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Breath of The Wild has enraptured fans and critics alike in the week since its launch. Touted as one of the greatest open world games in a decade, the most awesome Zelda since Ocarina of Time, and the most excellent video game to come out in recent memory.

Flawless and perfection are the adjectives that echo in everyone's words that talk about this newest iteration of Zelda. But not everyone has been echoing the same sentiment, and one man, in particular, is paying pretty dearly for his opinion.

Jim Sterling, known for his no-nonsense and polarizing views on the gaming industry, has taken fire for seemingly being responsible for Breath of The Wilds drop from 98 to 97 on Metacritic after publishing his review giving the game a 7/10. (Boy that sure looks familiar.)

“At its absolute best, Breath of the Wild offers some of the most absorbing experiences a Zelda game ever has.

“Unfortunately, it makes you work harder for it than you should, buried as it is under a pile of small but constant irritations that collaborate to form a thick crust of frustration around a delectable center.

“Breath of the Wild is a delightful adventure, one that tries its utmost to be as big a pain in the arse as possible.”

In the hours since publishing his review, Sterlings website has gone down and is currently inaccessible at the time of this writing. He has also received numerous public death threats and even has shared straw polls demanding he be hanged for his opinion.

Truly, I wish I could say I understood what all the critics were raving about in their onslaught of 10/10 reviews, but I don’t. I see too many things getting in the way of the brilliance, too much repetitive busywork and full-on dick moves for me to say this is even close to my favorite Zelda game, much less in the top five.

Close, but no Triforce.

Silencing criticism with DDoS's and hate speech is an unfortunate and unnecessary consequence of modern internet media. No one should be silenced for their opinion as everyone has a right to their views.

What does our community make of this recent news? How do you all feel about what happened to Sterling?

 

[FierceDeityLinkMask]

What on earth happens to your equipment after it breaks (save the master sword)? They disappear. With a few exceptions like the lightscale trident being able to be reforged, once a weapon is broken, it is GONE. This was entirely intentional. Why on earth are you arguing it? This isn't discussing whether it's a drawback or not (I would consider it so but i got used to it), this is a mere statement of facts.

I've proven you wrong, you can infact repair broken weapons in the game. You can repair a weapon that loses durability. I've proven that. A system in the game does allow for the "repair" of weapons. When you go to a blacksmith you are repairing the broken weapon. Because you can only do this after you have obtained the weapons in question and take either weapon to its blacksmith. It's repair. Call it "reforging" or whatever you did, but it is WEAPON REPAIR. This is only one of the methods I have mentioned to fix a weapon. There's also again, the ocktorok method which works on ANY weapon, and not just rusted ones. If I recall the quote in the guidebook correctly it says "It will spit it out for you in brand new condition" so yeah. Play the game and gtfo.

 

[CheatFreak47]

Now you're just being a nitpicker. It's amazing the lengths people will go through to try and drag the game down. Like the idiots who tried to mass bomb its metacritic score. I never said it was a "redeeming factor" I merely pointed out that it was easily possible to keep running. The fact that this wasn't patched in with the update means that it might not have even been a mistake.

I'm not really trying to drag the game down- On the contrary, most criticize the things they love the most. I'm just pointing out a logical flaw in your argument.

I love Breath of the Wild, I just think that there are several areas where it could be improved, one of those, if not the biggest flaw in the game is the lack of depth on the weapon durability system. It could be better, a lot better actually.

Some other things I think could improve the game.

• Discourage save-scumming more, especially with the amiibo implementation.
• Make it so eating food and elixirs actually has to happen in real time so you can't abuse it as much during battle.

Overall I love the game, and the thing is, Jim Sterling also likes the game despite parts of it not being to his taste. People need to calm the hell down over a review score that isn't 10/10. It's really stupid and it makes Zelda fans look like a bunch of lummoxes that can't handle legitimate criticism.

Ya know, people also gave Skyward Sword 10/10 scores when it came out, and that game is by no means- "10/10 perfect, best game of all time" material.
Breath of the Wild is closer to that than Skyward Sword was, but it's by no means a perfect game, and it's important to recognize that.

A 7/10 score is also not a "burn this game at the stake never play" score, so I don't understand why there's all this hate being spread around.
7/10 is still good- great even.

The game isn't perfect. It is great but not perfect.
Why does it need to be universally critically acclaimed for people like you to be satisfied, can't you just go on your merry way and play the damn game like everyone else?

Some people value Jim Sterling's opinion enough to judge weather or not to purchase Breath of the Wild based on his opinion.

If you hate Jim Sterling and his fans, then why would you want them to play this wonderful perfect game anyway? If it's so special, maybe we just don't deserve it anyway. Either way, you already bought the game, you didn't make an uninformed decision based on this review, why does it matter?

Nodoby is "Dragging this game down" by giving it a 7/10.

Breath of the Wild is already one of the most critically acclaimed video games of the past decade, let alone this year- Isn't that enough for you?
"Jim Fucking Sterling Son doesn't like it better throw a hissy fit on an online forum and DDoS his website off the internet to try to censor him!"

Yeah no, that's ridiculous. That's what this thread is about.

 

[FierceDeityLinkMask]

I'm not really trying to drag the game down- On the contrary, most criticize the things they love the most. I'm just pointing out a logical flaw in your argument.

I love Breath of the Wild, I just think that there are several areas where it could be improved, one of those, if not the biggest flaw in the game is the lack of depth on the weapon durability system. It could be better, a lot better actually.

Some other things I think could improve the game.

• Discourage save-scumming more, especially with the amiibo implementation.
• Make it so eating food and elixirs actually has to happen in real time so you can't abuse it as much during battle.

Overall I love the game, and the thing is, Jim Sterling also likes the game despite parts of it not being to his taste. People need to calm the hell down over a review score that isn't 10/10. It's really stupid and it makes Zelda fans look like a bunch of lummoxes that can't handle legitimate criticism.

Ya know, people also gave Skyward Sword 10/10 scores when it came out, and that game is by no means- "10/10 perfect, best game of all time" material.
Breath of the Wild is closer to that than Skyward Sword was, but it's by no means a perfect game, and it's important to recognize that.

A 7/10 score is also not a "burn this game at the stake never play" score, so I don't understand why there's all this hate being spread around.
7/10 is still good- great even.

The game isn't perfect. It is great but not perfect.
Why does it need to be universally critically acclaimed for people like you to be satisfied, can't you just go on your merry way and play the damn game like everyone else?

Some people value Jim Sterling's opinion enough to judge weather or not to purchase Breath of the Wild based on his opinion.

If you hate Jim Sterling and his fans, then why would you want them to play this wonderful perfect game anyway? If it's so special, maybe we just don't deserve it anyway. Either way, you already bought the game, you didn't make an uninformed decision based on this review, why does it matter?

Nodoby is "Dragging this game down" by giving it a 7/10.

Breath of the Wild is already one of the most critically acclaimed video games of the past decade, let alone this year- Isn't that enough for you?
"Jim Fucking Sterling Son doesn't like it better throw a hissy fit on an online forum and DDoS his website off the internet to try to censor him!"

Yeah no, that's ridiculous. That's what this thread is about.

I don't agree with the DDos and never did. I think it's as stupid as the people who went on metacritic and tried to bomb its score. Even dumber actually. I do think that Jim did this for attention but he might have genuinely thought this way. I merely pointed out that his review was "objectively" wrong because you could repair broken "Weapons"(Multiple). Either way, I like and appreciate your calm, collected response to me. Better then others... Who shall not be named.

EDIT: Also, when people give Breath of the Wild a 10/10 they are not calling it perfect. I'm not, and many others are not. People know that 10/10 isn't perfect, and I've never claimed it meant perfect. A perfect game does not exist, Ocarina of time isn't perfect. A perfect game is a game that CAN not exist. It's a game that makes everyone who plays it find no flaws within it.

 

[s157]

Argh, have you played the game yourself? What does zora blacksmith say to you about the lightscale trident? HE'LL MAKE YOU A NEW ONE AFTER YOURS BREAKS. Not that he'll fix it for you.

The octorock is debatable, but as proven with the rusty weapons, he spits out a "new" weapon. This weapon may be the exact same as the one you threw in, but it's a new weapon regardless. The zora remakes your weapons, and so does this octorock, otherwise he'd give me back my rusty gear (I threw it at him with the intention of getting the unrusted form, also the enemy in particular are rock octoroks)

 

[FierceDeityLinkMask]

Argh, have you played the game yourself? What does zora blacksmith say to you about the lightscale trident? HE'LL MAKE YOU A NEW ONE AFTER YOURS BREAKS. Not that he'll fix it for you.

The octorock is debatable, but as proven with the rusty weapons, he spits out a "new" weapon. This weapon may be the exact same as the one you threw in, but it's a new weapon regardless. The zora remakes your weapons, and so does this octorock, otherwise he'd give me back my rusty gear (I threw it at him with the intention of getting the unrusted form, also the enemy in particular are rock octoroks)

No, I've quoted from the guidebook. It's not a new weapon, the rock ocktorok repairs it. Non debatable. Sorry to burst your bubble but this proves that "there is a weapon repair system" and that "Broken weapons can be repaired" so yeah! GG Mate, try harder. He repairs a rusted and broken weapon or a weapon that loses durability, he doesn't give you a new one. He "repairs" it.

 

[s157]

"Broken" weapons can be repairable? Aside from the two that the Zora will reforge, and huge emphasis on reforge, what happens to my weapons save for the "unbreakable" ones after I use up all their durability? They are gone. Do I lose it forever? Yes. Will I find another like it? Perhaps.

Do you even know this yourself as you seem to only be quoting from the guidebook?

Once you break something (that's breakable), unless it's one of those spears that the Zora can REMAKE, it's gone until you FIND something like it. Can you fix it? No.

Let me put in a simple question for you: I have a mop. I use up all it's durability and it breaks. Can I fix it without looking for another mop?

Also, I've yet to test it myself, but the claim of putting it a non-rusty weapon and getting it back new is contested across the BOTW community. Some says it works. Some says it doesn't. I can actually link the twitter posts for both sides.

 

[CheatFreak47]

I don't agree with the DDos and never did. I think it's as stupid as the people who went on metacritic and tried to bomb its score. Even dumber actually. I do think that Jim did this for attention but he might have genuinely thought this way. I merely pointed out that his review was "objectively" wrong because you could repair broken "Weapons"(Multiple). Either way, I like and appreciate your calm, collected response to me. Better then others... Who shall not be named.

It's important to understand that just because there is some way to repair weapons, doesn't make the mechanic of weapons breaking so easily any less annoying, it just means there are ways you can mitigate the system if you are willing to go out of your way for it.

You seem a lot more reasonable than a lot of the other people in this thread, as well, so I'll give you this.

Jim is one of the most brutally honest video game critics I can think of. He has an extremely nuanced view of the current state of the industry at any given time, and that's why I have a ton of respect for him and his work. It takes a lot of courage to do what he does, and he stands to lose a lot more by doing what he does.

Publishers hate the man, scummy indie developers try to sue him, and mindless fanboys send him death threats, call for him to be hung, DDoS his ad-free website offline to try and censor him, and all he makes off of it is the money people willingly, deliberately give to him so he can keep going.

He doesn't even run ads on his video reviews or his website.
The only thing he runs ads on are his let's play videos, which he doesn't even have a problem with people blocking.

He doesn't let the big guy hold him down. He says what he wants to say and if it stirs up controversy, than so be it.
To me, Jim Sterling is the closest thing to an actual hero we can have in the video game industry.

Thank God for Jim Fucking Sterling Son.
Thank God for Him.

 

[FierceDeityLinkMask]

"Broken" weapons can be repairable? Aside from the two that the Zora will reforge, and huge emphasis on reforge, what happens to my weapons save for the "unbreakable" ones after I use up all their durability? They are gone. Do I lose it forever? Yes. Will I find another like it? Perhaps.

Do you even know this yourself as you seem to only be quoting from the guidebook?

Once you break something (that's breakable), unless it's one of those spears that the Zora can REMAKE, it's gone until you FIND something like it. Can you fix it? No.

Let me put in a simple question for you: I have a mop. I use up all it's durability and it breaks. Can I fix it without looking for another mop?

"You can't repair Broken weapons" I've proven this statement wrong, multiple weapons can be repaired in the game with multiple methods. "The ocktorok method is unintended." I've proven this wrong. " "Do you even know this yourself." Yes. Now you're trying to play word games. It doesn't matter if it's contested in the community, because I have used this method and it works.

 

[s157]

You have not proven the broken weapon statement wrong, at all. What weapon aside from those spears being REFORGED and hylian gear can be fixed after they have been broken? Good god, you quoted my question too, so answer it since you seem to put massive amount into saying you're right.

"I have a mop. I use up all it's durability and it breaks. Can I fix it without looking for another mop?"

Actually, it doesn't even have to be a mop.

I have weapon x (x being anything that's not unbreakable or an item the zora can reforge). I use up all it's durability and it breaks. Can I fix it without looking for another one?

 

[StarTrekVoyager]

inb4 thread gets moved to the EOF or closed

 

[Greymane]

I just got to say that, this thread has become so thick, that if it were a milkshake not even a professional prostitute could suck it through a straw.

 

[FierceDeityLinkMask]

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

It's important to understand that just because there is some way to repair weapons, doesn't make the mechanic of weapons breaking so easily any less annoying, it just means there are ways you can mitigate the system if you are willing to go out of your way for it.

You seem a lot more reasonable than a lot of the other people in this thread, as well, so I'll give you this.

Jim is one of the most brutally honest video game critics I can think of. He has an extremely nuanced view of the current state of the industry at any given time, and that's why I have a ton of respect for him and his work. It takes a lot of courage to do what he does, and he stands to lose a lot more by doing what he does.

Publishers hate the man, scummy indie developers try to sue him, and mindless fanboys send him death threats, call for him to be hung, DDoS his ad-free website offline to try and censor him, and all he makes off of it is the money people willingly, deliberately give to him so he can keep going.

He doesn't even run ads on his video reviews or his website.
The only thing he runs ads on are his let's play videos, which he doesn't even have a problem with people blocking.

He doesn't let the big guy hold him down. He says what he wants to say and if it stirs up controversy, than so be it.
To me, Jim Sterling is the closest thing to an actual hero we can have in the video game industry.

Thank God for Jim Fucking Sterling Son.
Thank God for Him.

I guess I'll take your word for it. You seem reasonable, and I have checked out some of his videos.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

You have not proven the broken weapon statement wrong, at all. What weapon aside from those spears being REFORGED and hylian gear can be fixed after they have been broken? Good god, you quoted my question too, so answer it since you seem to put massive amount into saying you're right.

"I have a mop. I use up all it's durability and it breaks. Can I fix it without looking for another mop?"

Actually, it doesn't even have to be a mop.

I have weapon x (x being anything that's not unbreakable or an item the zora can reforge). I use up all it's durability and it breaks. Can I fix it without looking for another one?

"You have not proven the broken weapon statement wrong, at all. What weapon aside from those spears being REFORGED and hylian gear can be fixed after they have been broken? Good god, you quoted my question too, so answer it since you seem to put massive amount into saying you're right. I have a mop. I use up all it's durability and it breaks. Can I fix it without looking for another mop?"

Is a mop a weapon? I think not. Even still, you can repair it and any weapon, by taking it to an ocktorok. That ocktorok repairs it by restoring its durability when it's broken. Your stupid mop question only proves my point. THe menu in the game tells you when your weapon is damaged, "damaged. adj broken" so yes.

"What weapon aside from those spears being REFORGED and hylian gear can be fixed after they have been broken? Good god, you quoted my question too, so answer it since you seem to put massive amount into saying you're right."


Well, there is the Gerudo champions sword and shield and the goron champion hammer weapons that can be REPAIRED after they are broken. Not "REFORGED", but REPAIRED. Trying to change the words is something we can both do apparently, but reforged does not equal repaired.

The game even gives you warnings. "Your Hylian shield is damaged." You have no excuses for not repairing it. It's your own fault if you lose your rare sword or shield.

 

[s157]

So what you're trying to say is wording means everything? Because I don't equate "damaged" to being broken, especially when the game WARNS me that my weapon is at risk of being "broken". And once I use up ALL durability and the weapon disappears, the game tells me it's broken. Those other champion weapon mentions, just like the zora spears, are also reforged. How do you fix something that's not even in your inventory anymore? You don't. You make a new one.

So then I happen to use the game's wording of "broken" equating to durability reached 0.

For the last time, I'm not saying that the weapons breaking easily is a downside of the game (even though I consider it so). I'm saying once the weapon reaches the state of what the game calls "broken" at zero durability, you cannot fix it. It is gone. You might be able to get new ones, but you cannot fix it.

So the Octorok trick can repair weapons, which is arguably debatable as I just threw in a near-broken dragonborne boko bat and got it back at the same condition. Perhaps it applies to certain weapons only. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that it can "repair" weapons, even if not all, but the only thing I can confirm is that if you throw in rusty gear it gives you NEW weapons.

 

[FierceDeityLinkMask]

So what you're trying to say is wording means everything? Because I don't equate "damaged" to being broken, especially when the game WARNS me that my weapon is at risk of being "broken". And once I use up ALL durability and the weapon disappears, the game tells me it's broken. Those mentions, just like the zora spears, are also reforged. How do you fix something that's not even in your inventory anymore? You don't. You make a new one.

So then I happen to use the game's wording of "broken" equating to durability reached 0.

So the Octorok trick can repair weapons, which is arguably debatable as I just threw in a near-broken dragonborne boko bat and got it back at the same condition. Perhaps it applies to certain weapons only. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that it can "repair" weapons, even if not all, but the only thing I can confirm is that if you throw in rusty gear it gives you NEW weapons.

Those mentions are repairs not reforgings. Damaged and broken are both synonyms. We could argue until the end of time but that doesn't change any of the facts. The ocktorock repairs broken or I'll use "damaged" weapons. IT HAS TO BE A ROCK OCKTOROCK. Not a regular one. That's most likely why you have mixed reports of it not working. The rock ocktorock resotres its duribility to the max and makes it "good as new" but not new. It's the same weapon.

 

[s157]

So you seem to be at a calmer mood now, I guess i'll rephrase my wording so that it can appease even you:

"Weapons, save for a select few unbreakables, cannot be fixed once they reach 0 durability. Certain weapons, notably the ones belonging to the champions, can be replicated exactly after the durability reaches 0, whether or not you can call this repairing is debatable."

 

[FierceDeityLinkMask]

So you seem to be at a calmer mood now, I guess i'll rephrase my wording so that it can appease even you:

"Weapons, save for a select few unbreakables, cannot be fixed once they reach 0 durability. Certain weapons, notably the ones belonging to the champions, can be replicated exactly after the durability reaches 0, whether or not you can call this repairing is debatable."

Better. A lot better. "whether or not you can call this repairing is debatable." I guess. I'll call it repair since you can only do this once it's broken in the first place, but okay. Your god is appeased.

 

[mimien]

Jim Sterling doing attention whore stuff... pathetic

 

[ihaveahax]

Jim Sterling doing attention whore stuff... pathetic

i suppose you missed the entire thread and don't know really who he is.

 

[FierceDeityLinkMask]

It's starting again... I kinda wanna watch now.

 

[naughty_cat]

I personally find this largely has to do with the fact that the Zelda series happens to be one of the few game series that for some people, has been elevated to an almost-religious status. Some people will just fall in love completely with anything that has the zelda logo slabbed on the cover, regardless of the quality of the content (Which I don't find to be a bad thing at all!, I'm like that myself when it comes to my favourite games )... It's just like when you're in love with someone, despite of what people think of them... I don't think the backlash that anything to do with the numeric score as much as with Jim's comments. I'm sure that many hardcore fans out there actually felt genuinely offended by some of these comments... Sure everyone is entitled to say their opinions over the internet, but some times the truth hurts!