VERSALIA'S PROFILE

author=Miracle
If you don't want to totally overhaul the sprites, what I would suggest is desaturating the color palette. ^^

It takes practically no effort and makes a big difference :D

I was going to suggest the exact same thing. FYI: Miracle gives excellent graphics advice in general

author=Feldschlacht IV
I don't really want to be compared to professional games/game makers. I'm not a professional game maker, nor do I ever, ever want to be. I'm sure plenty of people who make games here feel the same way, and I'm sure plenty of people who play the games here aren't holding our games to a professional standard either (they're free, for one thing).

I am not a professional game maker.

Yes exactly, but then, there ARE people trying to hold themselves up to some kind of professional standards. I don't think we should review games by comparing them to professional games, but if we have to have a numeric rating system, we should use the same one.

If we don't have to have it, let's go with Racheal's idea. Terrible -> Poor -> Below Average -> Average -> Above Average -> Great -> Amazing

I see nothing against the "game magazine"/professional model of 7.5/10 being average. After all, nobody wants a low rating on their game, we don't want an entire site full of what looks like crap. In school, 5/10 is a failing grade. Even RESTAURANTS are out of 4 stars, and a 2/4 is barely acceptable. Hell, even Hotels. Do you ever hear anyone bragging that their review got a solid 2 stars?

Whether you try to lift up the bad games or celebrate the good games is a matter of personal philosophy and I don't think there's a consensus on which should be done here.

The problem is the relativity of peoples' opinions. Frequently, people seem to want to respond to bad reviews or specific criticisms with "but it's better than so many other RM* games" or "well everyone else does the same thing" which is really the same as saying it is the most fragrant turd in the punchbowl. Let's stop pointing to "other RM* games" as an acceptable level of the bar, because any idiot can and has picked up an RM* engine and puked out gaem.

author=Sailerius
we should make better games that deserve a higher score instead of adjusting our scores to make our games look better.

author=Deckiller
Hero's Realm to me was an excellent RPG Maker game - just as enjoyable as an average professional RPG. My scoring would be whatever "average" constitutes (2.5/5 or 3.5/5...but not 4.5/5)

This seems pretty okay to me. As compared to a professional RPG, I would have to give Hero's Realm 3.5. Compared to "other RM fare" it's a solid 4-5 stars, because that is using the frame of mind that other people have mentioned about scoring based on intent. I understand what the game is going for, it entertains me, it makes sense... but if it was compared to a modern, professional RPG that wasn't 'going for' the nostalgic design? That score isn't going to hold up. I do think it's a little unfair to hold every RM* game to a FULLY professional standard. We're not professionals. Games like Hero's Realm DO deserve recognition for design intent, so it's hard for me to come down clearly on one side of the standard or not.

(can I also add that using 2k3 automatically takes you out of the running to be truly compared to anything professional? if you want to get down to the nitty-gritty, the engine, resolution etc are all going to hold you back on a 100% professional scoring scale)

author=yamata no orochi
It's just that my experience with this thing appears to have been so incredibly different from your experience that I'm struggling to see how we could have played the same game.

This happens a lot in real life.

OPINIONS ARE HAPPENING

Best spell ever.