This is quite the in-depth article on the topic, I might have to read through it a few times to digest it all.
One thing I was going to point out was I definitely see benefit to working on software changes where possible to save the cost of needing specialized equipment. The article does cover this
Holden cites Sea of Thieves’ addition of 'single stick' controls, where any swashbuckling and/or plundering can be performed using a single thumbstick
I was going to mention PSO2: NGS which has a single button to cast any spells based on what might be best for that situation (maybe one of the few things I liked about that game...). Definitely would like to see more of that. I also play FF14 and read a theory that the devs there consider button bloat a game feature, so whenever they simplify one skill (by making it a single button) they have to split another skill by making it multiple instead, which I find really unfortunate, I have a disabled friend who has trouble playing much due to the mass amount of skills.
And yea, definitely a good idea to donate to charity. SpecialEffect is listed which has been in the Yogscast Jingle Jam charity event at the end of the year. Assuming they have one this year and are taking part, might be a good idea to send some money their way or to other relevant charities for people who can do so
Holy monopoly if that happened. Also imagine the damage to Japanese culture if one of their treasured companies was owned by a company in another country.
Half of this article’s word count seems to be the writer snarking about how he doesn’t care about these games and doesn’t know much about them. I guess it’s good to show contempt for your audience…
I guess it’s good to show contempt for your audience…
I don’t know. There have been plenty of times I’ve wondered if people in gaming communities actual enjoy games at all, instead of just talking about how bad they are.
You should’ve seen the article they did on the Valheim update. The journalist said he only played the game once and just copy/pasted patch notes interlaced with stories about his CNC machine.
lol yeah that’s the one. It was a washing machine.
However, I don’t like the idea of doing a dry news post, so I’m going to interject information about the washing machine malfunction I’m currently dealing with, so that the quoted press release seems incredibly colourful by comparison.
Meh…I’m sure it’s still NMS. Feels so empty and boring anytime I’ve trying to replay after getting screwed over with buying this game after I was lied too.
Won’t be trying this new sticker or whatever new thing they are working on. No thanks.
I kind of feel you on this. I can build amazing things, find cool ships, kit out my freighter, and all that lovely stuff but theres no point to it. Theres no evil empire to fight, no galaxy to save, no dungeons to raid. Its a great sandbox, but not a lot of reason to be in it after a while.
Yeah, I’m glad they put the work in and I’ve gotten a lot of hours, but…certain things about the game seem broken by design. I just don’t feel like buying a more expensive ship is letting me do things that I couldn’t do without it. So personally I’m looking forward to their next game, and seeing what they do with all the lessons they’ve learned here. But I’m probably done with NMS.
I don’t give rats ass what the ‘news’ says about this game, or any game. That’s the damn reason this game was sold on lies in the first place. Bullshit news. I make my own opinion based on actually doing the thing. I replayed (the words you still didn’t read) and made the opinion that it’s still a boring crappy game that makes me want my money back still.
The point is, the game is boring and has nothing to do. Why bother getting bigger ships. There’s literally no point. Gameplay is not fun in any way and I will not force myself to get enjoyment out because that clearly defeats the point of enjoyment.
The only good thing this game and Sean ‘give me my money back’ Murray did, was make me not trust any developer until I get their full game for free and test it on my own time and finding out where the company is full of shit and lying to its userbase.
I remember playing this game when it first came out as a mobile game. Super cool concept, but I also remember hearing the drama from the start. I definitely thought this game had been abandoned a looong time ago.
I remember loving it when it came out for mobile and really liking the updates for a while. Then I didn’t play it for some time as I had done most stuff and when I came back it had had some big update that completely changed it and I really didn’t like it.
Aka “we don’t know the engine well enough yet to be aware of bottlenecks during our concepting phase and that’s challenging.”
They haven’t even seriously started on implementation with the engine yet for Cyberpunk. This is somewhat of a nothing article that’s trying to get clicks by making a very normal thing seem like a potential controversy.
I don’t see where it’s trying to make it sound controversial. Switching game engines isn’t a “normal” thing developers usually do very often, especially after releasing such high-profile games with an in-house engine.
And with how often you see gamers demand developers “just use a different engine” to solve some specific complaint I think it’s reasonable to remind people why that isn’t usually a good idea.
It’s not completely uncommon for a company to transition to a new engine between games when one fails to provide a sufficient solution for where they want to take the sequels.
Or just if daddy EA decides everyone needs to use Frostbite.
I don’t think this is a bad article - or discussion - altogether, but this excerpt really brings out the most crucial aspect, or rather how its missing:
Missing from the discussion is a sense of how much cash Slavic Magic and Hooded Horse need right now to sustain on-going Manor Lords development.
The point being, major games owned by large studios are driven by infinite growth because that’s how their business model has shifted heavily into for the past few years. For minor developers, indie, solo or otherwise, the matter is far simpler: Can they afford their livelihood plus keep working on the game with how much they’re making? If yes, good, keep at it. If not, then we have a problem.
Given how that’s not detailed at any point, its impossible to really pick a side. If Styczeń has made enough money that he can afford to work on the game slowly for several months, this discussion is a non-issue. If he is struggling to make ends meet, or if he foresees struggling soon due to revenue slowing down, it might be time to work on rebuilding that publicity.
I believe Steam’s predatory cut is very important to the discussion and not a light matter at all, although that’s a discussion for a different thread.
Those should still a good amount of earnings, even if we aren’t aware of how much it goes to HH and how much to Styczeń, so they do have good reason to take it easy.
Not to go down a rabbit hole that’s off topic, but I’m generally not offended by Steam’s cut. The platform, advertising, centralizing, hosting, and cloud saves, etc etc, seem like a major benefit, especially for smaller developers, that would allow them to get to market faster, and with a much larger audience.
I don’t see the sales numbers in the article but even then we don’t know how much it costs for Styczeń to operate, or how much of the profits go to the publisher. I assume they are doing well, but the point is for how long in the foreseeable future that will continue.
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