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KickStarter Telepath Tactics Liberated - deterministic tactical RPG inspired by Fire Emblem

Craig Stern

Sinister Design
Developer
Joined
Feb 15, 2009
Messages
398
Location
Chicago
Telepath tactics featured on Super Bunny Hop. Craig Stern i thought your game was known more than this, i had played your telepath games long before i joined the codex. I hope this brings attention to the game, it certainly deserves it.

Thanks! :)

PS: i always wondered, did character creation do anything to you? i would kill to be able to play your games with my own character, i just cannot get invested in your main characters for some reason.

Telepath RPG Chapter 2 and Telepath RPG: Servants of God both let you name and customize your character at the start of the game; I assume you mean that you'd like being able to choose specific combat skills / class as well?
 

Lhynn

Arcane
Joined
Aug 28, 2013
Messages
9,824
Telepath RPG Chapter 2 and Telepath RPG: Servants of God both let you name and customize your character at the start of the game; I assume you mean that you'd like being able to choose specific combat skills / class as well?
Yep, tho i understand its for story purposes and that even a bit more flexibility at character creation will make it harder to predict how the main character will develop. Its still one of those features most RPG fans love.
 

Craig Stern

Sinister Design
Developer
Joined
Feb 15, 2009
Messages
398
Location
Chicago
Yeah. Part of it is for story reasons, as you mention, and part of it is because in those games, most classes had relatively few skills at their disposal. Only the psy-based classes really had a lot of room to develop new skills, so if I had let the player select a swordsman or a bowman, then the game would been a lot more boring for them. Telepath Tactics is probably the first game in the series where each class really has a large enough variety of skills that letting the player customize classes and starting skills would make some sense. I ultimately didn't follow that route in TT due to adopting the Fire Emblem template, but it's likely to eventually make an appearance in future games. :)
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,236
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
More sales stats: http://sinisterdesign.net/telepath-tactics-brass-tacks-and-sales-stats-part-2/

Telepath Tactics: brass tacks and sales stats, Part 2
In Part 1, we discussed what Telepath Tactics cost to make; what sort of sales it needed in order to reimburse me for those costs; and how many additional units it needed to sell to allow me to meet my ultimate goal of leaving behind my day job and developing games full-time.

Bearing in mind that most of the game’s costs were paid up-front by its successful Kickstarter campaign, and that most sales were expected to come through various outside distribution networks, I concluded that I’d need to (a) sell about 1,455 copies to make back my out-of-pocket costs, and (b) sell roughly 7,375 copies to be able to quit my day job and make games full-time.

Initial sales numbers

With that in mind, how is Telepath Tactics doing so far? Three months after release, I have sold approximately 3,000 copies total across all platforms, with gross sales revenue upwards of $36,660.

Net sales revenue, which accounts for the cut taken by the various distribution platforms, is a good deal lower than the gross–note that net is the amount I actually receive. Valve prohibits developers from disclosing data regarding sales made on Steam, so I cannot reveal my net revenue or otherwise break down my total sales by distribution channel. Ultimately, however, the breakdown doesn’t really matter for my purposes: regardless of what the distribution is, I (1) succeeded in fully recouping my out-of-pocket expenses, (2) made a small profit, and (3) failed to make enough money at launch to support myself making a game full-time over the next two years.

Is that good?

In a word: no. SteamSpy estimates that the average RPG on Steam alone has more than 10 times that number of owners. But more importantly, these sales numbers don’t meet my ultimate goal of allowing me to move into game development as a sustainable full-time job.

Someone unfamiliar with the games industry might think that $36,660 is pretty good for just the first three months of a game’s life span–and it would be, if I were a developer who was able to pump out games every 6 months, or even every year. But Telepath Tactics began development in 2009–$36,660 is not anything close to a sustainable amount of revenue for a game with such a lengthy development cycle.

And unfortunately, the fact that it’s only been 3 months since release isn’t a reason to expect much more in the way of sales revenue. Games mostly behave like movies opening in theaters, with launch week analogous to a movie’s opening weekend: traditionally, the bulk of a game’s profits are made at (and shortly after) launch, with a mere drip-feed of sales following from that point onward.

True to form, sales of Telepath Tactics have thus far followed this “L” trajectory. The vast majority of all money made by the game was made in its first week, before the game dropped too far off of Steam and GOG’s respective “new releases” charts for prospective buyers to easily find it. Telepath Tactics is now in what is traditionally referred to as “the long tail”–the flat, horizontal part of the “L.”

There has been some reason to dispute the “long tail” model lately, as the emergence of bundles and major sales events over the past few years has managed to put some spikes into the long tail for digitally distributed video games. These events allow developers to wring out the proverbial towel and sometimes get significant sales spikes during otherwise fallow periods via a phenomenon that economists call “price discrimination.”


Following this theory, I participated in Steam’s summer sale. This gave the game an extremely modest bump in both sales and revenue during the first few days and last few days of the sale. Had Valve chosen Telepath Tactics to be a daily deal, the sales bump would likely have been much more significant; but they did not, and it was not.


Participating did not merely boost sales a bit–it also had negative effects. Selling Telepath Tactics at a significant discount attracted players who were less invested in the title, and several of them left negative reviews after playing the game for a short period of time. This hurt the game’s review rating, which pushed it further back in the charts, hurting its visibility–and thus, hurting full-price sales of the game going forward after the sale. Ultimately, participating in the Steam summer sale did not provide enough of a spike to make the difference between financial success and financial failure, and in the long term, it may even have been a net negative.

Conclusion

Telepath Tactics has received a bunch of critical praise from the print press for its clever mechanics and tight design–but from a commercial standpoint, it has not passed too terribly far beyond the minimal bar of “don’t actually lose money.” If it weren’t for the successful Kickstarter, Telepath Tactics would be tens of thousands of dollars in the red; and Kickstarter or no, if I’d needed to actually be paid for all those years I spent making the game, I would be left in a terrible financial position. (Thankfully, the game did have a successful Kickstarter, and I don’t care about back pay.)

I have some theories as to why it didn’t sell as well as I had hoped; I will explore those in a future post. For now, though, I’ve learned some valuable lessons that I’ll be taking forward with me into future projects. While Telepath Tactics didn’t meet my primary goal of permitting me to leave my day job and develop my next game full-time, it did do some very valuable things for me: it exposed my work to a much larger audience; it made me progress toward accumulating 1,000 true fans (or 10,000 modest fans, or some agreeable combination of the two); and it provided me with a robust engine and some great pixel art assets that I can use to quickly develop and release future titles.

That last part is important–if I can get to a point where, reusing the existing engine and assets, I can develop and release one new RPG per year, then sales comparable to Telepath Tactics’s sales would actually be quite sustainable for me.

However, I’m not there yet–I don’t yet have development down to a formula that would permit such a volume of quick releases. And aside from which, I’m simply not ready to surrender to creative stagnation: I have too many exciting ideas about new directions I want to strike out in with RPG and strategy game design. Indeed, I already have a couple of secret projects in the works with some of those ideas; my hope is that I will be able to make them more commercially successful than I was Telepath Tactics.

I’ll be announcing more as soon as I have enough to show. Until then, you can keep an ear to the ground on Twitter, on the forums, or even here on the Sinister Designsite itself. Thanks for reading, folks!

Vault Dweller Aterdux Entertainment Whalenought_Joe etc
 
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Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
28,024
I'm itching to write something about negative reviews on Steam.

A random Telepath Tactics review:

"Not being able to recommend this game is one of the hardest things I've ever done. Full disclosure - I bought into the closed beta, I love games like Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, and Disgaea, and so on. And don't get me wrong. The gameplay itself is phenominal. I honestly don't think I've found a game that I've played that has a combat system I've enjoyed more. This game scratches an itch that fans of the genre don't really get much of nowadays. Combat is complex and offers much more tactical depth than most other games I've played, and it was built from the ground up to support custom content. The soundtrack is pretty good, and while the graphics aren't, I'm more than willing to look past that for gameplay of such high caliber. But there is one thing that, no matter how much I tried, I couldn't get past.

This is a 2D, turn-based game. Please explain to me why it runs so poorly on my computer? ..."

So you have a game with phenomenal gamepay, complex tactical combat with more tactical depth than all your favorite games combined, but it runs slowly, so it gets a negative review. I'm fine with people disliking games for any reason but when they praise a game to high heaven and then downvote it, it's like, what the fuck?
 

Abu Antar

Turn-based Poster
Patron
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
13,514
Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is. Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
SteamSpy has been a bit spotty with some games but these numbers aren't that for off: Owners: 2,894 ± 1,332

latest
 

Abu Antar

Turn-based Poster
Patron
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
13,514
Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is. Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
I'm itching to write something about negative reviews on Steam.

A random Telepath Tactics review:

"Not being able to recommend this game is one of the hardest things I've ever done. Full disclosure - I bought into the closed beta, I love games like Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, and Disgaea, and so on. And don't get me wrong. The gameplay itself is phenominal. I honestly don't think I've found a game that I've played that has a combat system I've enjoyed more. This game scratches an itch that fans of the genre don't really get much of nowadays. Combat is complex and offers much more tactical depth than most other games I've played, and it was built from the ground up to support custom content. The soundtrack is pretty good, and while the graphics aren't, I'm more than willing to look past that for gameplay of such high caliber. But there is one thing that, no matter how much I tried, I couldn't get past.

This is a 2D, turn-based game. Please explain to me why it runs so poorly on my computer? ..."

So you have a game with phenomenal gamepay, complex tactical combat with more tactical depth than all your favorite games combined, but it runs slowly, so it gets a negative review. I'm fine with people disliking games for any reason but when they praise a game to high heaven and then downvote it, it's like, what the fuck?
That's why I feel that the whole voting thing is fucked. Steam user reviews basically work like Metacritic user reviews and I hold shit in higher regard then them.
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
28,024
The problem is that you have two options - yay or nay. Quite often a game falls somewhere in the middle (i.e. I like X but I hate Y). So some people think that Yay is a glowing endorsement whereas Nay is a reserved criticism, but when other people look at the reviews, they assume that Nay means utter shit.

Some guy played AoD for 60 hours, decided that he doesn't like something, gave it a negative review but kept playing. He clocked over 100 hours now, will probably hit 120-150 easily.
 

gestalt11

Arbiter
Joined
Apr 4, 2015
Messages
629
I'm itching to write something about negative reviews on Steam.

A random Telepath Tactics review:

"Not being able to recommend this game is one of the hardest things I've ever done. Full disclosure - I bought into the closed beta, I love games like Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, and Disgaea, and so on. And don't get me wrong. The gameplay itself is phenominal. I honestly don't think I've found a game that I've played that has a combat system I've enjoyed more. This game scratches an itch that fans of the genre don't really get much of nowadays. Combat is complex and offers much more tactical depth than most other games I've played, and it was built from the ground up to support custom content. The soundtrack is pretty good, and while the graphics aren't, I'm more than willing to look past that for gameplay of such high caliber. But there is one thing that, no matter how much I tried, I couldn't get past.

This is a 2D, turn-based game. Please explain to me why it runs so poorly on my computer? ..."

So you have a game with phenomenal gamepay, complex tactical combat with more tactical depth than all your favorite games combined, but it runs slowly, so it gets a negative review. I'm fine with people disliking games for any reason but when they praise a game to high heaven and then downvote it, it's like, what the fuck?
That's why I feel that the whole voting thing is fucked. Steam user reviews basically work like Metacritic user reviews and I hold shit in higher regard then them.

I don't read steam reviews, do a significant number of people actually use them? Most steam forum posts are pretty retarded compared to other forums. And considering the quality of some forums that says something.
 

Immortal

Arcane
In My Safe Space
Joined
Sep 13, 2014
Messages
5,062
Location
Safe Space - Don't Bulli
I'm itching to write something about negative reviews on Steam.

A random Telepath Tactics review:

"Not being able to recommend this game is one of the hardest things I've ever done. Full disclosure - I bought into the closed beta, I love games like Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, and Disgaea, and so on. And don't get me wrong. The gameplay itself is phenominal. I honestly don't think I've found a game that I've played that has a combat system I've enjoyed more. This game scratches an itch that fans of the genre don't really get much of nowadays. Combat is complex and offers much more tactical depth than most other games I've played, and it was built from the ground up to support custom content. The soundtrack is pretty good, and while the graphics aren't, I'm more than willing to look past that for gameplay of such high caliber. But there is one thing that, no matter how much I tried, I couldn't get past.

This is a 2D, turn-based game. Please explain to me why it runs so poorly on my computer? ..."

So you have a game with phenomenal gamepay, complex tactical combat with more tactical depth than all your favorite games combined, but it runs slowly, so it gets a negative review. I'm fine with people disliking games for any reason but when they praise a game to high heaven and then downvote it, it's like, what the fuck?

You can change your vote anytime. If a game comes out and runs like shit - I'll down vote it. Maybe a few negative reviews will get the dev off his ass and fix it. This applies to all games, not just Telepath. Bad Reviews are a good incentive to fix things that are wrong. They aren't set in stone - he can come back after a patch and change that to a good review anytime.

That's a way better review system then Meta Critic.. where people shit all over a game because of a day one bug - then after it's fixed the game remains forever tarnished with a shit score.

I don't read steam reviews, do a significant number of people actually use them? Most steam forum posts are pretty retarded compared to other forums. And considering the quality of some forums that says something.


People shit on the steam review system.. but honestly - it's saved me many shekals. If you hit a store page and see a game that just got out of Early Access with a VERY NEGATIVE score.. even if the people reviewing it are whiney brats - you can be pretty sure it's a fucking stinker.

Will steam reviews always align with your personal taste. No. It does a great job filtering the dog shit though.

Not only do people review the game - other people can (and will) review YOUR review. Then the dev can even come in and respond to particularly high voted reviews either positive or negative. It creates a great feedback loop and self-moderation system. Shit headed reviews won't get visibility over well written ones.

This is a free market at work you commies. Nobody should be shitting on a consumers ability to review a game he purchased (you have to own the game to review it)

The problem is that you have two options - yay or nay. Quite often a game falls somewhere in the middle (i.e. I like X but I hate Y). So some people think that Yay is a glowing endorsement whereas Nay is a reserved criticism, but when other people look at the reviews, they assume that Nay means utter shit.

Some guy played AoD for 60 hours, decided that he doesn't like something, gave it a negative review but kept playing. He clocked over 100 hours now, will probably hit 120-150 easily.

And this is very obvious. Your playtime of a game is right next to the review score. If I see a review where someone said "this game fucking sucks" and has 400 hours clocked on it.. I just assume he's a moron and move along.

All the information is there front and center, you can't control dickheads.

(There's a reason you can rate a review 3 different ways.. Good, Bad & Funny... the Funny option is for reviews that are retarded as best as I can tell) Gaben took all this into account already.
 
Last edited:

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
28,024
You can change your vote anytime. If a game comes out and runs like shit - I'll down vote it.
You can and maybe you do it but most people won't. The review in question, Craig responded saying that he updated the game twice, improving performance, but the guy moved it and doesn't care anymore.

So if you have an issue, why not post it on Steam forums first and if the developer ignores it, then downvote the game.

Maybe a few negative reviews will get the dev off his ass and fix it.
You've seen Craig, right? He's the most enthusiastic and nicest developer out there. Does he strike you as a guy who needs negative reviews to get off his ass?

This is a free market at work you commies. Nobody should be shitting on a consumers ability to review a game he purchased (you have to own the game to review it)
Nobody says people shouldn't bitch or downvote games. I'm saying that quite often people praise games and then downvote them, like the review in question. So it would be nice to have a 5-point system and not limit people to yay or nay.

For example, the top negative Underrail review bitches about lockpicks and items you can't sell. Everything else is great and he calls Styg a great developer, but fucking lockpicks rub him the wrong way, so down he votes (78 of 142 people (55%) found this review helpful!)
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,236
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
The combination of Facebook/YouTube-style Like/Dislike and written reviews does seem a bit odd. I mean, imagine if every YouTube video Like/Dislike had to have a comment attached to it.
 

vonAchdorf

Arcane
Joined
Sep 20, 2014
Messages
13,465
Nobody says people shouldn't bitch or downvote games. I'm saying that quite often people praise games and then downvote them, like the review in question. So it would be nice to have a 5-point system and not limit people to yay or nay.

For example, the top negative Underrail review bitches about lockpicks and items you can't sell. Everything else is great and he calls Styg a great developer, but fucking lockpicks rub him the wrong way, so down he votes (78 of 142 people (55%) found this review helpful!)

Looking at the app stores, a 5 star rating doesn't make things better, a significant share of people is retarded. I have seen countless reviews in the stores, where people praise a game (without any criticism) and them give 1 star.
I think a yay or nay system is closer to a word of mouth recommendation. Liking a game and but still not recommending it isn't too unrealistic.
 

Immortal

Arcane
In My Safe Space
Joined
Sep 13, 2014
Messages
5,062
Location
Safe Space - Don't Bulli
You can change your vote anytime. If a game comes out and runs like shit - I'll down vote it.
You can and maybe you do it but most people won't. The review in question, Craig responded saying that he updated the game twice, improving performance, but the guy moved it and doesn't care anymore.
So if you have an issue, why not post it on Steam forums first and if the developer ignores it, then downvote the game.

I'm not endorsing people to be shit heads but why should they? They bought a product and want it to work- it's not their job to support you. I bet most of them can barely turn on a computer much less help you trouble shoot why the game runs like shit on a AMD.
Again - you can't control dick heads.


Maybe a few negative reviews will get the dev off his ass and fix it.
You've seen Craig, right? He's the most enthusiastic and nicest developer out there. Does he strike you as a guy who needs negative reviews to get off his ass?

Yea that's why I said right after (which you conveniently snipped)
This applies to all games, not just Telepath.
I'm making the statement in general. I don't think the dev for Telepath is doing anything wrong but the simple fact is - if your gonna have a wild wild west video game store like Steam - you need a shaming tool like this to spark dev motivation.
There is way too much abandonware on there and if a bad review can hurt sales, maybe devs will feel more inclined to deliver a good product.

I mean the system is working on some level. Dev's are scared to death of bad reviews. The only flaw is misinformed / dick head consumers of your product.

Welcome to any market everywhere.


This is a free market at work you commies. Nobody should be shitting on a consumers ability to review a game he purchased (you have to own the game to review it)
Nobody says people shouldn't bitch or downvote games. I'm saying that quite often people praise games and then downvote them, like the review in question. So it would be nice to have a 5-point system and not limit people to yay or nay.

For example, the top negative Underrail review bitches about lockpicks and items you can't sell. Everything else is great and he calls Styg a great developer, but fucking lockpicks rub him the wrong way, so down he votes (78 of 142 people (55%) found this review helpful!)

Okay so maybe that's feedback styg can take away - or not. Would a gradient system matter? The reviewer obviously feels strongly enough to give this a down vote.. If he had an option of 1 - 10 instead, would that fix anything..? what would stop him from giving it a 1?

The combination of Facebook/YouTube-style Like/Dislike and written reviews does seem a bit odd. I mean, imagine if every YouTube video Like/Dislike had to have a comment attached to it.

The review system is meant to be a "Would you recommend this" not a "What score would you give it". If people abuse the system now - they will abuse the system with a 1 - 10 score.
 

Vault Dweller

Commissar, Red Star Studio
Developer
Joined
Jan 7, 2003
Messages
28,024
I'm making the statement in general. I don't think the dev for Telepath is doing anything wrong but the simple fact is - if your gonna have a wild wild west video game store like Steam - you need a shaming tool like this to spark dev motivation.
Is there any proof that that's what the tool does?

There is way too much abandonware on there and if a bad review can hurt sales, maybe devs will feel more inclined to deliver a good product.
It's too simplistic. Most developers are trying to deliver a good product. The problem is it's even more subjective than the definition of RPG. Did Sawyer try to deliver a good product? Of course he did (and most people think that he did, which is why Pillars enjoys a 90% Steam rating).

Anyway, I'm not talking about negative reviews as a whole. I'm talking about negative reviews that aren't really negative, like the quoted TT and Underrail reviews.
 

Athelas

Arcane
Joined
Jun 24, 2013
Messages
4,502
The key to success for an indie game seems to be having some quirky gimmick that draws a lot of attention. Unfortunately, something like 'deterministic RPG' doesn't work, because most players probably don't even what determinism means is in the context of RPG mechanics.

Although I believe in this case, the game's fate was sealed simply for having graphics that are somewhat reminiscent of games developed with RPG Maker.
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,236
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Instead of reverting to stars or scores or whatever, maybe you could have a third option which basically means "decent game, but it has issues you may want to be aware of". I think that's a very common description for games that lots of people would use.
 

Immortal

Arcane
In My Safe Space
Joined
Sep 13, 2014
Messages
5,062
Location
Safe Space - Don't Bulli
I'm making the statement in general. I don't think the dev for Telepath is doing anything wrong but the simple fact is - if your gonna have a wild wild west video game store like Steam - you need a shaming tool like this to spark dev motivation.
Is there any proof that that's what the tool does?

I would argue - The fact that you care so much about positive and negative reviews means the system works in a tangible way. I would even consider you an edge case, being a developer who mostly makes what he personally wants over catering to a consumer base. Many other developers don't hold that obsessive conviction and would be influenced much more by their customers or negative ratings they receive then you probably are and yet.. you still know by memory negative reviews your game has gotten.

There is way too much abandonware on there and if a bad review can hurt sales, maybe devs will feel more inclined to deliver a good product.
It's too simplistic. Most developers are trying to deliver a good product. The problem is it's even more subjective than the definition of RPG. Did Sawyer try to deliver a good product? Of course he did (and most people think that he did, which is why Pillars enjoys a 90% Steam rating).

Anyway, I'm not talking about negative reviews as a whole. I'm talking about negative reviews that aren't really negative, like the quoted TT and Underrail reviews.

I don't think PoE is abandonware. I'm talking about games that release, get a few updates then just sit there lathering hoping to collect some sales before ultimately fizzling into obscurity.. A review system makes it much harder for these turds to stay afloat because they have a EXTREMELY NEGATIVE plastered on their store page in red as an instant warning bell - despite the screenshots they managed to upload that looked half decent.
 

Abu Antar

Turn-based Poster
Patron
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
13,514
Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is. Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
I'm itching to write something about negative reviews on Steam.

A random Telepath Tactics review:

"Not being able to recommend this game is one of the hardest things I've ever done. Full disclosure - I bought into the closed beta, I love games like Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, and Disgaea, and so on. And don't get me wrong. The gameplay itself is phenominal. I honestly don't think I've found a game that I've played that has a combat system I've enjoyed more. This game scratches an itch that fans of the genre don't really get much of nowadays. Combat is complex and offers much more tactical depth than most other games I've played, and it was built from the ground up to support custom content. The soundtrack is pretty good, and while the graphics aren't, I'm more than willing to look past that for gameplay of such high caliber. But there is one thing that, no matter how much I tried, I couldn't get past.

This is a 2D, turn-based game. Please explain to me why it runs so poorly on my computer? ..."

So you have a game with phenomenal gamepay, complex tactical combat with more tactical depth than all your favorite games combined, but it runs slowly, so it gets a negative review. I'm fine with people disliking games for any reason but when they praise a game to high heaven and then downvote it, it's like, what the fuck?
That's why I feel that the whole voting thing is fucked. Steam user reviews basically work like Metacritic user reviews and I hold shit in higher regard then them.

I don't read steam reviews, do a significant number of people actually use them? Most steam forum posts are pretty retarded compared to other forums. And considering the quality of some forums that says something.

There are useful reviews, both positive and negative. I generally don't read reviews even less so when it comes to Steam user reviews, but sometimes I take a look just to see if there are any worth reading. I'm not in the know, but I suspect that many customers use the "negative" ,"positive" indicator to base their purchases on. I usually end up skimming over two or three retarded reviews (be they positive or negative) and I shake my head. The problem with the system is that there's no difference if you're review is 10 words or 1000 words. They are treated the same. It also doesn't matter that your review is trollish or not. I could see why developers could get annoyed. I trust Metacritic more than Steam reviews and that says a lot.
 

Craig Stern

Sinister Design
Developer
Joined
Feb 15, 2009
Messages
398
Location
Chicago
Although I believe in this case, the game's fate was sealed simply for having graphics that are somewhat reminiscent of games developed with RPG Maker.

Ooooooookay, I've heard a bunch of people say this, and I can't understand where they're coming from. These are RPG maker sprites; they're giant-headed chibi dolls with like 3 frames of animation.

These are Telepath Tactics sprites; they're realistically proportioned and really really well-animated: http://sinisterdesign.net/telepath-tactics-november-2014-update/

I don't get where that comparison comes from. Is it because TT's graphic style is bright and a little cartoony?
 

Athelas

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Joined
Jun 24, 2013
Messages
4,502
Although I believe in this case, the game's fate was sealed simply for having graphics that are somewhat reminiscent of games developed with RPG Maker.

Ooooooookay, I've heard a bunch of people say this, and I can't understand where they're coming from. These are RPG maker sprites; they're giant-headed chibi dolls with like 3 frames of animation.

These are Telepath Tactics sprites; they're realistically proportioned and really really well-animated: http://sinisterdesign.net/telepath-tactics-november-2014-update/

I don't get where that comparison comes from. Is it because TT's graphic style is bright and a little cartoony?
I wasn't critiquing your graphics, I was speculating about how they are regarded by the average player (keeping in mind that the average player isn't as discerning as you).
 
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Craig Stern

Sinister Design
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Feb 15, 2009
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398
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Chicago
I wasn't critiquing your graphics, I was speculation about how they are regarded.

That's fine. I genuinely want to know where that conception is coming from, though--I spent tens of thousands of dollars and untold amounts of time hiring and managing artists to produce high quality custom graphics for this game; if people can't distinguish them from RPG Maker, that poses a legitimate problem for me.
 

Abu Antar

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Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is. Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Although I believe in this case, the game's fate was sealed simply for having graphics that are somewhat reminiscent of games developed with RPG Maker.

Ooooooookay, I've heard a bunch of people say this, and I can't understand where they're coming from. These are RPG maker sprites; they're giant-headed chibi dolls with like 3 frames of animation.

These are Telepath Tactics sprites; they're realistically proportioned and really really well-animated: http://sinisterdesign.net/telepath-tactics-november-2014-update/

I don't get where that comparison comes from. Is it because TT's graphic style is bright and a little cartoony?
You'd be surprised how many times I hear negative things about 2D games/sprite based games. Not only from strangers, from my cousins too. I even read complaints like that about Pillars of Eternity.
 

Immortal

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I don't get where that comparison comes from. Is it because TT's graphic style is bright and a little cartoony?

I wasn't critiquing your graphics, I was speculation about how they are regarded.

That's fine. I genuinely want to know where that conception is coming from, though--I spent tens of thousands of dollars and untold amounts of time hiring and managing artists to produce high quality custom graphics for this game; if people can't distinguish them from RPG Maker, that poses a legitimate problem for me.

I would say it comes from the colour palette and the detail of the sprites - so yea bright and a little cartoony.

If you hold the sprites up side by side there's no question your assets are better quality.. but most gamers are probably not doing that. They just see an art direction similar to those games and make a snap judgement.
Most gamers don't care about your labour, costs or even your game as much as you do.
They see a walk animation loop and immediately think "jeeeze what is this.. RPG MAKER?"
 

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