cdipierr
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For a while streamers were doing this thing where they would renew a show for Season 2 before the Season 1 pilot even released. I guess it was a way to project confidence to the audience?? Or maybe just to get the production pipeline moving so there wouldn’t be 2+ years in between season releases.
Anyway, they did that with Halo…
Whether or not the game needs this anti-cheat feature, players are still finding ways to give other players huge amounts of Samples (a grindable resource with limited amounts included in each mission) and spawn in unreleased equipment and stratagems.
So clearly the GameGuard isn’t as useful as it could be.
Oh yeah, making it an FPS was a weird choice. But that wasn’t a dig at the 1999 game, but at Red Eagle Entertainment, the group that announced and never made several video games over the years. Also responsible for the lousy attempt at adapting WoT as comics (which took 5 years to release 8 comics)… oh, AND the Winter Dragon TV pilot.
Never mind, my comment was almost entirely aimed at Red Eagle.
In the linked speech Swen says:
I also want to thank @Wizards_DnD and specifically the DnD team for giving us carte blanche. I’m really sorry to hear so many of you were let go. It’s a sad thing to realize that of the people who were in the original meeting room, there’s almost nobody left. I hope you all end up well
Penny Arcade also had a post yesterday about hearing from former WOTC team members who have been let go.
They were actually pretty small when they made Battletech. I know they pretty much pushed Unity to its limits at the time. Also, some of the design team that made Battletech so great left the company afterward.
It’s pretty disappointing that Lamplighters’ League doesn’t give me the ability to blow parts off my enemies to build my own new troops so they can go out and blow up more enemies.
I’m done giving developers a pass for not even putting in the minimum. Larian and Bethesda didn’t even put horses in their games because they’re so afraid of rendering the sack.
Everyone says Phantom Liberty will finally redeem Cyberpunk, so I can only assume CD Projekt has spent the past three years creating a perfect horse with the most dazzling balls we’ve ever seen. Can’t wait for those RTX and DLSS 3.5 rendered oysters.
The golden age isometric RPGs (BG1 & 2, NN, Fallout, etc) were dubbed Computer RPGs, because the idea of translating a pen & paper roleplaying game to the computer was novel. But as the 2000’s marched forward and 3D graphics became an expectation - and video game budgets ballooned - simulation and writing took a backseat to visual spectacle, action gameplay, and set-pieces. Niche CRPGs became too expensive to be worth the risk, leading to KOTOR, Fallout 3, Mass Effect, etc; which would have more mass appeal.
As Larian has been showing, the ability to pack all that story and character moments, and present it with a cinematic look and feel is becoming increasingly possible (with years of hard work). Larian and Obisidian have been whetting everyone’s appetites for the CRPG format, and now BG3 seems to be reaping the rewards.
I found a nifty little video discussing the rise, fall and rebirth of CRPGs if you want some more info: The CRPG Revival: DnD to Baldur’s Gate 3
The timing on these comments reads to me like: “I sure am sad EA made us dilute Dragon Age into a third-person action game and chase trends, now that BG3 proved CRPGs can still sell”.
Though TBF, the genre went on life support for a reason. It will be interesting to see if we get more CRPG mainstream hits going forward.
It’s such a bizarre, but real issue. I’ve always been boggled by the idea that you can’t offer your opinion on some games without first giving them a full work week. “I know you just sat there for the length of 5 movies and didn’t like it, but it doesn’t really get good until you sit through another 10.”
If you give it 2 hours, a game should have made it worth your time.
There are lots of options for roleplayers who want to bring the Witcher to the table in the meantime, of various levels of complexity. There’s On the Path for something fun and streamlined, or Vaesen and Ironsworn for a bit more meat. You could use Monster of the Week or Bump in the Dark if you’re willing to move the setting into a more Witchery direction.
And if you’d rather stick with a system you’re more familiar with, there are supplements like Into the Wyrd and Wild or The Perilous Wilds that allow you to put your players through dangerous evirons on the trail of unique monsters.
I started with just one, and was buying digital games. I quickly found as each child gets to 6-7, they need their own switch. So I’m sitting at 4 right now, and agree hard on physical games.