Is CDPR the antithesis to Ubisoft or EA?

[SofaJockey]

I often see an argument that runs something like this:

'Game X is now bad because it has gone mainstream and is made to be popular'.
'I am a hardcore gamer that likes deep complexity that few casual gamers would like or even understand'.
'Don't sell out your game by making it playable by or appealing to peasants who buy games in supermarkets or play on consoles'.

Back in the real world, games are expensive to make and if done well, and sell widely, they are very profitable.
There is probably no place in a AAA studios priority list to cater for the highly entitled contingent among hardcore gamers, none.

CDPR plays an interesting role by having higher levels of interaction with its forums and the community,
yet even with its consumer friendly approach, it is making games for the majority of its customers, not a hardcore elite,
just as BioWare, Ubisoft and Bethesda do, even if those companies' community engagement is less tangible.

Witcher 3 is a terrific game, in any other year an easy consensus GOTY (will be fascinating to see how it does against (the unreleased) Fallout 4)
yet on these forums the main debate at launch was about how the resolution of the grass sucked or issues with 'the wall in Novigrad' or that there wasn't enough variety with the banging (a debate still ongoing).

Truly it's enough to deter any studio from reaching out to, and engaging with its player base.

 

[jubeii]

The gaming industry is going the same way as all others. Retail, grocery , petrol.
I remember when I could go down to the local "Fred's Videos", or whatever, and find a hidden gem to watch. Slowly they all became Block Busters.

The industry get so competitive that to keep up with each other, everyone has to cut the risky stuff for what they know will sell.
Eventually everyone makes the same game in a similar box and the risk (also the enjoyment and satisfaction) is gone.

I hope they can stay true to what they are, not become another Block Buster.

CDPR were different from everyone up till now. I dont think its what they want to do, its just the corperatisation of the industry.

 

[Pug.]

Valve still very much develops games, I just don't like the direction they're headed in. F2P and mico-transactions seem to be their primary focus nowadays. Sure, their F2P stuff is actually pretty decent quality games, but I fear the greed will eventually get the better of them. Nobody is incorruptible, it just takes time. I think they need some pretty epic failures to keep them in check, the relatively recent fiasco with paid mods is a good example, and we definitely need more community blow-ups like it to keep Valve humble.

When I said that "Valve no longer develops games," I was referring to titles like Left for Dead, Half Life, and Portal. I don't play MOBA's, so DOTA 2 doesn't count in my book. I am unaware of any F2P titles that they have in development. Team Fortress 2 is hardly a recent game ...

 

[gtcarlson]

CDPR were different from everyone up till now. I dont think its what they want to do, its just the corperatisation of the industry.

Tl; Dr: Some sacrifices were made to market/sell, but I think they also took a lot of risks that no other companies would.

Now I'm not saying they didn't make any concessions they didn't make any concessions in making the Witcher 3. I think however as they couldn't find the game all themselves they had to convince investors, so some tweaks were made.

CDPR still took risks in the game, having your main plot line extended from a book series that isn't fully (officially) available in English is a pretty bold move. Offering a huge game world with more to do than almost any game before it (I'm not counting modding of skyrim and such) is also a huge risk for a company that's sold less games than the latest COD sells is a week. Dealing with themes, issues and choices hardly ever present in mainstream movies or games. Even offering the expansions (real ones) is something we haven't seen in a while.

I think controls on PC went down slightly since Witcher 2 with the removal of quick cast(fixable with a input file change). I think the alchemy system went forwards and backwards from 2 and definitely backwards from 1. Combat is the best in the series. Journal entries and mutagen system I would say are the worst of the series in Witcher 3.

So I think a few things were dumbed down to sell games yes, but I think it allowed them to make a better experience overall, because without those changes we may have never seen Witcher 3.

 

[WolvenGear]

I've been thinking about this and I'm just curious what others think.

I know there has been some frustration particularly surrounding the latest patch (myself included), but taking a step back for a moment, not only is this game exceptional but a lot of the development choices are pretty damn atypical of a game studio.

Ubi and EA have recently released games bugged to all hell. To add insult to injury, they don't in any way communicate with their customers about what they are doing. Ubi apologised for the mess that was ACV (even though I loved that game, it was a mess) and to their credit, gave us a 'free' expansion. The expansion however, was total rubbish and short-lived. Staying with ACV for a moment - the DLC was a joke and you had to fucking pay for it. They actually charged you for missions that lasted maybe half an hour and that should have been in the game in the first place. Let's not even mention the micro-transactions debacle.

In contrast, CDPR have been giving us some really worthwhile DLC for free. From quests, to textures, to animations - they have all been pretty cool and all the cooler for the free price tag. Sure, maybe some of the DLC should have been included in the base game but what does that matter when these guys are giving us weekly gifts as a thank you for playing their game.
From what I hear, the expansions will be separate games in their own right, and just going off what I've seen, will be a worthy addition to the W3.

Add to this the fact that they regularly communicate with us, they have their own forum that they actually watch and they even take on user feedback.
Who would have thought, a company that listens to its customers!

Has the gaming industry really become so fucked that we are surprised when a developer actually listens to the people who buy their product? I'm inclined to say yes, but that being said, CDPR really have outdone themselves. I hope others sit up and pay attention. This is how you make a good game. This is how you make money. This is how you keep your god damn customers. And this is what will keep me loyal for the next installment in whatever CDPR wants to pursue.

Stick to your roots guys, please don't become another Ubi or EA!

Ubisoft did deliver far cry 4 with 1 bug!! Im talking playstation here, but thats pretty impressive. Far cry 3 was IMO way better and I never found a single bug in that game.
That being said.. the teams who made those shitty "sneak around games" did not deliver the same quality.

EA should be in a league of their own.. they have yet to deliver a single game without bugs. Now some people may say the last of us and those games are bug-free, but come on.. open world is something totally different and I think CDPR did a really good job on this game. 3 years is not a long time to make an entire fucking game. My hats off to these guys.

And you're right about the DLC's.. most of them should have been out with the game.. kinda feels like they just held back some shit just to "give" us a few dlc's. I was really hoping one of those DLC's would be a new world map.. not huge but maybe the size of WO.. But they allready gave me WAY more than I'd thought I'd get so again Im happy with my product.

Game industry is like any other industry these days.. the up and commers (did I spell that right?) deliver while the bigger studioes dont really give people what they want cause the people in charge are not even gamers themselves.

The good news is that there will always be new people who are willing to go the extra mile.

 

[Hamon]

I've been a supporter for CDPR since the release of TW1.
My concern is that their spirit is becoming more shallow, the more the industry is tightening their grip around them.
The PR for TW3 was awful plain said. If you take Activision/Ubi or whatnot as standard, this behaviour maybe be "legit". But not many years ago it wasn't. And fortunately for some smaller studios it isn't. What people tend to forget is, that raising their voices (in a mature manner) is a tool to make a difference and is also a democratic basic. Denying this with a fanboyish behaviour is just as shameful as trolling is. This is what I see a lot in these forums.

To stay OT: I'm not overwhelmingly impressed by the recent policy of CDPR and the outcome of TW3. They are still better than Ubi and Ea. But they constantly deteriorate with every release. Which I find sad and worring.

There were many bugs in TW1 and 2. And especially TW1 was edgy. But there was fire in it, the approach was brave and it was deep but simple. Maybe spending so much time with one theme takes it's toll. And the sequels suffered from it. Imo, they weren't as gritty. TW3 took a few steps into the right direction, but for me it was a lackluster and it just confirms for me that size isn't everything and Open World is a wrong approach for serious story telling. I still look forward what CDPR has in the fire with Cyberpunk 2077. But I'm sceptical.

 

[kissybyc]

Although I have supported CDPR and I still do, recommending TW3 to my every friend, I can't help but worry about their recent downward trend into making generic games.

TW3 is great, but imo it is the most generic of the three Witchers, with the highest number of black-and-white characters and the least complex plot of the three games, not to mention the most generic villain comparable to the archdemon of DA:O. What happened to the superb writing behind Jacque de Aldersberg and Letho? Its shining moments really shine, but their light struggle to mask the weaker components.

I don't think it is open world per se that resulted in this, but I do think their decision to hammer on the size of the world took away the resource spent on the depth of the open world. That being said I realize that size vs. depth is always a delicate balance. As a result I guess I do see how mainstream left its mark on a very un-mainstream game franchise, and I heartily hope that this trend won't continue.

 

[Garrison72]

TW3 is great, but imo it is the most generic of the three Witchers, with the highest number of black-and-white characters and the least complex plot of the three games, not to mention the most generic villain comparable to the archdemon of DA:O. What happened to the superb writing behind Jacque de Aldersberg and Letho?.

They switched lead writers, and perhaps most of the team. Lead writer from TW2 is working on Cyberpunk.

 

[clonitza]

Lmao what? We'll talk after 1.08 ...

Anyway I finished the game today, I grew tired of waiting for another patch that could screw things even more. Overall the game was nice, graphic wise is on par with what people from Crytek can do and the performance improved a lot on my rig after 1.07, story was great, like watching a movie, combat sadly was some basic hack and slash, didn't find a reason to use any of the skills, potions, oils, decoctions after level 10, quen and fast attack was enough 99% of the game. I even skipped all Skellige points of interest since there was no reason for grinding chests. I think it needed more time and at least an open beta before going live ... in this state it's playable but far from a 10/10, for me it's a 7.5/10 with room from improvement if they are willing and capable.

 

[centda]

I've been thinking about this and I'm just curious what others think.

I know there has been some frustration particularly surrounding the latest patch (myself included), but taking a step back for a moment, not only is this game exceptional but a lot of the development choices are pretty damn atypical of a game studio.

Ubi and EA have recently released games bugged to all hell. To add insult to injury, they don't in any way communicate with their customers about what they are doing. Ubi apologised for the mess that was ACV (even though I loved that game, it was a mess) and to their credit, gave us a 'free' expansion. The expansion however, was total rubbish and short-lived. Staying with ACV for a moment - the DLC was a joke and you had to fucking pay for it. They actually charged you for missions that lasted maybe half an hour and that should have been in the game in the first place. Let's not even mention the micro-transactions debacle.

In contrast, CDPR have been giving us some really worthwhile DLC for free. From quests, to textures, to animations - they have all been pretty cool and all the cooler for the free price tag. Sure, maybe some of the DLC should have been included in the base game but what does that matter when these guys are giving us weekly gifts as a thank you for playing their game.
From what I hear, the expansions will be separate games in their own right, and just going off what I've seen, will be a worthy addition to the W3.

Add to this the fact that they regularly communicate with us, they have their own forum that they actually watch and they even take on user feedback.
Who would have thought, a company that listens to its customers!

Has the gaming industry really become so fucked that we are surprised when a developer actually listens to the people who buy their product? I'm inclined to say yes, but that being said, CDPR really have outdone themselves. I hope others sit up and pay attention. This is how you make a good game. This is how you make money. This is how you keep your god damn customers. And this is what will keep me loyal for the next installment in whatever CDPR wants to pursue.

Stick to your roots guys, please don't become another Ubi or EA!

Spot on, obviously the games has some bugs that still need a fix.
Framerate drops on PS4 are bothering many people it would seem, i just addopted to them.
While playing and spending countless hours at this game it only crashed once in 2 month.
Seen few glitches and few bugs, but overall, the game is quite flawless in my opinion.
So ye CDPR should definitelly stick to their roots.
:victory:

 

[dmcaldw]

I think CDPR reaching for the brass ring trying to get as much mainstream gaming business was a choice that had to be made especially after they restructured their company a few years back .
Did it dilute the Witcher ? Yes, needed broader appeal . The game is still gritty though they didn't turn Geralt in to my little pony .
Did the game deliver ? Yes it did even with issues . I think the atmosphere they captured visually was a perfect cross between W1 and W2 .

Debating choices they made to get this game out won't make the game any better I am confident they will fix the game which was not broken on my end . If they do like they have in past there will be an EE edition so I am patient . The key is they support the game up till the end or turn it over to the modding community like Skyrim was .

 

[ilayoeli]

God is this forum solely about fanbonizing CDPR?
No, they aren't some divine entity of a company, they lied to their fans again and again about the graphics

 

[neru.103]

Back when they started W1 they where not thinking to very much beyond the borders of Poland. Small europe at most. They otherwise would not have gone for a sole male protagonist thru books enormous popular in their own country.

Over time the small compagny grew with the problems that comses with growth. In the end I hope they can stay independant. However I do think multi nationals will do their best to snatch CDPR up if they become competitive to EA, Ubi, Activision AAA titles.

 

[Christopherrolf]

God is this forum solely about fanbonizing CDPR?
No, they aren't some divine entity of a company, they lied to their fans again and again about the graphics

You can stop whining, Witcher 3 is the best looking game I've ever played, and one of the best looking games on the market.

 

[ilayoeli]

You can stop whining, Witcher 3 is the best looking game I've ever played, and one of the best looking games on the market.

I like how every time someone dares criticizing something the fanboys are all over it will always be "whining" or "hating".
No, my point had nothing to do with what you say and you know it (at least better know it)

 

[Hicks233]

More an antithesis to Valve.

Anti-drm.
Actually release games.
No microtransaction based money grubbing.
Reasonably frequent communication and updating on efforts.
When communicating it's at least on the surface put through less of a bullshit pr grinder.
Clear goals that are communicated.

 

[Christopherrolf]

I like how every time someone dares criticizing something the fanboys are all over it will always be "whining" or "hating".
No, my point had nothing to do with what you say and you know it (at least better know it)

My point being that the 'downgrade' doesn't matter when the game is probably the best looking game on the market anyway.

We also want to be able to run it properly on contemporary systems.

As for anyone 'lying' about something as silly to someone or not, and for whatever reasons, I have no idea and honestly I find it completely irrelevant.

 

[gregski]

Can we chill and don't get too personal, call people fanboys etc? Keep it polite, please.

 

[RedFire01]

My point being that the 'downgrade' doesn't matter when the game is probably the best looking game on the market anyway.

We also want to be able to run it properly on contemporary systems.

As for anyone 'lying' about something as silly to someone or not, and for whatever reasons, I have no idea and honestly I find it completely irrelevant.

There are many games that look WAY better than The Witcher 3. It is by no means "the best looking game on the market". It looks like a game from 2013 and it arguably looks worse than The Witcher 2. That's not to say it looks bad, but it certainly didn't impress me. But i guess that's to be expected from a game of it's size. It can't have impressive graphics AND be this huge. At least i don't think it can, but maybe it can, who knows.

 

[Guest 3841733]

My point being that the 'downgrade' doesn't matter when the game is probably the best looking game on the market anyway.

We also want to be able to run it properly on contemporary systems.

As for anyone 'lying' about something as silly to someone or not, and for whatever reasons, I have no idea and honestly I find it completely irrelevant.

Tomb Raider is graphically superior though... and that's a game launched in 2013.