Let me begin this post by saying I am a huge fan of CD Projekt Red, I own all Witcher games and expansions, I have played the standalone trading card game Gwent, where I purchased kegs for God knows how much real-world currency. I will admit that, personally, first person(FP) is a perspective that does not appeal to me in video games, but regardless, I will buy Cyberpunk 2077 for CD Projekt Red despite my dislike of the perspective. I will make the purchase because of their exemplary consumer friendly practices in regards to DRM and microtransactions as I believe the gaming industry is incredibly lucky to have CD Projekt Red be part of it.
I know that a lot of people have posted in regards to the first person perspective of the game(FP), and that a lot of people, including me, have expected the game to be in third person (TP).
As fans with technical expertise in software engineering or hardware engineering have posted a variety of technical reasons for why the decision of the game only being FP has been taken, I would like to apologise in advance for my lack of knowledge and naivete that I might show when discussing this matter. I am by no means knowledgeable in those fields of study.
I understand that the studio has a vison, for their game, and that their vison of the world, story, characters, level design and combat is theirs and theirs alone. I respect their decisions and from reading responses posted here on the forums I might come to understand them even better, however, I do have some issues.
My main issue is that many fans of Cd Projekt Red have known them particularly for their outstanding work in the award-winning Witcher series, that are played from a third person perspective, and perhaps, be it their fault or not, have come to expect that the game will be a RPG in TP and not FP.
Although I understand the studio’s reasons for choosing FP are due to their vison of the world, or due to technical reasons, as part of games development, I do not understand their lack of communication with fans on the front of making such a fundamentally important decision such as a locked FP perspective before entering the development of the game.
Surely, the backlash of this decision could have been prevented if there would have been better communication between the studio and its fan base. Before starting the development of the game and making technical and level design decisions tied to the FP perspective, a poll for question about combat ideas and preferred perspective for players could have been forwarded to fans in a post on various social media. Making the decision of locked first-person perspective could have a drastic impact on the sales of the game. I have known many friends who were in full-hype mode after the trailer that have went from complete joy to a solid no-buy attitude simply because of the FP perspective.
Surely, there could have been a prediction that this fundamental decision would divide the player base, resulting in less purchases or dissent among fans as to why this decision was taken.
As I have read on the forums about the verticality of the game, and how implementing a TP(third person) perspective so late in the development of the game can cause issues with both camera and immersion, I understand if the studio decides not to make such a decision as not implementing a TP(third person) perspective no matter how fervently a portion of the player base would want it.
I would love it, if, in the future, CD project Red would consult on what player experience fans would want before making such key decisions, as it would help them get a better understanding on what type of experience their target audience would prefer and base decisions on those statistics and percentages before beginning the actual development.
As said at the beginning, I love CD Projekt Red, and I will purchase Cyberpunk 2077 for their outstanding consumer friendly practices as I believe they are a shining light in the gaming industry, I will gift my copy to a friend who enjoys FP, I, however, no matter how much I love CDPR, and no matter how much I love the world of Cyberpunk, I cannot play first person(FP) because of personal taste, and how much I dislike the perspective. I am sorry to end this so melancholic. I will, in the future, always keep an eye out for future CDPR projects, if they are third person, turn based, or strategy, as those are my main interests. I wish them the best of luck with Cyberpunk 2077 and I hope they take as much time in development as needed.
With great respect,
A loving fan
Meanwhile back at the ranch... I will be happily waiting for a pre-order button to appear
