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[Arsic]

Nope not wokeness. Or man chicks. Or Ubisoft or electronic arts, or pushing trans shit. Why? You can ignore all that. You can skip those games. Not engage with it.

No no. The real issues are:

-Everything is an unoptimized mess.
-Early Access helped kill the medium

These two go hand in hand. Early access paved the road now for devs to push out donkey shit not even worthy of alpha status and still get money for it. Look at something like stormgate that was funded tens of millions of dollars and now had like 40 players. If that.

Then that lead to the AA and AAA devs just launched their games IN THAT SAME STATE to get full money, and only fix issues IF the game sells. If not? Who cares. Maybe throw a patch or two. Even then no guarantee. Get the money cut and run.

FTC needs to step in and force companies to not be able to charge a dollar for early access or micros in early access. And no they shouldn’t be able to back door this through clients via kickstarter either. Fully shut this shit down as a money laundering scheme. If you can’t fund a game then fuck off.

And companies that launch games calling it 1.0 like Stalker 2 should be forced by FTC for full refunds for a minimum of 6 months to a year if it’s deemed you are launching broken dog shit. Same applies to all other games. Unoptimized garbage shouldn’t have a 2 hour refund window. It should have a 6 month window so devs and publishers stop making trash and asking money for it.

There’s plenty of other problems with modern gaming but this shit needs to be stopped with harsh punishments.

 

[Griffon]

I'm sorry but Steam Early Access helped hundreds indies find success when they didn't have the means to make a full 1.0 right away. Many amazing games came about thanks to it, and in part contributed to save the industry from endless AAA mediocrity.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Theres a lot of factors here besides unoptimized/buggy shit, but yeah sure. I think Steam and other companies should have a 30 day refund window instead of 14. I think thats a fair amount of time for devs to fix their trash. If not, see ya, gimme my money back.

 

[clarky]

Early Access can be very helpful with games with complex systems. See stuff like BG3 and POE2.

Dont like it? Dont Participate.

Agree on the stuff that launches in a shitty state like Stalker 2 thats a game that an EA period would have been helpful.

 

[baphomet]

So explain why that was happening even before early access was a thing.

 

[ZoukGalaxy]

harsh punishments

Really ?

 

[Laptop1991]

While i agree those 2 don't help, there are a lot more reason's than that, AAA games lacking quality now, monetization and ever rising prices, agenda's, we don't own our games, and the list goes on and on, but i do agree most modern triple A games suck!.

 

[cormack12]

I think it's because genre differentiation has narrowed significantly. Adding XP and levels to almost every game with loot means we've just homogenised the gamer loop into being more powerful rather than the gameplay.

Also games have become less repayable either due to size or tedium.

 

[Puscifer]

Theres a lot of factors here besides unoptimized/buggy shit, but yeah sure. I think Steam and other companies should have a 30 day refund window instead of 14. I think thats a fair amount of time for devs to fix their trash. If not, see ya, gimme my money back.

Nah

We saw that shit with Cyberpunk having people finish the entire game and refunding

 

[ReBurn]

Thank you for telling me about that.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Things like "samey" games that play it too safe with sequels. Not putting out a physical copy at release and unfinished products.

 

[Guilty_AI]

loads of retarded opinions, don't even know where to begin

 

[rofif]

nah. optimization does not matter. early access too.
Dark Souls ran at 12fps in some areas and it was still goty.

 

[Crystal Winters]

 

[funking giblet]

We're not 14 anymore.

 

[March Climber]

loads of retarded opinions, don't even know where to begin

A very small part of me thought this would finally be a thread of self-reflection.

 

[Drake]

Yeah I'm sure early access and unoptimization is the reason that woke shit stains like Dragon Age: Veilguard failed.

Not stuff like this:

 

[Guilty_AI]

A very small part of me thought this would finally be a thread of self-reflection.

The real real reason games suck is that the person saying this is playing games that suck. It's that simple.

 

[JonSnowball]

Play smaller titles. They're usually better. Ion Fury: Aftershock was great and so was Fallen Aces.

 

[Brakum]

Early Access has literally been the best thing to happen to gaming in the last 15 years or so.

 

[Danjin44]

In my opinion the real reason is sometimes gamers can be their own worse enemy which prevents them enjoying games.

 

[Sebastian1295]

I've had alot of fun gaming recently because i've been focusing on jrpgs and visual novels which are my cup of tea. I just bought the zero escape series all 3 games and i'm currently having a blast, i bought master detective archives rain code, i bought persona 3 reload, i'm going to buy trails through daybreak and visions of mana etc etc. The japanese games are filling me up currently and i'm having a blast.

 

[bender]

The actual problem is humans.

 

[clarky]

The real real reason games suck is that the person saying this is playing games that suck. It's that simple.

The ironic thing is the OP is currently playing one of the games of the year thats in early access.

Stfu. This is it boys. THIS is the reason video games were made.

From pong, to this. Gods purpose on Earth for man kind.

The gamers game. Go throw your money at GGG.

Grab a snack, a drink, and watch this whole first video of everything they covered. Watching the smaller video below doesn’t do this nearly the justice.

Blown away. $240 version for me. Praise be. Video games hobby saved for me.

https://www.pathofexile.com/purchase





December 6th.

Log in!!!

 

[clarky]

The actual problem is humans.

The actual problem is benders.

 

[bender]

The actual problem is benders.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Unreal Engine is an unoptimized dumpster fire but, aside from that, I'd say gaming is fine nowadays.

 

[Guilty_AI]

The ironic thing is the OP is currently playing one of the games of the year thats in early access.

lmao, now we know what prompted OP to make this thread

 

[Rush2112]

I don’t blame the devs or even the greedy publishers. They just want money. The problem are the players. The slimeballs who defend unpotimized games as GoTY and pay through the nose for early acess because they suffer from FOMO.

just go on GAFs GoTY thread and see how many brain dead morons are defending STALKER 2 as GoTY. They are the reason that this will continue.

 

[powder]

My main beef is that a lot of games that come out feel like they weren’t developed for a single platform but SEVERAL platforms, which gave birth to the cross-gen slop we’ve been getting. I understand not every single game that comes out can be optimized to the teeth for say, PlayStation 5 only, but we used to get that kind of attention back in the day with Sega Genesis and SNES games for example.

There’s such a dearth of platforms now that it seems like developers have their hands tied with optimizing for the least common denominator (something like Series S) and then scaling UP from there with mixed results, even if it’s technically done the other way around.

I’m playing Wukong right now on the latest patch on PS5 and it’s sad how visually inconsistent the game is. It’s clear this was developed to be a PC title first and foremost, but I really think if it were developed from the ground up for PS5 it’d look a hell of a lot different (better across the board, not better than PC)

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Just dont buy any games day one.

Chances are almost certain there's a big day one patch. That's actually not a big deal because you'll get the patch same time you install and play the game for the first time. It just eats up more downloading time because it'll probably be 30 more gb of data.

Problem is there's a trend of more big patches later. And it sucks for you day one gamers because you just played a borked version for a month. I dont think it happens often but SW Outlaws screwed over any early access gamer requiring them to restart the game because the early access save could be corrupted in the final game.

I can totally understand all you competitive gamers itching for day MP games because it's important to level up, learn the maps and unlock better gear. Nobody wants to be the Xmas noob getting destroyed.

But for most games, you can just wait a month or two, see how it shakes out, read reviews and there will probably be a couple patches to fix issues. To boot, it might even be $20 off by then.

I dont get why gamers cant wait. It's not like the old days before detailed internet info and patches were the norm. Back then, you had to roll the dice getting the game, or sometimes waiting a month or two hoping for a magazine to review it. Pending the game, it might not even get reviewed. So you went in blind except for staring at the cover and back of the box. It's not like that anymore. The second launch day happens, by the time you get home from work or school you probably got 30 reviews to sift through, bunch of YT streamers playing it live giving impressions and gamers will be talking about bugs they already found.

 

[Hohenheim]

When I look at the huge list of games i've completed in 2024, i've come to the probably somewhat controversial conclusion that many games actually don't suck.
Yep, that's right. It's shitloads of great games out there.

Also: yeah, early access is a no go for me. Never bother.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

It's all about work ethics.

Just search for news about devs. We have the full catalog: sexual scandals, antagonizing fans on social media, clash of egos, layoffs... it's a fucking mess. The industry needs execs and devs who are passionate and happy with their jobs. If they aren't, they should leave their place to others.

 

[Crystal Winters]

I've had alot of fun gaming recently because i've been focusing on jrpgs and visual novels which are my cup of tea. I just bought the zero escape series all 3 games and i'm currently having a blast, i bought master detective archives rain code, i bought persona 3 reload, i'm going to buy trails through daybreak and visions of mana etc etc. The japanese games are filling me up currently and i'm having a blast.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

Games don’t suck. You’re playing the wrong games.

 

[M1chl]

STALKER 2 is double the game your sterile western slop wishes to be, besides you can easily get refund and you were informed by reviews that it is buggy. So that's on you, son.

And even playing v1.0 I don't see it being that buggy and they patch it really quick.

 

[powder]

The real reason video games suck is because they’re made for people who like to play video games: losers

 

[Madflavor]

I think there are a lot of reasons of course, but one thing that is really sticking out to me is how there haven't been any real significant advancements in visual fidelity in a decade, and yet games are taking longer and longer to make.

This is Lara's face model from Rise of the Tomb Raider back in 2015:

Now I'm not a graphics enthusiast by any means. I care more about things like gameplay, story, and visual style. But what's concerning to me is that many AAA games that come out these days either look on par with this face model, or in some cases (such as Star Wars Outlaws) look worse. But as graphics have stagnated, the budget for AAA gaming keeps ballooning out of control, and takes longer and longer to develop, despite the minimal advancements we've seen over the years. There were 2.5 years between Tomb Raider 2013 and Rise of the Tomb Raider. These days it takes at least twice as long for these games to get made.

 

[clarky]

The real reason video games suck is because they’re made for people who like to play video games: losers

I'd rather be loser than a twat.

 

[powder]

I'd rather be loser than a twat.

 

[powder]

I think there are a lot of reasons of course, but one thing that is really sticking out to me is how there haven't been any real significant advancements in visual fidelity in a decade, and yet games are taking longer and longer to make.

This is Lara's face model from Rise of the Tomb Raider back in 2015:

Now I'm not a graphics enthusiast by any means. I care more about things like gameplay, story, and visual style. But what's concerning to me is that many AAA games that come out these days either look on par with this face model, or in some cases (such as Star Wars Outlaws) look worse. But as graphics have stagnated, the budget for AAA gaming keeps ballooning out of control, and takes longer and longer to develop, despite the minimal advancements we've seen over the years. There were 2.5 years between Tomb Raider 2013 and Rise of the Tomb Raider. These days it takes at least twice as long for these games to get made.

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.

 

[simpatico]

If AC Shadows looked like Sekiro on UE5 w/ full path tracing nobody would give a shit about Yasuke. The quality of the game stopped being good enough to deal with the god awful writing. I don't think it came from early access though, it's the corporatization combined with great devs being rich as hell. Elite senior capital isn't sticking around to be lectured by the new HR lady. See ya. Maybe I'll fuck off to an Indie studio or maybe I'll just collect boats. The talent that could not afford those options was slowly ground down into a fine powder by watching their art get filtered through committees of idiots. The committee thing is a big part. I believe you need a very narrow vision for great art. Just a tiny handful of people have to have all the creative power, and it has to be the actual artists. I think most of the time when it happened in gaming it kinda happened by accident (Halo, CoD4, Souls). The pubs are just more efficient at making sure it never happens now.

 

[Ceadeus]

In the 90s you could buy doom for SNES at 150$ and have to convince yourself 10fps was enough.

 

[Last Hearth]

Nah

We saw that shit with Cyberpunk having people finish the entire game and refunding

He’s talking about early access, full games are always 2 hours.

 

[{insert code here}]

Lack of skilled talent as well.

 

[Singular7]

- code is hard, especially dealing with engines / animations, etc
- do you really want to empower the government at this level of regulation? See China saying you can only game 3 hours a week... commies.
- you bought it, you decided to buy it, you agreed to the terms.
- just wait a few months for patches and control your emotions

It's basically your problem for empowering them by not controlling your decisions! New release bugyness is a "known known"

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

The only good games that come out now release in Early Access.

OP is out of touch.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Yeah the fact that most games are released almost unplayable without a day one patch for instance is one of my biggest gripes. Everything is released unfinished now and physical media is pointless because your disc or cartridge is pretty much a coaster without updates.

The video game industry is probably one of the worst industries in existence. Absolutely consumer unfriendly in every aspect.

 

[clarky]

The only good games that come out now release in Early Access.

OP is out of touch.

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?

 

[SaiyanRaoh]

Yeah, not down with people thinking Early Access being the reason. It can be argued that Baldur's Gate 3 wouldn't have hit the stratosphere it did without it. For me, it's needing to have everything online and connected for maximum bucks....BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.