While Baldur's Gate 3 is being widely celebrated by fans and developers alike, some are panicking that this could set new expectations from fans. Good. In th...

While Baldur’s Gate 3 is being widely celebrated by fans and developers alike, some are panicking that this could set new expectations from fans. Good.

  • acastcandream@beehaw.org
    15·
    1 year ago

    I largely agree, but there is one thing to consider: the amount of money and time they were given for this game is incredibly unusual. Three years of early access is also very unusual for AAA-level games, that’s mostly relegated to over ambitious indies with inflated budgets. It’s also rare to see that kind of budget with so much autonomy and trust.

    We need to remember that some developers simply do not have the same resources and time as others. BG3 has set a whole new bar and matching that with the current industry will be difficult. Who we really need to put pressure on is publishers who are rushing them to market and damning the consequences. They are by and large responsible for this mess and they control the vast majority of the money flowing into games.

    • stopthatgirl7@kbin.socialOP
      13·
      1 year ago

      My counter to that is the last 2.5 BioWare games - I say 2.5 because Dreadwolf has been in development for ten years total now and still isn’t out. Andromeda was in development for 5 years. Anthem had money galore thrown at it until it came out. Too many devs, not just BioWare, are wasting years of development time because they haven’t got a clue what they can feasibly make then rush to get things out the door.

      Instead of making excuses for why gave dev is the way it is now - a way that isn’t working - maybe look at what Larian did right and ask why more studios aren’t doing that. Early Access is normal used by indies with overinflated budgets? Well, why aren’t larger studios taking advantage of it or using systems like it?

      The new normal for a have to be developed is turning into 5+ years, and there’s no excuse for the hot messes that have been coming out lately.

    • CalcProgrammer1@lemmy.ml
      1·
      1 year ago

      I’d like to ask…why are publishers even required anymore? Games don’t need physical releases anymore. You don’t need a publisher to host a zip file on a web server. Storefronts let indie developers self-publish so why do the big names still fall for the publishers who exist only to enshittify gaming anymore? They bring negative value to the industry.

      • ampersandrew@kbin.social
        2·
        1 year ago

        They bring funding when you have none. Also marketing. How likely are we to have heard of The Plucky Squire without it being featured alongside several other Devolver games?

      • theneverfox@pawb.socialEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        Because all those things make it possible to release independently, it’s still not easy. Marketing and getting exposure is hard, it’s a totally different skill. With a publisher, you don’t have to worry about any of that - you might even get funding up front.

        Personally, I still think it’s worth doing - I’m in that position, and although I’m having a lot of trouble getting off the ground, at least I’m free to follow my visions

        But I get why people would do it. A slice of a big pie is worth more than all of a tiny one.

        It’s also stressful if it’s not in your skillset - I’ve started using chat gpt to rewrite my announcements and such. Before I’d stress trying to put them together and focused on being clear and honest, but no one was reading them. I find it worse than public speaking, at least when I get on stage I’m too busy to feel self conscious.

        The stuff I come up with using chat-gpt is a bit cringe, but at least people read them - sadly corpo speak draws people in