4 ms·

The characters repelled me, I hated playing as Gruff Brooding Manly Man all the time. I could have dealt with that perhaps, but because the gameplay systems had

by mathw 10y ago

The characters repelled me, I hated playing as Gruff Brooding Manly Man all the time. I could have dealt with that perhaps, but because the gameplay systems had so many issues I just put it down again and never even had a flicker of interest in going back. Between us I think we've illustrated the distinction between "good setting" and "good game mechanics" and how they can influence whether somebody wants to play your game or not. But you definitely need at least one of them!

doikor 10y ago
> Gruff Brooding Manly Man That is the "public" image of witchers in the universe. If you play the games (and especially if you read the books) it becomes quite clear that it is just a facade. And quite a bit of brooding that is there is "I've seen this shit before" as Geralt by the time of Witcher 3 over 100 years old (the older witcher Vesemir is over 200 years old). The mutations give Witchers long lives (none of them have ever died of old age)
- mathw 10y ago
  The Witcher 3 did nothing at all to show me this in the time I played it. Admittedly I didn't get very far, but by the time I'd not enjoyed it for a good 15 hours or so I thought it was about time to do something more entertaining. Also the word "Witcher" set my teeth on edge too. So really the whole world is probably not for me!
foobarchu 10y ago
I think between the two of you, you've illustrated the subjective nature of both settings and game mechanics. Many, many people think that the Witcher 3 had both good setting and good game mechanics, that's why its one of the most acclaimed game of all time, critically and from consumers. There's really no winning strategy here. The best creators can do is try to target what they know their existing fanbase will like, or target a fanbase as the audience they want to get. Miyamoto is really good at this. CDProjekt is also really good at this.
- mathw 10y ago
  Yes. Yes. What we need in helping us find the games we will love is an understanding that not everyone likes the same things. Some reviewers do acknowledge this, but far from all, and a lot of it boils down to finding individual reviewers you feel you can trust. Which is not something I've managed to do yet.

by mathw 10y ago

doikor 10y ago

> Gruff Brooding Manly Man That is the "public" image of witchers in the universe. If you play the games (and especially if you read the books) it becomes quite clear that it is just a facade. And quite a bit of brooding that is there is "I've seen this shit before" as Geralt by the time of Witcher 3 over 100 years old (the older witcher Vesemir is over 200 years old). The mutations give Witchers long lives (none of them have ever died of old age)

mathw 10y ago
The Witcher 3 did nothing at all to show me this in the time I played it. Admittedly I didn't get very far, but by the time I'd not enjoyed it for a good 15 hours or so I thought it was about time to do something more entertaining. Also the word "Witcher" set my teeth on edge too. So really the whole world is probably not for me!

foobarchu 10y ago

I think between the two of you, you've illustrated the subjective nature of both settings and game mechanics. Many, many people think that the Witcher 3 had both good setting and good game mechanics, that's why its one of the most acclaimed game of all time, critically and from consumers. There's really no winning strategy here. The best creators can do is try to target what they know their existing fanbase will like, or target a fanbase as the audience they want to get. Miyamoto is really good at this. CDProjekt is also really good at this.

mathw 10y ago
Yes. Yes. What we need in helping us find the games we will love is an understanding that not everyone likes the same things. Some reviewers do acknowledge this, but far from all, and a lot of it boils down to finding individual reviewers you feel you can trust. Which is not something I've managed to do yet.