LOTRO Review - talkGEEK

[blueplain]

I would recommend you really investigate the game before writing a review. Several things you discuss are just wrong, completely wrong, and it destroys any credibility you are looking for. If the reason is because English isn't your first language then I definitely recommend you get an English speaker in the game to help you out (see On Clans below). Here are a couple items just looking over the review:

On Dungeons in RoR: In these dungeons you can attain star lit crystals and tarnished crests. You use Tarnish crests to craft nice legendary weapons and a horse and you use star lit crystals to upgrade these legendarily. The legendarily can each be upgraded three times and increase the power of the weapons/horse to give you that edge. (A horse? Really? I can craft a horse? If you talk about crests you also have to include symbols since you are referencing the creation of legendary items.)

On Legendaries: Once your legendary reaches level 60 you then reforge it one last time. At this time you are able to name the weapon. (Unsure what you meant to say but you can name a legendary each time you reforge, and not just weapons but all legendaries. There is more but you need to find that out yourself.)

On Clan Functionality: The kingship's in LOTRO are quite simple. You are able to create ranks and add people to the kingship and does not evolve much from there. However you are able to own a kingship house in which the clan can meet and store all there wares. (Whoa! They did a kin upgrade and didn't tell us?!? A clan? If I get a kingship house is it a castle? And on the subject, if we have a kingship and a clan, are we Scottish?)

On Combat: Slow and lackluster. You need a lot of patients when leveling in this game. Not due to the time it takes to get to cap which has been reduced in the period of the games life but the combat can be slow to knock out the skills you cast. (Um, I don't know what you are fighting but I find combat very fast. You want to experience slow combat? Try playing EQ, now that's slow combat! Yes, this one is subjective, but it is general concensus.)

These are just a few of the many more that exist. I commend you for wanting to get out there and write, but you need to do research for something like this, not base your review on your feelings alone. Sorry if the replies seem brutal but you need to expect it:

1. You wrote a review on a game many folks are very passionate about.
2. The review is full of glaring mistakes and false information that make it seem you haven't played or at least have not experienced the things you talk about. I assume you've played a bit and alot of the things you got wrong are common knowledge items.
3. You posted the review on a site that portrays itself as an "expert" site, thus it seems you are looking to be counted as an authority on the game, its mechanics, audience, story and so on.
4. You posted a review that is full of grammar and spelling mistakes. As stated, if English is not your main language you need to get with someone who speaks and writes it fluently and plays the games. Then you would know that we are in kins, not kingships, and the group is a kin, not a clan. Little word problems like that will destroy your credibility as a reviewer and a writer.

When you step off into that role of "I am now an authority" you need to expect the backlash. I am not saying to stop writing, far from it. Just research your material first, proofread and get others to proofread as well, and wear heavy armor when you release the review...

I actually have a minstral at level cap and I have been doing the dungeons with my community. However I had taken a break due to the dissapointment that the new dungeons was hobbit themed and not rohan themed and as such I have developed altered memories of my play through as time has elapsed. However I do sence that you seem to be taking my review personally and I think that as constructive as your feedback has been your quite overpowering with your opinion, but I thank you for the feedback anyway and I will use your feedback to help improve the review

[Tarmuar]

I actually have a minstral at level cap and I have been doing the dungeons with my community. However I had taken a break due to the dissapointment that the new dungeons was hobbit themed and not rohan themed and as such I have developed altered memories of my play through as time has elapsed. However I do sence that you seem to be taking my review personally and I think that as constructive as your feedback has been your quite overpowering with your opinion, but I thank you for the feedback anyway and I will use your feedback to help improve the review

Nope, I have nothing personal against your review at all, just pointing out the obvious. While my opinion is included (and pointed out), the mistakes are there. The tips I offer are from a professional view, not personal. Take it as you like, but if you want to be taken seriously, you need to brush up the skills, do the research, and write reviews based in hard fact, not what you remember. Once you do that then your personal views layered on top will be accepted, they may not liked but they'll be accepted because we know you know what you are talking about.

I will give you a for instance: Someone does a review on a new computer game for a game review site, lets call the game Crysis 12. I've played Crysis 12 and know how things work and what is and is not. The reviewer describes the game, but the information he provides about the basic mechanics of the game is skewed, incomplete, or is something that players know is false. What do readers do when they see that? Those who play attack. Those who don't play get a very bad view of a game that may or may not be what they are reading. And the reviewer? Reputation shot. Game site? Reputation goes down a notch because readers now question how the site allowed such misinformation to get posted in the first place.


As I stated in my last post, I commend you for making the effort and attempt and hope you keep going, but please review the base information first for accuracy, else you won't be taken seriously.

[blueplain]

Nope, I have nothing personal against your review at all, just pointing out the obvious. While my opinion is included (and pointed out), the mistakes are there. The tips I offer are from a professional view, not personal. Take it as you like, but if you want to be taken seriously, you need to brush up the skills, do the research, and write reviews based in hard fact, not what you remember. Once you do that then your personal views layered on top will be accepted, they may not liked but they'll be accepted because we know you know what you are talking about.

I will give you a for instance: Someone does a review on a new computer game for a game review site, lets call the game Crysis 12. I've played Crysis 12 and know how things work and what is and is not. The reviewer describes the game, but the information he provides about the basic mechanics of the game is skewed, incomplete, or is something that players know is false. What do readers do when they see that? Those who play attack. Those who don't play get a very bad view of a game that may or may not be what they are reading. And the reviewer? Reputation shot. Game site? Reputation goes down a notch because readers now question how the site allowed such misinformation to get posted in the first place.


As I stated in my last post, I commend you for making the effort and attempt and hope you keep going, but please review the base information first for accuracy, else you won't be taken seriously.

I am just starting out reviewing, I know that my spelling is not great due to my dyslexia but I am trying to over come that and do something I enjoy. I enjoy creative writting and reviewing in paticuler. I think it is a shame that people have been negative at times because I am doing what I enjoy. I put alot of time into writting the review and I did put it through two seperate spell checkers. I have not claimed that I am a proffesional and I have not reviewed the game from a position that is part of any proffesional company. I just wanted to spread awareness of the game I played and did that to the best of my ability. As it is my first attempt I feel It is not bad considering. I feel with the tips given by some in a polite mannor and some in not so a polite mannor. I feel I can only improve. We all start from somewhere. I also understand the level of critisim tasks like these generate and it is interesting to observe the veriety of reactions from people that refuse to read it due to grammer and spelling, to people that read it and found all the points I made to be fair. There is a wide range of people with a wide range of opinions and I think that thoese that approach a review should read it in the knowledge that this is an individuals opinion wrote from there experience and too attack any points made as though it is fact in itself is futile for everyone who attacks a review have different opinions themselves. I however had made a few mistakes regarding some names and other minor items which I have changed and I come away from this experience knowing that after I have written from memory I need to read through the actual facts to make sure I have not remembered anything incorrectly and I thank thoese that have pointed out these mistakes and taught me that lesson. At the end of the day no matter how negative or positive I am greatfull that you all had spent the time to look at my work and I hope my future works will produce more satisfaction from the communities. Thanks again and I hope your gaming experience carrys on being fullfilling and enjoyable

[mjk47]

I don't think anyone has any problem with you doing what you enjoy. Creative writing is something many people do. (Indeed, my wife has just finished her first novel and is currrrently sending out to literary agents in the hope that one day it might be published.)

The thing that you have to be aware of is that the writing is one thing, but publishing is a completely different ball game. As soon as you publish your work, whether it be a novel, a short story, poetry, or in this case a review, you are putting it in front of the rest of the world, and inviting them to comment upon it. At this point you need to have a pretty thick skin. Even if the spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc are all perfect, there will still be be plenty of people who will dislike or disagree with the content.

If your publication medium is the Internet, rest assured that they WILL let you know. Hopefully some will let you know that they like it, but things being as they are it is the critics who tend to be most vocal. Some folk will offer helpful criticism, and advice as to how (they think) you can improve. That has pretty much been the case here. You need to be prepared for those who will rip your work, however good, to shreds for the sheer "fun" of it.

Kudos to you for having the guts to put your work out there. You may not have realised it at the time, but it is a pretty brave thing to do.