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Sending death threats to people is not an acceptable way to behave under any circumstances, doing so over something like a video game just makes it arbitrary and completely stupid. However, that doesn't change the fact CDPR created that situation for themselves, not when the announced the delay, but when they announced the original release date. That was in June 2019 at E3 for a release in April 2020. That's 10 MONTHS earlier. There is no way that anyone at CDPR knew, and I mean knew, the game would be ready by then. Anyone who did was either an optimist, an idiot or a liar, but most likely all three. A full 18 months passed since E3 2019 and game finally came out... completely unfinished. And the worst part? CDPR knew it. That's why they only sent out PC copies for review and is also why reviewers weren't allowed to use their own captured footage. That's as dishonest as it gets. I'm sure there was a lot of pressure to announce the release at E3 so the pre-orders could start there, and goes right back to the point I made earlier. That's what always about. Money. So, even though the aforementioned death threats are not acceptable (And it happened again over PS2 themed PS5 again if anyone is interested. Check the end of this thread.), nobody should offer CDPR any sympathy. They were greedy, crunched their employees, disrespectful to journalists and were downright dishonest to us all. The responsibility ultimately falls to publishers, but you're right, it's not as straightforward as that. Investors are just businessmen/woman putting in cash to earn a return with little care of the ethics or complexities involved, but they can put alot of pressure on publishers. If investors want something included, or even absent from the game, because they think will make them more money, they'll probably get it. The same thing goes for how the game is publicised, promoted and even manufactured. As for the developer, well, I work at a dockyard for a big engineering firm, and we have a saying, "Shit rolls down, but not up". Somebody takes a "dump" of an idea in board room somewhere, it's the people further down that have to clean up the mess. It's doubtful developers agree with even half the ideas publishers and investors have, but still they have to deal with it.

What do you miss most about your favorite game when you aren’t playing it? The characters? The setting? The gameplay? The lore? Another aspect?

So I'm basically venting my frustration here because I have nobody to really talk to about it in real life. I always say that I don't really have any friends, but I actually do have one, but one who I can only tolerate in small doses. The thing is, she has major anxiety problems (a thing she can't be faulted for), and I guess this carries over into the video game playing experience. The thing is, I've dealt with people of this sort before, who get SO angry when bad things happen (i.e. they die a lot) in a video game and instead of acknowledging that maybe they just need more practice, they start complaining that the game is badly designed, is bad, unfair, too hard, or some other variation/combination of these things. Or even instead of acknowledging anything at all, just remaining calm and not getting very visibly and audibly frustrated in my presence. It really makes me extremely uncomfortable, and takes all the fun out of playing a game together for me. I mean, the whole point of a game is to have fun, but with this kind of person, when they get like that, no matter how much you tell them to calm down and just relax and don't worry about how well you're performing, they just can't do it; they must continually yell at the game and complain about why its unfair and how "this shouldn't be this way" or "that shouldn't be that way" and inevitably, "I can't play this game anymore." *sigh* She's a huge Zelda fan, and she was having one of her fits while we were playing this other game, when she started talking about how this reminded her of the problem she had with Zelda a Link to the Past; that its way too hard because enemies knock you like halfway across the screen when they hit you and you fall and die (her words, not mine). I tried to say that its only seems very difficult because she's not used to that style of game, (because she really isn't. She grew up on Gamecube and stuff after that, and has very little experience playing 2D games), but she -insists- that its a design flaw and a problem with the game, to which I could only try to hide my frustration. All I could really say was that "there's nothing wrong with the game, you're just not good enough." Admittedly not the best choice of words, but if I had said, "there's nothing wrong with the game, you just need more practice is all." (which is what I really should have said), it would have basically conveyed the same message. Anyway, I guess that's the end of my rant. Sorry for subjecting you all to this.

No problem. Note that the word processing tools on this forum include a hyperlink tool that allows you to create a text overly for links in your posts. It sits in between the underline and quote tools.

What makes change difficult is it's a culmination of all of those things: Publishers choosing to accept investment by being publically traded. Depending on the number of shares, Investors can inject themselves into the creative direction as much as publishers. Developers not being in a position, or not using their current position to properly communicate to the publisher why a game needs more time or certain resources (which the publisher can provide within reason). Consumers who will pre-order based on what developers/publishers want them to see, and not having the willpower to wait until real-world results are live (I say this even as a critic who wants eyes on their publication). That's only scratching the surface as I don't have enough experience with the first three to begin to comment what other problems lie within. But even then, Publishers make the money they give to developers and external marketing from copies sold. Most Investors only see cheap stocks to be sold later and this would apply to any publically traded company, not just video games. Developers are, as said earlier, often overspecialised to the point where effective communication is difficult even without the stress of crunch and other workplace abuses. Consumers aren't always given enough information from what should be trustworthy sources such as reviewers because review copies can be different to what everyone else will receive, or preview events being misleading. It's not wrong for them to expect a game to function at launch, even if I advise not buying day one. So while I'd blamed consumers earlier, I also must blame the publishers for their shortsightedness (or not, as the case may be), studios getting bloated even if it wasn't the fault of the current heads, and investors for doing what investors do and damn the consequences. Like a lot of issues in this world this is another matter that is neither black nor white, but several shades of cack. I envy anyone who can blame just one of the above for not overthinking it. That way madness lies.

I get upset with games myself. But it's not about the difficulty. There are multiple games I play on the hardest difficulty and enjoy them even if I fail a lot. It's when I feel the game plays dirty. As in I fail but I don't think I deserve to fail. I get extremely angry for example when multiple high probability shots miss consecutively in xcom2.

In reality consumers are pushing for release just as badly. I mean just think of CP2077 devs getting death threats when they announced the last delay. Of course it's an outlier but the rest of the consumers aren't disagreeing they just don't stoop to that level.

The majority of the problem lies with the publishers and studio heads I think. Just look at EA's history. They are known for destroying a studio. And with Ubisoft, Rockstar, CDPR and other studios pushing crunch on their developers to push a game out faster or on their release date. So many publishers are pushing devs to make the release dates, and that's what hurts them for the most part. I wish studios did what movies do, where they show the trailer months before it is to come to theaters. Maybe it should be this way for the game industry, games should be announced when they're nearly ready to release. Maybe it's this early teasing that causes these types of problems. Idk, I just feel like publishers need to trust their developers and let them take as much time as they need to make the product they want. Otherwise, this will continue to be a problem in the industry.

Most likely a GTA game for me, probably San Andreas or Vice City. But it's close with Red Dead Redemption, as I seem to always come back to that game fairly often. Just played the Undead Nightmare this last Halloween. Other than that, maybe a couple of the Saint's Row games.

Not always about money or earning enough to good amount of money. Seen team of developers aren't on the right page and having disagreements about things and they went there own way. Snowrunner, Mudrunner and spintires is what I have in my mind. Both made spintires together and they dislike each other and they went there own way. The other dev made two new other game and the other stuck with spintires.

RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 SPOILERS RDR2 did it for me. At the end I was wondering what the hell I accomplished. With pretty much everyone either turning on each other, or ending up dead or going their own way. The gang broke up completely and it all seemed for nothing. There were no bonds left.

Good to see you back! How are you doing? How's everything going with school?

I don't know if I would call it hoarding. Given what happened in Washington it might not be a bad idea to stock up on things like this to avoid the crowds. Things in my town exploded when it happened, and I'm not willing to leave, because I know I will be a target since I have a Biden 2020 sticker on the back of my car. I know I would end up shooting someone. I carry and will defend myself with lethal force if necessary. So I'm staying home unless I have no choice. Which means I need to have as much to entertain myself as possible.