Yeah. I'm sure laying off staff who have been crunching on Dreadwolf for who knows how long is really going to "unlock the creativity" of everyone left. At least some of the people laid off will be able to find work in other parts of the company. Honestly, if Dreadwolf and the new Mass Effect aren't successes then I feel like it will only be a matter of time until we hear about EA shutting the studio down. Hopefully, Dreadwolf is good and sells well, but the people working on it have to be under a lot of pressure between the layoffs, Biowares last two games failing, and BG3 setting a new standard for RPGs.
I say this as someone who doesn't like MTX, but I've never understood how optional cosmetics ever factor into whether a game is "complete". The only way they could be seen as an important part of the game is if you play games to play dressup. Which I get if you're playing a fashion designer style game or a game thats almost purely social, but in the majority of games they don't fucking matter at all. How do people get so bent out of shape about them?
The only way they could be seen as an important part of the game is if you play games to play dressup.
You really shouldn't be but I feel you'd be surprised how many people, especially MMORPG players, care about this. I personally play GW2 a lot and since there's no gear treadmill unlocking cosmetics is one of the main goals you can actually do there, to show off your accomplishments or hard work. Ofc it's not the only thing keeping players engaged but it is a major part of it.
Besides, if it didn't matter to players then it wouldn't be monetized as much in the first place. So whenever I see this argument "well its just cosmetics so it doesnt matter:", I get kinda frustrated because obviously it matters, obviously it works which is why it's still a thing to monetize so much.
Have you ever found that game where it plays well, mechanics are solid and the art is also up your alley. But at the end of each round you play you just see the little battle pass section trying to prey on your sense of FOMO, trying to scrape out just a little more, even though the price tag upfront is already a bit higher than what you’d normally pay for a game in the same vein.
I found a game I probably could’ve genuinely enjoyed for a long time. I was talking it up to my friends to buy it on release together so we could play co-op. The demo was really great.
For it to come with a Day 1 battle pass (plus online only access when it had singleplayer modes) makes the developer’s intent very clear: we want more money, and we’ll use every FOMO trick in the book to achieve it. And once you pay, you still have to work for those rewards you paid for.
Cosmetic DLCs are fine. I play a fair bit of DST and I enjoy collecting twitch drops and free skins, and if I wanted to support the Devs more I could buy a pack. That’s upfront and transparent. I don’t get reminded every time I build a chest that “There’s 16 more skins you can unlock for this item”. That would be scummy.
It's sad how split screen is being treated. Which, I understand the technical limitations, rendering the same things twice at the same time IS a bigger and bigger ask as graphics improve. And even though I myself am playing through the game co-op with my GF LAN, not using split screen, it's slow death is still a bummer.
But maaaaaaybe that is just me being old and nostalgic lol
It's a concession by Xbox at this point. Series S is too underpowered for split screen to work at the level of quality and stability Larian demands. Microsoft caved on the requirement because the alternative is it'd never release on Xbox at all.
They are removing the co-op split screen, which 99% of people were likely never going to use, to begin with, I don't see this as them "giving up" on the Series S. They don't either...
"We're taking feedback from devs including Larian. I'm confident we're going to find a good solution and we're going to learn. I don't see a scenario in which we eliminate S.
Yeah, not a developer or otherwise someone who works in the gaming industry at all, but a deal like that would definitely remind me about what mom always said about deals that sound too good to be true.
This trailer... was okay? I don't know why, but it kind of felt like a more modern version of Communist space propaganda. Very by the numbers, predictable, and a little corny. The game'll probably be alright (most likely just Fallout 4 with more sci fi + vehicles in Space with less trashy looking environments) but this trailer's not getting me very excited.
I'll probably wait a few months for the bugs and issues to get ironed out and give it a shot on Xbox Game Pass. Plus, the longer I wait, the more mods get made, and the mods are what really make Bethesda games good.
Damn, even if it's coincidental like the article suggests; those two things happening at once is NOT a good look for Bioware. Especially with BG3 being such a huge success.
However, some slim silver lining for those being laid off is that EA/Bioware appear to be handling the situation more gracefully than others. From the article:
McKay said that EA chose to act now to provide impacted colleagues with as many internal opportunities as possible. These changes coincide with a significant number of roles that are currently open across EA’s other studios. Impacted employees will be provided with professional resources and assistance as they apply for these positions. Those departing will receive credit in the game.
I highlight the last part because removing people from credits is a shit thing to do and I'm glad to see them overtly state this will not be the case. Hopefully this is not just PR BS and the laid off employees get new roles quickly.
Not gonna lie. I read that as “in-game credits” and was curious why you were lauding EA for pulling something worse than company scrip.
The fact that this is notable tells a lot about the industry, and where major publishers can add low-stakes, low-cost value to their dev positions by just beating out others in the industry getting notoriety for being worse. It’s still good that they’re doing it, but it costs them 30 minutes of someone’s time to do something most publishers should be doing as a standard practice.
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