INT. The Blogosphere – Midnight
A mob of ANGRY people are gathering around a man named Tobold who is tied up and hanging over a vat of cold tar. Standing next to him are a whole lot of chickens and a man with a grey goatee and mustache wearing a white suit.
Angry Mob (staring at Tobold)
Thou stand accused of violating ethical standards by accepting a free account for WAR.
Tobold
Hey… They gave it to me and besides it’s not like it’s going to affect what I say about the game.
Angry Mob (muttering)
Heresy! Thou shalt be dipped in tar and feathers for thy crime.
Enter Mark Jacobs, a tall, dark, charming, charismatic, athletically-built and handsome man in his 20s (hey, it’s my script and I’ll lie if I want to!).
Mark Jacobs
Now wait a minute folks, didn’t Tobold tell you about this account on his own?
Angry Mob
Yes. He admitted his sins against all that is good and true! Heat up the fire boys!
Mark Jacobs
And didn’t he tell you that before his review came out?
Angry Mob (jumping up and down)
Yes! He surely is not an honest man and his review must also not be honest. Pluck thy chickens.
Tobold
Mark… Not helping here.
Mark Jacobs
Hate to spoil your fun boys but he isn’t the first person to ever get a free account in a game.
Angry Mob
Huh? Nevermind… continue plucking.
Mark Jacobs
You ever hear the term “media account” or “comped account”?
Angry Mob
Thou speak blasphemy tall… dark… and handsome man.
Mark Jacobs
We give out tons of accounts to press and media people just like every other game developer who actually wants their game to be reviewed. We also give out tee-shirts… comics… keychains… doughnuts…
Angry Mob
Mmmm… Doughnuts…
Mark Jacobs
…and lots and lots of other trinkets to everyday people as well. We always have… whether it was Dark Age or WAR and/or our other games.
Angry Mob
You are the corrupter of souls then! Continue heating the tar.
Mark Jacobs
Free access and accounts have been part of online games since they first started. And when games cost $30 per hour… that was a pretty big deal. If you didn’t give them accounts they might not review your game. Even journalists have budgets.
Angry Mob
Then all online game developers are corrupt. Boys we are going to need a whole lot more tar and feathers! Tobold thee will need make room for the corrupter in thy vat.
Tobold
Room for one more…
Mark Jacobs
Tobold… This isn’t the Twilight Zone even if it feels that way at times. The same is true for all games. How do you think you are able to read reviews of all popular games on the day that they come out?
Angry Mob
All other reviewers are honest… truthful and hard working. Only Tobold is evil.
Mark Jacobs
No seriously. What did you think? That every reviewer plays the game after it comes out… jumps into their DeLorean… goes back in time and writes the review? Or that they have a special store where they can buy the game weeks before it comes out?
Angry Mob (muttering)
Hmm…
Mark Jacobs
I see you got your tar from Acme Tar & Feather company.
Angry Mob
Verily. It’s the best there is! Brand new model!
Mark Jacobs
How did you know that?
Angry Mob
We saw a review of it in the latest issue of “Better Mobs and Pitchforks!”
Mark Jacobs
Do you think they got a free barrel or two?
Angry Mob
Hmm. The review did mention that they tested it extensively in-house.
Mark Jacobs
See! Free accounts… review copies… comped trips are all part of the process. Even movie reviewers get to see the movie for free and usually at private screenings. If they let that affect their opinions “Gigli” would have been rated one of the top films of all time.
Angry Mob (calmly)
Thy words have soothed our wraith.
Mark Jacobs
Now please untie Tobold so he can get back to blogging and I can get back to WAR.
Angry Mob (sheepishly)
Okay… But you’re no fun!
Mark Jacobs
Sorry. Hey… If you’re looking to channel that aggression… I’ve been working on this little project called WAR…
Angry Mob
I like the sound of it already…
Mark Jacobs (laughing evilly)
MUAHAHA.
The Angry Mob, Mark Jacobs and Tobold leave the blogosphere and go off to find some nice, old fashioned and wholesome fun beating the every living snotling out of each other in WAR.
Online Games Are a Niche Market 
Sep 11, 2008 @ 02:53:19
I don’t write a blogs or reviews but I do love WAR and GW, so could I have some of these mystery trinkets? Pretty please Mr tall, dark, charming, charismatic, athletically-built and handsome man (in his 20s)
🙂
Sep 11, 2008 @ 02:58:44
In all seriousness, can I really have anything, big or small, that is WAR releated. I crave all things extra to do with WAR and GW. I have a whole room and cupboard full of extra GW bits and pieces (and yes they are are all useful, or so I tell my wife so she will stop threatening to throw them out). My prize piece is a hand-drwan style map of the Warhammer world that was given away by pre-ordering a hard copy of the sixth edition rulebook. It is framed and sits proudly above my computer and I lovingly look at it while I play WAR 🙂
Sep 11, 2008 @ 03:21:40
Eh…the more attention this gets…the worse. I shudder about the thought of press corps being set up for no other reason than to get free stuff. I have visions of E3, where everyone and their uncle is a member of the press. Oh wait…that happened.
Sep 11, 2008 @ 03:30:15
Your blogs keep getting better and better . Please keep them coming. Its so nice to have someone that’s not afraid to tell it how it is especially a very influential VP speaking publicly.
Sep 11, 2008 @ 03:45:35
Tobold, I trust. Those other reviewers you mention that have popular game reviews out the day it goes live? Them I don’t trust. The list of competent game reviewers (mostly talking about magazines here) is an incredibly small list. That is the whole reason I started reading blogs. Finally I felt I was getting truth from the gamer’s gut – rather than someone that has to worry about someone pulling advertising if they write something negative. The old-school gaming press are the ones with the black eye, the bloggers I read seem to be revitalizing the industry before my very nose.
Sep 11, 2008 @ 03:52:56
Ethic, I’ve seen bad reviewers and bad bloggers just as I’ve seen good reviews and good bloggers. I’ve gone to hotels which didn’t live up to their reviews and others that exceeded them. I agree with you on Tobold 100%. I haven’t always agreed with everything he’s written but I think he means it and he knows his subject.
Sep 11, 2008 @ 03:57:41
Dammit Mark…quit making sense. We have no truck with that here!
Having said that, I have to agree with Ethic. “Official” reviews aren’t ALL bad, but the bad eggs tend to ruin the entire cake.
What amazes me is this…back we we started MMORadio (the original, not what it became), we had very good working relationships with quite a few game companies, getting various swag to give away, comped accounts, etc., and no one ever said a word.
Of course, we had a strict “If your game sucks, we’re going to say it” policy, so that may have helped. However, working in broadcast radio for a living…well, giving away product and swag is expected from your favorite radio station, and no one ever thinks twice about where it came from.
Same deal.
And Mark…can I have “143” in the pool? You know, the “How many requests for swag and comped accounts is this post going to generate for you?” pool?
And if I’m right…what do I win? (insert evil grin here)
Sep 11, 2008 @ 04:08:11
Yeah, it is kind of like movie reviewers. I have to watch the movie myself before I can find the reviewer I agree with. What’s that old saying about opinions again? Ha!
Sep 11, 2008 @ 04:10:45
Writing a review is the easy part, making people believe you’re not lying is the hard part.
Sep 11, 2008 @ 04:11:29
Ethic, how true, how true, on both points. That’s why Rotten Tomatoes is such a handy tool. I’ll still go to movies that get crappy reviews but seeing a low score there means my expectations are lower so I might end up liking the movie more.
Sep 11, 2008 @ 04:23:33
Inhibitor what ever happened to MMORadio anyhow? I lost track of it after my computer died like 2 or 3 years ago. I think it was Buddha and his wife that were running it at the time.
Sep 11, 2008 @ 05:36:20
I have to ask, Mark: what did you think of Tobold’s WAR review? Do you think the problems he was talking about (persistent bugs, a lack of camaraderie between guild members, the lack of ‘meaning’ in RvR with world resets after city capture) are justified criticisms, or do you still have an ace up your sleeve to blow them out of the water?
Sep 11, 2008 @ 06:20:17
The more I understand politics, the more I believe that logical thinking takes the back burner to emotions and being part of the mob. Is politics too touchy for you to blog on, Mark? I’m curious to your viewpoint on the state of U.S. politics.
Sep 11, 2008 @ 06:48:24
That was an enjoyable read, I was riveted! lol I am so happy that I am coming back home to a Mythic game, and I even renewed my DAoC account for the first time in 4 years.
I really have a lot of respect for you and your company, Mr. Jacobs. Thanks to DAoC, I came the closest I ever have to “virtual fame” when I participated and won the Realm Anthem contest from a few years back, it meant a great deal to me after the years went by and all the more satisfying to play a Mythic game again.
Sep 11, 2008 @ 07:17:16
Haha nice writeup :). Most reponses on his blog are not too bad. It’s more some of the other bloggers that wrote some odd stuff O_o.
Sep 11, 2008 @ 07:23:56
Heia Mark!
Nice read! Still laughing, even when the topic itself is worrying concerning Virtual Lynchmobs. Keep up the good work, both in blogging and of course MMORPGs.
Best wishes!
Sep 11, 2008 @ 07:52:37
Well, I can’t agree with Tobold at all. He is constantly comparing a 4 years old MMORPG (WoW) with a beta game (WAR) and even then, he can’t choose wich one to play.
I’m not saying his points are not correct, because many of them are, I’m saying that he is not in the right side to overview both games. You can compare, of course, but don’t forget that eggs are not chickens… yet.
His review is just a comparisson were WAR only lacks at bugs, pathings, and proper stuff of a beta. If he wants to compare WoW with WAR, he should compare WAR with the first open beta of WoW, where there were so many bugs like on WAR (probably more), were there was no PvP, only 6 classes, and constant server crashes and bugged missions. That was the starting of the all-mighty WoW, it is just not fair, neither intelligent at all to compare a 4 years polished game with nowadays WAR.
I’m pretty impressed with WAR, it reminds me of DAoC’s PvP but too much improved with all that banners thing, it reminds me of WoW’s PvE but also improved with more variable groups and combinations. And it amazes me because of its lore and general aura.
Under his point of view, groups are not as perfect on WoW, well I don’t know if that is true, in fact, I think that in WAR is much more complicated to set a group because of the many classes, while in WoW they were all prepared to joint like a puzzle, too few classes, too easy to decide how to make a good group.
Well, I think I talked too much. I’m pretty sorry for my poor english.
My best regards from Spain!
Sep 11, 2008 @ 09:38:04
Thank you. Love your Blog 🙂
Best regards from good-old-germany, home of Altdorf
Yitu
Sep 11, 2008 @ 12:37:49
Im in the same Euro guild as Tobold and have been a reader of his blog for ages, and while I dont agree with everything he writes he does write intelligent well thought out blogs, and the effort he puts in to do this on a regular basis is much more than I can be assed to do.
So I dont begrudge either him, or anyone else who puts the time in their free accounts.
Oh and btw I loved this blog post, very funny 🙂
Sep 11, 2008 @ 12:52:55
@Mark: That’s actually a great tool for movies, and what helped me really dig the Incredible Hulk this summer and measure my hype for The Dark Knight.
Heck, just last night after reading Jeff Freeman’s quick review of how awful he thought Fringe was, when I got home and watched it I actually enjoyed it because I wasn’t expecting anything that great.
On the subject at hand, it’s as if so many bloggers in the world (many of whom want to be taken seriously as journalists) are shooting themselves in the foot when they come out and cry foul at one of them/us getting a Press Account to review the game with. That’s not only a hypocritical approach, but a rather immature display of jealousy as well. Bloggers should be cheering from behind their keyboards that Tobold is slowly and surely becoming validated as a member of the gaming press even though he didn’t ask for it.
Hell, he’s still buying and paying for the game in the EU. So what’s the big deal?
There simple isn’t an issue, but the blogging community is doing what they do best here… they’re finding something to bitch about. 🙂
Sep 11, 2008 @ 13:26:27
I find very funny that people are surprised at all about a popular blogger being given a review copy of a game. It’s a pretty normal practice and it’s even more widespread between the “paper” press (all magazines receive review copies of all the games they write about, and much, much more. I’ve been part of it, and I know that there’s a fair level of servility that goes both ways involved, something that in the blogosphere you’ll find much more rarely). Are people going to lynch every magazine editor out there?
In any case, I too found Tobold’s review quite a lot below average compared to his usual writing (which I like), be bases the entire piece upon a continuous comparison between Warhammer Online and WoW, which isn’t really a good foundation for a fair review.
His conclusion about guilds is entirely off mark. It’s pretty funny to hear that giving guilds more social tools is gonna make the trust bond between them weaker. It’s like telling that such bond is made by people showing on time for raids, and giving them a calendar is gonna spoil that.
Also, I don’t agree about how much he stresses on bugs. Warhammer is porobably one of the most bug-free and stable games I ever saw before launch. Most other games don’t get this stable and bug free even montha after. Sure it’s not yet perfect. but there’s no gamebreaking flaw.
Comments about graphics are also severely oversimplified. In the world of gaming there aren’t just two art styles: hyper-realistic and cartoonish. When a game isn’t hyperrealistic, it doesn’t mean it will look like a late century american cartoon, and in fact comparing wow’s graphics to Warhammer’s is like comparing Masters of the Universe with a Games Workshop’s illustration. Sure, they both are drawn but they have absolutely nothing else in common.
Almost every aspect of War and Wow’s graphics go towards entirely different or even opposite directions.
Wow’s 3D models -> Low polycount and very streamlined
Warhammer’s 3D models -> Much higher polycount and complexity
Wow’s textures ->Very simple, lots of empty space and flat colors, shading and weathering almost absent
Warhammer’s textures -> Aimed towards complexity, with high attention to detail, and very little empty areas, lots of shading and weathering
WoW’s palette -> Extremely saturated and bright
Warhammer’s palette -> Varied palette that uses some unusual colors (expecially for some environments), but much less saturated and bright
WoW’s equipment design -> Extremely overexaggerated armor, with immense shooulders and lots of bling
Warhammer’s equipment design -> Realistic armor and proportions
Honestly if I was in Warhammer’s Art Director’s shoes, I’d be pretty discouraged by the continuous comparisons the less art-savy make.
But the worst statement he makes when he describes the lore saying that Warhammer Online wouldn’t be accurate because destruction isn’t portrayed as entirely evil while the Warhammer World would be (according to him) an immense struggle between Good and Evil. Well, I’m sorry Tobold, but this couldn’t be more wrong. As a Warhammer player for 20 years i can easily tell that In Warhammer the concepts of Good and Evil are very blurry and that’s definately hard to find a “villain” that’s completely monodimensional, exactly like an “hero” that’s completely good. There’s no struggle between Good and Evil in a manichaeist way in Warhammer. There’s a struggle between several forces of “destructive” forces and other forces that seek their own survival and expansion. It’s hardly a question of morality, as much as one for conquest, self preservation and survival of the fittest. If one wants simple Good vs Evil, probably the warcraft’s universe is much more fitting to that.
But after this long digression, back to the topic at hand. Tobold got a review account for the game. Many do. There’s nothing wrong about that. He even clearly admitted it beforehand. His review might not be top notch for some (like me), but that’s hardly due to a “bribe”, but becsause those are his own views. Agree with them or not, but calling to the “bribe” just because they don’t fit with yours is pretty poor form.
PS: I didn’t receive a single prezzie from Mythic, but still my own review is definately positive. Does this mean that Mark stole my soul or something? I don’t have any safe methods for checking. But I definately think that was gone quite a lot before Mark could have laid his paws on it…
Sep 11, 2008 @ 13:31:15
We poor elder testers are the most exploited by evil Mythic. We test and test our hearts out for Mythic (they use donuts and mcgriddles to tempt us) and when they have sapped the life out of us, we become so brainwashed that after months of testing we all *think* we love the game! Not only that, but somehow they have tricked us with tomfoolery into actually buying the game, when we had the luxury of playing, I mean testing, the game for free!!
But that is not the end of their treachery, most of us sing the praises of our evil overlords even after enduring this grueling punishment!
❤ Mark
crap, there I go again!
Sep 11, 2008 @ 13:41:51
Wow… and if he wasn’t a superstar before!? 😛
I never really saw what the big deal was to be honest. That’s just the way the world works.
A good RL friend is a senior manager in charge of wireless at a local telecom agency. His company paid for him to go down to a huge conference in Las Vegas last spring, and when he got there, he was wined and dined by other companies looking to get contracts with his business.
I’m talking $1000 meals at Caesar’s Palace here… free cigars… lots of rubbing. 😛
Sep 11, 2008 @ 13:59:54
Whatever you say on a blog can and will be used against you be it unreasonably so or not.
This is hardly significant or new and the practice of giving out free accounts to potential reviewers is as old as computer technology.
Hardware reviewers get free hardware, software reviewers get free software if you don’t participate in that practice as a software/hardware provider you risk the chance of not getting reviewed by that particular hardware/software site.
Thats what makes the market tick at the moment and whilst at times it may be aggrivating to some it’s hardly cause for a lynchmob.
Sep 11, 2008 @ 14:00:25
Summed it all up nicely!
Kudos to Tobold for keeping it real as though of us with brains know he always has and always will. And Kudos to Mr. Jacobs for taking the time to defend him, even though that never should have been necessary.
Sep 11, 2008 @ 14:00:36
Hey Mark, what channels do I have to go through to get the movie rights for that story? Do I have to contact your agent? Who would you like to play you? If you wouldn’t mind I’d like to make this a feature film. High special effects budget, top name actors. Ya know. . . .or just make a WAR machinema short thats a lot cheaper and more fun. 😛
Sep 11, 2008 @ 14:19:28
Tobold trascends the blogosphere. He is the Oprah of MMO Blogging.
Love the game Mark. Great job!
Sep 11, 2008 @ 14:46:44
heh, I am surprised (kinda) that people were so up in arms about this …
what with the politics going on in this country ATM I figured they’d have bigger and better things to cry/moan about
Sep 11, 2008 @ 15:03:53
@ Ashendarei: i’m not surprised. Warhammer is an extremely solid product, with a great IP and backed by EA’s marketing money. It’s definately a threat to other MMORPGs playerbase, and the fanboys of such games would take every excuse to try and dispute the validity of positive reviews. This is just a result of that.
Sep 11, 2008 @ 15:50:31
Shoot a letter over to your local A&E editor and ask them when the last time a critic payed for a concert or theater production. This is the power of the press pass. Any journalist with an oz of ethics will not let a freebie jade their review.
Sep 11, 2008 @ 16:27:12
Wait..wait…wait…You give away doughnuts. Every man has his price, mine is Bavarian Creme filled.
Serious note, he told us he got an free account, if he wanted to be deceptive he didn’t have to tell us.
Sep 11, 2008 @ 16:28:51
Can we get this script filmed and put on YouTube? Because that would kind of rock.
Better yet: WAR Machinima it.
Sep 11, 2008 @ 19:11:15
Nice!
Don’t tell me people in management can have a sense of humor.. then I’ll think hell has frozen over.
Sep 11, 2008 @ 19:12:27
I’m impressed you actually found the time to write this so close to launch. Gave me quite a laugh.
Sep 11, 2008 @ 21:01:25
This blew me away. I actually think this might do the trick and take some pressure off of Tobold.
You have my respect. =)
Sep 11, 2008 @ 22:28:39
The only thing that surprises me about this whole thing is that Tobold came out and said that he’d gotten a free account. On one hand, yes, nice of him to disclose that. On the other hand, I didn’t think that was a big secret. It’s pretty much SOP as far as professional reviewers go. Heck, that’s why everyone and their uncle wants to become a reviewer. Free swag!
Sep 12, 2008 @ 01:54:02
For what it’s worth, I had a comped account for DAOC. Found a potentially economy shattering bug (really, it was really really bad) and Mythic returned the favour. Win/win =)
Sep 12, 2008 @ 02:39:10
Mark,
Will we ever be able to buy permanent accounts? I’d be willing to shell out $250-300 for WAR.
Sep 12, 2008 @ 06:01:22
“Will we ever be able to buy permanent accounts? I’d be willing to shell out $250-300 for WAR”
I would to but I won’t hold my breath
Sep 12, 2008 @ 13:10:32
What you lot need to remember is that it does not matter how similar any MMO is to WOW. The fact that its a MMO will mean it will be compared to the current industry leader. Remember back in its day all MMOs were compared against EQ the old industry leader (and EQ had no where near as many subscribers as WOW does now). Its a natural method of measurement wqhenever something new comes out it is compared against a set standard and for now thats WOW.
Also it is perfectly fair to compare WOW now with the new status of WAR any game coming out must be aware that they will be facing this scrutiny and they really do need to make sure that when their time comes they can measure up.
I believe games have three main mile stones which they need to be prepared for, these are :-
Release – cleaner the release better the press and feedback which equals better subscriptions
End Game – You need a good end game that can keep played occupied and happy. The better the end game the longer you can keep people entertained and hence the longer they keep an active subsciption
Expansions – You need to keep the game fresh this is usually done through free add-ons and paid for expansion packs. These are used to like the end game keep people active and entertained as well as enticing people back.
It is important to realise how vital these three mile stones are to a successful MMO.
Just my 2 cents
Gadareth
Sep 12, 2008 @ 20:02:18
Mark, I had a question unrelated to this post.
In regards to early reviews I’m reading about WAR and such – a big thing that comes up in almost every one seems to be that WAR is “more of the same” in terms of PvE.
Being a beta tester meself and planning on playing WAR when it comes out for long, copious amounts of time, I agree – but that’s not saying that WAR is bad. It’s not, it offers a fantastic PvP game set in an engrossing and cohesive game universe.
My question would be – where do you think the MMORPG genre can go to evolve itself? Truth be told, most MMO’s out are still using the same cooldown based mechanics early MMO’s were. Scripted boss fights are usually the same, and quests and leveling seem to be the same too.
Is there anything the MMORPG genre can do to break out of this mold at all? Or is it just something inherint to the genre? What do you think are some features that will help evolve MMOs in future MMO games (more player created content, different battle systems, etc.)
Channel Massive » Blog Archive » Episode 59 - Bought and Sold
Oct 01, 2008 @ 13:23:37