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Originally posted by mrfett:
OK, that's it. The cons outweighed the pros that I listed, but that's because I was more interested in giving critical feedback than positive. No one should look at this and be discouraged from trying it out. I think the demo does give you a good idea of what you're getting into, and overall, I had a good time. I guess at the end I just felt cheated by no cut-scenes, the same old dungeon and scenery, and the wimper of an ending.

Hey, that's fair -- you played the game through, and didn't find it to be your cup of tea. I'm not quite sure why you feel "cheated" because there were no cut scenes -- did we advertise that there would be?

I think there isn't as much variety in the landscape as there could be, but that might also have to do with the map being a bit larger than it needed to be as well.

As for the ending, I disagree -- I thought it was pretty cool (the story).

------------------
Andrew Welch / el Presidente / Ambrosia Software, Inc.
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.

Andrew,

You know, I don't think that I'd say it wasn't my cup of tea, especially since after spending the last day looking for another OS X RPG to play, I can't find any. I'm actually finding myself missing the game, warts and all.

But yes, I think you did mislead me by having those screenshots of what I assume are the cutscenes in the demo screen that appears when you quit. The whole game I was waiting for the ocean journey. I think that single shot, more than anything, lead me to my "cheated" feeling.

The story was cool at the end, but I think that after the pan over the giant's body, I was expecting more than just clicking through pretty pictures.

Again, though, I don't regret playing and had fun. Given the current dearth of OS X game titles, I think the game rates higher than maybe it should. A year from now, when the market has matured, I don't think I'd feel the same way (Of course, hopefully we'll have lots of other cool Coldstone games to choose from then).

Thanks for responding. I appreciate your hands-on approach. Knowing that you can buy a game, play it, and give feedback to the company's president is very cool. Keep up the good work.

I thought the bad one-liners were semi-intentional. As in, "We wanted the game to be so-corny-it's-funny kind of funny." ?

Well, whatever. Don't listen to me ranting about a game I've never even played for a milisecond. Meh, I haven't even downloaded most of the screenshots to take a look at them (browser doesn't automatically load pictures).

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Originally posted by andrew:
**I don't agree. The reviewer clearly barely even played the game -- if he's going to be lazy and unprofessional about his reviewing methodology, the gloves are off.

**

Agreed. to get a REAL reveiw, you have to wait for macworld to do it. They actully play the game, not just lauch the app., andd assume. maybe we can copare the Sims with Qucake, or the XFL?

Just a note to reply on behalf of MacGamer.com.

It was brought to my attention this morning that this thread was in motion. Neither Andrew or Pat told me that anyone had a problem with the review. I, myself, didn't play the game (I can't play every game that gets reviewed, unfortunately, due to time constraints) but I have a lot of faith in Pat's reviews as he tends to be fair minded and professional. In fact, I have given him more work than some of my other reviewers because he does consider reviewing to be something of a responsibility and not just a great way to get free games (I get probably 100 offers a year from would-be reviewers who say "I would like to review games for MacGamer. Please send me (name of favourite game) today. Here's my address"). I just want to be clear on the fact that Pat is quite professional about how he works.

MacGamer (and me in particular) are huge Ambrosia fans and at every mention of that company we have tried to steer people to them in order to support a company that is no less than a legend in the Mac gaming scene, but also to put great games into the hands of players. Many of you have zeroed in on this review of PoG, but I hope you all (including Andrew) remember that we also ran three days of coverage of Escape Velocity: Nova; a degree of coverage we've never given any unreleased game in the past... but I felt it was important both to get people excited over a great game and to remind people that Ambrosia is still a vital, energized creative force in the game world... and we'd do it again, too. Ambrosia is one of the most truly Mac-supportive companies (game or otherwise) and the world is a better place with them in it. I've never been shy about sharing those feeling on MG and don't intend to stop. I believe my staff, by and large, agrees with this sentiment.

I have never had any publisher decide to stop sending us review copies of their games, as Andrew told one of our reviewers that Ambrosia has decided to do. Normally they write a letter to me about it first if they have problems with factual details in the review and I make the appropriate corrections or apologies (or tell them to get lost... as I have my share of publishers who cite "incorrect factual data" as a way of saying that they just don't want to deal with a bad review). I get the message that many of you believe there are some incorrect statements in the review... and that's something I need to know about by email if I'm going to a) Correct the review and add an apology, or Prevent it from happening in future reviews.

Simply put, if there's something wrong with the review of PoG, I need to hear from the publisher. I can't promise that I will agree with every complaint or that I will change everything that is on the list of things they don't like, but I rely on communication both to keep the reputation of my site strong and to serve the community which wants to play great games and, therefore, need the review to be worth reading. If I don't hear directly from the publisher about factual inconsistencies or mistakes then I can't do anything about it.

Andrew: I've invited you to make input to MacGamer for years and to give us feedback so that we can make the world aware of what great games Ambrosia makes... including future games. You must know my email address by now. I can't say that I'll reverse the review, but you I'll take every single word you write to me very seriously. I've been dying to hear from you for the last two years... the door's still wide open.

Corey Tamas
Editor in Chief
MacGamer.com

I think Corey's comments are well intentioned. Andrew, do you just not want to discuss this in public? I hope you'll respond again...

No chance b4 this thread gets lost in the magnetic graveyard?