PoE Sales Analysis Thread

[J_C]

J_C You cannot actually see characters through characters either though. The low camera angle makes it a lot harder to see over the head of enemies/allies.

I guess you are right. I don't know why Obsidian choose this angle. Because it looks cooler? Although to be fair, from all the fights so far, I've only encountered 5 or 6 where I had problem with visibility in combat.

 

[Volrath]

Hell hath no fury like a Sensuki scorned.

He put so much into helping obsidian out and yet the game didnt end up being superior to baldur's gate 2. - Too high hopes I'd say.

It didn't end up superior to BG1 either

The fuck it didn't.

 

[ArchAngel]

Hell hath no fury like a Sensuki scorned.

He put so much into helping obsidian out and yet the game didnt end up being superior to baldur's gate 2. - Too high hopes I'd say.

It didn't end up superior to BG1 either

The fuck it didn't.

That is your opinion. And it is wrong

 

[Hatred]

J_C You cannot actually see characters through characters either though. The low camera angle makes it a lot harder to see over the head of enemies/allies.

I guess you are right. I don't know why Obsidian choose this angle. Because it looks cooler? Although to be fair, from all the fights so far, I've only encountered 5 or 6 where I had problem with visibility in combat.

I *think* they are using cavalier oblique. I watched Tim Cains '12 GDC on fallout which mentioned the angle and why it was used (mostly due to hexes but the artist was quite happy because it made buildings prettier). I am guessing they are using the same angle outdoors because it makes buildings prettier. I would say that bad visibility was a big issue for me when I played. I frequently relied on voices or highlighted portraits to work out which character I had in fact clicked on. Also frequently felt like the enemy I was fighting was *little red dot* because I couldn't always see them either. As 'suki pointed out it also makes the overblown FX and whatnot obscure things even more. I actually loaded up BG and PoE one after the other while in a forest area. The difference in visibility was quite stark.

 

[prodigydancer]

sensuki is my favorite australian internet friend, but he could not have "saved" PoE from the superiority of BG2 even if all of his ideas and suggestions were implemented. PoE's shortcomings are all over the place, however minuscule they may be. Story, companions, C&C etc, things that had no part in the backer beta.

It was pretty obvious from day one that their decision not to include the enitre game in the BB would hurt them in the same way similar decisions had hurt Larian and inXile. At this point I think it's unwise to give money to any KS project that doesn't explicitly promise a full-scale open beta like Grim Dawn.

 

[Zed]

sensuki is my favorite australian internet friend, but he could not have "saved" PoE from the superiority of BG2 even if all of his ideas and suggestions were implemented. PoE's shortcomings are all over the place, however minuscule they may be. Story, companions, C&C etc, things that had no part in the backer beta.

It was pretty obvious from day one that their decision not to include the enitre game in the BB would hurt them in the same way similar decisions had hurt Larian and inXile. At this point I think it's unwise to give money to any KS project that doesn't explicitly promise a full-scale open beta like Grim Dawn.

I disagree completely. Beta of full game = spoilers. Not just "oh x and x happens", but an actual breakdown of the whole narrative.
I'm not a huge storyfag but even I wouldn't stand for that shit.

What they could have done is pitch a few general idea about companions and stuff.

But, really, with their reputation, they shouldn't have to "beta test" or pitch any sort of writing outside their own walls.

 

[prodigydancer]

I disagree completely. Beta of full game = spoilers. Not just "oh x and x happens", but an actual breakdown of the whole narrative.
I'm not a huge storyfag but even I wouldn't stand for that shit.

There's no easy way around the problem. You need a lot of QA staff to be able to rely on internal testing because well-organized QA process is a bitch. It requires way more resources and time than most people realize. KS companies cannot afford that. There are other angles like tight development schedule (you need to release the game within a reasonable time frame even if your team is relatively small) and the necessity to implement stretch goals and backer content.

I really think that full open beta starting very early (i.e. when it's still possible to make structural changes based on feedback) is the best solution. To cut on spoilers make it opt-in with NDA.

 

[agris]

sensuki is my favorite australian internet friend, but he could not have "saved" PoE from the superiority of BG2 even if all of his ideas and suggestions were implemented. PoE's shortcomings are all over the place, however minuscule they may be. Story, companions, C&C etc, things that had no part in the backer beta.

It was never going to be BG2 levels, that's a well funded sequel to a massively popular game. The question is did it hit BG1/IWD1 levels and can they build from it.

If the expansion is to PoE what SRR:HK is to SRR, then I'd consider this a success. If they can't improve from PoE as-is...

 

[ArchAngel]

sensuki is my favorite australian internet friend, but he could not have "saved" PoE from the superiority of BG2 even if all of his ideas and suggestions were implemented. PoE's shortcomings are all over the place, however minuscule they may be. Story, companions, C&C etc, things that had no part in the backer beta.

It was never going to be BG2 levels, that's a well funded sequel to a massively popular game. The question is did it hit BG1/IWD1 levels and can they build from it.

If the expansion is to PoE what SRR:HK is to SRR, then I'd consider this a success. If they can't improve from PoE as-is...

SRR:HK is a new game, not an expansion. At best you can compare to Dragofall and Dragonfall DC

 

[Roguey]

Huh, hadn't noticed the metacritic scores had gotten so low. Lot of people btching I see.

Half of it is drama queens raiding the user score after the whole poem-gate. Which is basicallly what always happens when there's some controversy. Most of these people don't even own the game, so who gives a fuck.

Yeah, metacritic user ratings are trash because it uses a 1-10 scale, but most people either rate 0 or 10 as if it were a thumbs up/down system. Steam actually uses the thumbs up/down system, requires you to own the game to review, and it's all the better for it. PoE's Steam rating is fine.

 

[Tigranes]

sensuki is my favorite australian internet friend, but he could not have "saved" PoE from the superiority of BG2 even if all of his ideas and suggestions were implemented. PoE's shortcomings are all over the place, however minuscule they may be. Story, companions, C&C etc, things that had no part in the backer beta.

It was pretty obvious from day one that their decision not to include the enitre game in the BB would hurt them in the same way similar decisions had hurt Larian and inXile. At this point I think it's unwise to give money to any KS project that doesn't explicitly promise a full-scale open beta like Grim Dawn.

Given all the "suggestions" you saw back in BB, I'm not so sure.

I think full scale open betas are great for something like Underrail, where you're going to mostly get a select group of grognards offering considered feedback and the dev is able to talk out various suggestions with them. With a game like POE where you get people of all sorts playing the beta because they just want to play the game early, you get all kinds of crazy feedback, and given the scope of the game, it can become a mess.

I think some of Sensuki's ideas are bunk and I'm glad they weren't implemented, but anyone can recognise that he put a lot of time into offering carefully thought out and backed up suggestions, making him an ideal beta tester. Most people aren't going to be anywhere near as helpful as him, and mostly they're going to muddy the waters whining about x and y in all sorts of conflicting ways.

 

[Rake]

That. Don't forget that some of PoE's worse design decisions came bacause of idiot backers (tamerlane) and design feedback/dialogue with the dev (SA goons)

 

[Trodat]

That. Don't forget that some of PoE's worse design decisions came bacause of idiot backers (tamerlane) and design feedback/dialogue with the dev (SA goons)

Yes. People vote for community clarity, but fail to realize that great games made back in the days didn't have any or at least not KS style too-big-promises.

 

[Sensuki]

I think some of Sensuki's ideas are bunk and I'm glad they weren't implemented

Which ones were they?

 

[imweasel]

Happy to see that this game has already dropped out of the top 10 top 20 on Steam. I like Obsidian and want them to make (a lot of) money, but this game simply doesn't deserve it.

Sorry for those at Obsidian who actually did some pretty great work on PoE (mostly the art and tech guys).

 

[Rake]

Happy to see that this game has already dropped out of the top 10 top 20 on Steam. I like Obsidian and want them to make (a lot of) money, but this game simply doesn't deserve it.

Sorry for those at Obsidian who actually did some pretty great work on PoE (mostly the art and tech guys).

It's a better game than anything in Steam's top10

 

[Hegel]

There is skyrim, a pay per mod game, in that top 10; it must be good.

 

[Bonerbill]

Happy to see that this game has already dropped out of the top 10 top 20 on Steam. I like Obsidian and want them to make (a lot of) money, but this game simply doesn't deserve it.

Sorry for those at Obsidian who actually did some pretty great work on PoE (mostly the art and tech guys).

Don't see what point you're trying to make with this post. They already sold the standard amout for a popular indie game (300,000+). That's more than enough to make a sequel to make even more money. =\

 

[Athelas]

Happy to see that this game has already dropped out of the top 10 top 20 on Steam. I like Obsidian and want them to make (a lot of) money, but this game simply doesn't deserve it.

Sorry for those at Obsidian who actually did some pretty great work on PoE (mostly the art and tech guys).

Uhm, I'm pretty sure Feargus is laughing all the way to the bank. Sitting just below a string of high-profile releases and 75%-discounted popular games a month after release isn't exactly a sign of sales failure.

Landing into 9x Metacritic territory also gives a game a certain invaluable cachet.

 

[J_C]

Happy to see that this game has already dropped out of the top 10 top 20 on Steam. I like Obsidian and want them to make (a lot of) money, but this game simply doesn't deserve it.

Sorry for those at Obsidian who actually did some pretty great work on PoE (mostly the art and tech guys).

I hope you like your popamole shit, because if this game flops, you will only see that from Obsidian.

Being in the top 20 with only AAAA games and discounted games preceding you is not a sign of flop by the way.

 

[imweasel]

Im sorry, did I hurt your feelers?

EDIT: PoE has dropped out of the top 25 on Steam.

 

[Kz3r0]

So Sawyer managed to disappoint me completely, first with the game then with the sales, I was conviced that they would have easily sold a million copies.

 

[Kz3r0]

I hope you like your popamole shit, because if this game flops, you will only see that from Obsidian.

Yeah, instead of more Sawyerism, actually Obsidian 'popamole' games are their best.
Let's hope they continue to work wiyh Bethesda.

 

[Duraframe300]

I hope you like your popamole shit, because if this game flops, you will only see that from Obsidian.

Yeah, instead of more Sawyerism, actually Obsidian 'popamole' games are their best.
Let's hope they continue to work wiyh Bethesda.

New Vegas is Sawyerist too, though.

 

[Rake]

I hope you like your popamole shit, because if this game flops, you will only see that from Obsidian.

Yeah, instead of more Sawyerism, actually Obsidian 'popamole' games are their best.
Let's hope they continue to work wiyh Bethesda.

FNV was even worse/Sawyerist