Men_in_Boxes
Snake Oil Salesman
In 1941, the Japanese fighter plane known as the Zero was one of the best air to air fighters on earth. By 1945, they were tin cans, easily bested by more modern fighters.
You have to believe that everyone at Firewalk and PlayStation understands the value of competition, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of coming into a market like this in 2024.
"What is Concord going to do that improves on the established 5 v 5 shooter genre? Why should Overwatch, CSGO, and Valorant be worried about Concord?"
That HAD to be a conversation every day in Firewalks offices, right?
I've racked my brain and tried to come up with the most likely answers from Firewalk, for that question. Here are the 5 most plausible answers I can come up with. This is what Concord does "better" than everyone else...
1. "In 2015, Overwatch debuted with a really strong story trailer that everyone loved. Blizzard dropped the ball on that premise. We're not."
2. "We think a fundamental design flaw with the 5 v 5 hero shooter is people "maining" a preferred character. People play a singular character because it suits their playstyle and they want to win, but we feel this is detrimental to variety that players actually want."
3. Overwatch, Valorant, RS:Siege, and TF2 all basically have one mode. We're going to follow the Fortnite / Roblox model and create a multiple modes. This gives players added variety that we suspect they want, and it allows us to track what our players want."
4. We think our competitors games devolve after the first teamfight. Concord will push players into one or two teamfights and then we'll reset so our players can regroup and talk strategy."
5. Let's make it graphically impressive. Our audience wants best in class visuals.
If that's the presentation Firewalk gives to PlayStation, then...
#1. What evidence tells Firewalk that PvP players want to watch story cutscenes? How utopian is the PvP player base (chuds, chads, jerks) that you think gay robots and gender confused aliens appeals to the guy who f****ed everyones mother on voice chat? That dude is EVERYWHERE in PvP games. It might be a worthwhile bet in a PvE game like Helldivers 2, but PvP? No way.
#2. I think this is a smart wrinkle, not a core pillar for why Concord can take out TF2, Overwatch, Valorant, and Siege. You can't get your friends on by telling them "They push you off your preferred hero so you have to get decent at 4 or 5 of them instead!" There's validity here, but it's a validity you can't sell.
#3. "A game for everyone is a game for no one" - Arrowhead Studios. The 5 or 6 different modes in this game step on eachothers toes. Characters are balanced for RIVALRY mode, but people seem to like playing BRAWL, which means half your roster is almost irrelevant.
#4. Another interesting wrinkle that's hard to sell. Concord plays like a football game. Your team chooses their characters, you talk about your strategy, then you have less than 50 seconds to execute before the play is over and it's 2nd down. You don't have any time to lurk because the round will be over 15 seconds after you get the idea.
#5. Dumb. Roblox, Minecraft, Fortnite, Valorant, League of Legends, CSGO are eating everyone's lunch and you want to win some "best graphics in a multiplayer game" award? Coffee is for closers.
Odd Notes:
- Holy leave game early Batman. More than 50 percent of your matches have a player leaving early. When one player does, you have a 96 percent chance that another player will within the next 60 seconds. I assume this gets corrected in full release but it kills the beta.
- The game doesn't feel good to play. In RIVALRY mode, all your characters start out underpowered because the CREW SYSTEM is designed as a power growth curve throughout the match. The means your first few rounds feel sloppy and some of your teammates are still "maining" a character because the CREW SYSTEM isn't explained well. It's crazy how bad this game is at telling you which of your bullets hit and which don't.
- The game is much more fun to play with friends, but having a 90 percent win rate gets old fast and playing solo is unenjoyable because no one talks in this game. Firewalk made the game a social one, but in doing so, hurt the solo experience. Not great for onboarding new players.
- The sense of progression in the beta is miserable. I've unlocked a pair of green socks, a ballsack weapon charm, and a beige weapon skin in all my time playing. Also, someone correct me if I'm wrong but is winning and losing completely irrelevant when it comes to progression? The match end screen vomits XP cards on you whether it's a W or an L. This is a PvP game and it really feels like they want to give everyone participation trophies after a game...WTF.
Where will this game be on Steam after 4 months? 1k - 2k average players. I could not believe Halo Infinite was as bad as it was back in 2021. I can not believe how bad Concord is today. It really shows you how money and resources, which Firewalk had, don't guarantee a hit. Cuffbust is going to dogwalk this game. Cuffbust is made by a single 22 year old kid and he's making it in under 3 years.
PS: I'm officially challenging
James Sawyer Ford
to a fist fight in the Walmart parking lot of his choosing. I will pick the Limp Bizkit song that plays out of my 1993 Honda Del Sol. His crimes can not go unpunished.
You have to believe that everyone at Firewalk and PlayStation understands the value of competition, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of coming into a market like this in 2024.
"What is Concord going to do that improves on the established 5 v 5 shooter genre? Why should Overwatch, CSGO, and Valorant be worried about Concord?"
That HAD to be a conversation every day in Firewalks offices, right?
I've racked my brain and tried to come up with the most likely answers from Firewalk, for that question. Here are the 5 most plausible answers I can come up with. This is what Concord does "better" than everyone else...
1. "In 2015, Overwatch debuted with a really strong story trailer that everyone loved. Blizzard dropped the ball on that premise. We're not."
2. "We think a fundamental design flaw with the 5 v 5 hero shooter is people "maining" a preferred character. People play a singular character because it suits their playstyle and they want to win, but we feel this is detrimental to variety that players actually want."
3. Overwatch, Valorant, RS:Siege, and TF2 all basically have one mode. We're going to follow the Fortnite / Roblox model and create a multiple modes. This gives players added variety that we suspect they want, and it allows us to track what our players want."
4. We think our competitors games devolve after the first teamfight. Concord will push players into one or two teamfights and then we'll reset so our players can regroup and talk strategy."
5. Let's make it graphically impressive. Our audience wants best in class visuals.
If that's the presentation Firewalk gives to PlayStation, then...
#1. What evidence tells Firewalk that PvP players want to watch story cutscenes? How utopian is the PvP player base (chuds, chads, jerks) that you think gay robots and gender confused aliens appeals to the guy who f****ed everyones mother on voice chat? That dude is EVERYWHERE in PvP games. It might be a worthwhile bet in a PvE game like Helldivers 2, but PvP? No way.
#2. I think this is a smart wrinkle, not a core pillar for why Concord can take out TF2, Overwatch, Valorant, and Siege. You can't get your friends on by telling them "They push you off your preferred hero so you have to get decent at 4 or 5 of them instead!" There's validity here, but it's a validity you can't sell.
#3. "A game for everyone is a game for no one" - Arrowhead Studios. The 5 or 6 different modes in this game step on eachothers toes. Characters are balanced for RIVALRY mode, but people seem to like playing BRAWL, which means half your roster is almost irrelevant.
#4. Another interesting wrinkle that's hard to sell. Concord plays like a football game. Your team chooses their characters, you talk about your strategy, then you have less than 50 seconds to execute before the play is over and it's 2nd down. You don't have any time to lurk because the round will be over 15 seconds after you get the idea.
#5. Dumb. Roblox, Minecraft, Fortnite, Valorant, League of Legends, CSGO are eating everyone's lunch and you want to win some "best graphics in a multiplayer game" award? Coffee is for closers.
Odd Notes:
- Holy leave game early Batman. More than 50 percent of your matches have a player leaving early. When one player does, you have a 96 percent chance that another player will within the next 60 seconds. I assume this gets corrected in full release but it kills the beta.
- The game doesn't feel good to play. In RIVALRY mode, all your characters start out underpowered because the CREW SYSTEM is designed as a power growth curve throughout the match. The means your first few rounds feel sloppy and some of your teammates are still "maining" a character because the CREW SYSTEM isn't explained well. It's crazy how bad this game is at telling you which of your bullets hit and which don't.
- The game is much more fun to play with friends, but having a 90 percent win rate gets old fast and playing solo is unenjoyable because no one talks in this game. Firewalk made the game a social one, but in doing so, hurt the solo experience. Not great for onboarding new players.
- The sense of progression in the beta is miserable. I've unlocked a pair of green socks, a ballsack weapon charm, and a beige weapon skin in all my time playing. Also, someone correct me if I'm wrong but is winning and losing completely irrelevant when it comes to progression? The match end screen vomits XP cards on you whether it's a W or an L. This is a PvP game and it really feels like they want to give everyone participation trophies after a game...WTF.
Where will this game be on Steam after 4 months? 1k - 2k average players. I could not believe Halo Infinite was as bad as it was back in 2021. I can not believe how bad Concord is today. It really shows you how money and resources, which Firewalk had, don't guarantee a hit. Cuffbust is going to dogwalk this game. Cuffbust is made by a single 22 year old kid and he's making it in under 3 years.
PS: I'm officially challenging
James Sawyer Ford
to a fist fight in the Walmart parking lot of his choosing. I will pick the Limp Bizkit song that plays out of my 1993 Honda Del Sol. His crimes can not go unpunished.
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