OT: The All-Purpose Video Game Thread: Part III

[Brooklyn Rangers Fan]

Any idea when more patches are coming for the older system?

My tolerance is pretty high, but I decided to wait a little bit before diving in on XB1 (I’ve already bought the game). Played for 30 mins and the game looked like GTA4. Figured I’ll give it a little more time.

Is hoping things are better in January a little too optimistic from my end?

Multiple mini patches this week. They're promising two larger ones in Jan and Feb, respectively.

 

[TheBloodyNine]

CDPR released a statement today:

 

[ColonialsHockey10]

I did see that CD Projekt Red will have big updates to improve the gameplay on legacy consoles coming in Jan and Feb. They're also offering refunds if people want.

So friggin' disappointing.

So weird! An alleged 9-10/10 game offering refunds to customers. What an obscure situation.

 

[Edge]

Unfortunately, I think it became obvious at some point that the game still needed work but that another delay, past the holiday season, was just not going to be in the cards --- espicially with a lot of consumers being stuck at home for a while.

In a much broader sense, some of this speaks to issues that have been mounting for years. You have video game developers that are so focused on pushing the envelope and making the next great innovation, that they tend to over-promise, and get in over their heads.

In worst case scenarios, I think games are becoming overly complex, often with a lot of loose ends left dangling. In turn, that ends up impacting trust, which impacts pre-sales, sales, consumer confidence, etc.

Within the industry there's the challenge of tight deadlines, pressure from investors, an inability to fit games into console life cycles, long hours, and broad audience base that is quickly drifting apart (hardcore gamers vs. more casual gamers).

In some ways, the shift to open world concepts is both the best thing to happen to the gaming industry and the worst thing to happen in the last 20 some-odd years. On the one hand, we've never had worlds created quite like this. On the other hand, that increases the demand to fill those worlds and not have them feel empty. At some point, that takes an even longer lead time than what we've come to expect.

Case in point, we never even saw a new Elder Scrolls game in the XB1/PS4 generation. The lead time was just too difficult to make that happen, while also creating a game that feels cutting edge.

 

[ColonialsHockey10]

I can tolerate a game not living up the expectations. Square Enix makes my favorite game series - I’m used to it.

The deliberate misleading of fans and clear paid-off reviews is what bothers me though.

 

[Edge]

So weird! An alleged 9-10/10 game offering refunds to customers. What an obscure situation.

There are issues to be sure.

But there are also people who are over-reacting and/or trying to see how many likes/shares/re-tweets they can score.

I know, I know, shocking in an age of social media and faux-celebrity status.

 

[ColonialsHockey10]

Case in point, we never even saw a new Elder Scrolls game in the XB1/PS4 generation. The lead time was just too difficult to make that happen, while also creating a game that feels cutting edge.

Ugh, don’t remind me.

 

[ColonialsHockey10]

There are issues to be sure.

But there are also people who are over-reacting and/or trying to see how many likes/shares/re-tweets they can score.

I know, I know, shocking in an age of social media and faux-celebrity status.

Oh yeah, I have no doubt it’s a good game, warts and all. I’m definitely enjoying some of the memes though.

 

[Edge]

Oh yeah, I have no doubt it’s a good game, warts and all. I’m definitely enjoying some of the memes though.

I do think you hit the nail particuarly well on one issue though --- transparency.

I think a lot of the reviews were definitely based on performance experienced on a reasonably well equipped PC, and/or on the next gen consoles that review sites/reviewers already have.

There's a clear cut-off there, beyond the bugs/technical issues we discussed. And that ties into that trust issue.

 

[TheBloodyNine]

Honestly, I’m just surprised they didn’t push it to next gen. I wouldn’t have faulted them on it and it’s really the way I thought it was going with all the delays. Would have given me a reason to upgrade.

 

[Edge]

Honestly, I’m just surprised they didn’t push it to next gen. I wouldn’t have faulted them on it and it’s really the way I thought it was going with all the delays. Would have given me a reason to upgrade.

I think with the time/money they invested, it's possible (maybe even probable) that they needed to get at least return on investment by taking advantage of the holidays.

I plan to upgrade anyway, so the game will just end up following me, but the reality is that could be months away. I think in the end, Cyberpunk will perform at a level that people are happy with the final product. It's just that the road to get there is going to be more bumpy than anyone hoped.

 

[TheBloodyNine]

I think with the time/money they invested, it's possible (maybe even probable) that they needed to get at least return on investment by taking advantage of the holidays.

I plan to upgrade anyway, so the game will just end up following me, but the reality is that could be months away. I think in the end, Cyberpunk will perform at a level that people are happy with the final product. It's just that the road to get there is going to be more bumpy than anyone hoped.

And unfortunately for CDPR, their reputation is going to take a huge hit from this where at the end of the day will it have been worth it? People are getting refunded on the game left and right. Their stock has taken a nosedive as well. And the f***ery surrounding the hiding of current gen problems from the public/reviewers is not going to be forgotten easily.

It’s too bad because CDPR built up so much goodwill with Witcher 3 it was almost like they could do no wrong. At this point I’d be wary of even playing another Witcher game made by them.

 

[mas0764]

I do think you hit the nail particuarly well on one issue though --- transparency.

I think a lot of the reviews were definitely based on performance experienced on a reasonably well equipped PC, and/or on the next gen consoles that review sites/reviewers already have.

There's a clear cut-off there, beyond the bugs/technical issues we discussed. And that ties into that trust issue.

I think almost all the reviews were from PC. And I will say on my 2080 Super - driven PC the game runs at nearly 60 FPS all the time in 4K ultra as long as I turn on DLSS.

There are definitely some bugs and someone from outside the team needs to go over it and suggest some streamlines. The menus are terrible. But overall I’m having a blast and the side content seems nearly limitless.

That being said it’s also definitely not the Witcher or anything even remotely feeling like it. It reminds me of the Division more than anything else I’ve played in recent years really. Just way better than the Division. But the Witcher’s quests felt natural and story driven. This game they all feel procedurally driven like here go shoot up this gang at this location over and over.... just like the Division. Right down to the weapons.

 

[CasusBelli]

Discovered Anno 1800 by Ubisoft. I think I’m in love. Link:

Anno 1800 | Ubisoft (US)

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

lol CDPR didn't buy off anyone for positive reviews, stop it.

The game crashes like every 3 minutes and has a multitude of other issues, but now we know why they kept pushing back the release date. I would have rather they held off even longer before giving into us degenerates but it is what it is.

The game isn't unplayable and honestly, is pretty f***ing terrific when you look beyond the technical bullshit. If anyone has the patience to sit around and wait for all the patches, do it.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

I think almost all the reviews were from PC. And I will say on my 2080 Super - driven PC the game runs at nearly 60 FPS all the time in 4K ultra as long as I turn on DLSS.

There are definitely some bugs and someone from outside the team needs to go over it and suggest some streamlines. The menus are terrible. But overall I’m having a blast and the side content seems nearly limitless.

That being said it’s also definitely not the Witcher or anything even remotely feeling like it. It reminds me of the Division more than anything else I’ve played in recent years really. Just way better than the Division. But the Witcher’s quests felt natural and story driven. This game they all feel procedurally driven like here go shoot up this gang at this location over and over.... just like the Division. Right down to the weapons.

W3's world building was probably my favorite thing about that game.

But there were a ton of side quests in that game that were also "hey... I need item x, please get it for me" and then you end up having to fight off hoards of drowners/bandits/bears/etc. in order to complete the mission. They were woven into the world/story in a way where it didn't get repetitive though, I'll agree with that.

That said, the amount of games that I put up there with W3 are like.. zero. There are some phenomenal games that have come out since, not done with CP2077 but its well on track to being one of those games, but W3 continues to stand on its own.

I'm glad that CDPR did something completely different this time around, shows they have the chops to live in different genres while still being able to tell a good story.

 

[ColonialsHockey10]

The game crashes like every 3 minutes and has a multitude of other issues, but now we know why they kept pushing back the release date. I would have rather they held off even longer before giving into us degenerates but it is what is.

So how does a game that crashes every 3 minutes with a multitude of other issues earn a 10/10 score?

Your post literally reads the equivalent of saying “The Rangers are great. They’re horrible offensively and defensively and are last in the standings, but they’ve got a good prospect pool, so they’re great.”

It doesn’t work that way. You can’t just ignore a massive glaring issue because of other positives.

This isn’t a tin foil hat conspiracy. Video game companies pay off reviewers. Literally all the time. It’s well publicized.

I’m glad you’re enjoying it though, and I can’t wait to play it once my system can run it better. I’m willing to wait.

However, it’s not fair to people with far less disposable income that took vacation time to play this game. I guarantee there are tens of thousands of people that fit into this bucket. And they wouldn’t need to be if the game got honest reviews. As was discussed yesterday, it comes down to transparency here.

10/10 games don’t offer customers full refunds on their purchase if they’re not satisfied.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

So how does a game that crashes every 3 minutes with a multitude of other issues earn a 10/10 score?

Your post literally reads the equivalent of saying “The Rangers are great. They’re horrible offensively and defensively and are last in the standings, but they’ve got a good prospect pool, so they’re great.”

It doesn’t work that way. You can’t just ignore a massive glaring issue because of other positives.

This isn’t a tin foil hat conspiracy. Video game companies pay off reviewers. Literally all the time. It’s well publicized.

I’m glad you’re enjoying it though, and I can’t wait to play it once my system can run it better. I’m willing to wait.

However, it’s not fair to people with far less disposable income that took vacation time to play this game. I guarantee there are tens of thousands of people that fit into this bucket. And they wouldn’t need to be if the game got honest reviews. As was discussed yesterday, it comes down to transparency here.

10/10 games don’t offer customers full refunds on their purchase if they’re not satisfied.

What platforms were the reviews on? Not that it really matters, but just curious.

every 3 minutes was an exaggeration, but the technical shit really should be a footnote of a review, not something that massively impacts the rating of a game. Refunds aren't being offered because the game sucks, it doesn't, and that's really what these reviews are going after.

I'm well aware of companies paying for good review, but thats an EA thing, not a CDPR thing.

 

[ColonialsHockey10]

What platforms were the reviews on? Not that it really matters, but just curious.

every 3 minutes was an exaggeration, but the technical shit really should be a footnote of a review, not something that massively impacts the rating of a game. Refunds aren't being offered because the game sucks, it doesn't, and that's really what these reviews are going after.

I'm well aware of companies paying for good review, but thats an EA thing, not a CDPR thing.

I think we’ll have to agree to disagree here.

I agree a game with a lot of bugs/glitches should still earn a strong score if it’s phenomenal. Skyrim falls into that category for me. But a game that’s unplayable because of technical issues is a different story, in my opinion.

I have heard from friends that there are many other things that prevent this from being a great game. But the most important thing is that you enjoy it, of course. And hopefully me too in January, when I can play it on by XB1 without burning my apartment down.

 

[TheBloodyNine]

What platforms were the reviews on? Not that it really matters, but just curious.

every 3 minutes was an exaggeration, but the technical shit really should be a footnote of a review, not something that massively impacts the rating of a game. Refunds aren't being offered because the game sucks, it doesn't, and that's really what these reviews are going after.

I'm well aware of companies paying for good review, but thats an EA thing, not a CDPR thing.

The initial reviews were all done on high-end PCs. Reviewers were also forbidden to show their own footage and were not provided console code until after launch.

 

[Speedtrials]

Had this game since last week for the PS4 but hadn't opened it yet, with being busy with work. Read everything the last couple days about how awful it was with the current gen systems. GameStop agreed to take it back and said I was lucky since I hadn't opened it. The cashiers were saying how annoyed the store is at the developers for telling people they could get refunds. Couple customers in the store who had opened there copy already said they felt they got duped. I'm just a casual gamer, but has something to this scale been done before? Meaning purposely not showing a game on a consoles generation most people have. This all seems seems really shady to be honest.

 

[Edge]

Strangely enough I haven’t had a single crash. I have had a couple of long freezes, but I’ve yet to actually have the game drop out on me.

From a non-technical standpoint, the menus are a cluttered mess though.

 

[mas0764]

So how does a game that crashes every 3 minutes with a multitude of other issues earn a 10/10 score?

Your post literally reads the equivalent of saying “The Rangers are great. They’re horrible offensively and defensively and are last in the standings, but they’ve got a good prospect pool, so they’re great.”

It doesn’t work that way. You can’t just ignore a massive glaring issue because of other positives.

This isn’t a tin foil hat conspiracy. Video game companies pay off reviewers. Literally all the time. It’s well publicized.

I’m glad you’re enjoying it though, and I can’t wait to play it once my system can run it better. I’m willing to wait.

However, it’s not fair to people with far less disposable income that took vacation time to play this game. I guarantee there are tens of thousands of people that fit into this bucket. And they wouldn’t need to be if the game got honest reviews. As was discussed yesterday, it comes down to transparency here.

10/10 games don’t offer customers full refunds on their purchase if they’re not satisfied.

It hasn’t crashed for me in 15 hours.

I assume it probably also did not for the reviewers.

 

[Brooklyn Rangers Fan]

Have you guys downloaded any of the hotfixes? Have they made a difference that you've noticed?

Trying to decide whether I should start playing when it finally arrives or wait at least until the first major patch in Jan.

 

[Edge]

Have you guys downloaded any of the hotfixes? Have they made a difference that you've noticed?

Trying to decide whether I should start playing when it finally arrives or wait at least until the first major patch in Jan.

Considering there are different paths and choices to make, my thought process has been that I can/will play it multiple times. But I also can't say there won't be substantial discounts in the new year as they try to win consumers back.