Once again I largely agree. I think it's unfortunate that it's human nature to fret about the unknown, when there is no really meaningful action which could be taken whether you have the knowledge or not.
I've heard people say things like this to me before, and the one thing I see missing from the reply is the notion of 'planning for the future'.
I don't even need to take action; I just want to start planning.
Yanno? It's like at boardgame nights: while I'm waiting for everybody else to take their turns, I'm already planning out what I'm likely to do when my turn comes around again. Sure, I don't know what the other players are gonna do, but I can at least come to some reasonable hypotheses, enough to begin thinking strategy.
I just wanna plan my next move while CDPR is taking theirs.
If you planted a tomato plant, you're not expecting the plant to tell you the exact day it's going to bear fruit or give you specs on the size/sweetness of that fruit.
No. I wouldn't. That's true.
However, I would ask the farmer from whom I purchase vegetables about things like the state of the crops, growth techniques, whether they use GMO or apply pesticides, when they think their next crop might be and what to expect from the yield...just so I can start thinking about whether I might have to go to a supermarket instead of a farmer's market.
Y'see.
There's nothing to gain in worrying each day whether you've got fruit or not, because you have no direct control over the production of fruit and it happens when it happens.
Doesn't mean you can't check on it. Doesn't mean you can't see how things are progressing before harvest time.
And getting those updates will give you an idea of what the final yield might be.
That's all I'm asking for.
That's what I recommend with CP2077 right now.
Well, I'm not really looking for suggestions.
Just information.
If you don't like the game you have right now then pay it less attention.
But I want to like the game.
And, unlike much of life, what it would take to make me happy with CP2077 can be easily quantified and easily described using nothing more than CDPR's own promotional material. I just need to know whether I should hope for it or not.
Disappoint me now, please, if yer gonna, so I can know whether to just move on.
You're going to get very little more info any time in the near-future.
And, so too will CDPR be getting very little of my cash any time in the, well, ever.
I'm not gonna organize some sort of protest or petition, but I'm quite certain I'm not alone in this attitude; they only get so many chances before it's too-little-too-late. I just want them to kill the suspense and tell us now.
Subscribe to the official email list if not already, so that when further information is available you are the first to hear.
And still maintain a forlorn hope of a CP2077 that resembles the hype.
I want to douse that flame of hope in a way that isn't basically gaslighting myself into thinking none of it matters (when it so totally does). Or to stoke it, should CDPR somehow pull their nuts out of this fire.
On the more realistic front/different subject, "delivering what they promised" is just plain unlikely to be possible.
And I want them to tell me that now, so I'm not hoping for it.
I don't know how many times I can say that before it sinks in, but I'll say it again: I'd rather be disappointed forever now than a constant cycle of hope and disappointment until I finally hand CDPR their walking papers.
"Packaged software" development (like games) is a double-edged sword. In order to generate interest/hype/market your future product, you must tease it with proof-of-concept/pre-release content and talk-up your planned features. Actually developing and integrating those features into a product is another thing altogether.
And if CDPR hadn't been screaming about CP2077 from the rooftops for the better part of a decade, maybe that wouldn't have been a problem, leaving out one or two features.
And they know this; they've explicitly said they'll keep to hype down until just before release. Good.
But that's then. This is now. And now, CDPR has a lot of fires to put out.
The complete lack of detail about what to expect in the future is a big one.
For background I'm a software development lead
I'm an animator who has done cut-scene scripting and level design for games as well as art-side developer support for a licensable engine.
I mean, if we're presenting credentials and all for context; not trying to start a dick-sizing contest.
If CDPR talk up everything they are doing with detail then they satisfy inquisitive minds and continue to generate hype. This approach risks turning them into "accidental liars" though, if it turns out that they can't deliver everything they promised.
It'd be enough to say what we won't be getting, to be honest.
Cuz that's the big problem with CP2077 right now: missing features and content. Stuff they told us about that isn't there.
If they went through a laundry list of such items and gave each a "Yes", "Maybe", or "No", I'd be happy.
If they want to surprise me with stuff I'm not expecting, that'd be great!
It's the stuff I was expecting (because of the hype) and didn't get that's at issue, here.
If CDPR hold their cards close to their chest then they don't risk over-promising.
That ship has obviously sailed.
Over-correcting and telling us nothing is just as bad after a fiasco like this one.
It'd be fine for a product that hadn't shipped yet, but with CP2077, you have a lot of very angry people who feel lied to and robbed; keeping them in suspense is probably the wrong way to go, moving forward. It won't build back the good will CDPR lost.
They should keep their mouths shut about future products, but for CP2077, give us some way to think we haven't been forgotten that goes beyond merely saying it.
Right now CDPR are in a hole and the only "good" solution involves owning a time machine or being able to hire 500 extra devs who come up to speed on a project instantly and who will all work for pocket change. Unfortunately we're stuck with the solutions we've got.
Doesn't mean it's a good idea to keep their disaffected customers in the dark.
I don't know about you, but when I'm cranky and in an information blackout, I get exponentially crankier the longer I have to wait.
On the other hand, when I know what I'm waiting for, how long I have to wait, and why I have to wait, I'm the most patient and tolerant person you ever met. The x-factor, here, is being and staying informed.
I'm personally happier having no information than incorrect information. With no information i can just stop thinking about it.
Well, I can't. I'm not wired like that.
I can stop thinking about it when I have sufficient information.
With insufficient information, it's like an itch I can't scratch. It's not voluntary; I can't just ignore it.
I've put my tomato plant in the greenhouse with an automated sprinkler system and it needs no maintenance.
No. You haven't.
Other people are claiming to have planted something in a greenhouse, but they're not telling you what it is or when to expect it to be ripe.
That's the problem.