A Formal Thread about Activision/Blizzard
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I'll admit, I like Bethesda games because they're pretty much just a random box of toys to fuck around with.
Of course, I also love janky games... and its rare to get jank with such high production values. *chef's kiss*
That said, I still wouldn't call Starfield a 'good' game unless I was allowed to add a few pages of caveats.
The only thing I care about from Betheshda is Tango Games. They made Evil Within 1, 2, and Hi-Fi Rush.
I have a feeling - and particularly with Starfield - that Bethesda haven't really moved on in ways I might have wished. In certain ways, I suspect they are doing some very interesting things in the direction of sandbox and enabling mods, etc. - but this is also not really what I'm looking for.
If you're not looking for a big open area full of stuff to fuck around with then Bethesda 'rpg's probably aren't going to give you warm fuzzies.
I've not necessarily got a problem with that, but it stands the risk of heading towards dangerously bland.
I think their engine needs a hefty upgrade for ES:6, at minimum. To see what some of their competitors have managed (Cyberpunk, RDR2) before it, Starfield is in many ways, to put it politely, "quaint".
Yeah, procedurally generated maps aren't particularly interesting if they're always dotted with a selection from the same 2 dozen or so buildings/'dungeons'.
Oh god no, the last thing Bethesda need to do is stick with their engine. They need to Ol' Yella that thing and either start from scratch or start using someone else's engine.
Yes, this is a major problem. Once you've found your third deserted Muybridge Pharmaceutical outpost with exactly the same layout, same (deceased) staff and weird mushroom things as the last two, you realise that the proc gen isn't even what it should be. Never mind how you feel when you're on your twentieth such outpost. Evidently the proc gen did not extend to the outpost layout, in which case they would have been well advised to design significantly more to increase variety.
It's actually even worse than that, because the loot drops appear to be in the same place in each repeat, and in some cases, it's the same loot: for instance I seem to find that in this building, at this location, I will always find some 7.7mm ammo. Every time.
Yep, outpost layout, as well as the design of alien fauna and flora, could use a massive dose of variety.
To be fair, 7.7mm ammo is one of the most common items in the game... except when you're using a weapon that takes 7.7mm, in which case you'll find nothing but .27cal ammo.
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Sad to see that it is exactly what I predicted when I heard about how many planets they planned to have. When I heard that there's 1000 planets I expected 995 of them to be bland with the same repeating stuff because the main quest doesn't use them and they're just procedural generated set-dressing for people who want to fly in one direction for 100 hours. Though apparently you don't even do much flying as it seems the game is mostly fast-travel.
Apart from very 'meh' combat (at least with kb&m, it might be a tighter experience with a controller), fast travel is pretty much it.
Activision Blizzard to Pay Nearly $55 Million to Settle Lawsuit Alleging Pay Discrimination Against Women
Activision Blizzard will pay $54.9 million to settle a lawsuit by California's civil rights agency alleging pay discrimination and sexual harassment.
variety.com
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Microsoft just laid off 1900 Activision Blizzard and Xbox employees. This is after having their most profitable quarter of all time (because they got to count MWIII's sales).
It's expected to have some layoffs after a merger due to redundancies, but they also just killed one of the new games that was being worked on and fired all of the staff from that project, so this isn't just layoffs from redundancies.
It's expected to have some layoffs after a merger due to redundancies, but they also just killed one of the new games that was being worked on and fired all of the staff from that project, so this isn't just layoffs from redundancies.
My first thought is fuck we are in for a world of procedurally generated environments with AI generated art assets in games.
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One of the reasons so many AAA games studios were upset by how well BG3 did, especially in comparison to Starfield.
A BG3 could still be made with a ton of AI-generated components. AI can make art assets fine, and I am sure that an AI could probably script a decent middling quest, as well.
Apparently they've managed to pass Apple in gross worth and are now the most valuable company on Earth. You can't keep that up by giving employees money, of course. Products just make themselves, right?
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