Is the Honeymoon Stage Over?

[VahnXIII]

I'm just noticing there are more and more negative threads out on these forums. I remember the bliss of conversing with fellow players on the magnificence of the game and even how it could be improved upon for future titles.

 

Nowadays it seems more threads are focused on how things in the game are too easy, too hard, too much, too little, too OP, too UP, too much voice, not enough voice, I like red, I hate red, etc.

 

I understand this is the unfortunate natural progression on game forums, but that was quick!

 

Let's keep this place positive and full of ideas shall we?

[View619]

I'm just noticing there are more and more negative threads out on these forums. I remember the bliss of conversing with fellow players on the magnificence of the game and even how it could be improved upon for future titles.

 

Nowadays it seems more threads are focused on how things in the game are too easy, too hard, too much, too little, too OP, too UP, too much voice, not enough voice, I like red, I hate red, etc.

 

I understand this is the unfortunate natural progression on game forums, but that was quick!

 

Let's keep this place positive and full of ideas shall we?

 

Most of the "negative" threads are already full of discussion on what can be done to improve the state of the game.

[Tigranes]

You must have missed launch day. "Game is too hard!" "Game is too easy!" "Game is too buggy!" "Game won't let me rest!" "Game won't let me walk slowly!" "Game has backer NPCs!" "Game is too confusing!" It looks a lot less nutty now.

 

People complain, all the time. The question is what substantial criticisms there are (and there certainly are some, e.g. the encounter design). 

[Prime-Mover]

You must have missed launch day. "Game is too hard!" "Game is too easy!" "Game is too buggy!" "Game won't let me rest!" "Game won't let me walk slowly!" "Game has backer NPCs!" "Game is too confusing!" It looks a lot less nutty now.

 

People complain, all the time. The question is what substantial criticisms there are (and there certainly are some, e.g. the encounter design). 

Not to mention the pre-release "The media got a copy a couple of days before the backers, so I'm never supporting Obsidian again" storm in a teacup

[Rostere]

Yeah. Well, we could start improving the atmosphere by stopping whining about entitled whiners.

 

And stop whining about whining about entitled whiners, of course.

 

Whatever, I give up.

[Atheosis]

Honeymoon stage?  I played the game nearly 100 hours and plan on going back soon once I'm done with some other games.  Negative posts on forums do not reflect general opinion.

[Stun]

You must have missed launch day. "Game is too hard!" "Game is too easy!" "Game is too buggy!" "Game won't let me rest!" "Game won't let me walk slowly!" "Game has backer NPCs!" "Game is too confusing!" It looks a lot less nutty now.

 

People complain, all the time. The question is what substantial criticisms there are (and there certainly are some, e.g. the encounter design).

Yep. If anything we've stabilized.

 

Personally, the vibe I'm getting is...IDK.... Mixed? Or maybe slightly to the positive side overall? If you want to see *authentic* negativity, go visit BSN's archives for the days and weeks following Dragon Age 2's release. Or, better yet, Mass Effect 3's release.

Edited April 15, 2015 by Stun

[0rangekun]

Loving the game, though a few encounters with bugs have me a bit soured. Not on the game as a whole, but just on my current playthrough. I've put it on hold at the moment because I don't want to be running around with 150 accuracy at level 6.

 

So far I don't understand the "too easy", "too hard" complaints. The difficulty seems about even. Some things are hard, some are easier. My only complaint in terms of difficulty would be some encounters against boss-type enemies have proven more tedious than genuinely difficult, for me. Fighting something with twice as much accuracy as anyone on my party, dealing four times as much damage, with enough DR to drop my occasional Hit's damage down to ~5.

 

Great game on the whole, not entirely convinced Accuracy/Defense/Damage Reduction is a better system than D&D. Neither is perfect, but I think grazing hits frustrate me more than outright misses. Maybe because grazes are so common, to the point landing a genuine Hit at times seems like a miracle, hah.

 

Quite frankly, it seems like a large quantity of negative feedback is stemming from hype and expectations, neither of which necessarily promoted by the devs. There are points to be made, genuine criticisms, but the bulk of complaints are unfounded "I imagined this game would be X, but although you never said the game was going to be X, it's been released as Y."

[Shake Appeal]

Honeymoon stage?  I played the game nearly 100 hours and plan on going back soon once I'm done with some other games.  Negative posts on forums do not reflect general opinion.

Yep. 89 hours logged on Steam and I'm still not quite done with my first playthrough. Still love the game. Still excited for multiple different playthroughs, balance patches, the expansions, a sequel...

[anameforobsidian]

A lot of the negativity carries over from the backer beta, where strong voices had some legitimate complaints, some personal preferences, and some unrealized self-aggrandizing that got amplified through an echo chamber.  

[apolloooo]

You must have missed launch day. "Game is too hard!" "Game is too easy!" "Game is too buggy!" "Game won't let me rest!" "Game won't let me walk slowly!" "Game has backer NPCs!" "Game is too confusing!" It looks a lot less nutty now.

 

People complain, all the time. The question is what substantial criticisms there are (and there certainly are some, e.g. the encounter design). 

don't forget "too much text, too much writing waa waa i am illiterate  waa waa"

 

so far these week 3 topics are all constructive criticism instead of troll-whining and s***posting

[demeisen]

I remember the bliss of conversing with fellow players on the magnificence of the game and even how it could be improved upon for future titles.

 

Nowadays it seems more threads are focused on how things in the game are too easy, too hard, too much, too little...

 

Do you think those things are mutually exclusive?  I don't.  I love the game and intend to back and/or buy anything else they make in this franchise  Plus, I just want to this model succeed of not having middlemen breathing down their necks and forcing them to cater to the masses who want Yet Another First Person Action-RPG.  I also think the difficulty is too easy for about 90% of the game (and just right for the other 10%).  Both those things are true at once.  Having a handful of things I'd like to see improved doesn't mean I can't still love the game.  I'm psyched about this return to real party tactical RPGs, especially one done as well as PoE is in so many ways.

 

*Edit* not to mention, it's their IP!  They can improve it as they want, with nobody lording over them and telling them they can't.  There's a lot to be said for that, even if I don't 100% agree with each and every choice they make.

Edited April 16, 2015 by demeisen

[Ink Blot]

Yeah. Well, we could start improving the atmosphere by stopping whining about entitled whiners.

 

And stop whining about whining about entitled whiners, of course.

 

Whatever, I give up.

I'm just going to take this opportunity to whine about you whining about the whiners whining about entitled whiners.

[brionkj]

There was a 'honeymoon period'? I must have missed it or it was before PoE was released and I had not registered myself

 

Anyway, I've not known a single official game forum that's not filled with wailing, gnashing of teeth, and complaints, especially at release. It's par for the course. You are more likely see negative comments and complaints from dissatisfied players as they want let the devs know the issues they are facing. The satisfied bunch have very little reason to post apart from thanking the devs.

[Mr. Magniloquent]

The game is much better than what I expected given what I had experienced in the beta. I am not referring to bugs. The game still disappoints for the same reasons that the beta disappointed. I have quite far to go before finishing this game, but from what I have seen I do no expect my present opinion to change. Overall, I'm positive about PoE, but unenthusiastically.

[Atheosis]

The game is much better than what I expected given what I had experienced in the beta. I am not referring to bugs. The game still disappoints for the same reasons that the beta disappointed. I have quite far to go before finishing this game, but from what I have seen I do no expect my present opinion to change. Overall, I'm positive about PoE, but unenthusiastically.

 

I don't get the negativity from some backers.  I think you guys were expecting something that just wasn't realistic from the things you guys say.

[VahnXIII]

I personally intend to play this game into the ground with multiple play throughs and enjoy every pixel along the way! 

[FlintlockJazz]

I have yet to finish my first playthrough with my Wizard character (due to real life getting in the way in the early days and then when I finally got to start having to keep restarting due to my chronic restart syndrome), but already got plans for a Ranger and a Paladin and possibly a rogue or fighter playthrough as well.  Wizards rock by the way, I don't understand why some say they are weak, sure they start off pretty weak in the early levels but it doesn't take long for them to become super-awesome (and I have yet to get to level 9 where their first level spells become per encounter instead of per rest, the pure number of spells you get as you unlock more spell levels makes up for them being per rest I find).  Ranger I look forward to arquebusing everyone in the face naturally, though I'm already doing that with my Wizard playthrough due to most of the party opening up with a volley of gunfire before switching to other weapons.

Edited April 16, 2015 by FlintlockJazz

[ruzen]

After long hours, the game makes you question Its gameplay. So yea honeymoon is over 

[nwfantasy]

I feel lucky.  BG was my into to RPG gaming and I loved it.  I still have the original game/story manual that used to come out with many games and even researched the world with the D&D tabletop manuals.  And I loved BGII and the Icewind Dale series.  I do get what the devs were trying to do in PoE;  recreate the feel of those earlier games that so many of us veteran RPG gamers loved.  I have DA: Inquisition and love it except for the console controller concept that wears my hand/wrist/arm out each session.  So I really looked forward to this one.  Not perfect but amazing for a player backed game.  it truly reflects a labor of love on behalf of the driving devs and I truly appreciate their good work.  Oh (careful of envy) and I am retired, a widower and can spend as many hours as I please at my PC.  Adventure on all!

 

[nwfantasy]

I feel lucky.  BG was my into to RPG gaming and I loved it.  I still have the original game/story manual that used to come out with many games and even researched the world with the D&D tabletop manuals.  And I loved BGII and the Icewind Dale series.  I do get what the devs were trying to do in PoE;  recreate the feel of those earlier games that so many of us veteran RPG gamers loved.  I have DA: Inquisition and love it except for the console controller concept that wears my hand/wrist/arm out each session.  So I really looked forward to this one.  Not perfect but amazing for a player backed game.  it truly reflects a labor of love on behalf of the driving devs and I truly appreciate their good work.  Oh (careful of envy) and I am retired, a widower and can spend as many hours as I please at my PC.  Adventure on all!

 

[Concordance]

Negativity tends to generate more discussion than positivity, and it can lead to change. If you are unhappy with an aspect of the game, you can propose how to improve it, others can discuss your improvements and propose your own - maybe the creators will read your ideas and be inspired to make changes in a patch, or an expansion, or a sequel. You can hope, at least.

 

If someone is happy with the game, then they feel the game is working as intended. Nothing needs to be changed or added, so there's no reason to post. Since there is fairly little developer presence on the forums (outside from bugfixing), it probably doesn't cross people's minds to leave uplifting feedback on things they enjoy.

 

It's worth noting that most of the "complainers" appear to be recurring posters and have sunk 50+ hours into the game on average - they either are emotionally invested in the game, or want to be. If the game was genuinely bad, the forums would be a graveyard - people would drop in to express their disappointment and never come back. 

[apolloooo]

After long hours, the game makes you question Its gameplay. So yea honeymoon is over 

the gameplay is fine, maybe pathfinding is horrible, and right now, kinda unbalanced, but the core mechanics itself is great.

 

unless you're one of those people who "waa waa micromanage! waa waa too much pause! waa waa the combat isn't a copy paste of D&D games waa waah"

[Ouroboros226]

Welcome to every internet forum ever lol.

No matter HOW fantastic a game is, the forum posts will have tons of negativity. 
If a game was perfect - someone would complain that it was perfect