Thief Ditches Quick Time Events After Negative Feedback

[Kahani]

QTE's haven't worked since Shenmue II, the only game ever to get them right.

I thought the Mass Effect series used them pretty well. Rather than the usual "press X to not die", they were entirely optional opportunities to alter the way a particular event played out. Press X to save kitten, press Y to kick puppy, or don't press anything to ignore all fluffy animals and go about your business. Plus for the most part they were during conversations or short scenes next to a bit of action, rather than popping up in the middle of ridiculously long cut-scenes where you want to just wander off and make a cup of tea.

Ultimately, QTEs face the same problem as every other option developers have - crap devs just see other people using them and throw them in with no regard for how and why others might have used them.

 

[MrBaskerville]

Why I quit playing Tomb Raider, too many Quick times.

To be fair, Tomb Raider is basically a more action-packed free-roaming version of Heavy Rain. It's difficult to criticize a game for having QTE's when they are such a core mechanic of the game. It's less of a game and more of an interactive storytelling experience (or in Yahtzee's words, wanker material ).

I'm not sure we played the same game, as far as i remember you spend most of your time shooting people in the face in that game, don't really remember that many QTEs, atleast not enough to make comparisons to Heavy Rain. The game wasn't even that storycentric .

 

[Karathos]

First they remove XP gain after everyone that's ever played the old Thief games started lighting the torches and sharpening the pitchforks. Now they're getting rid of the QTE's too?

It's like they made this completely-NOT-Thief-game, then realized "Hey, people want a Thief game." and are now reworking that completely-NOT-Thief-game into an actual Thief series game.

I am getting cautiously optimistic. Will still reserve judgement until it's actually out, but a game development team taking MULTIPLE steps in the right direction during development due to fan feedback and just... well... in this case common sense? I'm impressed, lads.

 

[Incomer]

I must say that quick time events were pretty well done in the new Castlevania. They werent that often and it helped with intensifying the boss cutscenes (when your are fighting vampire twice your size and it comes to brute strength as you try to impale it on a castle tower the furious button mashing makes you feel like you're doing the work

 

[magicmonkeybars]

Oh wow, I might actually want to buy and play this game now, listening to negative feedback, I don't know what kind of crazy world this has turned into but I like it.

 

[SecondPrize]

Dear God, they heard us.

THEY HEARD US EVERYONE, IT'S WORKING

Maybe, one has to imagine they've got A LOT of bad feedback with all the stuff they're changing. Lets hope they're not just going for the easy stuff to change.

 

[wetfart]

BUT ... can I jump? Or do I still need to be in the special "You may jump here" zones? Has Garrett learned to swim again? *Cough*Deadly Shadows*Cough Cough*

 

[Saelune]

I like QTE's, but when done right, and I think people treat them as hot button words. Also since there isn't context to how they were involved, who is to really say?

From what I have seen of the game though, Im looking forward to it.

 

[J.McMillen]

Whoever it was that orginally created the quicktime event and thought it was in any way a good idea needs to be punched in the face.

With a fork.

I think the old laser disk arcade game 'Dragons Lair' was the original quicktime event.

 

[IrenIvy]

So all that is left is to get Garrett his original voice, ditch stupid "savior" theme, bring back Jump-at-Will way to move, bring back combat that is hard to win with Garrett being vulnerable thief and guards having proper mastery and health, add huge, sprawling non-linear levels, add clever guard AI (and no, I don't mean instant awareness of my position), delete that "run or die" chase scene corridor that was proudly featured in some demo and had absolutely zero connection to proper "Thief" game (and personally I hate chase corridors like those Tomb Raider and Hitman Absolution had), bring back the setting, bring back PROPER rope arrows that can stuck to any appropriate surface and maybe it will become something resembling the Thief.

And add some colors to your world, developers of Thief, please. It is all grey-brown-dark if screenshots are to believe. If I wanted to play world like that, I'd play a modern military shooter.

 

[Signa]

First they remove XP gain after everyone that's ever played the old Thief games started lighting the torches and sharpening the pitchforks. Now they're getting rid of the QTE's too?

It's like they made this completely-NOT-Thief-game, then realized "Hey, people want a Thief game." and are now reworking that completely-NOT-Thief-game into an actual Thief series game.

I am getting cautiously optimistic. Will still reserve judgement until it's actually out, but a game development team taking MULTIPLE steps in the right direction during development due to fan feedback and just... well... in this case common sense? I'm impressed, lads.

I'm so pessimistic that I think what happened and what is going to happen is that the game they made was so entirely NOT Thief, that now it's going to be sorta Thief, which is what we were all expecting in the first place.

You're right though, this does bode well.

 

[OutsiderEX]

At this stage in development the damage is already done. Good thing we've still got the Dark Mord

 

[Oly J]

QTE's haven't worked since Shenmue II, the only game ever to get them right.

I don't know if I agree with that, but you still win, simply for nsme-dropping Shenmue, I still have those games and a Dreamcast to play them on

OT: I never played Thief, but I was getting sick of seeing QTEs everywhere, and this is after listening to customer feedback which is ultimately a good thing

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Fantastic news and a step in the right direction. Now if only we could be rid of push-button takedowns as well we'd be back on the right track. Both of these are part of the "dumbing down" of games and I'm glad they were removed. The original games didn't have them, they didn't need them and nor does this one. I want to play the game myself, not push a button and have the game play itself on my behalf.

I still think the third person action cutscenes are out of place. Far Cry 3 managed perfectly well without them, as did all three of the original games. Getting rid of Garret's original VA so we could have bullshit stunt cutscenes is still one of my biggest greivances with and reservations about this game.

 

[BloodRed Pixel]

only a not implemented QTE is a good QTE.

Once they where a desparate means to blance the lack of processing power with 'cintematic content'
now they are just obsolete, servicable at best. Fun? NO!

If you LIKE QTE you are not a gamer.

 

[rob_simple]

QTE's finally broke me in Resident Evil 6, to the point that I never bothered to finish the whole game.

It wasn't that they were too unforgiving --like that bullshit fight in RE4-- but that they were over-used to the point of it actually feeling satirical. Short of a David Cage wet dream, I can think of nowhere else there would be a place for a QTE where you find your fucking car keys.

Anyhoo, what I'm getting at is hopefully this is a sign that the industry is finally listening and starting to move away from these god-awful things. Now they can start shoehorning another cool-in-moderation feature into everything.

Personally, my money's on skill trees.

 

[snekadid]

Why did they remove the experience system? Deus Ex HR showed that the experience system works even if you don't punch a single inept guard if you grade stealth as a factor. All HR needed was maybe alittle less exp so that what you upgraded mattered.

 

[Andy Chalk]

I'd be happier about this change (and the others recently announced) if it wasn't being made three months before the damned thing is supposed to go out the door. If you're cutting fundamental design elements out of your game at this stage of development, I think you're in real trouble.

 

[ShirowShirow]

Yaaaay screw QTE's.

I mean, yeah, they don't hurt if used in moderation but industry-wide we are way past the point of moderation.