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[Spyxos]

This game is beyond saving. I can't remember ever wanting so badly for a game not to be successful, but Concord has more than earned its place for me.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

I'm not sure focusing on rivalry even if you extend the rounds is a good idea.

The issue is how long it takes to get into those rounds because you are forced to swap heros on win, this means you waiting to get into the match, your waiting for the match to start via the extended intro cutscene + character select, your waiting for character select every round.

The theory is that team construction matters and you're not waiting in between rounds but playing a strategic "team constructor" game in between rounds. Almost like picking your plays in Madden.

That didn't click in with people because there was nothing to play for. Once that changes, choosing your roster becomes more engaging.

Vs the more popular respawn game modes, which was more popular because of how long you spend waiting per match vs playing.

I don't think those people are worth catering to considering how unpopular traditional respawn based arena shooters are today. The shooters that thrive are the ones with sweaty ranked modes.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

How do you not mention joining games in progress and penalties for quitting? Uneven matches is its biggest issue.

 

[vkbest]

Go woke, go broke

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

How do you not mention joining games in progress and penalties for quitting? Uneven matches is its biggest issue.

Honestly, that was a given. I try to limit my words because reading is difficult for some people.

 

[Bring Back Scalebound]

I'm starting to think you are hooking up with one/or more developers of the game...

Even if everything you mentioned happened, and this game turned itself around, the characters still look painfully terrible.

I don't want to play with anyone there.
No one is cool, no one is sexy, no one is hot, no one is stylish. Is just, again, dollar store Guardians of the Galaxy.

 

[KiteGr]

Some people are just petty if Woke is really that big of an issue.

Are they though?
To quote another post I made to a similar argument (the sweet baby ink detected currator)...

The anger:

People are way to angry to let this go away.
The whole forced DEI or "Wokeness" has done way to much damage on to many existing franchises and studios on both the gaming and movie industry.
In 5 years nerds lost their biggest and most favourite franchises in recent history in instalments that insulted their lore and audience.
In the last 5 years Activists have destroyed: Star wars, Star trek, Marvel, DC, Indiana Jones, Lord of The Rings, He-man, She-Ra, Dr who, the Witcher, Dungeons & Dragons, Saint's Row, The Arkham series, Mortal Kombat, The last of us, and have damaged others like Mass Effect and Alan Wake.

The damage is focused mostly in the movie industry but it's clear, and it's to much not to have people angry, or at least worry about it. There are Nerds who lost the affection for every single IP they ever cared for. You really can't blame them.

The Cause:

The "message" by it self shouldn't be bad. "Give something to the underepresented groups" sounds like a noble cause and most wouldn't have a problem with. However in it's current forced nature it's doing much more bad than good, similar to communism and the prohibition.
It's one thing to add a subtle message like "don't be mean to gays", and another to straight up bringing travesties in schools and forcing using preferred pronouns by law.
It's one thing to add a tough Woman capable of survive in a tough situation, and another to fill all franchises with emasculated insufferable tomboys that even women despise, while all other males are incopetend bofoons.
It's one thing to add a minority character in some modern setting, and another to have black actors pop out as historically white figures.
It's one thing to hire someone despite of race, sex and sexuality, and another to do it precisely because of them.
Besides, barating and demonizing anything straight white male, besides being sexist and racist, it's also very stupid when it's also the majority of your audience.

There is no IP left unmolested for the nerd culture, with the exception of some Japamese ones who had the forsight to stay away
As a result there is an increadible amount of anger around the whole movement.
Stuff that would otherwise be left to pass or even aplauded, now get picked appart (like the game in question).
The whole Woke movement was left unoposed, thanks to them accussing of -isms all nay sayers, and the audience pretty much boiled and exploded.

So yes...
I'm not gona give these nut-cases any more chances. Even though all I can do is, as you said, undorganisedly not buy their products.

After all...
I see going Woke to the point of using pronouns is a sign of stupidity in my book. I don't expect stupid people to make good stuff.

 

[yazenov]

It's going to flop regardless but I hope it flops so hard that Sony rethinks its live service strategies, shuts down these trash developers, and focuses mainly on their bread and butter, which is story-driven single-player games. Let the 3rd party pubs fight with each other for these live service games audiences, while Sony gets a 30% cut from them.

Helldivers 2 was a fluke of lightning in a bottle that is nearly impossible to replicate. Let them learn the hard way.

 

[Neolombax]

The main issue isnt even the DEI.

Its trying to copy overwatch without adding any sort of innovation. They could have made it 3v3v3, different classes, but no...everything is as generic as it can be, if AI made an OW clone, this would be it. Thats why the game is getting hate, its not unique in any way, and not worth your time let alone your 40€.

What I dont get is someone trying to defend this, this represents exacly what is wrong with the industry. They keep making the same gayme over and over, just making it more gay. Maybe the tens of millions they spent on SBI, should have gone to art department.

I'm 100% convinced the gaming industry is largely a money laundering scheme, because they cant be this tone deaf.

If you read through the mutiple threads about Concord on Gaf, the issue is almost always DEI. There's little to no posts about how the core mechanics of this game is bad. Posts about how Firewalk deserve to be shut down or they should cancel the game is almost always accompanied by reasons " thats what you get for being woke!" or " I dont want to play as a fat he/him".

And personally, if you hate DEI, thats fine too. I refuse to play TLOU 2 because Joel was killed by a She-Man. But lets not pretend a large reason why this game is failing is in fact due to sentiment of DEI.

 

[ArtHands]

Buddy, OP's attempt to find a way to save this burning fireball IS the support, and we thought THAT was sad and funny.

But no, the games last most ardent fans looking for a way to save it in desperation, must actually be trolls for even acknowledging that a problem exists. It's like a massive elephant in the room you can't see, intentionally or otherwise.

The game don't need this kind of support. You want to support this game, buy it and enjoy it.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Are they though?
To quote another post I made to a similar argument (the sweet baby ink detected currator)...



There is no IP left unmolested for the nerd culture, with the exception of some Japamese ones who had the forsight to stay away
As a result there is an increadible amount of anger around the whole movement.
Stuff that would otherwise be left to pass or even aplauded, now get picked appart (like the game in question).
The whole Woke movement was left unoposed, thanks to them accussing of -isms all nay sayers, and the audience pretty much boiled and exploded.

So yes...
I'm not gona give these nut-cases any more chances. Even though all I can do is, as you said, undorganisedly not buy their products.

After all...
I see going Woke to the point of using pronouns is a sign of stupidity in my book. I don't expect stupid people to make good stuff.

I don't disagree with that, I just think it's petty to make such a big deal about it. Especially pronouns, since you don't notice them on screen anyway.

 

[Roxkis_ii]

What they need to do is take a picture of each hero, and add the image to ai prompt and add "conventionally attractive". Recreate the game with the results.

 

[AJUMP23]

The Games reputation is cemented, and I think hero shooters are somewhat done.

 

[BlackTron]

The game don't need this kind of support. You want to support this game, buy it and enjoy it.

I don't think what you're saying is the type of support this game needs. If you want to support this game, play and enjoy it right now to pad that player count to stem the landslide. If you can bear to.

A beta being in this state being bad news for its game isn't a new thing made up today. It's a sign of shattered momentum that will usually just compound on itself. People like to play games with a good buzz, not reputations of failure which this one is already saddled with. That can be difficult to turn around, certainly not by calling the one guy who actually gives a crap enough to try saving it a troll lol.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

This thing was DOA as soon as they showed the trailer with the cringe Marvel dialog, the “we have Guardians of the Galaxy at home” aesthetic, and the absolutely hideous character designs.

No amount of fine-tuning the gameplay mechanics is going to save this game, because most gamers find this game so off-putting they won’t even give it a shot (for free) in the first place.

 

[GHG]

I am just being positive and supportive of Sony.

At least give this game a chance. It has yet to be released properly.

All this bullshit from you just because this is a day one PC title.

Sad.

 

[Hudo]

The airplane was an actual technological achievement and progress.

 

[Games of Today]

This game is 100% DOA and it needs to go F2P to stand any chance. No one will pay $40 for this.

There isn't even anything special about the gameplay. Hell, Killzone 2's Warzone mode was ten times more elaborate than this in it's design.

What I really want to know about this game is why the character IT-Z doesn't have the pronoun of "it", rather than she/her!

 

[MayauMiao]

Its practically dead and the open beta shows.

I watched channels that claims to "love" this game but at the end of the day, they all conclude that they are not going to spend $40 for it.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

they are fucked, because is not like the game needs more polish or more content. the game itself (a 5v5 HERo shooter) has been rejected by the market.

"it's not you, it's me" kind of thing.

going F2P would be the desperate way to save it, but it would be even more humiliating for the studio.

I genuinely want to know what kind of expectations they had for the game. and IF they had some kind of ideological approach to it (you know what I'm taking about) it's faliure is going to be even more sweet...

 

[Saber]

I have a better question:

Why does Concord needs saving?
Let that thing crash and burn. And the place where it crash and burns needs to be cleaned and disinfected so nothing bad sprouts from there. Make people forget this atrocity ever existed and use the money for something that is more constructive and worth next time.

 

[The Mad Draklor]

Looks like the OP has reached the bargaining stage of grief.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

Honestly, that was a given. I try to limit my words because reading is difficult for some people.

idk, if it was a given it would be in the beta.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

9. Drum up some interest by including guest characters from other franchises. And reimagine those characters as ugly gender-swapped butch lesbians.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

they are fucked, because is not like the game needs more polish or more content. the game itself (a 5v5 HERo shooter) has been rejected by the market.

Polish and content are not the issues.

Nudging the player base towards wanting to win is the issue.

I think it can be fixed.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Polish and content are not the issues.

Nudging the player base towards wanting to win is the issue.

I think it can be fixed.

 

[PeteBull]

I haven't played Concord, but even if they fixed the gameplay, look at the peak playerbase. They aren't even getting people to try it. Because the entire concept, premise, character roster, etc., are all just totally unappealing. I don't think there is any way to save this game barring a total reworking of all the characters, the PVP focus, everything.

Indeed, imagine dev studio making life is strange sequel or some similar game, but u got those characters to chose from

Thats how concord character screen looks to all normal ppl

Edit: next time if u dont wanna lose all ur audience right at the start, tank specced character should look somewhat similar to this

And not lesbian without a waist

 

[analog_future]

The fact that you had to create a thread about how to save Concord when the game doesn't even come out for another month tells us all we need to know about how DOA this game is.

 

[Holammer]

I haven't played the game, nor watched much about it and I avoid it like the plague. It was a wonder I even looked at this thread.

- PC version requires a PSN account, it's unnecessary friction that's going to annoy users and make them lose sales. Helldivers 2 shitstorm shows how disliked it is. Sony's new restrictions of where you can make PSN accounts (121 countries) is going to hamper sales even more.
- Charging money for a GaaS shooter in this day and age? With established competition?
- The political baggage is immense, everyone knows and it's been thoroughly discussed. Like the Lightyear movie the game is actively being sacrificed on the altar of diversity. In fact, like Lightyear it might end up getting banned in additional countries (like China) if they don't keep their messaging in check.

There's no fixing it.

 

[lughnasadh123]

Couple of worthless thoughts from someone who hasn't played but has watched some videos and without zero knowledge of the what will be in the full release:

-Let's just deal with the elephant in the room that the game needs to be F2P. Even if the game was better, players are now conditioned to expect games like this not have an initial cost making them balk at an upfront cost. F2P is simply inevitable and I'd bet was always the plan to get those upfront sales which are now all but unlikely. Suck it up and just redo it.

-Put a campaign in. It doesn't need to be long, but it's a damn good way to entice people who are a bit iffy on multiplayer games in general. Plus it's just really weird idea to put these weekly cinematics without it. People do care about stories, people have been asking for more from Overwatch since forever, but pvp matches alone are the worst way to marry the two. Hell, occasionally expand the campaign to further invest people into the characters and lore of the world. Speaking of which....

-The levels are incredibly dull and perhaps a little too big going off complaints. Having more dynamic, story-related elements could make things a whole lot more interesting.

-Some of the UI could stand being put back in the oven.

-While it's fair the cast gets criticized for being the budget, budget GotG crew, a lot of it is the usual hyperventilating (from some) of having black characters in the game as if they don't belong there. It's getting tiring at this point. That said they sure as hell could be a lot more interesting. And ffs get better skins. This game has some of the ugliest, turd-stained default cosplay look I've ever seen from a hero shooter. Wtf were they thinking?

And more. Honestly right now the game could stand just to be held back, revamp things, and release later when it's in a better state. The foundation is really solid, but "meh" isn't going to get you shit today with gamers.

 

[ricardo_sousa11]

If you read through the mutiple threads about Concord on Gaf, the issue is almost always DEI. There's little to no posts about how the core mechanics of this game is bad. Posts about how Firewalk deserve to be shut down or they should cancel the game is almost always accompanied by reasons " thats what you get for being woke!" or " I dont want to play as a fat he/him".

And personally, if you hate DEI, thats fine too. I refuse to play TLOU 2 because Joel was killed by a She-Man. But lets not pretend a large reason why this game is failing is in fact due to sentiment of DEI.

You're ignoring the reason.

The issue isnt DEI, its how generic it is, exacly why there is no talk about it, because there is nothing to talk about apart from its DEI agenda. The mechanics and gameplay arent bad, they are mid, not worth discussing.

They deserve to be shut down because of how average and weak minded they are.

Also, you're comparing one of the best-seller and acclaimed SP games to a generic OW clone claiming people dont like because of its DEI. TLOU1 had ellie being non-binary and its considered a masterpiece.

People dont hate DEI, they hate when its the priority and being shoved everywhere, in every character, in every game.

 

[Dutchy]

Sometimes it's better to ...

 

[GymWolf]

Sony should “Batgirl” this abomination

They should definitely give some cakes at some of the females characters i agree

Spoiler

Not sure if that would be enough to save the game tho.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Their only shot of having any kind of playerbase is making it f2p. At this point I doubt it releases as planned. I wouldn’t be surprised if they announce a delay then quietly cancel it.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

I have a better question:

Why does Concord needs saving?
Let that thing crash and burn. And the place where it crash and burns needs to be cleaned and disinfected so nothing bad sprouts from there. Make people forget this atrocity ever existed and use the money for something that is more constructive and worth this time.

Too much time and resources spent not to give it the best chance possible at this point.

The last 5 - 10% of any project often gets left undone. I think Firewalk needs to release as best they can, support it for 3 - 6 months, and if there's no hope at that point then they should move on.

 

[Saber]

Too much time and resources spent not to give it the best chance possible at this point.

Say that to Factions. Waste of money but at least they didn't release that crap.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Say that to Factions. Waste of money but at least they didn't release that crap.

We don't know if more than 10 people ever worked on Factions. It never left preproduction.

So...literally the opposite of what you said.

 

[KimDongHwan]

I just hope that Sony takes the hint on what they did wrong here, and learn the lesson for the future?

 

[DonF]

bruh imagine the meltdowns if they remove the pronouns

 

[MiguelItUp]

I honestly don't think there's any saving the game, especially at the price points they're selling it. People mention the whole "woke" thing, but even if people had no issue with that at all, the issues the game has would still remain. There's no real staying power, nothing stands out, and the entire experience feels like things we've already played before. So, it kind of leaves you with this feeling of, "What's the point of playing this, when I can play something else that does it better?" At least that's how I felt. The visuals and production are great, but I don't think it's enough to save this whatsoever. Going F2P would be the best decision IMO, but even then there's no real guarantee that it would be successful in any way.

 

[Interfectum]

It's pretty much a boycott, ain't it?

But I don't expect anti-Woke to acknowledge it, just like I don't expect Woke to acknowledge Concord to be Woke.

Apathy isn't boycotting though.

These developers went out of their way to leave out straight white males... one of the core demographics for a game like this. Are you surprised many look at this game and just shrug their shoulders? What is the hook here? The ability to play a fat chick in an online game?

These studios think they are saving the world injecting this shit when all they are really doing is putting themselves out of business.

 

[MayauMiao]

bruh imagine the meltdowns if they remove the pronouns

Or actually *gasp* adding hot female model that rivals Eve of Stellar Blade.

 

[DonF]

Or actually *gasp* adding hot female model that rivals Eve of Stellar Blade.

Hot female model, pronouns XIR/XER, Asexual.

 

[BennyBlanco]

It's pretty much a boycott, ain't it?

But I don't expect anti-Woke to acknowledge it, just like I don't expect Woke to acknowledge Concord to be Woke.

Lack of interest =/= boycott

I am not gonna see the new Twister movie but I’m not boycotting it, i just don’t give a shit

 

[diffusionx]

People dont hate DEI, they hate when its the priority and being shoved everywhere, in every character, in every game.

No, people do hate DEI.

Not a single person is going to buy this game because it respects pronouns, but it turned off a lot of people instantly.

 

[MadchesterManc]

Ended up playing Flintlock over the weekend instead of giving this a chance, gone off hero-shooters recently.

I honestly don't know why Sony didn't just get them to do a PlayStation All-Stars style hero shooter instead, that would have been interesting.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Too much time and resources spent not to give it the best chance possible at this point.

The last 5 - 10% of any project often gets left undone. I think Firewalk needs to release as best they can, support it for 3 - 6 months, and if there's no hope at that point then they should move on.

That’s a sunk cost fallacy. They can’t even get people to try the game for free. At this point the just the cost of launching + supporting the game + making incremental improvements is probably far more than the revenue they could bring in from the meager # of buyers.

Not to mention all the negative publicity and reputation cost when it makes Suicide Squad + Redfall look like a runaway success in comparison.

I honestly think the smartest thing would be to pull a Hyenas. Cancel it now and write it off. Don’t throw good money after bad.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

That’s a sunk cost fallacy. They can’t even get people to try the game for free. At this point the just the cost of launching + supporting the game + making incremental improvements is probably far more than the revenue they could bring in from the meager # of buyers.

Not to mention all the negative publicity and reputation cost when it makes Suicide Squad + Redfall look like a runaway success in comparison.

I honestly think the smartest thing would be to pull a Hyenas. Cancel it now and write it off. Don’t throw good money after bad.

I don't think completing your work can ever be considered "sunk cost fallacy". XBox may buy into the lazy excuse mentality but look at where it got them. There is something pure and good about crossing the finish line that will reward all involved for the rest of their lives.

In other words, there's no easy way out. There no shortcut home. Giving in can be wrong.

 

[Saber]

We don't know if more than 10 people ever worked on Factions. It never left preproduction.

Only 10 people working on that crap? Don't give me that bullcrap fallacy. They gave up because they knew it would be a crap without any form of appeal and decide to not spent more than they already had. Years worth of it.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Only 10 people working on that crap?

No I said "We don't know if more than 10 people worked on Factions. It never left preproduction."

Concord is significantly further along in its development than Factions ever was.