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[Write-in Thread] Firelink Episode #55

🕑 Added 2025-02-19 17:29:01 +0000 UTC

Comments

David Doornbos

Crud. I was late

David Doornbos

What are your best "oh that was clever foreshadowing" moments in your videogame or cinema history?

JikoDays

Having played close to 30 hrs in early access, I've had a great time so far in Avowed. I appreciate how while there's less companions than Outer Worlds they individually have more to say across all its content. Admittedly, the setting has felt like the most lackluster aspect and requires familiarity to really care.

JACS

How come game publishers don’t push marketing long after launch? It’s usually leading up to and maybe week after but not much after, is there little ROI for that?

Inverse Skies

Again I don’t have a specific question, other than to say looking forward to the episode in general.

Freakjob

I'm curious, can these devs translate their skills into new jobs in different fields? I imagine plenty of them are thinking twice about staying in such a volatile industry.

Insomnia Inc

So never played a Yakuza game, what's a good entry point for the series? It looks fun, I don't know if it's my thing but willing to try. Anyways keep up the awesome work.

Andrew White-Winter

I had this exact same thought when I saw the names of the people being laid off....seemed odd.

LookItsAnEric

The ecosystem around AAA development is ultra capitalist, fueled by click bait centered media and outrage culture, until a total collapse of games like Fortnite and GTA Online comes, there won't be enough incentive for investors and shareholders to change their modis operandi who unfortunately are the ones that dictate how that arm of the industry functions

A

How's Infinity Nikki doing from an industry perspective, and what might that hold for more directly female-targeted game design? Are there any other casual games with surprising dark lore that might also warrant an upgrade from mobile to full console dev like this?

Blistered Soul

Do you think some of the more tepid responses to Avowed are audience expectation of Obsidion as an RPG studio? Being more of an action game and lite on rpg elements; is it another example of trying to reach broader market appeal over deeper mechanical complexity?

Far Too Many Frogs

Getting political with mine. My tinfoil theory about the NetEase layoffs appears to be one quarter right, seeing as how the Marvel Rivals thing appears to be NetEase being NetEase, but also the company’s seemingly complete divestment from North America. The only “tinfoil” part would be about how tariffs against Chinese products may have affected this, if not accelerated it. But say if it were 100% true, do you think we’ll see companies like Cognosphere, Kuro Games, Tencent, or Game Science start pulling out of American arms they have a heavy hand in? With how much investment especially Tencent has in the US market, I’d bet money that we’ll have a crash on par with the ‘83 crash.

Andrew White-Winter

Instead of people who do the actual work, which CEOs or other C-Suites should all be laid off instead without their cushy severance packages?

Filthy & Free Publishing

For Nick, and anyone else who has played it: What's your favorite dice combo in KCD2? I'm rocking 5 Odd and one Favourable and haven't lost a round in days.

Itorona

How much of the layoffs are just a response to overshooting hiring during Covid? I know that was the stated reason during the first rounds a couple of years ago.

ergotpoisoning

Maybe more suited for Design Delve, but would love some discussion of what makes a good in-game currency. Path of Exile always stands out to me in that there is no generic tradable 'gold' - every currency item has utility based on crafting, and meta crafting strategies of the playerbase therefore dictate those currencies' relative values