Hello!
I write this letter because I feel that the hype and expectations about cyberpunk 2077 are so "out of proportions" we need a reality check as fans and hope that this post will also reach Cyberpunk developers.
The reaction to new trailer:
I believe strongly that the negative response about the colorfulness and style of the trailer was largely because the first trailer was showing much less cartoony and much more "grim"/realistic style world and the fact that the recent cyberpunk themed movies and tv-series have shown very dystopian worlds. examples Blade Runner and Altered Carbon.
The trailers style resembles also more of an GTA styled game and fans are worried that Cyberpunk might not be the "true rpg" we all have been waiting for, and fear that the game is more action-rpg. Many fans are not also familiar with the original cyberpunk and the theme, so they were not expecting the style CDPR have chosen.
So in other words, it was nothing anyone expected, but that ain't necessarily a bad thing, it all depends so much how things are finally implemented.
For me personally, the colors are not the problem, the artistic style of characters is more cartoony than I expected and that caused me to write to your facebook "damn disney world".
My first reaction was way out of line because the extremely high expectations and hopes from CP2077. It has nothing to do with reality or how the game will actually be. We as fans cannot always know why some design decision was made. For example, if the reason for the characters being a bit cartoony/gta style is that the game would be extremely heavy on computers other wise or that using that particular style you managed to get the world more populated and interactive for the players.
Do fans rather take living, breathing world that does not look exactly how they imagined it or empty and non interactive world that looks exactly how they imagined it?
I believe fans will take the interactive world over empty world 100 times out of 100.
What I am trying to say, is that even with some negative response you as developers should understand the emotional response vs rational response from fans.
I was emotional about calling the trailer "disney", but IF the game delivers deep features and living interactive world, I could care less if there is some yellow that is too bright for my taste.
The reaction to 1st person vs 3rd person view:
I really do understand some fans who are worried that their motion sickness will kick their balls if they try to play CP2077 and it is limited to 1st person. You as developers can help at least some of those people with adjustable FOV (I believe there is some research about motion sickness in games, you could find answers there).
There are also reasons why people find 1st person to be sub-optimal solution. We have to see and understand the whole gaming genre to analyze the negative reaction from fans. I believe one of the main reasons for negative response about 1st person view is that players have not had true 1st person rpg that actually is good in all aspects. Skyrim might be great game with side missions and storyline, but for many people the controls and fighting system is... lets say not the best one around. 1st person RPGs are at the moment controlled by Bethesda games and their games have issues (and styles) many Witcher 3/Cyberpunk fans would like to avoid.
Fallouts might be great games, but they are quite far from "serious". That said there is a 1st person rpg that was very good when it was released (sadly it was buggy as hell) and that is Vampire: masquerade but many have forgotten you can actually make a "real rpg" as 1st person. We have just had too much of call of duties and borderlands.
For some people the ability to see your character is huge deal, they want to see that leather jacket they stole from the gang boss and that is perfectly understandable, however there are ways to show their character to them other than 3rd person view.
One of the main issues I am having with 1st person RPG's in general is that they tend to focus more on action and less on roleplaying/social (npc) interactions and intrigue story telling or solving altercations in other ways than using combat. However that does not mean cyberpunk will be such a game, but this is the fear from fans that surfaces and part of the reason the vocal fanbase get emotional, myself included.
--------------
The bottom line of this all is to try and communicate to CDPR and fans that yes we are emotional, yes you will get negative reactions but that does not mean we are disappointed, it just means we fear we do not get the most epic cyberpunk themed rpg ever made because me, like many many people like me are expecting and hoping great things. I have never in my 35 years of living and gaming hoped and expected any game more than Cyberpunk2077. If you deliver deep, meaningful and highly interactive RPG where features are not shallow, I believe CP2077 will be one of the gaming worlds greatest success stories.
Thank you for understanding.
PS: For mods, please let my thread be as it is because it touches so many current happenings and is not limited to discussion of single thing.
I write this letter because I feel that the hype and expectations about cyberpunk 2077 are so "out of proportions" we need a reality check as fans and hope that this post will also reach Cyberpunk developers.
The reaction to new trailer:
I believe strongly that the negative response about the colorfulness and style of the trailer was largely because the first trailer was showing much less cartoony and much more "grim"/realistic style world and the fact that the recent cyberpunk themed movies and tv-series have shown very dystopian worlds. examples Blade Runner and Altered Carbon.
The trailers style resembles also more of an GTA styled game and fans are worried that Cyberpunk might not be the "true rpg" we all have been waiting for, and fear that the game is more action-rpg. Many fans are not also familiar with the original cyberpunk and the theme, so they were not expecting the style CDPR have chosen.
So in other words, it was nothing anyone expected, but that ain't necessarily a bad thing, it all depends so much how things are finally implemented.
For me personally, the colors are not the problem, the artistic style of characters is more cartoony than I expected and that caused me to write to your facebook "damn disney world".
My first reaction was way out of line because the extremely high expectations and hopes from CP2077. It has nothing to do with reality or how the game will actually be. We as fans cannot always know why some design decision was made. For example, if the reason for the characters being a bit cartoony/gta style is that the game would be extremely heavy on computers other wise or that using that particular style you managed to get the world more populated and interactive for the players.
Do fans rather take living, breathing world that does not look exactly how they imagined it or empty and non interactive world that looks exactly how they imagined it?
I believe fans will take the interactive world over empty world 100 times out of 100.
What I am trying to say, is that even with some negative response you as developers should understand the emotional response vs rational response from fans.
I was emotional about calling the trailer "disney", but IF the game delivers deep features and living interactive world, I could care less if there is some yellow that is too bright for my taste.
The reaction to 1st person vs 3rd person view:
I really do understand some fans who are worried that their motion sickness will kick their balls if they try to play CP2077 and it is limited to 1st person. You as developers can help at least some of those people with adjustable FOV (I believe there is some research about motion sickness in games, you could find answers there).
There are also reasons why people find 1st person to be sub-optimal solution. We have to see and understand the whole gaming genre to analyze the negative reaction from fans. I believe one of the main reasons for negative response about 1st person view is that players have not had true 1st person rpg that actually is good in all aspects. Skyrim might be great game with side missions and storyline, but for many people the controls and fighting system is... lets say not the best one around. 1st person RPGs are at the moment controlled by Bethesda games and their games have issues (and styles) many Witcher 3/Cyberpunk fans would like to avoid.
Fallouts might be great games, but they are quite far from "serious". That said there is a 1st person rpg that was very good when it was released (sadly it was buggy as hell) and that is Vampire: masquerade but many have forgotten you can actually make a "real rpg" as 1st person. We have just had too much of call of duties and borderlands.
For some people the ability to see your character is huge deal, they want to see that leather jacket they stole from the gang boss and that is perfectly understandable, however there are ways to show their character to them other than 3rd person view.
One of the main issues I am having with 1st person RPG's in general is that they tend to focus more on action and less on roleplaying/social (npc) interactions and intrigue story telling or solving altercations in other ways than using combat. However that does not mean cyberpunk will be such a game, but this is the fear from fans that surfaces and part of the reason the vocal fanbase get emotional, myself included.
--------------
The bottom line of this all is to try and communicate to CDPR and fans that yes we are emotional, yes you will get negative reactions but that does not mean we are disappointed, it just means we fear we do not get the most epic cyberpunk themed rpg ever made because me, like many many people like me are expecting and hoping great things. I have never in my 35 years of living and gaming hoped and expected any game more than Cyberpunk2077. If you deliver deep, meaningful and highly interactive RPG where features are not shallow, I believe CP2077 will be one of the gaming worlds greatest success stories.
Thank you for understanding.
PS: For mods, please let my thread be as it is because it touches so many current happenings and is not limited to discussion of single thing.
