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“Blame the gamers” backfires: Highguard dev’s tirade over reviews and memes draws heavy criticism

Draugoth

Gold Member
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Amongst the louder voices is another popular YouTuber, Asmongold, who labelled the game "Concord 2." This apparently didn't sit well with one of the game's developers, Josh Sobel, who, using his X account, wrote a lengthy view of his own experience:

Reflecting on shipping my first game (Highguard). In the post, he goes on to describe the team's general attitude before the game's reveal at The Game Awards, and the reaction they got when Geoff Keighley presented their game in the final spot. "After 2.5 years of passionately working on Highguard, we were ready to reveal it to the world. The future seemed bright." He went on to describe how "everyone he knew" and "internal pre-reveal feedback" from "unbiased sources" had shared similar optimistic sentiments about the game. "But then the trailer came out, and it was all downhill from there."

You really think that all of your friends and family are gonna tell you that your games bad? No. They're gonna look on the bright side, they're gonna try to see the good things, and they're gonna try and put a positive spin on it to make you happy.​

Via NotebookChecker
 
Toxic positivity and echo chambers truly create the most entertaining games....

To watch flop from the sidelines.

Don't listen to what people will say in this thread. Just keep on making games like this.

99% of compulsive gamblers quit before they hit it big. Be that 1% that keeps going. Don't quit. You will make the next quirky Fortnite/Overwatch, just spend more money and time.



Real talk: You know your game sucks when the meta-narrative of its flawed development is infinitely more compelling than the game's actual narrative.
 
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"You really think that all of your friends and family are gonna tell you that your games bad? No. They're gonna look on the bright side, they're gonna try to see the good things, and they're gonna try and put a positive spin on it to make you happy."

This is the huge problem. I mean, honesty and feedback is EXTREMELY important. Giving someone honest feedback and/or your personal opinion doesn't make you an asshole. Every creator should be looking for feedback and opinions, because they themselves should know that it's not perfect. Nothing is perfect. I mean, every time I've asked for feedback or opinions on anything I've ever worked on, I start by saying, "Be honest with me, it's totally okay and I won't be upset." Or something along the lines of that to show that it's okay to be upfront and honest, don't hold back, lol.

Amusing that within the walls they're all, "YEAH MAN IT'S GREAT, GONNA BE HUGE, WOO!" Then the minute it's shown to the public everything tanks. That says a WHOLE lot.

Studios REALLY need to focus on external playtesting and feedback sessions. Especially for multiplayer games. I don't know what they were thinking. To be so blinded by confidence and/or ego is astounding to me.
 
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I think the highguard dev should've shut up, but i do believe that games are hated on before they're even given a chance to prove anything nowadays and that a hate parade is common among live service games. It feels like alot of gamers get joy and satisfaction out of seeing games fail that they had no interest in to begin with.
 
I think the highguard dev should've shut up, but i do believe that games are hated on before they're even given a chance to prove anything nowadays and that a hate parade is common among live service games. It feels like alot of gamers get joy and satisfaction out of seeing games fail that they had no interest in to begin with.
You were so close and yet you still missed the mark.
You are confusing the symptoms with the cause.

These games don't fail because they get dismissive comments.
They get dismissive comments and the "unjustified hate" precisely because they failed to grab anyone's attention (o to ignite anyone's hype) to begin with.
They just aren't appealing in the eyes of their target audience.
 
I think the highguard dev should've shut up, but i do believe that games are hated on before they're even given a chance to prove anything nowadays and that a hate parade is common among live service games. It feels like alot of gamers get joy and satisfaction out of seeing games fail that they had no interest in to begin with.
I will repeat this in every thread, the game's peak player count on steam was almost 100k. If the game was good, then they would have found success, no matter who hated it beforehand.
 
Although Highguard wasn't as fun to watch crash and burn as Concord, it was still fun.
Having one or two major trainwrecks, brings some welcome change to news about the gaming industry.

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The best thing for this game would have been a quiet launch onto Early Access. No Game Awards trailer, no blaming players, just quietly get feedback and improve.

These idiots kept quiet when they should have been promoting the game, and are loud as fuck when they should shut up and fix it.
 
I think the highguard dev should've shut up, but i do believe that games are hated on before they're even given a chance to prove anything nowadays and that a hate parade is common among live service games. It feels like alot of gamers get joy and satisfaction out of seeing games fail that they had no interest in to begin with.
Gamers don't root for random games to fail. They root for certain games to fail because developers and the industry at large isn't listening to them and what games they want, and the only message these entities seem to hear is when a game bombs, so gamers root for that to happen to get the message across.
 
It feels like alot of gamers get joy and satisfaction out of seeing games fail that they had no interest in to begin with.
That's true, but let's not forget that this was a live service game. Live service games are inherently predatory, designed to get a small group of whales to spend enormous irresponsible amounts of money on them. You just need to look at the art style and gameplay elements to see that this wasn't some passion project that was the devs dream to create (unless if trying to make lots of money counts as a passion on its own lol), this was their attempt at making another one of those. The problem was that they didn't do a good job of it, and because they were making a live service game, I don't think they deserve much sympathy. Also I think part of the reason for the hate is because people want fewer live service games.
 
That's true, but let's not forget that this was a live service game. Live service games are inherently predatory, designed to get a small group of whales to spend enormous irresponsible amounts of money on them.

Hush hush.

It's the people who criticized this game that are the real scum of the world.

The complete banes of soceity. Fucking consumers.

Asshole think they can have opinion AND voice them. Why can't they just say nice things and buy the microtransactions?

The dev were blameless victims who just wanted to make a game that happens to hit all the check boxes investors would want to fund it.
 
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I think the highguard dev should've shut up, but i do believe that games are hated on before they're even given a chance to prove anything nowadays and that a hate parade is common among live service games. It feels like alot of gamers get joy and satisfaction out of seeing games fail that they had no interest in to begin with.

Many gamers want to see many games fail. That's 100% a fact. But that doesn't matter if you make a good game that people like. Especially if it also sells well. That's what really matters. "Is...........The...........Game..........Good?"
 
I got a crazy idea, what if you made a game that the vast majority of the gaming audience would like? I know, sounds crazy, embarrassing to even think about.

It doesn't even have to be that. You can make a small game with a dedicated niche audience and be successful. The key is to treat your customers with respect, listen to constructive feedback, and be humble.
 
It doesn't even have to be that. You can make a small game with a dedicated niche audience and be successful. The key is to treat your customers with respect, listen to constructive feedback, and be humble.
And dont go balls deep blowing the budget on some crap nobody wants. But just like a poor family winning the lottery, once someone gets a bag of money it's time for everyone at the company to magically become Mr. Bottomless Pockets. Fast forward a couple years and they are broke.

Its insane that random indie games selling games for dirt cheap with tiny sales can still lead to the small studio surviving.

But as in life it makes no difference if it's home life or a company. It all comes down revenue in and expenses out. A guy making $1M salary or a guy making $50k are held to the same budgeting rules. And so is a studio highrolling it with $100M budget vs a tiny studio with a $100k budget.
 
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Just saw this too. Not saying that this is 100% bad news for the game / team involved, but considering everything we know about this game, developer and the recent layoffs...this is ominous for sure.

And just for the record, a bad game is a bad game. Point fingers wherever you want but if the industry continues this trend then the games will continue to fail.
 
Family and friends are one thing, but I expect it's colleagues etc. now feeling unable to speak honestly which is the bigger problem and the element which has changed.
 
"You really think that all of your friends and family are gonna tell you that your games bad? No. They're gonna look on the bright side, they're gonna try to see the good things, and they're gonna try and put a positive spin on it to make you happy."

This is the huge problem. I mean, honesty and feedback is EXTREMELY important. Giving someone honest feedback and/or your personal opinion doesn't make you an asshole. Every creator should be looking for feedback and opinions, because they themselves should know that it's not perfect. Nothing is perfect. I mean, every time I've asked for feedback or opinions on anything I've ever worked on, I start by saying, "Be honest with me, it's totally okay and I won't be upset." Or something along the lines of that to show that it's okay to be upfront and honest, don't hold back, lol.

Amusing that within the walls they're all, "YEAH MAN IT'S GREAT, GONNA BE HUGE, WOO!" Then the minute it's shown to the public everything tanks. That says a WHOLE lot.

Studios REALLY need to focus on external playtesting and feedback sessions. Especially for multiplayer games. I don't know what they were thinking. To be so blinded by confidence and/or ego is astounding to me.
That's why you never go radio silent on a unproven MP only game, hell not even on SP games. They did this shit to themselves.
 
I don't agree with with "Concord 2" saying. Concord was too much pushing, with DEI, shows, comics... People care more if things grows organically, and Sony thought that people care more for the brand than the content. They failed. Highguard didn't shoot for the stars, but was too generic to grow. They have different kinds of flop

Still, they're not man enough to develop a game, hence not man enough to accept defeat. That's a big problem nowadays
 
Whenever I show my friends/family/peers something, I tell them to be brutally honest if they have any feedback, because what's the point otherwise? I might end up disagreeing with your feedback, but you still need to allow me to at least think about it.
 
Another thread about the opinions of the cockroach prince? I'd respect more the opinion of anyone here about that whining dev that the one from that whining YouTuber.
 
That's why you never go radio silent on a unproven MP only game, hell not even on SP games. They did this shit to themselves.
I think it's much less because of the radio silence, and more so on the fact that they didn't do external testing whatsoever. The radio silence approach worked for Apex Legends, but it was a different time and a different game. They thought they could do that here. I wouldn't be surprised if Apex had more testing behind closed doors, etc. It sounds like Highguard didn't whatsoever, maybe aside from just close friends and family I guess.

But they needed the feedback they received on launch day many moons agos.
 
I think it's much less because of the radio silence, and more so on the fact that they didn't do external testing whatsoever. The radio silence approach worked for Apex Legends, but it was a different time and a different game. They thought they could do that here. I wouldn't be surprised if Apex had more testing behind closed doors, etc. It sounds like Highguard didn't whatsoever, maybe aside from just close friends and family I guess.

But they needed the feedback they received on launch day many moons agos.
I mean Apex truly came out of nowhere in a time where the gente wasn't as tried and tired as nowadays.
Doing open tests could've saved them somewhat, also Geoff fucked them hard by making it the "next big thing".
 
I mean Apex truly came out of nowhere in a time where the gente wasn't as tried and tired as nowadays.
Doing open tests could've saved them somewhat, also Geoff fucked them hard by making it the "next big thing".
It was definitely a time that wasn't as saturated and strained as it is now. Yeah, I mean think about it, people complained about performance, external testing could've helped with that. People also complained about the 3v3 choice, various gameplay mechanics, and balance. Other things that external testing could've helped with.

I don't think it would've fixed every problem the game has/had. But I definitely think that it could've launched in a better state as a result, which could've potentially helped make the response a bit better. I mean, first impressions are everything.
 
Stopped reading there. Anyone who watches this guy just really isn't worth acknowledging as a human being.
I mean, I don't watch his videos myself because I don't want outrage farming videos and genuine racism and sexism to take over my youtube algorithm (not necessarily even because of what he apparently says but because of a significant number of his fans. you've only to take a peek at kotakuinaction to see that some (again, not all) of those people are pretty nuts), but anyone can be right every so often, and judging from what people are saying here this is one of those times where he was at least partially right.
 
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Gamers love to be negative.
Friends love to saturate the truth.
Internal testers love to confirm what your friends tell you.
The public love to show you reality.

As a dev, balancing between sanity and the desire to working on a AAA game and finishing it is often close to the opposite. Look, Highguard looks good, but it also looks generic.

I understand the dev, being a first timer, feeling compelled to reply why the negativity is unjust. In here, however, they should have been told by more seasoned people that this is a big no no to do. Not because it already further tarnishes whatever image you have left, but - most importantly - the gaming community does not care.

They care about good games. They don't care about generic games made that could have been avoided if you didn't listen to your testers or your friends but instead would opt for reality.
 
Highguard is woke modern audience slop. So happy to see it fail. I don't care if you call me racist, bigot, or whatever.
Eh. I just think a good game will succeed, and a bad game will not succeed. The game was fine for a lot of people apparently, but fine wasn't enough for them to succeed, and that's really it.
 
Eh. I just think a good game will succeed, and a bad game will not succeed. The game was fine for a lot of people apparently, but fine wasn't enough for them to succeed, and that's really it.
Was fine for a few people, the masses rejected it
 
I'm still not sure why this game is woke, though. Haven't seen anyone clearly explain that. Concord's undeniably meant to push political messages, but Highguard? I just think it's a bad generic game.

Someone who thinks this game is woke, explain please. Honest question.
 
Was fine for a few people, the masses rejected it
Exactly, and for a number of reasons. If the game was phenomenal, the outcome would be different. But it wasn't, so here we are, lol.

I'm still not sure why this game is woke, though. Haven't seen anyone clearly explain that. Concord's undeniably meant to push political messages, but Highguard? I just think it's a bad generic game.

Someone who thinks this game is woke, explain please. Honest question.
I think I saw someone mention a character having specific pronouns in their bio, but that was it? So, aside from some text, nothing else as far as I know.
 
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