KickStarter The Waylanders - historical fantasy time travel RPG inspired by Dragon Age: Origins

[HoboForEternity]

they are caught giving fake reviews with fake accounts

https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg_gamers/comments/hg8udq/the_waylander_devs_seems_published_positive/

The Waylander devs seems published positive reviews on its game with puppet accounts. Proofs, sources and links in the post!

Seems that some dev behind the waylanders RPG game published and rated its game positively with a puppet accounts and breaking the Steam terms of use. This RPG game apears in some press websites rated as the "most important and ambitious project from Spain, with important veretans from the international gaming industry", source, source, source, source

All info published on this post is bringding by public steam account details, or websites that are using the public steam API. And I just allow myself to bring affirmations when I have info that give me a certainty more even than a reasonable doubt.

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First one, you can found a review where the user says explicitly that he comes from dev team, and published a positive review: review on steam (web.archive.org saved at date: 26/06/2020).

This steam account seems a sock puppet accounts, because just have one game and review on his library, and you can see that he was created just hours before the game was released, source. the game was released on June 16, source.

--

Second, you can see that this next account have 3 games and 3 reviews.. from the same publisher/developer: Gato salvaje, reviews list on steam (web.archive.org saved at date: 26/06/2020).

And you can see that was created 7 years ago, source, and his activity in 7 years just was review those Gato salvaje games, so seems that is too a sock puppet account.

--

Also, if you check the game reviews, you can found easely more suspicious puppet accounts, like accounts with just 1 game - 1 review, and with no one record in they steam activity, and no one friends.

Some of them that I found:

review, user,| review, user,| review, user | review, user | review, user

Or directly just suspicious/funny reviews like this one, 1 review / 2 games on account, plus awesome description for a mixed rated game in early access stept.

(web.archive.org saved, web.archive.org saved, web.archive.org saved, web.archive.org saved at date 26/06/2020).



-> My thoughts:

Currently this game have a mixed review in steam, and seems like the developers was publish some extra positive reviews to try to get out of that category, (is a early access game), but honestly I don't know why they take a risk just with a some reviews posted with a fake accounts, because at long term you can't manipulate the averange note if your game is wrong, I understand that little game studios need an extra push and usually friends post a review on it, but this teamreached more than 150.000$ on kickstarter and after seem they PR on top gaming press like IGN or PCgamer and don't seems precisely like an small indie group.

Edit: some one writted to me with info about this publisher (gato salvaje), and seems they previous kickstarter campaing to fund his previous game: ark (2015) are still pending to relese the last part on steam after 5 years, so I understand that they launched a new kickstarted campaing without finished the work of his previous kickstarter campaing (you can see in the kickstarter comment section that the backers lost the hope and din´t receibe new notices since 2018), very sadly hear that!

 

[Aemar]

What happened to that holier than the Pope attitude though?

 

[Doktor Best]

On the codex we take these allegations very seriously and we will therefor limit our relationship to the developer to shitposts and pirating the game if it turns out not to be a complete turd.

 

[Bara]

they are caught giving fake reviews with fake accounts

Comments in the that thread mention a post earlier in the week that's now deleted of a Spanish person stating the devs offered him money for good reviews after he left the team or something.

My money is no ones going to touch this news as they're now "good guys" for dropping Avellone

 

[daveyd]

I wonder if we'll ever find out why this game, of all the many promising and not-so-promising indie RPGs being made in Europe these days, was the one that got a bunch of gamedev celebrities to pile onto it. Who are these Spaniards, what did they do to deserve that clout? Was it just a lucky break - they got Mike Laidlaw interested and everybody followed him?

I'm sticking to my original theory that "Gato studio" is a money-laundering scheme for a Spanish drug cartel.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/432712414/the-waylanders-the-rpg-videogame/posts/2879916

Roadmap!

Dear backers,

After an intense launch and a huge amount of feedback, reports and suggestions from the community, we are very happy to be able to reveal our roadmap for Early Access.


Are you having trouble reading this image? Click here to watch a high resolution version of the roadmap.

Now you know what are the plans for the upcoming weeks. And you will notice there will be regular updates. We'll reveal more news and you can learn more about future plans in August.

GAME UPDATES EVERY WEEK

We have developed a plan so you will enjoy an update every week. There will always be new features and improvements in The Waylanders. Every week, we will alternate between two update types:

• Better game experience: bug fixes, combat system improvements, UI improvements… Alpha v0.14 from June 19th is a great example.
• New contents: new maps, new companions, new missions, new Codex info… An example of this kind of update is Alpha v0.15, published on June 23.

One week you will receive new content. The next one, we'll improve the game experience. And so on. You will have a reason to play The Waylanders every week!

PAYING ATTENTION TO OUR COMMUNITY

Although we have a roadmap to develop the game, we keep the attention to the suggestions and reports you post in the Steam forum. So far we have received hundreds of messages with suggestions and reports, and we want to thank you. This roadmap would not be possible without your feedback. We will continue reviewing all the messages you post there, one by one, to know your interests and your ideas to improve The Waylanders.

We encourage you to keep playing The Waylanders and participating in this section of the forum to report bugs, improvement suggestions and constructive criticism:

[ALPHA] Suggestions and reports

If you participate in the Steam forum, we only ask you to comply with two easy rules:

• Be respectful with the community. That includes everyone who participates in the forum, from people who make constructive criticism to the developers themselves. Not complying with this rule will mean a permanent, instant ban and a report to Steam.
• Open a new thread only when necessary: don't worry, won’t kick you out of the forum if you open a thread on a topic that has already been mentioned, but we guarantee you’ll receive much more help if you participate in a thread that is already active. Fortunately, we have a very active community that is always ready to help.

ONE MORE THING

July is going to be a great month. In addition to the updates and improvements we mentioned in the roadmap, all backers will be notified with very good news. At the end of July you will get a great surprise. Stay tuned!

Previews: https://www.gamebanshee.com/news/123933-the-waylanders-early-access-impressions.html

PC Gamer:

Formations are one unique aspect of combat, though. Choose a formation leader, add the rest of your party, press F and everyone will act together as a group with a new, unified health bar. By building a protective shield wall or becoming a giant golem, this allows you to harness the strengths of your group. Formations differ depending on whom you've picked as leader of the formation. It's a fun idea, but finnicky enough to execute that you need to decide on a formation prior to a battle. Right now it's also hardly necessary. Combat definitely needs balancing, as it still feels as if every foe is of the same strength, meaning not very strong.

IGN:

The Waylanders seems like an engaging take on the Celtic mythos, which rarely gets a spotlight in entertainment media as it is, and I’m intrigued to see where it ends up once it hits final release. GATO Studio is clearly invested in creating an experience alongside its community, and with a fresh take on RPG systems and a unique world, we’ll gladly keep checking back throughout early access to see how it’s shaping up.

PCGamesN:

However, it’s worth pointing out that early access is definitely not the ideal way to experience this game. The Waylanders’ real promise is in something fully formed, something that you can dig into with both hands, into which you can pour many hours solving its mysteries and mastering its teamwork-focused combat. That’s not possible in this early build, and it may be best to wait for this fruit to ripen a bit before biting into it yourself.

Gameffine:

I have no trouble looking past the missing cutscenes, assets, sounds, features, bugs, and the lack of polish that’s synonymous with every Early Access game at launch. But even after setting these things aside, The Waylanders is nothing but a set of loosely held together scenarios that are neither very enjoyable nor technically stable.

Bad controls and keymapping, sound bugs, settings not being saved, events not triggering, bloated UI, clunky combat, poor AI, clumsy camera, and inaccurate pathfinding are the least of its problems. For me, the game was near-unplayable mainly due to the terrible performance on my GTX 1070 (the fps dropping to even single digits at times) and its unstable nature. I couldn’t go on 15 minutes without the game treating me with a crash or a freeze. Being the nasty save-scummer that I am, F5 is my favorite key in RPGs. Imagine my surprise when the game would treat me to a crash every time I reflex-press the key.

Shacknews:

The Waylanders’ marketing sports an all-star lineup of talent from the minds behind the script, to the programmers and designers. It’s this amalgamation of talent that had me a little trepidatious going in. I worried that Gato Studio’s RPG would end up being a little less than the sum of its parts. Fortunately, The Waylanders nails expectations, offering a new and unique addition to the beloved genre.

PC Invasion:

The Waylanders could very well end up successful in its endeavor to stand on the shoulders of giants. It even has a former head writer from Telltale in charge of the story, as well as the Dragon Age series director acting as a consultant. Here’s to hoping that the game blossoms from these very promising seeds.

 

[udm]

Lol that writing is some pre-pubescent shit right there. SJWs cannot write interesting and sensible dialogues if their lives depended on it but I guess that's what happens when you're a delusional NPC.

 

[daveyd]

"A successful launch". Sure, I guess if you define success as "it happened", then the Challenger launch was successful, too.

 

[Abu Antar]

Every codexer with a social media account should question them why they wrote fake reviews for their own game.

 

[Reinhardt]

Every codexer with a social media account should question them why they wrote fake reviews for their own game.

At first they planned Chris will write those reviews but then shit happned.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/432712414/the-waylanders-the-rpg-videogame/posts/2896115

The Waylanders on GOG!

July, 27: The Waylanders will be available on GOG!

The Waylanders will be available on GOG’s Games in Development program on July, 27th.

Our plans for The Waylanders on GOGwill be the same as Steam Early Access, the game will be updated with the same frequency, with the same content. So, GOG fans can enjoy the game on their favorite platform with the same improvements coming to Steam.

The roadmap will be the same: there will be updates every other week, alternating between new content and game improvements.

We’ll reveal more details of the roadmap later this Summer. Stay tuned!

All backers will be able to play on GOG July 27th
When we say ‘all backers’, it means everyone. Including those who have only pledged for the final version of the game. As of July, 27th, you will be able to enjoy The Waylanders. You will receive your keys through Backerkit, as always. You will only have to activate it on the corresponding platform.

All backers will get both versions: GOG and Steam
In addition to giving access to all backers, we also have another surprise: all of you will get both GOG and Steam versions of the game!

This means you can enjoy the game on either of the two platforms without any additional cost. This is a totally free gift from our team as a way to say thanks for supporting us since the beginning. We hope you enjoy it!

Those who have pledged for Alpha / Beta will get access to developer version
It would be very unfair to give early access to all without making an additional gesture to backers who have contributed with a significant amount. For all of you who have purchased the Alpha or Beta version, we have enabled a "developer version" on Steam. In this version, you can enjoy the latest features before anyone else: new scenarios, missions, companions quests, and more

The "developer version" will be experimental and unstable in some cases, but you will have access to the latest content several days before the rest of the world!

If you are a backer of $50 or more, or if you pledged for the alpha add-on, you will receive a code in Backerkit to access the "developer version" and instructions to activate it on Steam.

A little summary with all the surprises
Surprise 1: The Waylanders will be available in the Games in Development program on GOG on July 27, 2020

Surprise 2: All backers will have access to The Waylanders on GOG on launch day

Surprise 3: All backers will get both versions (GOG and Steam) at no additional cost

Surprise 4: If you have contributed $50 or more, or selected the Alpha add-on, you can access the "developer version" on Steam and try new content several days before the rest of the world

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/432712414/the-waylanders-the-rpg-videogame/posts/2905271

Medieval Era first look @ Gamescom Studio by IGN

ENGLISH

We have great news. More details about Medieval Era will be revealed tomorrow, during Gamescom live event, produced by IGN! You can watch it in the streaming below. Remember the date:

Friday, August 28

10.30pm Pacific Time (19.30 in Spain)

ESPAÑOL

Tenemos grandes noticias. Nuevos detalles de la época medieval serán revelados mañana en directo, durante el evento digital de la Gamescom, producido por IGN. Puedes verlo en el streaming de abajo. Recuerda la fecha:

Viernes, 28 de agosto

19.30 hora española (10.30 PT)

Gamescom 2020 Livestream (August 28)

 

[Silly Germans]

Is there any info on the general main plot / story ? Does it have anything to do with one of the cycles or is all that they have formorians and druids ? Celtish mythology is pretty much the only thing that sounded interesting about this game.

 

[Dodo1610]

I have played this and it's horrific, I am a nineties kid so I am used to bad writing, but this game is too much even for me. Everyone talks like a bad cartoon character and of course they talk like it's set in 2020 no idea why they even set in in the Celtic world if they do nothing with that setting.

 

[cyborgboy95]

https://store.steampowered.com/newshub/app/957710/view/4041374038285637467

The Waylanders - Alpha 0.24
NEW LOYALTY QUEST - BERATH
We’ve added a new, narrative-focused loyalty quest for Berath.

MAP & MINIMAP IMPROVEMENTS
We’ve redesigned map and minimaps for each and every location in the game. They are now fully illustrated, displaying more details for each place in the game.

The vengeance map

The Vengeance in-game minimap

Mourian World map

MORE IMPROVEMENTS

• We’ve updated dialogue texts, so readability has been improved.
  
• Controller response has been improved for some actions and moves.
  
• ‘Skip’ button has been fixed for game cinematics.
  
• Minor fixes in ‘Crow’s Nest’ layout.
  
• Minor fixes in abilities menu.

 

[cyborgboy95]

This dumpster fire keep on delivering lol

 

[jac8awol]

They did Avellone a favor by cutting ties. Now his reputation doesn't need to be tarnished by this turd.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

This dumpster fire keep on delivering lol

If I had a time machine I'd kill the person responsible for singular they.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/432712414/the-waylanders-the-rpg-videogame/posts/3024591

Winter roadmap!

We've updated the roadmap for The Waylanders! New languages, relevant combat improvements, photo mode... Big things are coming! Check full details on the image below.


Click on the image for the Roadmap high-quality version

 

[Mebrilia the Viera Queen]

Was everyone expecting this game to be decent?.... Mike Ladiaw and all?

 

[Bara]

I was hoping for Dragon Age: Origins okay level of decent.

This however quickly became a train wreck. I legitimately wonder how the people who backed this project feel right now.

 

[Gordian Nutt]

I have played this and it's horrific, I am a nineties kid so I am used to bad writing, but this game is too much even for me. Everyone talks like a bad cartoon character and of course they talk like it's set in 2020 no idea why they even set in in the Celtic world if they do nothing with that setting.

My opinion too after watcing Lets Play of it

Studio has bad track record

Art is bad. Game looks like cartoon giant took a big shit then made cartoon models out of the mushy turd - the models look like mud with weird eyes. The eyes are so weird you forget to listen to what the turd people are saying.

Dialogue is bad. Worse the talking is 'social conscious modern' - why they even do a fantasy setting?

Listened to interview with head writer Emily Buck and know why talking is the way it is - the NPC talk like her, no distance between writer and how her turd people talk. She does not seem to know RPGs. Uses "fun" as an excuse to not examine her design decisions

Checking Steam forum she seems to have quit? Which is good I guess

Did not know Mike Laidlaw worked on this. His career fell hard after leaving Bioware although he does not seem to be still working on this as well anymore

 

[Flying Dutchman]

This game should be wondrous! Will observe from a safe distance.

Listened to interview with head writer Emily Buck and know why talking is the way it is - the NPC talk like her, no distance between writer and how her turd people talk. She does not seem to know RPGs. Uses "fun" as an excuse to not examine her design decisions

Checking Steam forum she seems to have quit? Which is good I guess

Did not know Mike Laidlaw worked on this. His career fell hard after leaving Bioware although he does not seem to be still working on this as well anymore

Emily Grace Buck's only claim to fame is her Stances on Twitter and doing weepy talks about how awful Telltale's fall was and how the industry can be better with others who think like she does, when the exact opposite is true. She seems even more useless than Laidlaw, if such a thing is possible.

If she quit, good. Even the ex-Telltale folks think she's incompetent.

Not to fear, however! She will no doubt continue to get work because of her shitty takes. It's exactly what the industry wants to hire to fluff out their employee roster with RightThinkers! so they don't get dragged through the dirt on social media.

To be fair, I believe she's actually autistic. BUT that doesn't excuse the fact she apparently is allergic to actually doing work and liked to vanish from the office a lot at Telltale, or so the ex-Telltale employees snark goes (they seem like a real backstabby bunch, which probably made Telltale the wondrous nirvana it was).

Waylanders seems to be a product of our times, the epitome of millennial entitlement and politics in all respects.