Game News 2.0

Retr0gamer · 29-11-2023 2:01pm

I really don't mind Devs actively engaging with their audience and trying to make their product better but the reason this is ruffling so many feathers is because its just so condescending to their customers.

It's not 'we are working on patches to make the planets more interesting' more so than 'of course they are empty and boring and you don't like because you're a dumb dumb crybaby gamer'. it's like it's the gamers fault they didn't enjoy their game.

pixelburp · 29-11-2023 2:20pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121432707#Comment_121432707

Plus it's not like there isn't a genetically similar scenario and game with No Man's Sky: I know they're not exactly the same games but they kinda overlap with each other and Hello Games went from Personae Non Grata, to the toast of the gaming community - all 'cos they owned their failure to match the hype. Sean Murray et al patched the game into a place were it's now a well regarded, if not outright lauded, game; Starfield taking the opposite tack - you're playing it wrong people - will only rub folk up the wrong way.

Penn · 29-11-2023 2:49pm

Yeah you absolutely have to hand it to the devs of No Mans Sky and Cyberpunk who held their hands up and went to work fixing the issues with their games as well as adding in new and better features all the time.

Starfield is in a bit of a no mans land though, in that the game doesn't have the same issues that NMS or CP2077 had. Those games were released even though the game wasn't where the devs wanted the games to be and didn't live up to the promises they made, so they had a goal they realised they needed to get to. What Starfield put out seems to be pretty much what they wanted to put out.

I haven't played the game, but going by some of the most common complaints I've seen, maybe they could patch in new types of outposts on say 25% of the currently empty planets to reduce the emptiness of the game world and add in a bit of extra variety, but that's also not really going to change much.

Retr0gamer · 29-11-2023 2:53pm

I think people wanted another Skyrim, a massive sandbox to play in but starfield just isn't that.

Also didn't help releasing an ok flawed game during one of the best periods for new game releases in years. That and Baldur's Gate 3 being so good and filling the western rpg niche for a lot of people with one of the pinnacles of the genre.

OptimusTractor · 29-11-2023 2:56pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121432440#Comment_121432440

Remember playing TS1 4 split screen pvp with the multi-tap adapter. Great times.

Zero-Cool · 29-11-2023 3:00pm

Speaking of awful games at launch, I'm shocked to see the dlc (which was not cheap at 30 quid) sell so much. I know it got great reviews and I'm looking forward to playing when it goes on sale but didn't think as many people would have jumped on it so quick. Glad CDPR were able to turn it around.

https://twitter.com/IGN/status/1729568618281627786?t=c7OhkR_MVDo_Tod5nmDDyg&s=19

Penn · 29-11-2023 3:04pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121432948#Comment_121432948

Tempted to give the game one more try myself. Only made it as far as when Keanu starts showing up last time.

Retr0gamer · 29-11-2023 3:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121432948#Comment_121432948

They've kind of overhauled the whole game apparently including fundamental systems to make it a much better game somits.not just that the DLC is good, it's that it's actually worth playing now (according to my friend that's played it at launch and now, although they also said it wasn't that bad at launch either).

Royale with Cheese · 29-11-2023 3:51pm

Maybe all the negativity will encourage Bethesda to finally dump that game engine for Elder Scrolls 6. That said the limitations of the engine are shown up far more in Starfield than they would be in a new Elder Scrolls game, it really does not suit space exploration at all. I've 60+ hours in the game, have finished all the faction missions and am maybe halfway through the main story. Once I've finished that I'm definitely done with it, I have absolutely zero interest in going to the many systems I've never visited. What's the point, I already know there'll be nothing of interest there.

pixelburp · 29-11-2023 3:56pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121432874#Comment_121432874

Do we know if there's DLC scheduled to come? It's also possible I guess the "true" shape of the game will only appear after the DLC. Not that that's a great scenario either but it might at least indicate the game still has some surprises left.

johnny_ultimate · 29-11-2023 4:05pm

Cyberpunk launched a broken mess, and frankly even beyond the obvious technical disasters, the game had foundational design issues and missteps (that it took three years to knock into shape is a testament to that). But it was clearly a project that was ambitious, even if CDPR obviously had to dramatically scale back their ambitions over time in favour of a fairly underwhelming GTA/RPG hybrid with some good storytelling. But it was also unfinished, so there was room for improvement there too, and a developer team that clearly wasn't happy with the final product. I really didn't like the game in its original form, and honestly was skeptical about the benefits of 'fixing' a single-player story RPG, but they reached a smart compromise by overhauling the game alongside new content.

The difference with Starfield is that it was launched as an extremely polished (some - since rectified - PC issues aside), finished game that seems to have been exactly the game Bethesda hoped to deliver. The problem is the game they wanted to deliver. The best review I read of the game was from Edge (unfortunately print only so no link) which made the IMO dead-on argument that the game's fatal flaw is that it is profoundly 'unambitious', from a studio that has failed to evolve along with the rest of the industry. Perhaps an expansion pack can add some nice extra scenarios and missions, but I think the game as is seems to be the game always intended by its creators. The problem is it's not a very good one.

PixelPlayer · 29-11-2023 5:03pm

I liked Starfield. Put 72 hrs into it and played it to completion. No interest in NG+ but I never do.

Didn't like BG3 (I got a refund). It's a pity because I saw there is a good dynamic story there, but the painfully slow and boring turn based combat killed it for me. I'm a table top RPG fan and I hate the translation into video games.

I enjoyed Cyberpunk for a while but got bored maybe about half way through and gave up. I'm glad to see them put the effort in to improve it and really nothing short of new content was going to fix it due to it being a bit on the boring side.

So out of the 3, Starfield is my favourite. Each to their own. I hear some valid arguments and its by no means perfect. But in my opinion there is definitely a very overloaded bandwagon driving about. Like those buses you see in India with people hanging off the roof and bumpers.

Markitron · 29-11-2023 5:05pm

The problem with the game is that they eliminated the sense of discovery that their games are known for in favour of procedurally generated generic nonsense. This was made worse by having the actual hand crafted content locked behind load screens and fast travels, meaning the only way you could experience it was if you were specifically told to do it. They spent all this time building space travel systems that could all be bypassed with a few button presses. Everything was so superficial, it was as wide as a narrow ocean and as deep as a shallow puddle.

johnny_ultimate · 29-11-2023 5:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121432629#Comment_121432629

Small point of clarity on this since reading the Polygon article about it. Weta FX - i.e. the main arm of Weta - is impacted somewhat as there were some licensing and business arrangements that have apparently been 'terminated' by Unity now. But Weta FX is also pledging to try to hire as many off the staff laid off by Unity at Weta Digital as possible.

https://www.polygon.com/23980876/unity-layoffs-weta-digital

JimBurnley · 29-11-2023 7:26pm

Netflix adding to their games library with the sh#tty ports genre

Zero-Cool · 29-11-2023 8:22pm

Ah, finally back to where it belongs, on mobile. I tried playing gta 3 on my phone before, was horrendous, really needs a controller so that's another one I won't be touching.

CastorTroy · 29-11-2023 9:44pm

So what do you pre-register for if they're included in the subscription that sends you loads of notifications already?

PixelPlayer · 29-11-2023 10:04pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121434599#Comment_121434599

Does the Kishi work on Netflix?

Zero-Cool · 29-11-2023 11:09pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121435101#Comment_121435101

No idea but I think if Netflix partnered with a controller company or had their own made, they'd be able to push their mobile games a bit more.

Grumpypants · 29-11-2023 11:58pm

Netflix just lets you download it for free from the play store, you don't stream / play it on Netflix like you watch a movie. It will be on a game by game basis if controllers are supported but I can imagine GTA being pretty well supported.

Grumpypants · 30-11-2023 9:21am

A player after playing NG+ 33 times met themselves from their first playthrough.

The game had built them in as a new character with new dialogue from other npcs, they had the first playthrough stats. You could interact with them, ask questions, and even have them join you.

Kinda silly but kinda cool too.

https://twitter.com/NikoMueller/status/1729464828815691920?t=1UEA4FF6VF_YMTIWEsMbKQ&s=19

Markitron · 30-11-2023 9:29am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121436219#Comment_121436219

That is pretty cool but I really can't get past the idea of someone playing through that story 34 times in less than 3 months. I would kill to have that kind of free time.

Stone Deaf 4evr · 30-11-2023 9:35am

I haven't played a lick of starfield, as frankly, I'm burnt out on massive open world games, the idea of 'make your own fun' just doesn't appeal to me, I'd rather a curated experience from start to finish, and even then, my attention span starts to wane once a game passes the 30 or 40 hour mark, it would have to be something extremely special like elden ring to make me dump in double that.

But I'm just wondering, is the game a totally solo experience? and if so, why are folk getting so excited about dropping player counts? as in, whats the concern?

Penn · 30-11-2023 9:35am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121436236#Comment_121436236

Yeah even if you were just doing the main quest and knew where to go, surely it'd still take a few hours each time. And after how many times would you then have to think "Probably not going to get anything new"

I guess that answer is more than 34 anyway. Obviously he must have still been finding other new things the whole time that kept him wanting to do another loop.

Retr0gamer · 30-11-2023 9:52am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121436236#Comment_121436236

I'm ok not having the neurological issues that would make someone obsessed with a game like this.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121436248#Comment_121436248

It's industry analysis spilling over into gamer culture really. Analysts expect every game to be the next fortnite while gamers know there's an exponential fall off in number for single player games. But it's being used as a stick to beat Xbox fans anyway. I hasn't retained players like Skyrim did but that had a mod community that led to that.

Mitch Connor · 30-11-2023 10:05am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121432874#Comment_121432874

I don't think it really is the game they wanted to put out - there are way too many systems and interactions that feel completely unfinished.

Fuel tanks on the ships that are essentially meaningless cause the autofill every jump. Injury mechanics that go no where. Had types, and crew types, that do nothing - hire a doctor and have a med bay? Nothing.

I think the game they wanted to make was a lot slower, a lot more resource requirements - going to another planet would have been a meaningful decision, jumping off a ledge would have been a meaningful decision, buiding your ship would have been full of meaningful decisions.

I don't think they game we got is anywhere near what it was planned to be in 2022 or 2021.

johnny_ultimate · 30-11-2023 10:49am

I'll give Starfield, a game I immediately bounced off of, credit where it's due - the NG+ thing does seem like one of the novel, interesting ideas it has. I believe the changes are mostly minor, but hey at least it's a fresh idea for a game of its ilk.

But the fact that it requires playing through the game multiple times - something I never do, unless it's a really good character action game with fun difficulty modes - means it's something I'll never, ever get to see beyond guide articles :)

CatInABox · 30-11-2023 11:26am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121436558#Comment_121436558

This NG+ stuff would be amazing in a game that had a four to five hour campaign, but with something like Starfield, there's no way I'll touch it again after finishing it once.

CatInABox · 30-11-2023 11:28am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121436236#Comment_121436236

Weirdly enough, killing someone will get you loads of free time. You'll be stuck indoors a lot, with people to feed you meals three times a day, but you'll have oodles of free time.

pixelburp · 30-11-2023 11:30am

I have to say, I've never been inclined towards New Game+ and all that ilk; there's something unappealing about playing the same game all over again - only more difficult and that's it. Ditto 100% completion; once I get the Credits I'm kinda done with a game. It's why I still think Hades was a stroke of genius: something about its core loop and how it structured its narrative really compelled you to keep going after the initial "ending". Not a lot of roguelikes can do that.

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