Mostly RPG News - Upcoming Games March 2022

Originally Posted by Redglyph
Also, it's a Cypriot company, even though most of the developers are in Moscow.

Oh OK, I thought they only had offices in Cyprus. OK. Well, if they are legally a Cypriot company then there is nothing to worry about, of course.
I still find it a bit strange why they would not just simply state that development will continue as planned and that the current political situation has no effect on their roadmap with regard to delivering the season pass content. Many people, myself included, have prepurchased that content and it would have maybe been nice to not be treated like a mushroom by Owlcat .

Originally Posted by Moriendor
Oh OK, I thought they only had offices in Cyprus. OK. Well, if they are legally a Cypriot company then there is nothing to worry about, of course.
I still find it a bit strange why they would not just simply state that development will continue as planned and that the current political situation has no effect on their roadmap with regard to delivering the season pass content. Many people, myself included, have prepurchased that content and it would have maybe been nice to not be treated like a mushroom by Owlcat .

I'm not entirely sure whether you were ironic or not. It's sure that it won't be easy if part of their staff is in Russia, I honestly don't know how it would work when/if sanctions against Russia were to be taken further. But at least it's not entirely Russian, which may give them more options in that case.

As for their lack answer, I didn't see where the questions were asked, are we sure they even saw them? In any case, I'd say they don't have to answer any question regarding their plans. Since they are working with a publisher, they may have to formally agree before doing any public announcement or promises.

In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a direct answer to that sort of question, even by small indies. I wouldn't worry too much about it, creating those DLCs seem the better option in any case.

Originally Posted by Redglyph
As for their lack answer, I didn't see where the questions were asked, are we sure they even saw them?

Yes, they must have seen them because they are apparently locking and deleting most posts asking about the effects of the political situation on their company . Just check the Steam forums (first few pages).

The only comment that was posted with regard to the season pass content is:

Plans for the DLC1 have not changed, we are going to release it the next Thursday, the 3rd of March. Patch 1.2 will probably be out the same day.No word whatsoever on the future of the season pass content i.e. DLCs #2 and #3.

In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a direct answer to that sort of question, even by small indies.

You have never seen a single developer reassure their customers that they will continue development of X, Y or Z as planned? If we look through the history of gaming we could probably find hundreds of examples, e.g. when developers went bankrupt, when their company was acquired or when there was a buyout or spinoff, when the leadership changed, when a significant person left the team, when a fire or other natural disaster destroyed the facilities… most developers are luckily quite transparent and open in such cases by at least stating *something*, even if it is "we have to evaluate the current situation and will get back to you ASAP". But nothing at all, complete radio silence is a bit weak and does not inspire confidence.

But lesson learned (again). No more prepurchasing of Owlcat stuff. Mea culpa. It was my own dumb fault .

Originally Posted by Moriendor
Yes, they must have seen them because they are apparently locking and deleting most posts asking about the effects of the political situation on their company . Just check the Steam forums (first few pages).

Ugh, Steam forums… it's a troll lair, I'm avoid them as much as I can.

I've just had a look and saw one thread with the title "Then where is the place to ask you political questions?" which has been rightfully removed. Then load of pages with questions on the gameplay.

I don't doubt what you say, but I'm not surprised there is some amount of clean-up over there. And if the questions were political as you mentioned, they made the right decision by closing or deleting them.

Originally Posted by Moriendor
You have never seen a single developer reassure their customers that they will continue development of X, Y or Z as planned? If we look through the history of gaming we could probably find hundreds of examples, e.g. when developers went bankrupt, when their company was acquired or when there was a buyout or spinoff

Wow, the examples you give are extreme, it's not as if they were about to go bankrupt. Let's not get this out of proportions just yet. They are just following their course, releasing the DLC next Thursday, so there isn't much to report. After that I'm pretty sure they'll give some hint at what to expect next.

Sure, when there are questions about when is coming the next release, there is sometimes a reply, but it's the usual non-committal response. Those companies want to post about their plans as soon as it's decided, and if they don't, it's for a good reason. They will not suddenly break the rule just to answer an individual in a public forum.

I understand where you're coming from though, with a season pass it's nice to know what to expect.

As someone who also paid for season pass and a fan of WotR, I also want all 3 DLCs delivered. But I'd give them time to respond on this because its not an easy thing to answer right now imo, given situation is continuously evolving.

As Redglyph said, they are just gaming company who just want to continue making games to continue their ordinary life.

We will be getting DLC #1 soon and I'm excited for it

I also have a seasons pass but I could care less about it considering what is happening to people over their. Hard to believe people are worried about their season pass because Russia declared war. No wonder this world is so fucked. What is happening there is far more important than whether I get to play some DLC later.

All things considered I would cut them some slack for being quiet under the circumstances.

Originally Posted by wolfgrimdark
I also have a seasons pass but I could care less about it considering what is happening to people over their. Hard to believe people are worried about their season pass because Russia declared war. No wonder this world is so fucked. What is happening there is far more important than whether I get to play some DLC later.

Sanctimonious much? Firstly, just because people are concerned about one thing doesn't mean they aren't concerned about the other. Secondly, Owlcats main office is literally many hundreds of kilometres away from the conflict zone so I wouldn't see how people being concerned has anything at all to do with the loss of life happening. The only reason people are concerned is because of the sanctions etc that are going to be placed on Russia and they can be rightfully concerned about it.

Originally Posted by bjon045
Sanctimonious much? Firstly, just because people are concerned about one thing doesn't mean they aren't concerned about the other. Secondly, Owlcats main office is literally many hundreds of kilometres away from the conflict zone so I wouldn't see how people being concerned has anything at all to do with the loss of life happening. The only reason people are concerned is because of the sanctions etc that are going to be placed on Russia and they can be rightfully concerned about it.

Yeah that post didn't make much sense to me either, given that Owlcat is nowhere near the conflict and it's their own country that's the actual aggressor.

Unless the point was that we just shouldn't care about any gaming-related matters when there's a war going on in Europe (we already know this logic doesn't apply to other continents). I guess the people complaining about performance issues in Elden Ring didn't get this memo

Eh? I doubt he was trying to sound sanctimonious there. I think the obvious point was simply that that whole region is in turmoil right now.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Eh? I doubt he was trying to sound sanctimonious there. I think the obvious point was simply that that whole region is in turmoil right now.

Not quite. He also said that the world is f'ed because we care about our DLC.

That was the sanctimonious bit.

We don't know what kind of sanctions will be placed on Russia and how it will impact Owlcats and other Russian developers/businesses but one thing for sure is, even if they can continue operating/trade with other nations, they will have to jump through more hoops.

I'm sure Owlcats and others want to continue their business as usual and deliver DLCs/games/whatever to continue their life as per normal but they can't promise anything in this current volatile situation.

Just because they are not in a war zone, doesn't mean they don't get impacted negatively by this war. I think we should all show a bit more empathy.

Originally Posted by wolfgrimdark
I also have a seasons pass but I could care less about it considering what is happening to people over their. Hard to believe people are worried about their season pass because Russia declared war. No wonder this world is so fucked. What is happening there is far more important than whether I get to play some DLC later.

All things considered I would cut them some slack for being quiet under the circumstances.

You do realize Owlcat is Russian and not Ukrainian and that Ukraine is being attacked and not the other way around?

Without any desire to sound callous, I hope that not every thread will turn into a political debate.

Owlcat Games are not Russian (even if that's just a company status subtlety), but even if they were I doubt they would have anything to do with the decision of invading another country.

I think it would be best to discuss the problematic of Russian developers and multinational companies in another thread, preferably in the right forum. Neither of us are really knowledgeable in geopolitics, so let's not mix game discussion with that.

Originally Posted by Redglyph
Without any desire to sound callous, I hope that not every thread will turn into a political debate.

Yes, because that means I'd have to read too many threads .

Originally Posted by Redglyph
I think it would be best to discuss the problematic of Russian developers and multinational companies in another thread, preferably in the right forum.

Indeed.

Back on topic.

Originally Posted by Redglyph
Owlcat Games are not Russian (even if that's just a company status subtlety)

Dunno about that, their Twitter profile says "Moscow, Russia". If they are pretending to not be a Russian company, they're not doing a very good job of it.

The Atom guys posted a pro-Ukraine thing on Twitter: https://twitter.com/atomrpg/status/1497642924313661440
Some Russian bands I follow have done similar. Owlcat hasn't said anything. I don't blame them for not saying anything (even if they are on Ukraine's side, they shouldn't be forced to get involved in the politics), but at the same time, when they haven't made a position clear yet, then a person might not necessarily be inclined to cut them some slack over "turmoil" created by their own country's aggression.

Originally Posted by Stingray
Dunno about that, their Twitter profile says "Moscow, Russia". If they are pretending to not be a Russian company, they're not doing a very good job of it.

As said before, it's a Cypriot company, but they also have an office in Moscow where most / all the developers we know are located.

Originally Posted by Redglyph
As said before, it's a Cypriot company, but they also have an office in Moscow where most / all the developers we know are located.

Right, where it's incorporated means pretty much nothing.

Right.

Some may be unfamiliar with me and my moderation actions, but when I say 'Back on topic', I mean back on topic. After that things get deleted and red cards are issued for not following up moderators direction.

Last warning.

Owlcat and Russia are not the topic. If you want to discuss it (further) please feel free to start a thread in P&R.

Here it is: upcoming games March 2022 and WolfheartFPS' list.

Some news from Owlcat that the DLC was still in line for Thursday. I don't know if some of you were waiting for physical rewards, this seems more complicated.

An Update With Regards to the Current Situation