Live data from Hacker News

CD Projekt Conference Call with the Management Board [pdf] (Dec 14)

cdprojekt.com

321–330 of 682 posts

Re: CD Projekt Conference Call with the Management Board [pdf] (Dec 14)

#321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not saying it's all bad. The art style is amazing, the sound track is awesome. The lips sync, facial expressions and body movement are pretty damn good. Yes there some nice side missions and the main story line is ok I guess but it's not really cyberpunk or really engaging. They advertised it as a cyber punk open world RPG and promised so many things and then literally changed the marketing of the game to an acti…

* it's not really cyberpunk* Having read a bunch of great (and not so great) cyberpunk fiction from the 80's & 90's, that's actually a theme that really shines through here for me. Crazy cybernetics & brain/computer interfaces, hacking, drugs, weird AI doing things like running a transport/security company with some splinter groups that have existential crisis... I really get that original cyberpunk vibe.

Your main character says not all cops are bastards. Strong punk energy. eyeroll

It's extremely a game that is pastiche of cyberpunk, diving neither into the cyber nor punk beyond skinning things. Where's the Ghost in the Shell examination of the self? Where's the dive into what it means to have modifiable bodies? Where's the anti-establishment story (oh wait, the game opens with praise of the cops by multiple characters, including V).

For a game that wants to be cyberpunk, it sure relies on a lot of stereotypes about people and what they can be.

To me, it reads a lot like a Boomer/GenX take on what they remember cyberpunk being (NEON AND CHROME) and not an actual understanding of the genre (exploration of what it means to be a human in a corporate, transhuman world.)

If you want to play an actual cyberpunk game, check out Umurangi Generation or Shadowrun: Dragonfall. The Final Fantasy 7 Remake that came out this year is more cyberpunk than Cyberpunk.

That said, the game is a serviceable noire and shooter with some extremely always on aesthetic choices which aren't really my taste but they might be other's tastes.

Re: CD Projekt Conference Call with the Management Board [pdf] (Dec 14)

#322
post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CDPR sounds like a relatively progressively run game company tbh. A lot of game dev companies deny you overtime during the run up to a major release and massively layoff staff after releases. Up here in British Columbia all technical workers[1] are overtime exempt because EA ran roughshod over our labour laws a number of years ago and people are too afraid to change them for fear of driving off businesses. 1. Vaguely…

Never understood why they tried so hard to be the destination for offshoring instead of fostering home grown studios. That and pitching Vancouver as an ideal HQ2 location since tech workers are worth ~50K less than in America[0]. Is this something that Canadians approve? [0] https://www.vancouvereconomic.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02...

Offshoring companies bring investment into the community, while funding startups costs the local community. Also if your startup needs skill and services not available locally that have to be sourced outside that’s more cost, whereas a company coming in will have to provide those services at its own expense.

If local salaries are depressed like that, this implies the outside investment is sorely needed. If there was enough investment available locally and local companies had the resources to hire more workers and were successful enough to pay them well, those salaries would be higher, but the resources to make that happen have to come from somewhere.

Re: CD Projekt Conference Call with the Management Board [pdf] (Dec 14)

#323
post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Playing it on PC and I'm really enjoying it. There seem to be two factions: Anyone who expected a GTA like open world game has to be severely disappointed. But if you're there for the story and Cyberpunk look & feel, you'll have a good time. Of course, this excludes the console issues. Console players got shafted. CD Project might be able to fix that to some degree, but the reputational damage is done.

PC here, agree it's fun and I think some people are definitely expecting GTA from a developer that has absolutely no experience making something like GTA. GTA is GTA because Rockstar perfected the formula and the engine over several iterations of the game. I'm sure every GTA is a mountain of work to create, but its a considerably smaller mountain than starting from scratch. But putting GTA aside, I don't think CDPR e…

550 hours on Overwatch, 11 cents an hour is pretty good.

Re: CD Projekt Conference Call with the Management Board [pdf] (Dec 14)

#324
post #173

I completed it twice -more out of boredom and getting my money's worth than actual enjoyment- and my biggest complaint is that the game is totally dumb and a complete waste of time to those more philosophically inclined. It feels like a throwback to the dumbest action games of the 90s: here's a main story and a bunch of quests that you'll be completing on railtracks. Your choices don't really matter, the world is emp…

> I completed it twice ... There is no emergent gameplay which is simply unacceptable getting some really mixed signals here

People can play games for reasons other than fun or enjoyment. Spec Ops: The Line isn't a 'fun' game, but holy shit I couldn't stop playing it.

Re: CD Projekt Conference Call with the Management Board [pdf] (Dec 14)

#326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My biggest complaint is that the game is totally dumb and a complete waste of time to those more philosophically inclined. What are some modern games that are like this? I came looking for something to scratch my Deus Ex 1 itch and I’ve so far been satisfied. Not terribly engrossed in the world, but otherwise not disappointed.

NieR: Automata is like that.

Nier is truly fantastic and dives headfirst into discussions of identity in a posthumanism world.

Re: CD Projekt Conference Call with the Management Board [pdf] (Dec 14)

#327
post #250

Wasn't it obvious to anyone who play-tested on last-gen consoles that the game is nearly unplayable and so will receive horrendous reviews? Presumably CDPR employees are not afraid to convey such bad news to the management. So why did the management still decide to go ahead with the release this year? After reading this transcript, I didn't find the answer to these questions. "Underestimated the scale and complexity…

Don't think for a second that employees 'are not afraid to convey such bad news'. Between the massive years-long hype, delays and bad press about crunch time around the title, not to mention being the most lucrative time of year for a game release, it's very likely that management egos were fully engaged in this release. When that happens reality is no longer driving, or even on, the bus. There may have been one or t…

Oh man.. I have personally been a victim to the results of management ego aka my first and only death march project.

Re: CD Projekt Conference Call with the Management Board [pdf] (Dec 14)

#328

I completed it twice -more out of boredom and getting my money's worth than actual enjoyment- and my biggest complaint is that the game is totally dumb and a complete waste of time to those more philosophically inclined. It feels like a throwback to the dumbest action games of the 90s: here's a main story and a bunch of quests that you'll be completing on railtracks. Your choices don't really matter, the world is emp…

It doesn't sound like you gave it much of a chance tbh. If you only play the main quests it might be possible to do 2 playthroughs since launch. I'm at 43h in and haven't finished the first playthrough yet, on normal difficulty.

The gameplay is pretty much identical to w3, which is what I expected going in. If you expected more than that you were bound to be disappointed.

Re: CD Projekt Conference Call with the Management Board [pdf] (Dec 14)

#329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Combat absolutely sucks, and it's the one thing I loathe about the game. You have to empty two magazine clips in any given opponent to take him down. I've never seen a game with such weak weaponry. It feels unrealistic.

Seems similar to borderlands

Borderlands has sequel rot in my opinion. The first one had a relatively linear weapon plot, as you gained levels, you'd find a replacement weapon (one of four) about every level or two. borderlands 2 was a "better game" except for the weapons and overall upgrade path. Borderlands 3 i couldn't get through without cheating due to extremely low drop chances of anything good, and i had already passed the refund time limit - family emergency caused me to leave the house with the game running, out $60.

Having "literally millions of weapons" looks good on paper, but it makes for non-engaging gameplay if done incorrectly, which it was in the numbered sequels, in my opinion.

overall, borderlands 2 and 3 felt like a chore to play, "get one hour of grinding in", regardless of how pretty it was or interesting the other mechanics were.

And you know what the main difference was between 1 and 2 & 3? Paid loot boxes / real money transactions.

Post reply on HN