Community MetaSteam | October 2020 - Out of Stock & Out of Money

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Eferis

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Nov 12, 2018
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I'm convinced the Cyberpunk delay is due to both next gen and not stepping on each other's feet with Ubisoft, Cyberpunk is probably the vastly more anticipated game compared to Valhalla but why lose sales when you can sell both games.
 

Valdien

✵ Chaos! ✵
Mar 26, 2020
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Somehow miss this posted when I was catching up on the thread in the morning.

I love Wonderful 101. It is one of the best action games ever made. Still haven't got the PC release but it is on my to-purchase list.
Totally! IMO, it's still Hideki Kamiya's best work. There just isn't anything quite like it. Hopefully, his next game is just as good and innovative.
 
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d00d3n

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Jan 26, 2019
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Ghostrunner tomorrow!
It is not very good, unfortunately. The difficulty level in the very beginning of the game is insane. I really like the concept of punishingly hard, but short and well-defined levels like in Hotline Miami or Super Meat Boy. But what if a game required you to execute five levels from one of those games in a row, and the checkpoint brings you back to the very first level? That is what Ghostrunner expects of you, and it has not been very fun to play for me.
 
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ISee

Oh_no!
Mar 1, 2019
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I'm convinced the Cyberpunk delay is due to both next gen and not stepping on each other's feet with Ubisoft, Cyberpunk is probably the vastly more anticipated game compared to Valhalla but why lose sales when you can sell both games.
Ubi already moved Valhalla forward. Original launch date was the 17th of November, but that was changed to the 10th a couple of weeks ago.
The common idea back than was that Ubi realized that people wouldn't be buying Valhalla that close to CP 2077.

CDProject Red caring about Valhalla sales is unlikely. I think there is a technical reason: My bet goes on further RT optimizations, or general Big Navi ones.
 
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Arsene

On a break
Apr 17, 2019
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It is not very good, unfortunately. The difficulty level in the very beginning of the game is insane. I really like concept of punishingly hard, but short and well-defined levels like in Hotline Miami or Super Meat Boy. But what if a game required you to execute five levels from one of those games in a row, and the checkpoint brings you back to the very first level? That is what Ghostrunner expects of you, and it has not been very fun to play for me.
I'm loving it. The checkpoint system is pretty forgiving though so im not sure I agree with that complaint. You die it brings you back to the start of the combat encounter, but theres only like a handful of enemies with each encounter. Its really not hard. Especially as you go through the game and it gives you a bunch of upgrades and buffs.
 
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d00d3n

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Jan 26, 2019
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I'm loving it. The checkpoint system is pretty forgiving though so im not sure I agree with that complaint.
The checkpoint system was what I was referring to. It is extremely unforgiving imo. The basic act of getting to an enemy and killing him has a large likelihood to fail based on how lucky you are at avoiding the swarm of energy shots aimed at you. Very early in the game, they start to string five or more of those enemy encounters together behind the same checkpoint. The game is infuriating to play for me. It is possible that you can build up enough skill to deal with this game, just like you are able to speedrun Super Meat Boy as well if you have enough patience and skill, but I think the game will be frustrating to play for most people.
 
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manchego obfuscator

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Jan 23, 2020
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My actual reaction



I actually don't know why I found it so funny I actually laughed.
reading between the lines ("almost being a next-gen title"), I'm guessing that the game runs like shit on current-gen consoles (at least the base models), and CDPR is trying desperately to get the game into a state where they don't get reamed by reviewers for it. could be wrong but doubt that the PC version is a primary factor here
 

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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So I just braved the Internet to see if Amnesia Rebirth had indeed varying endings based on your skill level, as suspected by a PC Gamer reviewer.
Turns out it’s not the case.
Two conclusions. One, fuck PC Gamer. Two, I’m interested again.
 
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TioChuck

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Dec 31, 2018
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It is not very good, unfortunately. The difficulty level in the very beginning of the game is insane. I really like the concept of punishingly hard, but short and well-defined levels like in Hotline Miami or Super Meat Boy. But what if a game required you to execute five levels from one of those games in a row, and the checkpoint brings you back to the very first level? That is what Ghostrunner expects of you, and it has not been very fun to play for me.
I played a bit today, and liked it a lot, the game is all about learning the layout of the arena by trial and error, and then executing the perfect run. The only thing bumming me out is the controls and movement some times just don't do what you expect then to, Don't know if is because I'm a old man and my reflex are shit, or if there's something wrong with the game, there's a good chance is just me.
 
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manchego obfuscator

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Jan 23, 2020
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It is not very good, unfortunately. The difficulty level in the very beginning of the game is insane. I really like the concept of punishingly hard, but short and well-defined levels like in Hotline Miami or Super Meat Boy. But what if a game required you to execute five levels from one of those games in a row, and the checkpoint brings you back to the very first level? That is what Ghostrunner expects of you, and it has not been very fun to play for me.
I enjoyed the demo despite the high difficulty and some frustration with the controls, but doubt I could put up with that stuff for an entire game. will still give it a try eventually though
 

Arsene

On a break
Apr 17, 2019
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Canada
The checkpoint system was what I was referring to. It is extremely unforgiving imo. The basic act of getting to an enemy and killing him has a large likelihood to fail based on how lucky you are at avoiding the swarm of energy shots aimed at you. Very early in the game, they start to string five or more of those enemy encounters together behind the same checkpoint. The game is infuriating to play for me. It is possible that you can build up enough skill to deal with this game, just like you are able to speedrun Super Meat Boy as well if you have enough patience and skill, but I think the game will be frustrating to play for most people.
I'm not sure if we're playing the same build? I went back through the first two levels and the game has checkpoints EVERYWHERE. Theres only 3 combat encounters in the first level, 3 enemies in the first 2, 5 enemies in the other. If you die you get put to the beginning of the combat encounter. The enemies also only shoot single shots with gaps in between that are easily avoidable.

If you're having trouble avoiding bullets you can hold dash midair and slow down time as well. Which is required in certain areas of the game.
 

MJunioR

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Mar 13, 2019
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Played Ghostrunner first level and it's pretty darn good, loved how smooth everything was. Still gonna wait a bit to see if Fallen Order gets a discount before going for it though.
 

Cacher

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Jun 3, 2020
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The delay news cracks me up, but I also feel sorry for those who have taken vacations to play it. :weary-face:
 

PC-tan

Low Tier Weeb
Jan 19, 2019
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In general working long hours is not great. One of my friends who I work with also has another job and pre-Covid he was working something like 16+ hours a day and would be doing something like 90-100 hours a week. He was getting something like 4 hours of sleep a day.

There are people out there that do it but yeah it's not something that you should do.

Strangely enough the only time that I have seen some one "brag" about that was in a manga and that was the mangaka making fun of "black companies" (I forget what the actual term is but they basically are "hell on earth" and the type of job that a vast majority of people would want to stay way, unpaid overtime??!! Screw that) even in the manga MCs co-workers looked very ill, and were more or less zombies, which is funny seeing how the manga is about zombies and stuff.

At one point I was doing 60 hours of work a week and just that was draining at times, even though my copy is relatively simple but I would at least move a bit, compared to these devs that are likely glued to their seats for hours on end, which is not good.
 
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Cacher

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Jun 3, 2020
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I had worked for 60 hours a week for a month before, and it was already pretty taxing on my mental health. Really can't imagine working 100 hours a week. Honestly, I don't want to support CDPR for this kind of exploitative working condition. Rather than delaying the game for another 20 days, can they delay it for two months so the employees are allowed to have relatively reasonable working hours like 50+ hours a week?
 
Dec 5, 2018
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Rather than delaying the game for another 20 days, can they delay it for two months so the employees are allowed to have relatively reasonable working hours like 50+ hours a week?
If I've learnt something, about all these crunch stories, is that even if they delay the game another year crunch isn't stopping. I mean they were gonna continue doing it during post launch support.
 

Prodigy

Sleeper must awaken
Dec 9, 2018
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It is not very good, unfortunately. The difficulty level in the very beginning of the game is insane. I really like the concept of punishingly hard, but short and well-defined levels like in Hotline Miami or Super Meat Boy. But what if a game required you to execute five levels from one of those games in a row, and the checkpoint brings you back to the very first level? That is what Ghostrunner expects of you, and it has not been very fun to play for me.
I wonder if something is bugged with your game. I have had checkpoints every encounter. Never had to do 5 in a row (those would be 5 different checkpoints).

If I've learnt something, about all these crunch stories, is that even if they delay the game another year crunch isn't stopping. I mean they were gonna continue doing it during post launch support.
I think every game has a crunch period, a game is never really complete to a developer. You always want to improve or will see a bug that needs fixing.
 
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Le Pertti

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Oct 10, 2018
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Heh, I only played Titanfall 2 with the EA play. And used to SAM to unlock bunch of achievements that I have unlocked on other clients. Might seem like a waste but thankfully Titanfall 2 was that great.
 
Dec 5, 2018
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I think every game has a crunch period, a game is never really complete to a developer. You always want to improve or will see a bug that needs fixing.
Sure, but there is a difference between having an intensive period toward the end of a project and this crunch culture that most game studios seem to have that never seems to end. If what we know is true, this has been going on for a long time.
 

fantomena

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Dec 17, 2018
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The delay of Cyberpunk means that I will use that month to go through Valhalla and Legions via Uplay+.
 

Cacher

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Jun 3, 2020
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Uplay+ is not available in my region so I can't try out WD Legion. :(
Sure, but there is a difference between having an intensive period toward the end of a project and this crunch culture that most game studios seem to have that never seems to end. If what we know is true, this has been going on for a long time.
I agree with this. Every project needs a deadline and there is no way a game can be "perfected". Crunching may be needed but 100 hours/week is outrageous.
Im waiting for reviews for Legion before I decide if I should get Uplay+ now or wait until Valhalla.
1hr 36 mins left for reviews.
 

Eferis

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Nov 12, 2018
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Crunch and big budget productions go hand in hand. If people really want companies to end crunch they need to ask for, and actually purchase, smaller games with worse graphics and then demand them to be delivered without crunching. If people accepted as a necessity and wet themselves at the idea of bigger games and better graphics every gen, they’re actively supporting crunch culture and everything they might say against it is just an excuse to feel good with themselves. The idea that you can ask, at the same time, to have a game with a ridiculously never-seen-before high budget and to have it delivered in a billion years so that development doesn’t need crunch is frankly laughable.
 
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fantomena

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Dec 17, 2018
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I plan on finishing these games before I take a break from finishing "one and done" games, hopefully it goes through:

Shinsekai (Switch)
Kine
Manifold Garden
AC Valhalla

Watch Dogs Legion depends on reviews.
 

Echoes

"My destiny is to continue fighting"
Oct 31, 2018
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Crunch and big budget productions go hand in hand. If people really want companies to end crunch they need to ask for, and actually purchase, smaller games with worse graphics and then demand them to be delivered without crunching. If people accepted as a necessity and wet themselves at the idea of bigger games and better graphics every gen, they’re actively supporting crunch culture and everything they might say against it is just an excuse to feel good with themselves. The idea that you can ask, at the same time, to have a game with a ridiculously never-seen-before high budget and to have it delivered in a billion years so that development doesn’t need crunch is frankly laughable.
Crunch is tied directly with working conditions, games can take longer to be finished we need to understand that. However, crunch can also happen in small games, it all depends on the working conditions like I said. The only difference is that we don't read news about those studios.

Edit: A game like Dust: An Elysian Tail where the person developing the game had to mortgage his house to keep the project alive, that is also crunch, imagine working under those conditions for months...
I found the story.
 
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Eferis

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Crunch is tied directly with working conditions, games can take longer to be finished we need to understand that. However, crunch can also happen in small games, it all depends on the working conditions like I said. The only difference is that we don't read news about those studios.
If a game required hundreds of millions of dollars of investment to be made (like Cyberpunk and pretty much every big budget production) it cannot take long(er) enough to be completed to avoid crunching. The "AAA" industry surely requires fights from the inside to achieve better protections and guarantees, but that won't take away crunch, which is part of this model of production that wasn't necessary, it was pushed as necessary by companies (with all the "bigger and shinier" bombastic announcements), and it has now been accepted and required as necessary from the gaming audience.

In small games it's an issue of working conditions and poor project management, as you said, but in that case you could actually ask for change, both from the inside and the outside, on the basis that the game doesn't necessarily require crunching.

EDIT: Indie development has clearly a different set of risks associated to the fact of going alone, but I was mostly referring to companies that are already well-positioned in the market.
 
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