• Prof. Sweetlove@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      My tactic of waiting a year until a newly released game is fully patched and grabbing it with a discount has yet to fail me.

        • addandsubtract@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          I’ve just switched over to watching games being played on Twitch. I can enjoy all the latest games, at max settings (minus the 1080p twitch encoding), and divert my attention to other things simultaneously.

      • fossilesque@mander.xyz
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        1 year ago

        Let’s not kid ourselves, Bethesda depends on the unofficial patches and mods to really make their games working and shining. A year or two is mandatory for their games. 😅

    • Yrt@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      Nope. And everybody will scream cause they payed 70 bucks for a broken game, just like Bethesda is known to produce.

      Just keep looking at the list. Payday 3 is also there. A publisher known for maybe a worse dlc and microtransaction policy than EA with the Sims, but it seems that doesn’t matter a bit.

    • w00master@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      100%. I’m a diehard Bethesda RPG fan, but never ever preorder. I’ll never understand the stupidity in doing this.

      • shapesandstuff@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        I also got hyped and joined the launch day queues when i was a kid. But then we as a community got burned again and again.

        Like even the most casual gamer must get pissed off by broken servers.

        • Sanctonis@beehaw.org
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          1 year ago

          Honestly I think this is a considerable portion of pre-orders. We didn’t have too much money when I was a kid so having something pre-ordered, knowing that when it comes out I’ll for sure get it, felt really good. Those were the ODST, Battlefront 2 (original) and Oblivion days, though.

          Times have changed since, and even to kid me I’m pretty sure how buggy these games tend to be would annoy me.

          At the end of the day, it’s a constant battle in my head between “let people enjoy things and do what they want with their own money” and “their spending actively lets companies know it’s ok to do this over and over again, delivering buggy messes that will affect game series I enjoy” lol.

    • SenorBolsa@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      Like at least find out if the planets are any good first and not just 2000 procedurally generated flavors of bear asses to collect.

      Hopefully there’s a whole RPG game in there and those are just side stuff to muck around and get some loot.

      • hallowlik@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        I feel like mods would liven those planets up, but even then, I’m still expecting starfield to be very buggy.

        • SenorBolsa@beehaw.org
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          The only thing they showed as a quest there was collecting bear asses from generic dialog with a scientist (but possibly there’s more to it) so that’s not a great sign. I can live with bugginess but if the content isn’t compelling why am I playing? if the content is compelling enough I’ll deal with a lot of bugs.

          and yeah I think there might be a lot of cool mods around adding content to spawn on these planets if the structure of the game allows it. It would allow modders to create smaller self contained one shots basically without worrying about how it all fits into the rest of the game world.

          • Elrundir@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            This is the part that really worried me. They were talking about how the planets are procedurally generated but have the little “environmental narrative” elements that Bethesda is known for. So I thought, okay, maybe they procedurally generated 1000 planets and then populated them by hand with quests, NPCs, etc.

            Then they go on to talk about how “your experience on a planet may be different from your friend’s experience on the same planet,” and they show an obviously procedurally generated fetch-quest from a generic NPC. So I’m getting the feeling that anything to do with the main story or the main faction quests is done by hand, but everything else in the game is just going to be procedurally generated nonsense. I could be wrong, but it’s worrying.

        • RisingSwell@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I’m expecting (if the game is made like a better Bethesda game) good story, good enough combat, and enough bugs to keep Mortein in business for the next decade alone.

      • Goronmon@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        The people that preorder clearly aren’t listening

        Or they are listening and just don’t care.

    • Cool Beance@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I feel lucky. The only game I have ever pre-ordered was Battlefield 3 for PS3. Considering it’s EA and Frostbite was relatively new, I really lucked out

      • Nymphioxetine@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf5Uj4XIT1Y

        Basically, preordering incentivizes companies to release games that are not finished. In general, companies will always maximize revenues while minimizing costs. If they can release a game that didn’t cost them as much to produce (getting massive preorders through good marketing but pinching development and quality) then they absolutely will. look at any AAA released this year

      • False@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It’s a digital good, there’s no scarcity and a lot of them turn out buggy or just bad.

      • ClassyHatter@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I think one reason is that Bethesda’s previous game’s, Fallout 76’s, release didn’t go very smoothly. Not at all smoothly. Internet Historian has a good video about that: The Fall of 76

      • DonutBagelGizmo@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        IMO it’s generally not a great idea to pre-order anyway because it’s not like they can ever run out, plus you never know what’s going to happen on launch day. The game could be a big mess like Cyberpunk was, or the servers could go down because everyone’s downloading at once so then there’d be no point paying to get it on day 1 anyway.

        And on top of that, Bethesda has a bit of a reputation for putting out games that are… let’s say unpolished on release day. I usually find the best approach is to leave it for a day or two, see what people are saying about it online, and then pick it up if you really want to.

      • shapesandstuff@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        That and preordering a digital product that literally can’t run out has no benefits.
        You just put down money for something without any idea what you’re getting.

        Preordering physical copies used to be a thing because shops would run out of them.

  • retnuh@discuss.tchncs.de
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    1 year ago

    $70 for a Bethesda game that will come out broken is just insane to me. I’ll pick it up a year or so after release at a discount when the game is actually decent

    • Emi@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      IDK about a year for me personally, as when it doesn’t massively disappoint when it comes out I will likely get it as soon as I have anything resembling a free day. Nothing like cracking into a new game after you know it won’t disappoint and you have post of time to loose yourself.

      • NattyNatty2x4@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        Nah Bethesda games are best left alone until the modders get a solid crack at it to shore up bugs and add features that probably should’ve been in the base game. Give that shit at least half a year imo

        • Emi@beehaw.org
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          1 year ago

          undefined> esda games are best left alone until the modders get a solid crack at it to shore up bugs and add features that probably should’ve been in the base game. Give that shit at least half a year imo

          I definitely love the mods that the community makes for Bethesda games, but I have also enjoyed many of their games without them… I will often do a vanilla play through prior to doing any mods.

        • aksdb@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          I played Oblivion and Skyrim right at release and had a good time with both (more with Oblivion though).

          I played Gothic 1, 2 and 3 though, so I am used to games with really ugly bugs. The ones where your saved stage can get corrupted in a way that you have to load one from several hours back to correct a mistake to be able to proceed. So my threshold might be higher.

          • Cypher@aussie.zone
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            1 year ago

            Gothic 3 was so broken it was impossible to get it to even run on my PC.

            It took me 8 years but I finally got a refund when the Australian Consumer Commission won against Valve over their anti-consumer practices.

        • EonNShadow@pawb.social
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          1 year ago

          Same thing I do with Far Cry games

          Wait until it’s on a deep discount, then pick it up and hopefully enjoy it.

          FC6, despite some of its flaws, was definitely worth the $10 I paid for it.

  • linuxares@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Why are people preordering a DIGITAL, BETHESDA game?! It’s still the Creation Engine (Creation Engine 2 so hopefully they fixed it!) so it’s probably gonna be a buggy mess at release.

    • Goronmon@beehaw.org
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      Why are people preordering a DIGITAL, BETHESDA game?! It’s still the Creation Engine (Creation Engine 2 so hopefully they fixed it!) so it’s probably gonna be a buggy mess at release.

      Unlike many online gaming communities, there are many people in the world that enjoy playing video games. So, when they see a game that looks fun to play, they buy it or pre-order it.

      • R0cket_M00se@lemmy.world
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        I love how you imply people here don’t enjoy playing videogames, when in reality we do, we just expect a 70 dollar product to fucking work.

        What you’re describing is called being a “consumer whore” and is the #1 reason unregulated capitalism will always lead to our demise. Consumers are morons and will willingly pay full price for some broken loot box addled bullshit because they didn’t learn from the last fifteen times they got burned when preordering.

    • CarnivorousCouch@lemmy.world
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      I was going to buy it anyways, even if it’s a mess. If I spend the money now, the game feels free later.

      I actually haven’t preordered it and might not, but this is how I felt about Mass Effect Legendary Edition, and Bethesda games are at the same tier for me. I have hundreds of hours in every game since Morrowind; I’ll eventually get my money’s worth.

      • R0cket_M00se@lemmy.world
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        If I spend the money now, the game feels free later.

        “If I pay full price for a sub par product now, it feels like a free upgrade when they finally give me what they told me I’d get six months ago!”

        Do you also punch yourself in the nutsack because when it feels so good when you stop?

        • CarnivorousCouch@lemmy.world
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          Thanks for your concern, but I think I understand my own enjoyment of things and my financial situation better than an internet stranger.

          I’ve preordered two games in the last decade and I regretted neither (ME:LE and FO4). If I regret this one, I’ll get over it.

          • R0cket_M00se@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Thanks for continuing to be a part of the problem with videogame development and the reason AAA gaming is a disaster 👍

  • TheDemonBuer@lemmy.world
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    I won’t even consider buying until it’s been out for at least a year or two. By then the major bugs will have been fixed and all the content added.

    • mustyOrange@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      Queue the “internet people are a vocal minority” saying. Unfortunately, it really is true. How anyone can pre-order after fo76 is absolutely bonkers to me

    • alyaza [they/she]@beehaw.orgM
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      well. yeah. i know people don’t like to hear it, because it’d be really nice if games shipped actually finished or not incredibly bug-ridden Day 1, but for most people the protest of not preordering a game so it’ll shipped finish just… doesn’t register as a concern. unless the game is so broken it’s actively unplayable (see the recent Gollum game) most people can hang with whatever happens Day 1 and it’s not a super big deal to them, nor is the principle of a playable game on launch. this is a case of online sentiment being a vocal but clear minority.

      • shapesandstuff@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        Its not a protest its common sense.

        I dont know the product. I wait for the review embargo to lift. Then i wait for AT LEAST release day to hear if its broken/servers are down (hello diablo 4) or its just shit.

        I can still literally buy, download and play it that same day if its amazing.

    • SmugBedBug@lemmy.iswhereits.at
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      I hear ya. At the same time, I’m very happy to wait a year or more to buy the game with all DLCs are a discount.

      I know that doesn’t change the fact the studios are banking on pre-orders to finish funding the game, but I’m doing my part… As little as it is.

  • Bretzel@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    People still preorder games at full price even after all the controversies… Ngl the game looks sexy and may be a big hit but the price is a big no

    • sparky@lemmy.pt@lemmy.pt
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      Yea I mean, no wonder the companies have no incentive to avoid a broken day one release. The internet never learns.

    • Derproid@beehaw.org
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      I won’t lie I only preordered because I wanted the 5 day early play. My excuse though is that I literally have not preordered a game since we still needed to get them from Gamestop and I’ve been waiting for Starfield for like 5 years now.

      • spleenfiesta@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        I almost bought the early play version of diablo 4, took a lot for me not to buckle. Im going to wait before buying starfield, see how the release goes, hoping the game is a huge success because the latest gameplay sure got my attention

  • uzay@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    Another proof for publishers that they only need big promises and nice trailers to sell their game, nevermind the state they ship it in

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    It looks good in the marketing (it always does) but we should all remember that it’s Bethesda making this. Then again, I can’t even name a developer that I would say “hell yeah, this is gonna be awesome!” at this point. The very sad state of the industry.

    • Ardiente@sh.itjust.works
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      Cdpr used to be the one for me even with Witcher 3 release, but with 2077 it was another whole level, specially the way they robbed the devs of the bonuses.

      • Teflo@lemmy.world
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        CDPR was probably everyone’s go to of a AAA dev that hadn’t yet been corrupted by money. Unfortunately with Cyberpunk 2077 we found out the hard way that yes, they had indeed been corrupted by said money. They single-handily managed to annihilate any sort of reputation they had gained over the many years of their studio, then managed to squander all of that in less than a few days. As the saying goes, slow to rise, quick to fall.

        • teawrecks@sopuli.xyz
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          I’m curious what happens with Phantom Liberty. They’re saying they’ve overhauled the entire game and fixed all the issues…but does that mean only for people who buy Phantom Liberty?

          1. I hope they actually fixed all the bugs, and 2) I sure hope they give all the properly fixed content to the people who already bought their broken game.

          Remember No Man’s Sky? They’re STILL releasing free updates to that game. It looks to be way more than what they initially promised at this point. Totally redeemed themselves imo.

          • Teflo@lemmy.world
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            Video Game Chronicles appeared to talk to the games creative director Pawel Sasko, who said this.

            The developer says it’s still discussing the exact details of when and how base game owners will receive the new systems, but that its intention is to deploy them for free. So as well as adding a sizable chunk of new story to Night City, Phantom Liberty looks like it could finally do good on many of the promises the base game failed to live up to for many, before the game’s leaders move Stateside to establish the sequel dev team.

            Source

            So really, who fucking knows. Apparently the entire game is being massively overhauled to the point of where it’s practically a new game, the fact it took three years to get to this point shows truly how underbaked the initial release was.

            No Man’s Sky is a bit different since it was a tiny studio that was promising the mood. Sony also threw the studio director straight into the limelight even though he had effectively zero public relations experience. Then again, he doesn’t really seemed to have learnt his lesson, as he has big promises for his next game, maybe it’ll be a surprise, who knows. Cyberpunk 2077 on the other hand has no such excuse, they had a very well capable and trained marketing and PR team.

    • aksdb@feddit.de
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      Then again, I can’t even name a developer that I would say “hell yeah, this is gonna be awesome!” at this point.

      Valve hasn’t let me down yet. Neither with Software nor with Hardware. Aside from the Index I preordered everything they did since HL2.

    • EidorianSan@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      The team behind the Yakuza / Like a Dragon-games never disappointed me before. That’s one of the few developers / game series that I’m happy to support in advance.

    • Unrigged@feddit.de
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      I would say Rockstar Games ist one of the few thats left here. I was never disappointed by new Games they produced.

      • uzay@beehaw.org
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        By saying “new” and “produced”, you are deliberately excluding the GTA Trilogy remaster I assume, because that is definitely a Rockstar Games mess.

          • 0U714W@slrpnk.net
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            That’s not much of a defense. They outsourced the project and either: did not even peek at the product at any point of development (or when ready to ship) or they did review it, and found it acceptable enough to launch.

            No matter how you cut it, R* severely fucked up.

    • sorenant@lemmy.world
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      FromSoftware and Nintendo? As far as I know, their games are both successful and polished. You might not like their games, of course, but if you do it seems like a safe bet.

  • karce@wizanons.dev
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    I genuinely can’t believe people preorder games but especially Bethesda games, which are notoriously buggy at launch and have tons of issues.

    • Goronmon@beehaw.org
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      Or they just don’t care what niche communities think about pre-ordering and they just play their games and enjoy them?

    • hoi_polloi@sh.itjust.works
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      People never agreed to that. It’s not like a lot of these people hang out in communities where we drill this again and again.

    • Barns@beehaw.org
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      I’ve preordered because GMG has a 20% off offer that I reckon is unlikely to be beaten before launch and I want to play on launch day, not some months later when there might or might not be a sale. Yeah, I’m impatient with games that vaguely resemble my dream game I’ve been thinking of since the original Elite on my Speccy :) But I’m also prepared for bugs and jank and needing mods to round out the game.

  • circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org
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    Pre-ordering digitally distributed games is so pointless, but even more so right now. At least wait for the review embargo to end.

    But it’s even worse with a Bethesda game.

    • kurcatovium@lemmy.world
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      Exactly my thoughts. If nothing else, this year specifically should hint everyone that triple A doesn’t mean finished release. And being among the first to beta test something for mega corp? No thanks. I’ll wait and see.