Titanfall Dev: Don't Buy The Game on Faith Alone

[Steven Bogos]

Titanfall Dev: Don't Buy The Game on Faith Alone

Respawn Entertainment says if the beta's gameplay isn't acceptable, don't buy the game "on faith".

The reaction to Respawn Entertainment's Titanfall beta [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/132267-Titanfall-is-Going-Full-Open-Beta-Update] have been pretty positive, especially the fact that they have now opened it up for everyone and anyone to play. But, there is still a lot of rumblings in the forums, regarding server issues, ping problems, gameplay and more. In response to these complaints, Respawn designer "Scriptacus" urged people not to "buy the game on faith," but to try out the beta and form their own consensus on whether or not the game is worth it.

"We're not asking you to buy the game on faith. Please try the beta, or to talk to people in your area who played it if you don't get in and make an informed decision based on that. There's nothing hidden; your ping to each data center will be listed right on the main menu. If the gameplay experience isn't acceptable don't buy the game, and be sure to let Respawn, EA and Microsoft know that you're not doing so and why."

The designer added, in addressing complaints about the game's apparent lack-of-depth, "Give it time and I think you'll be surprised. There's a lot of depth to [Titan vs Titan combat] that might not be apparent at first glance. There are also missing weapons and abilities in the beta that really open things up in the full game. Winning 1v2 is quite possible once you develop the skills."

As for the ping issues, Scriptacus simply stated that "As you're likely aware, with a high ping you might see yourself strafe around a corner, out of the line of fire, and still die an eighth of a second later."

I think it's fantastic that Respawn are being so transparent with everything in this game's lead-up. It knows that it could probably sell the game on pedigre alone, but it is putting as much of itself out there so people can quite literally try before they buy.

For the record, I've been having an absolute blast with the beta over the weekend, although I wish they would increase the player size, and decrease the wait time between rounds. How about you guys?

Source: Gaming Bolt [http://gamingbolt.com/titanfall-dev-dont-buy-the-game-on-faith-if-the-gameplay-isnt-acceptable-dont-buy-it]

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[Dragonlayer]

Have faith in the Emperor and He will provide.

A refreshingly open comment from a designer; seems odd though that such common sense as "If you don't like the game, don't buy it" is worthy of a news article. As for the game itself, it looks rather cool but tragically I am far too poor to have a next-generation console and will probably only be able to pick this up when the fourth sequel is announced for the PS5.

 

[Terminate421]

Its fucking great.

The developers sound like they are having a blast as they make the game and further more, the game is FUCKING GREAT.

This is how you make a game, let the developers do what they want and publishers have very little sway.

 

[StriderShinryu]

While I won't be buying TitanFall any time soon, I admire any developer that makes this type of comment. That's the sign of a confident developer. Instead of asking players to just ignore the faults because "it's still in Beta" or "trust us, it's not done yet" they're encouraging players to actually try it out and not commit until they do so. Good stuff.

 

[unstabLized]

Its fucking great.

The developers sound like they are having a blast as they make the game and further more, the game is FUCKING GREAT.

This is how you make a game, let the developers do what they want and publishers have very little sway.

Is it actually? I'm really wondering if I should get it. I even liked the Call of Duty games up till Modern Warfare 2 so I don't mind if it's CoD done right. I'm really on the fence on this one, someone help me out

 

[Tar Palantir]

Well they can afford to be honest, they know they are going to sell alot of copies no matter what, so they might as well try to get some good PR, and remind the people still living under a rock to try their DEMO (it's a bit late for a beta I think, the game is done).

 

[Elfgore]

To bad the beta for PC is full. Otherwise, I would gladly try this bad-boy out.

Dropping my personal issues, I really like this behavior. We need more of this, honest developers that don't try to bullshit us. They get my thumbs up.

 

[Sanunes]

The times I was able to connect to a server I had a lot of fun playing the game. I have had a few minor issues, but honestly I think its mostly due to that I haven't really played a FPS online in years.

 

[VladG]

I gotta say... I've played the beta and I take back what I've said about the game: EA seems to have left this one relatively intact. Heck, I'm almost certainly going to buy it, barring some MASSIVE fuck-up at launch.

This demo (because let's face it, it is a demo) is a TON of fun to play, even feature-incomplete as it is. I can see it wearing out fairly fast as it is now, but a bunch more maps, loadouts and game modes should sort that out.

I must say I'm impressed at how polished it is and how well the movement system is implemented: This game makes you feel like a total badass every second and some of the stunts you can pull off are just fantastic. This is the most fun I've had with a game in a long time

 

[Tar Palantir]

I gotta say... I've played the beta and I take back what I've said about the game: EA seems to have left this one relatively intact. Heck, I'm almost certainly going to buy it, barring some MASSIVE fuck-up at launch.

This demo (because let's face it, it is a demo) is a TON of fun to play, even feature-incomplete as it is. I can see it wearing out fairly fast as it is now, but a bunch more maps, loadouts and game modes should sort that out.

I must say I'm impressed at how polished it is and how well the movement system is implemented: This game makes you feel like a total badass every second and some of the stunts you can pull off are just fantastic. This is the most fun I've had with a game in a long time

I'm liking it too on PC, what worries me is just how much more content there will be in the final release, and most of all their DLC business model. I don't to buy it just to see the playerbase split by paid map packs in a couple of months!

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

sell i must admit this is commendable

 

[VladG]

I'm liking it too on PC, what worries me is just how much more content there will be in the final release, and most of all their DLC business model. I don't to buy it just to see the playerbase split by paid map packs in a couple of months!

I think they said they wouldn't do that. Though I doubt this will be completely untainted by EA.

But they haven't announced any season passes, or DLC pre-oder bonuses or anything of the sort, so I'm hopeful.

 

[suitepee7]

Its fucking great.

The developers sound like they are having a blast as they make the game and further more, the game is FUCKING GREAT.

This is how you make a game, let the developers do what they want and publishers have very little sway.

Is it actually? I'm really wondering if I should get it. I even liked the Call of Duty games up till Modern Warfare 2 so I don't mind if it's CoD done right. I'm really on the fence on this one, someone help me out

if you were a fan of MW 1 and 2, chances are you'll like it. those were two of my favourites, and i loved the beta for this, so that's my reckoning xD

it has enough to be familiar to those that played a fair amount of the MW games, but enough different to not feel stale. as far as i'm concerned, it shows a lot of promise.

OT: the more i hear from respawn, the more i like them. they seem to have enough influence over EA to call most of the shots, and say what they actually feel. even if i hated the game, i would damn well respect the designers, and i hope titanfall does well for their sake

 

[Evil Smurf]

It's rare for a dev to be this cool lately. I'm pleased, EA may have not yet messed up this game.

 

[Longstreet]

While the gameplay is pretty damn good, the connection is absolute rubbish. Pc gamer here btw.

I can already see all the problems coming their way, and it will be the same Black ops II had on the PC. They gotta face it, using this lobby bullshit where some vague algorithm connects you to some folk and picks a server for you just does not work. Let the players themselves host the server, at least on pc, so that they do have a good gaming experience.

I mean it should be obvious to them by no. Every CoD on pc that uses lobbies = utter crap connection wise. The last good PC CoD game was CoD4 (and arguably WaW) Since they still uses normal servers that players could pick from.

 

[ToastyMozart]

Are these guys really Ex-Infinity Ward? "Fuck you, play with 65FOV" IW? "We don't consider the PC an important market" IW?!
Wow, either they learned their lesson from MW2, or they were being held back by the people they left behind.

Good on you Respawn [footnote]Though, seriously, please consider adding support for dedicated servers. I haven't actually run into any connection issues myself, but it's a good feature to have.[/footnote]

 

[ToastyMozart]

I'm liking it too on PC, what worries me is just how much more content there will be in the final release, and most of all their DLC business model. I don't to buy it just to see the playerbase split by paid map packs in a couple of months!

I think they said they wouldn't do that. Though I doubt this will be completely untainted by EA.

But they haven't announced any season passes, or DLC pre-order bonuses or anything of the sort, so I'm hopeful.

My main concern with EA's involvement (beside the horrible mappack business model) is that they might sell the Burn Cards in a microtransaction store, which wouldn't be too bad if not for the presence of the rare 'super wallhack' card, which making infinitely available to anyone with deep pockets would break the game balance over it's knee.

Though I would say charging $60 for a PC release would already qualify as EA tainting it.

Also, I'd like to point out that a bunch of Ex-Infinity Ward devs just swore off map packs! That's awesome!

 

[00slash00]

I was very surprised how fun the game is. I mean as the game stands now, with only two maps and 3 game modes, I probably wouldn't buy it unless a ton of my friends were getting it. But once there's more content I think it would really be worth playing, and that's coming from someone who doesn't typically like online shooters.

I have to say though, that I find titans kind of boring to use. For me, the real fun of the game is parkouring all over the map

 

[VladG]

Here's hoping EA doesn't stink up the game.

As for former devs swearing off map packs... It's really not the devs that tend to make these decisions. I'm pretty certain the devs understand how bad map dlc is for the community. The corporate overlords on the other hand...

Basically the reason I'm not already pre-ordering the game is EA, and the still viable possibility that they might fuck things up somehow.

Based purely on the game's merits, It's a definite buy for me.

 

[ToastyMozart]

Its fucking great.

The developers sound like they are having a blast as they make the game and further more, the game is FUCKING GREAT.

This is how you make a game, let the developers do what they want and publishers have very little sway.

Is it actually? I'm really wondering if I should get it. I even liked the Call of Duty games up till Modern Warfare 2 so I don't mind if it's CoD done right. I'm really on the fence on this one, someone help me out

I'd describe the soldier v soldier combat as "Call of Duty, if it had a fluid movement system to match the kinda arcadey gunplay." And the fact that none of the weapons are samey at all certainly helps.
Personally, I usually don't like COD-style combat much (I'm more on the CS and Crysis side of things), but I've been enjoying the hell out of the "Beta." I'd certainly recommend giving the open beta a shot, or finding a nearby friend to let you try it.

I won't be buying it on launch day (EA doesn't exactly have a great reputation for launch windows, and I want to wait for feedback on the non-beta content), but It's definitely going high on my list.