@Brian — That’s one of the things I like about blogs. You know they’re personal viewpoints and can take that into account. It’s possibly also one of the bad things about blogs. I know I’ve started playing a MMORPG and raved about it, only to find myself bored a few weeks later, and that can hurt early adopters. The advantage of a blog is that the topic continues and the reader can see that, unlike a ‘professional’ review which remains static forever.

After Vanguard I stopped trying ever MMO that came out. Now, I always do research before hand either via reading or open betas. With my experiences with Warhammer and AoC, I’m considering implementing Van Hemlock’s three month rule.

I don’t mean this to excuse reviewers for poor writiing or bias but if you have any common sense you can make a more qualified decision by looking at more than 1 review.

I used to be a buy and try sort of guy, and still can fall that way sometimes, especially with MMORPGs, but after some expensive burns over the years I try to do a bit of research now.

If I was interested in playing a game, I’d either just buy it and try it (most likely route) or else I’d wait until some of my friends played it and see what they think.