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[LectureMaster]

 

[Arsic]

PoE2 was definitely part of the reason I made the thread.

I was playing EA last few days as an infernalist witch. The build has you using a spell that summons fire skulls, skeletons that throw fire grenades, you place down circles of fire, etc.

I tried changing the game literally down to 1080P, dlss ultra performance, and I would still crash down to 20-40fps. The same happens if I’m at 1440P dlss quality.

There’s also several areas on console playing this build where it will completely glitch out and delete all enemies on screen , your character, and geometry , but it’s still running so you’re fighting invisible everything.

It made me realize that no one on their development team ever tried this ability other than a small controlled environment. Which pissed me off to think this isn’t even early access… it’s giga paid alpha testing.

I’ve played early access that felt totally justified and exactly what it is. Examples are like Hades 2, or Baldurs gate 3.

There’s a ton more wrong with PoE2 that this coming out in 6-12 months is not feasible. The game should’ve launched in EA in another year of cooking because that’s how far off the mark its current offering is and charging people $30 or more, with micros in game, just feels slimy to me from a company I value like GGG.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Ok i'll bite on your shit takes. You are saying nothing released in recent memory that didn't have an early access period was shit?

I won't say nothing. I was speaking in hyperbole to an extent.

I will say, every new game trailer I see that looks interesting seems to be launching in Early Access. Traditional AAA games have lost so much energy in over the last decade. It must be miserable working in secret for 6 years, not being able to take creative risks. Most of the industry talent is long gone from that model.

 

[Jesb]

To me the biggest issue is with how fragile job security is in this industry why would you even enter the industry at this point.

 

[TheDreadBaron]

I'm playing HighFleet, that's a fun video game.

 

[poppabk]

Yeah fuck that. Early access is probably the only thing keeping gaming alive creatively. It gives small teams the ability to take risks and push the scope of things. Realistically more things should be early access.

 

[evanft]

I think there’s been a lot of advancements in fidelity over the years but it seems like there’s a lack of attention to art direction and just general successful/thoughtful execution of all the new visual tools.

Elden Ring is a great example of the inverse - really thoughtful art direction but just a total lack of finesse with the technical side of shit. Studios aren’t really striking the balance.

Yep. We've had multiple games in the last year that are technical powerhouses but lack in any sense of style or art. Hellblade 2, Alan Wake 2, etc. come to the table with amazing rendering advancements but then use the tech to deliver something that looks worse than a lot of last gen titles.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

Early access feels right at home on PC, especially with the low prices, refund policies and the experimental nature of the whole open ecosystem. On consoles and with regards to titles from big publishers you do have a point: it's up to the platform holders to enforce technical standards. But they don't, they'd rather fuck over their customers. That's why more and more people are switching to PC.

 

[Melchiah]

Nah. The real reason games suck nowadays is...

- Every major action-adventure / action-RPG is fucking open world garbage.
- The few AAA arcade-style racers we get are also fucking open world garbage.
- Most big budget horror games have invincible chasers, and tiresome run & hide mechanics, instead of true survival horror of the good old days.

That's why I haven't bought a single game in two years, when before these fads I used to buy about 10 games a year. I just play older and better games instead.

 

[Kupfer]

You can skip those games.

Just skip unfinished games as well.

Nobody has to play game XY on day 1, let alone pre-order it

 

[Iced Arcade]

Remember the optimization the 360/PS3 gen did.

512mb of ram developers optimized the shit out of and squeezed everything they could and it showed comparing the start and end of that very long generation.

 

[SHA]

The right people are usually pissed, forced to work in different profession for financial security but it's not their favorite second job and I respect that.

 

[FingerBang]

No, the problem is not unoptimized games and early access. This must be the stupidest point made on Gaf in years days.

The real fucking problem is that every game nowadays needs to target everyone. There is no target audience anymore. They all assume target X will buy the product, so it's time to make it marketable to Y and Z, who don't usually buy games. When X complains, they double down on their features for Y and Z and W.

So here's your hefty dose of nonbinary and teen drama in Dragon Age, and don't forget your all-female cast for the new Star Wars on the way out

To me the biggest issue is with how fragile job security is in this industry why would you even enter the industry at this point.

Most software developers would love to make games, but they don't because they're aware of two things:

1) It pays peanuts compared to other jobs
2) You're expected to work long hours for it

But there are always piles of fresh grads who want to make games and are happy to work for very low wages and for 12+ hours a day.
It's the same situation as the anime industry in Japan.

There is no conspiracy, it's how the market works.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

Console storage was the worst thing to happen to gaming. Once again I blame MS to being first with a hard drive.

 

[Ogbert]

Games suck, because they’re no longer games.

On the whole, AAA titles are boring movies with tired, dull mechanics. Gameplay isn’t close to being the priority.

Just play old games or indie titles.

And disagree on Early Access.