Yuka** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 3:57 pm

Email them a drawing of a spider as payment

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 4:21 pm

Damien wrote:I can send them an email calling them a bunch of fuckzips if you want?

Would you?

Yuka - They already have my money. They've had my money since Tuesday at 10 pm. That's why I'm asking them to return my money if they're not going to bother to make sure I get it this weekend. I suppose I could additionally pay them with a drawing of a spider, but that would be like a bonus and they definitely don't deserve a bonus.

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 4:31 pm

What if it turns out to be an EXPLODING spider?

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 4:36 pm

It might explode my game.

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 4:57 pm

Should have pirated tbh

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 5:03 pm

ROFL. No way, man. I like Atlus. It's Newegg I'm hating on.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 8:33 pm

Newegg also sells laptop AC adapters with falsified compatability information and makes the return process so intricate, painful and time sensative that you can never, ever get your money back.

But man is their RAM cheap.

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 8:45 pm

Fcuk them and their RAM! Well, at least this isn't as bad as the Suikoden III Incident of '02 (read as "ought two"), yet. Newegg wasn't to blame for that one though. I believe it was Amazon.

Yuka · Post by **Yuka** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 8:51 pm

Woop. Finished Eternal Sonata. Major WTF at the ending, and how easy the last 6 bosses were.

Since I finished Uni today, I declare this weekend Last Remnant and NO socialising weekend

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 8:59 pm

Every weekend should be NO socialising weekend.

Well, I went to the livechat on the site to talk to a customer service rep. She said she would get my order cancelled, so good enough. That frees me up to buy a copy in a store and if they fail to return my money now, I'll just sue their asses for compensation.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 1:33 am

Don't sue. It'll go terribly, cost you tons of money, go on forever, and not get you anywhere.

Write the attorney general instead.

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 2:34 am

Okay. That sounds awesome, so I'll do that.

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 10:04 am

Yuka wrote:Woop. Finished Eternal Sonata. Major WTF at the ending, and how easy the last 6 bosses were.

Since I finished Uni today, I declare this weekend Last Remnant and NO socialising weekend

How many hours was Eternal Sonata?

Yuka · Post by **Yuka** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 10:13 am

Twenty-something? Very short. But you need to do some feckoffhard dungeon and a second playthrough for all the achievements, so it'll last longer than Xenosaga II at least.

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 10:29 am

If I ever manage to play it through, I very much doubt I'm going to play it through again

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 1:41 pm

OMG!

We need some kind of

going :supersaiyanfrust smiley for this! They shipped the fcuking thing! They shipped the fcuking thing when I said don't bother if you can't get it here before the weekend is up and also after I had simply and plainly said just cancel it to a customer service rep and the rep said she would!

Now I can't go out and buy it because I'll have two copies on my hand and I won't get the money back for it.

I would say this had better be some seriously extra special major expedited shipping, but with an ETA of fucking 12/17, it's already pretty damn obvious that my shipping wasn't upgraded in the slightest. Those pieces of shit just completely ignored me and they can go to hell. I think I'm going to complain to the BBB about them at the very least, but I expect it probably won't fcuk with their AAA rating, which they definitely do not deserve.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 5:18 pm

BBB keeps track of whether or not there are any complaints in the last whatever span of time, so it might mess with them a little. Not that anyone ever checks.

Also, they totally shipped it because you canceled it. It's not a coincidence. Once you resign yourself to recieving it on 12/17, they'll use package intercept to pull it back to their warehouses. They may be trying to drive you mad.

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 6:21 pm

They probably will too, since I sent a sarcastic note "thanking" them for sending the package after I asked them to cancel it and then told them I would never order from them again. If I knew ahead of time that they would do something like that, I would go and buy a copy today as I had planned to do before I got the email saying the fuckers shipped it. That's why I'm sure you're right. They'll only intercept it when I don't want them to anymore. Like on 12/16. Worst company UncAer!

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 6:22 pm

Tbh, if you spoke to a person you could have a good chance of getting it for free if you complain now!

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 6:25 pm

Damien wrote:Tbh, if you spoke to a person you could have a good chance of getting it for free if you complain now!

You mean like actual speech with real voices and everything?

Damien · Post by **Damien** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 11:27 pm

Nah, I mean whatever form of one-to-one contact it may have been.

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 11:44 pm

Oh good, because I don't want to use the phone and hear a real human voice or anything crazy like that.

Yuka · Post by **Yuka** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 11:50 pm

There's no such thing as real people. All that exists outside of the internet is cold, cold dissapointment.
And pizza.

Lord Golbez · Post by **Lord Golbez** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 11:57 pm

What about tea and biscuits?

Yuka · Post by **Yuka** » Sun Dec 14, 2008 8:13 pm

That probably comes under 'cold, cold dissapointment'

Harsh, but true.