This morning a review (see following reprint) by one “Dirk Lammers” was sent to me for comment. As I read through the brief review the following two sentences caught my eye at the end:
Perhaps “Star Trek Online” faces its biggest challenge with its price tag. You’ve got to buy the game, and then you’ll have to shell out as much as $15 per month in subscription fees to keep playing. – Dirk Lammers, “ Star Trek Online falls short in several areas”
During recording of the No Prisoners, No Mercy show (being edited now) with community managers from Funcom one of the subjects that came up was reviews, and of course the epitome of bad reviews – where the author who penned the article played the beta for 10 minutes and wrote a two word review “It sucks.” Aside from pointing out how proud his English professor would have been of such a lofty, and well thought out review I was brought to another conclusion. More than once I have penned a private message to the author of a review whose works I otherwise respected and found myself saying “Come on, you know better.” Then it occurred to me that perhaps they didn’t.
Time and again, as members of the game development industry pass through our doors, the voice they tell us that they hear, the opinions that matter, are those who are actively involved in the community that make up their target market. As one senior producer opined of professional reviewers, “They may spend one or two levels with our game before they write the review.”
More the rule, rather than the exception, are those authors whose lack of acquaintance with both the game and mmo market in general shows in their review – and the review by Dirk Lammers is no exception. The claim Cryptic Studios will face a “challenge” because their prospective customers will have to both buy the game and pay a monthly subscription fee so blatantly screams of a complete lack of knowledge of the MMO gaming market that is like a slap in the face with a dead mackerel – it instantly negates the credibility of the remainder of the review and anything else the author has written on the subject.
Note to Mr. Lammers and anyone else reading these words or considering penning a game review: before faulting a game developer with something you might want to at least find out whether or not it is the industry standard. In other words “look before you leap”.
Mr. Lammer’s insistence that “But the frenzied pace hits the brakes when combat moves to the ground” tells of an author who was not only determined to find fault with the game ahead of time, but tells those who really are acquainted with the work of Cryptic Studios that the author hasn’t kept current with the product being reviewed. I can only assume that there was a significant lead time between the writing and the publication of the review.
Does the review trouble Cryptic Studios? Well you would have to ask someone like Craig Zinkievich, executive producer for Star Trek Online, that question to find out the “straight skinny”. Based on the professional developers we have spoken with, chances are they could care less – and doubtless neither will their target market.
See you online,
Julie Whitefeather
(posted for Julie Whitefeather by the webmaster)
Star Trek Online’ falls short in several areas
That’s a tall order for the game as it stands now, but online games can improve over time.
By DIRK LAMMERS, Associated Press Writer Dirk Lammers, Associated Press Writer – Tue Feb 23, 7:45 am ET
Two-and-a-half out of four stars.
The “Star Trek” franchise embarks on a bold journey into the massively multiplayer online realm in a game that excels in space combat but falls short in other areas.
“Star Trek Online” (Atari/Cryptic Studios, $50 with $15-per-month subscription fee, for the PC) thrives when multiple ships crisscross through space while exchanging phaser fire and photon torpedoes. The battles look spectacular, and piloting a starship around a planet while dodging enemy fire is both challenging and enjoyable.
But the frenzied pace hits the brakes when combat moves to the ground.
Away missions were a key part of both the original TV series and “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” but you’ll find yourself calling for Scotty to beam you up shortly after landing on your feet.
The first away mission, which acts as a tutorial, has your character beaming over to a damaged Star Fleet vessel to make some repairs and kill a few Borg. It does little to draw you in.
But when your character is given command of a Miranda-class Federation starship (think USS Reliant from “Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan”), things start to look up.
You’re sent out to explore the galaxies with various orders such as beaming a ship’s survivors to your own vessel or destroying various targets.
Maneuvering through 3-D space at impulse power takes some talent, and angling your ship to protect the forward, aft, port and starboard shields while multiple enemies are firing at will is no easy task.
The epic battles stray far from the character-driven original series and the diplomacy-happy “Next Generation,” but they’re a heck of a lot of fun. That said, even they grow repetitive as the adventure continues.
Despite some of these weaknesses, though, “Star Trek Online” offers plenty to please die-hard fans.
The game begins with a robust character creation and customization feature letting players choose to live as a human, Vulcan, Cardassian, liberated Borg or more. You can even create your own alien species.
And inside the closet you’ll find myriad uniform styles spanning the various movies and series installments. You’ll even get to name your character and ship, which really makes you feel like it’s your captain’s chair.
Both the new Spock, Zachary Quinto from the 2009 film, and Leonard Nimoy, who originated the role, generously lend their voices, and the game does a fabulous job sprinkling in subtle and some not-so-subtle episode references throughout.
The game avoids any “Star Trek” timeline issues by setting it far into the future, which returns the Klingons to enemy status. You just can’t beat a good villain.
Perhaps “Star Trek Online” faces its biggest challenge with its price tag. You’ve got to buy the game, and then you’ll have to shell out as much as $15 per month in subscription fees to keep playing.
I find his statement about the price rather funny. I would expect a professional journalist for the Associated Press to do at least a little bit of research into the Status Quo.
Buy the game AND pay $15 a month?! Egads! Who would ever do such a thing?!
Apparently Mr. Lammers has never heard of Everquest, Everquest 2, Age of Conan, Ultima Online, or even that one tiny game….What’s it called?….ummmm…..World of Warcraft….among many others with a subscription fee. Journalistic Integrity at its best!
He lost me at “piloting a starship around a planet while dodging enemy fire”. While the space combat is tactical and engaging, I would not describe it as frenzied. The only thing that a starship does that could even remotely qualify as dodging is the evasive maneuvers skill. About what I’ve come to expect of any game related subject from the non-gaming press though.
The sad truth of the matter is that the reviews by members of the “main stream media” with names like Associated Press and Time Magazine, are usually the least informed when it comes to reviews of any product having to do with the mmo community. The feeling I get when ever such reviews are drawn to my attention is that somewhere an editor said, “oh ya’ bottom of page 18 get someone to review that…whatsit? Oh ya..game Star tracks online.”
Julie, could you explain what you find inaccurate about “But the frenzied pace hits the brakes when combat moves to the ground.” While I agree with BlueKae that the term “frenzied” is overstating the pace of space combat – though my space bar has rarely been as heavily-mashed – the pace and interface of STO’s ground combat is something I find disagreeable.
This is exactly what I worried about prior to open beta- a mismatch in my enjoyment of two distinct game modes. It’s one reason I’ve made little progress in the game.
What I find inaccurate about that sentence are the words “hits the brakes when…” The statement is in reference to ground combat before Cryptic spent so much time correcting issues like tracking of ground troupes. Ground combat has been greatly improved. As to the pace combats I agree with Blue Kae where space combat is concerned. If reader or author alike long for fast paced ground combat Mr. Lammers would have to look no further then pve ground based fleet action, after the initial stage is passed. And granted, while my main character is at the rear admiral level, and I equip my bridge crew with heavy weapons, ground combat missions for me sounds a great deal like the shoot out at the O.K. Corral once the shooting starts.