Get more creative with the character systems.
You know how to do it. Now why didn’t you?
You know how to do it. Now why didn’t you?
To Management:
Those of you at the top, you should absolutely blame yourselves for this situation which you, and only you, could have created. Blame serves a very useful purpose in self improvement; and as managers/owners/directors of the company, you definitely can do better than this, and should have known ahead of time the vague direction this would take. The blame attached to every negative impact to the business surrounding this release can be placed on your shoulders. Use this blame to become better versions of yourselves and move forward at a measurably higher level.
To Developers:
You people have done a fantastic job so far! No complaints! Even in its current state on PC, I am loving this game!
Buy back all the stock and go back to being a private company.
1. Lay low. Lick your wounds. Stay quiet, communicate about technical fixes only.
2. Take care of your people in the meantime. Let them rest, breathe, seek advice or help. Share your profits with them. Make them feel appreciated and rich.
3. Get on your feet, shake off the dust from your Samurai jacket and get back on track with fixes, updates, DLC.
4. Prove the haters wrong.
Especially this. Like I've said before, the science shows that productivity and quality are significantly decreased when staff is overworked or understaffed.2. Take care of your people in the meantime. Let them rest, breathe, seek advice or help. Share your profits with them. Make them feel appreciated and rich.
1.) Never announce a game years ahead of launch, especially 8 years.
2.) Don't show content and have interviews discussing and advertising content that will not be in the final product.
3.) Don't release a game before it's ready.
4.) Improve working conditions for developers and do not have such excessive overtime obligations. Studies show that productivity and staff morale significantly decreases with increased hours, short staffing and poor conditions. Follow the science.
5.) Put more trust into the developers, give them more power in development and give their ideas a chance.
6.) Release an early access product next time. Had they released the 2018 demo version of the game up until the heist, they would have had an absolute ton of feedback to work with and bugs would likely be squashed. Furthermore, players would be more patient until release, they'd get their money and the final product would be much better for it. Example is DoS2 and BG3, though I'd listen to player feedback more than Larian is currently.
Edit: Can't emphasize point 6 enough. Releasing up to the heist for players to play and critique a year or more ahead of time as an early access would have spoiled none of the game, would have allowed for tons of feedback and analytics and would have make an exceptional game (compared to what we got).