The Gaming Industry: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

[Mike S]

What's the old saying, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. Of course it's no different than the Disney price hikes, as long as people show up there's no need to change. Ea sells a crap-ton of madden, fifa, battlefield... and you can't just boycott one game like mass effect andromeda, you have to hit them where it hurts. I said it when it was announced, EA is by far the WORST company that Disney could have given the contract to. I hope it comes out that Disney did this and the contract is going someplace else.

Battlefield nosedived last year.

 

[erasure fan1]

Battlefield nosedived last year.

I don't play it so I hadn't seen. But that's not a bad thing. If Madden of Fifa could take a hit now, it might wake EA up. Wishful thinking, I know, but one can hope.

 

[Mike S]

I don't play it so I hadn't seen. But that's not a bad thing. If Madden of Fifa could take a hit now, it might wake EA up. Wishful thinking, I know, but one can hope.

I don’t play either but you don’t need to play to see how bad the sales numbers were.

 

[erasure fan1]

Anyone playing sea of thieves?

 

[Jahona]

Anyone playing sea of thieves?

I played a bit this weekend. I go in spurts. Play a bit of SoT then fall off it for weeks. It's fun with friends but frustrating solo.

 

[erasure fan1]

I played a bit this weekend. I go in spurts. Play a bit of SoT then fall off it for weeks. It's fun with friends but frustrating solo.

Thats funny because that was what I was wondering. I started playing and playing solo stinks, no fun at all so far. I was thinking I was doing something wrong but it seems that's just how it is. I don't always have friends available and I'm not a huge play with randoms kind a guy so the lack of good solo is a bummer.

 

[Master Yoda]

Thats funny because that was what I was wondering. I started playing and playing solo stinks, no fun at all so far. I was thinking I was doing something wrong but it seems that's just how it is. I don't always have friends available and I'm not a huge play with randoms kind a guy so the lack of good solo is a bummer.

This is exactly why I avoided it. Playing with a bunch of friends looked pretty fun. Solo bordered on imposible. At least with MMOs like Destiny you could play alone and still do pretty much anything.

 

[erasure fan1]

This is exactly why I avoided it. Playing with a bunch of friends looked pretty fun. Solo bordered on imposible. At least with MMOs like Destiny you could play alone and still do pretty much anything.

Yea I finished a couple quests, had my chests, and was heading back to an outpost to cash in. I was just about there when the kraken attacked and since I was alone it obliterated me. About an hour of playtime down the toilet. I do hope they adjust things for single players, but I don't think they will change their "vision" for the game.

 

[Jahona]

Thats funny because that was what I was wondering. I started playing and playing solo stinks, no fun at all so far. I was thinking I was doing something wrong but it seems that's just how it is. I don't always have friends available and I'm not a huge play with randoms kind a guy so the lack of good solo is a bummer.

This is exactly why I avoided it. Playing with a bunch of friends looked pretty fun. Solo bordered on imposible. At least with MMOs like Destiny you could play alone and still do pretty much anything.

So I got convinced to play for a bit last night. 3 other friends all crewing a Galleon. Having all the solo and duo groups run in fear of us as we steal their loot was great. The game really penalizes solo play in not just the general difficulty of things but in environmental hazards. The Forsaken Shores is near impossible solo. The Volcanoes going off always damage the ship and it's hard to find a safe spot to park. So someone typically has to stay with the ship to repair it while the other goes ashore. In the last patch they have been tweaking the environmental hazards against sloops. The kraken is supposed to attack sloops less as well as the meg. It's funny in all of my time I've put into the game I finally saw the kraken this past weekend and it was off in the distance. I've never had one attack me or my ship.

 

[erasure fan1]

It's funny in all of my time I've put into the game I finally saw the kraken this past weekend and it was off in the distance. I've never had one attack me or my ship.

That's funny because that was just my second time playing when I got attacked, in a sloop. Lol

 

[Scrooged]

I’m a big fan of playing solo. I tried Sea of thieves a few times and it is really no fun to play solo.

Destiny is a much more well rounded game for soloing, and while there is fun to be had playing Fortnite solo- it does shine with buddies. But it’s still rewarding solo.

Haven’t tried Apex yet as the Xbox version is still choppy as heck.

 

[Jahona]

I’m a big fan of playing solo. I tried Sea of thieves a few times and it is really no fun to play solo.

Destiny is a much more well rounded game for soloing, and while there is fun to be had playing Fortnite solo- it does shine with buddies. But it’s still rewarding solo.

Haven’t tried Apex yet as the Xbox version is still choppy as heck.

APEX forces you into a squad of three and has a lot of great tools to play with randoms. On PC it's been pretty smooth. No real major issues that I've seen and performance has been great. You have to be an exceptional player to go it solo and know when to pick your battles.

 

[Jahona]

Activision Blizzard lays off hundreds of employees

Activision's Q4 earnings call and a letter reportedly sent by Blizzard president J. Allen Brack confirms layoffs in the US.

www.pcgamer.com

This has been rumored to be happening since last year. Several people have already jumped ship.

 

[Mike S]

Activision Blizzard lays off hundreds of employees

Activision's Q4 earnings call and a letter reportedly sent by Blizzard president J. Allen Brack confirms layoffs in the US.

www.pcgamer.com

This has been rumored to be happening since last year. Several people have already jumped ship.

All these layoffs wouldn’t have to happen if the top took paycuts but heaven forbid if they can’t afford a fifth yacht. Also if they didn’t give a new CFO $15 million right off the bat.

Satoru Iwata, you were truly an amazing example of leadership. RIP.

 

[Scrooged]

APEX forces you into a squad of three and has a lot of great tools to play with randoms. On PC it's been pretty smooth. No real major issues that I've seen and performance has been great. You have to be an exceptional player to go it solo and know when to pick your battles.

I’ve played a few matches and it seems Apex has integrated teamwork into the mold really well. If I find a core group to play with then I may stick with it. Respawn is a solid developer who has (so far) been left to their own devices and not totally corrupted by EA (I’m looking at you, DICE) and that certainly helped the creation of the game.

 

[Mike S]

I’ve played a few matches and it seems Apex has integrated teamwork into the mold really well. If I find a core group to play with then I may stick with it. Respawn is a solid developer who has (so far) been left to their own devices and not totally corrupted by EA (I’m looking at you, DICE) and that certainly helped the creation of the game.

Oh just give it time. It is inevitable.

 

[Scrooged]

Oh just give it time. It is inevitable.

While I hope it doesn't come to this....I do not hold out much hope.

 

[Jahona]

Oh just give it time. It is inevitable.

At this point I'm wondering how much of it is EA's pull over DICE or if it's DICE causing their own problems. BFV might have been rushed by EA but the overall community response by DICE hasn't been great. They have lost a lot of good will from fans and it just seems to keep going down. The latest patch out today has been a letdown from everything that I've seen.

 

[Mike S]

At this point I'm wondering how much of it is EA's pull over DICE or if it's DICE causing their own problems. BFV might have been rushed by EA but the overall community response by DICE hasn't been great. They have lost a lot of good will from fans and it just seems to keep going down. The latest patch out today has been a letdown from everything that I've seen.

That’s what happens when you attempt to virtue signal to people that only wanted a historically accurate WWII game (as much as you can get in a video game) and then call them ignorant for not liking it and telling them not to buy it.

The numbers reported by EA are actually much worse then they let on too. They say that they missed their target by 1 million copies but also neglect to mention a good portion of what they did sell was heavily discounted because early sales were so bad.

 

[Jimmy Thick]

Activision Blizzard lays off hundreds of employees

Activision's Q4 earnings call and a letter reportedly sent by Blizzard president J. Allen Brack confirms layoffs in the US.

www.pcgamer.com

This has been rumored to be happening since last year. Several people have already jumped ship.

This isn’t Blizzard anymore or the Blizzard I used to believe in. It’s Activision now. When Morihane jumped ship the writing was on the wall.

They have no new games for 2019, that’s a whole year with only a Warcraft 3 repackage? A game played to death years ago? The only thing Blizzard has right now is overwatch and the community is so damn toxic even that one is getting hard to stomach.

Nah the old Blizzard is dead and the best I can hope for is the old group gets back together and starts a new company. Hate to be negative but no matter how much you shine a turd it’s still a turd. I missed a bunch of great games during my WoW overdose and I’m having fun knocking out my backlog.