Mike Pondsmith. Why no comment? He was a HUGE part of the Original Draw. NDA? Dissed?

[artao5]

Ever since launch Mr. Pondsmith has had nothing to say. HELL! Years prior to launch.
And yet, a big thing with CP2077 is that it was developed in conjunction with the original creator. And early on he was HUGELY touted.
Sooooo
WTAF?
Did CDPR gag order him? What other reason would there be for his lack of comments?
SO! WHY did CDPR gag order him? Not if. It's obviously why.
From major dev participant to silent post-release? Something is fishy. And not in the "I caught a bunch of fish" way. "I threw out everything and caught nothing."
Except Pondsmith IS the water we're fishing in, and CDPR is pretending he doesn't even exist.

Post automatically merged: Aug 19, 2022

 

[LeKill3rFou]

Ever since launch Mr. Pondsmith has had nothing to say.

But I believe it was like everything about Cyberpunk after the release, a clear decision to limit the communication
(I imagine he already say all he wanted to say, so...)

 

[ReptilePZ]

I don't think that tin foil hat is a great look...

A VoD for a stream from a few months ago (just after patch 1.5, I think) of Mike Pondsmith discussing game design and his involvement in designing Cyberpunk 2077:

It just doesn't really get picked up by mainstream media, sadly.

 

[CokyRustler]

I don't think that tin foil hat is a great look...

A VoD for a stream from a few months ago (just after patch 1.5, I think) of Mike Pondsmith discussing game design and his involvement in designing Cyberpunk 2077:

It just doesn't really get picked up by mainstream media, sadly.

I like Mike, but he is far too forgiving here. And let's be honest, it would be crass if he started dishing out on CDPR, since he'll likely remain involved in this and potential sequels.
As for how they handled it, I think CDPR was both best and worst choice for the IP. Visual and audio recreation of Night City, the mood, themes throughout main story, "small details" : superb.
Rpg mechanics: abysmal. 2077 is better described as anti-Cyberpunk 2020, stripped down of it's distinctive elements, oversimplified, and overall feels closer to cartoonish and silly Borderlands ( LOL! I hit a lvl 54 trash generic enemy with 1 000 000 points of gun poison damage!), than to down to earth, gritty Pondsmith's Cyberpunk with so many roleplaying options and possibilities.
Cyberpunk 2020: distinctive roles with huge number of background options, low fantasy, low stat numbers, very large number of character skills, very "physical feel", no character levels, itemization inspired by real life weapon stats and analytics, additional morality systems ( Humanity, Empathy and Cyberpsychosis)
Cyberpunk 2077: no roles, only three backgrounds, high fantasy, very high stat numbers, no non-combat skills, level scaling on gear and characters, fantasy itemization based on "magic", no morality systems
I think Obsidian or Owlcats would have done a much better job on this front ( loads of factions to join, dialogue options, variety of non combat skills, attribute and skill checks, cyberpsychosis as important rpg mechanics, itemization faithful to the lore, etc).
Hell, even Bethesda.

 

[AlienSpaceBats]

Mike has had lots to say about CP2077 and answers questions/gives lots of interesting background info on the og 2020 RPG quite regularly on Reddit, mostly the Low Sodium sub. From his comments there I understand he worked (may still be) with CDPR on the forthcoming expansion. Also likely busy with R. Talsorian and Cyberpunk Red.

 

[DjSpyder]

He's really not being "Silent" as far as CP2077 is concerned, as to why CDPR is not publishing his statements, or using him for direct PR, or marketing. It's because they have refocused on development with less promotion, they clearly do not want to oversell or overpromise the Patches and Expansion, they don't want to hype something they can't deliver.

That much has actually been said by CDPR that they will focus on longer development with much shorter marketing campaigns in the future. And we've seen that in practice. With the exception of Pawel's streams and Earning calls, CDPR has been mostly quiet with the occasional comment or brief update. And they're keeping it vague, With the exception of the 1.6 stream/announcement or whatever it ends up being when that happens, I doubt we'll hear from anyone at CDPR until they start pushing the expansion late this year or early next year.

As for Mike specifically, they're hoping this is a multigame franchise, and he seems committed to that future I doubt he'd have much to say that would hurt the potential redemption of CP2077 or any of its sequels.

 

[Sardukhar]

As others have said, Mr.Pondsmith posts frequently on Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/user/therealmaxmike

He likes it there. He talks about 2077, Cyberpunk in general, all sorts of stuff.

In future, please do a little research before making unpleasant accusations.

If anyone wants to start a thread talking about Mr. Pondsmith's perspective on the game or what-have-you, feel free. Closing this one.

Thread locked.