Here is my Review

[Ganelon]

For those coming here for reviews to determine if you will buy this game, in order to set your expectations, you should know there are 3 game experiences here:

1) Single Player: If you enjoy a sandbox world you will occupy in order to do your thing, this game absolutely ROCKS. Buy it... and buy the season pass. It is well worth the money. If there is a fear of needless grind, know that those elements can be configured at all levels. Each map is a brand new experience, and the game lets you move between maps with ease. My advise...start with the Island... then move to Scorched Earth. I rate the game 10 out of 10.

2) Multiplay Unofficial: If you yearn for company, I advise you seek it in unofficial servers. They tend to have policies in order to mitigate the griefing that will occur in the Official Servers. PvE or PvP, the unofficial servers tend to have a better community. The negative here is there can be Admin preferences and the server could disappear with the host gets tired of the game. A solution is to rent or build your own server, then cultivate a group of players to fill out your world. Multiplay is viable, but most players will want some systemic restriction in order to enjoy the many open world elements of the game that make it special. I rate this as 8 out of 10. 

3) Multiplay Official: PvE is worth pursuing. PvP is not. There is little to no admin or moderation, and the game's player interactions are VERY open. In PvE, this leads to 'pillering' land in order to prevent you from building in desirable locations, as well as the occasional 'training' of wild dinos into your tames. In PvP, this the unrestricted nature of interactions, tribe size, and server to server transfers, leads to a constant state of PvP raiding and wiping. If that is your huckleberry, you will enjoy it. Most of the other open world game elements will be subject to this PvP dynamic. Know that you are trading the single player open world game fo pursue PvP. 

Another thing to consider with the Official Servers is that they are underpowered for the open gameplay elements. In either PvE or PvP, you will experience server lag on any mature server, regardless of how may people are on at any given time... and a full server will be worse. I rate this as 6 out of 10 for PvE and 3 out of 10 for PvP .

All this considered, I enthusiastically recommend this game. I played mostly singleplayer for most of my hours, then hosted my own multiplayer server for family and friends. As of the release of the game, I am playing on Offical PvE Scorched Earth and am enjoying it, despite the server load issues I expressed. As I am not interested in unrestricted PvP, I can only go on what the community feedback on the lack of rule set has wrought. That isn't for me. I give my total experience as 8 out of 10.