CD Projekt RED - "Major announcement"on May 30th

My very personal impression is that there are nowadays nothing but dark fantasy games out there. And meaning "dark" in a broader sense.

If you believe that then shouldn't you say good buy to all video games. Not just CDPR.

I don't believe there are truly any dark fantasy games. Sure they have some dark subject matter but they way the present it is pretty tame. It could and probably will get much more dark.

I much prefer a more adult and realistic theme in games but have purchased and enjoyed all the drakensangs and expansions.
 
Alrik likes RPGs in Transport Tycoon Candyland setting ?

Yes, indeed.

And I am fully aware of how much people will laugh at me.

(Besides, I don't remember Transport Tycoon having "candyland" setting. It looked much different to me. Or was it Railroad Tycoon ?)

That might all be true, but is the solution really to act like a hipster and disregard the fashion completely?

I don't say that they are bad from a technical perspective.

It's just that I don't like the setting.

I still believe, after all of these years, that it is possible to present "mature" themes in an non-dark & non-gritty way.

If you believe that then shouldn't you say good buy to all video games. Not just CDPR.

Indeed. Nowadays I'm actually watching myself withdraw more and more from PC games, and rather invest my energy elsewhere.

Another solution would be to buy myself a Wii and play Mario games. ;)

(And the British "Retro" magazine reminded me in/with their current issue that there indeed once was a Mario RPG !)
 
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Next we'll have announcements about when we'll next have an announcement. Totally retarded.
 
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Next we'll have announcements about when we'll next have an announcement. Totally retarded.

You must live under a rock as that is already happening.:p Just look at the recent Skyrim news for the dlc as an example..
 
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Yes, indeed.

And I am fully aware of how much people will laugh at me.

(Besides, I don't remember Transport Tycoon having "candyland" setting. It looked much different to me. Or was it Railroad Tycoon ?)
I am not laughing , i know that we have no control over what we like .
My mistake it is toyland not candyland

6toylandottd.png
 
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My very personal impression is that there are nowadays nothing but dark fantasy games out there. And meaning "dark" in a broader sense.

And i see that gmes that are "dark" in any sense just do sell very well. Like the Witcher series, for example, or Dragon Age - although that of course had been influenced by the "old school" approach as well … But it was definitively "dark" and "mature" …

I almost assume nowadays that one of the several reasons Draknsang 2 didn't sell was - that it just looked too "immature" to many gamers. Just not dark enough.
Gamers might believe that Drakensang 2 was just … uncool. Too colourful, too immature, to much fairy-tale …

And Bioware used their "mature" & "sex" thing very, very good as a marketing tool - at the expanse of other games that were not themed like this.

I even fear that they have mde a kind of "industry standard" regarding RPGs. For the next time.

And that even although I still believe that this "dark fantasy" theming in games is just a fashion in full swing right now.

This is my personal opinion.

You may have a point, when it comes to the general trend in western rpg-s, but that point falls apart, the second when generic cutesy jrpg # 4693 is released for the ds and sells five million copies.

And finally let's also not forget Fable games, which have quite colourful art style and sold more each than Dragon Age and Witcher games put together.

As for why Drakensang 2 failed to sell, the answer you seek is dtp, not the art style. Let me put it this way. I love The Witcher franchise, but even then i'd consider Drakensang 2 easily the best RPG of 2011 (the year it was released in english).

The game oozes oldschool design like no other mainstream rpg in many years. But dtp a) failed to capitalize on that fact. b) failed to make the game available and visible fast enough c) didn't give a rat's ass about marketing it once it was available. I had to import my copy, because digital download was not available in my region months after english release. And let's also not forget, that i only got the idea, that the game might be worth it also months after the english release.
 
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I doubt it. Playstation crowd is even further away from their core audience than xbox mouth-breathers. And we have all seen so far how well that particular experiment ended. They haven't sold even half of the amount they did on the PC. I guess you could draw a few conclusions from this.

1. The impact piracy has on the PC sales is not really as great as some people think.
2. The Witcher franchise is simply not very attractive for the console crowd.
3. You can't sell anything on a console with the help of word of mouth alone, even if the reviews are good. Without marketing budget you'll tank.
4. Timing is everything. You can't really hope to sell a game so close to the release of guaranteed blocbusters.
Didn't know it did so bad on the xbox, a pity. I really hope it does come to the ps3, TW2 is on the top of my to-play list with a huge margin. I believe, and you'll see the light too, May 30th ;)
 
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My very personal impression is that there are nowadays nothing but dark fantasy games out there. And meaning "dark" in a broader sense.

And i see that gmes that are "dark" in any sense just do sell very well. Like the Witcher series, for example, or Dragon Age - although that of course had been influenced by the "old school" approach as well … But it was definitively "dark" and "mature" …

I almost assume nowadays that one of the several reasons Draknsang 2 didn't sell was - that it just looked too "immature" to many gamers. Just not dark enough.
Gamers might believe that Drakensang 2 was just … uncool. Too colourful, too immature, to much fairy-tale …

And Bioware used their "mature" & "sex" thing very, very good as a marketing tool - at the expanse of other games that were not themed like this.

I even fear that they have mde a kind of "industry standard" regarding RPGs. For the next time.

And that even although I still believe that this "dark fantasy" theming in games is just a fashion in full swing right now.

This is my personal opinion.


I'm not sure that it would be true to say that CD Projekt Red or Bioware are responsible for the gritty, darker, mature trend in cRPGs. To be fair, those elements are very common in games of all genres these days, not to mention books, movies, TV, etc.

That said, I do personally enjoy games with a colorful, whimsical look to them. It's one of the reasons I still play MMOs. The gameplay may revolve around fetch quests, but I like the imaginative settings

I've yet to pick up Drakensang yet, though I've been eyeing it for awhile. Sounds like it has a few fans on this board
 
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I'm going to be a 'negative nellie' here but, man oh man, announcements about announcements seem to multiply like cancer cells these days. This isn't a jab at RPGWatch - you guys are just doing your job and reporting news. This 'negative nellie' moment is really directed at the industry at large. I wish it would stop. I can dream.
 
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I would just like you all to know that I will be posting next week the date that I will post my thoughts on this topic. ;)
 
I would just like you all to know that I will be posting next week the date that I will post my thoughts on this topic. ;)

I counter that whenI see your announcing post of a forthcoming post I will announce that I will later announce, subsequent to your announcement of an announcment but prior to your actual announcment that I will be announcing a forthcoming announcement.
 
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I don't say that they are bad from a technical perspective.

It's just that I don't like the setting.

I still believe, after all of these years, that it is possible to present "mature" themes in an non-dark & non-gritty way.

But then I dont understand your "goodbye" at CDP RED, since it sounds like you were never with them. ;)

Anyways, I agree, it should be perfectly possible to have a mature game in a lighter setting. Its harder to do, I suppose, since a lighter setting will tempt the developers to create an atmosphere that just doesnt carry the tension as well. Also, it would be hard to say what "lighter" really is.
 
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