ILLUSTRIOUS'S PROFILE

A lot of the most recent games I have played seem to fall flat when it comes to end game rewards. Dragon age One and Two, I took the gear I had mid game and brought it all the way to end game. I bought DLC and did not even manage to clearly upgrade my gear since I chose to play them as an after story. Every time I picked something up, I would hope it was something new and exciting but just found a lot of trash. It wasn't too difficult for my wife to get the best gear in Oblivion upgraded the way she liked it. I pretty much remember Final Fantasy 13 being like this too. Gear was very sparce and some top notch stuff was available early on. Money to upgrade was the biggest factor holding you back from ultimate gear; Not challenge or exploration, unless a day of farming Adamantoise sounds like fun. Then there were a lot of optional end game fights that mostly rewarded you with something equal to or less than what you already had.

I don't know if it is just me who doesn't feel impressed by end game rewards as of late. It needs to be considered in both professional and amature rpgs. Can you say you put a lot of thought into gear distribution and reward material as you make games? Do you even have an endgame, or does it just go story driven by that point?

The issue for that review doesn't even really seem to boil down to what Sai's normal standards are. Of course I am not in his head, but this is how its is seen - A corrective review. "This game has all the hype and prestige but I don't like it. Wtf are these people thinking? Now lets overcompensate and attempt to bring it down to size." No matter how true it is, it reads like that to most people and they are arguing over what they feel it is wrong. This is what I consider is the rogue reviewer that Holbert mentioned. And this is that type of reviewer he feels theres no hope of changing. They will do what they will do.

This problem is not solved by word association, but at least is made better. Example:

Three star rating - Average game. Are you sure this is what you are trying to communicate to your readers?

People will still have different opinions of what average and good is. What is different is you know this reviewer isn't giving a game one star and telling you
"Lol, do not feel bad. 1 star is what I call average so its not a bad score." By giving it one star, he has now confirmed he is telling you it is inferior crap and this is what he means to say. A difference in what is liked and not liked is healthy and feuls the review system.


For all intents and purposes, lets expect our reviewers to judge comparable to other efforts on the site. It's clear that that is the most accessible value to the majority of users on the site. We know no user is expecting professional calibur games by going to rmn. It's more along the lines of expecting something rough using one of the toolkit game makers. May those game makers who transcend such an expectation receive a 5 and the accolades that go with it. Theres something in it still for the game makers who take their projects seriously and make them well. To think that being tougher on reviews will raise the bar for content on this site is a fallacy. I expect people are making just what they can with time, resources and creative ability. People are at different stages of the craft. If they have the desire, they will become better with how they have learned to improve. No person should feel so motivated by star ratings that they totally change their game.

Last rant. You all are just too afraid to give out that 5 to a game. Yes, its special, but you don't need to wait for that perfect game that will never come.
I am convinced enough if your 5 star rating does nothing more than describe your ENJOYMENT level of the game. Someone said it's hard to give someone a 5 and be critical. http://rpgmaker.net/games/2138/reviews/970/
I pointed out a great many things I felt could be better. I am sure theres many other critiques I forgot to put in. Far from perfect here. It can have my 5 because I enjoyed it as much as I did.

Oh yeah, I get to see how old Square-Enix will further disappoint me tomorrow. Well, I am not sure the exact day their presentation is. But its soon!

Cool stuff! Not sure about the leaf blowing thing you got going on, it's really starting to be overused and I don't think they enhance the scene. Its sort of like the next trend comparable to overly-obscuring fogs or overdone (generic) lighting effects.

May as well be trying to issue a score using wingdings.
Words have meaning, stars are graphics. Its an issue when nobody knows what you are trying to say with your score. Word association... there you go.