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[Snaven Shake]

I have a serious question regarding the apparent drama around game developers tying bonuses to Metacritic scores.
This seems to be perceived as toxic by the gaming community at large, and I don't understand it.

In every job I have ever held there has been some kind of performative metric tied to my ability to earn a raise or receive a bonus of some kind at the end of the year, and I genuinely don't see how this is any different. It is easily the most relevant "metric" you can tie to game development.

I have seen people screeching that it should be based on sales, but that seems way more dependent on your marketing departments ability to sale the game, and less about the quality of the game itself.

Am I completely off base here and out of touch, or am I just seeing a vocal minority making a big deal out of nothing?

Bringing this up because of all the huffing and puffing going on because CD Projekt Red was going to dole out bonuses if the game reached a 90 on Metacritic. (They have since decided to give out a bonus regardless, which is even better!)

 

[voketwo]

Okay I’m 15 hours in so far, and I must say, this game is an Open world DREAM. This is one of the most immersive games I’ve ever played. I’m not even doing main quest stuff.. I love the world and characters! Ps5 version also runs incredibly smooth despite still being very buggy from time to time. The bugs are never really game breaking, they’re actually quite hilarious and completely understandable given the scope of this game.

 

[BarringGaffner]

Yep, this game is a big Deus Ex:

this is insanely cool. I will have to invest in those eye zoom and jumps.

 

[Gen X]

My forum avatar accurately represents my face when enemy netrunners try to use any elemental/status effect on me because of the below:






Yes, I am completely legitimately immune to any and all status effects

PS: There is a perk version of Immunity to Shock as well, so if you have that perk, you can swap out the armor plate for one that gives +200 Armor instead and be even more tanky.

Out of interest, what level do you have to be to be able to use these?

 

[BadBurger]

Can one sell cars? Or otherwise get rid of them?

 

[Stuart360]

I have a serious question regarding the apparent drama around game developers tying bonuses to Metacritic scores.
This seems to be perceived as toxic by the gaming community at large, and I don't understand it.

In every job I have ever held there has been some kind of performative metric tied to my ability to earn a raise or receive a bonus of some kind at the end of the year, and I genuinely don't see how this is any different. It is easily the most relevant "metric" you can tie to game development.

I have seen people screeching that it should be based on sales, but that seems way more dependent on your marketing departments ability to sale the game, and less about the quality of the game itself.

Am I completely off base here and out of touch, or am I just seeing a vocal minority making a big deal out of nothing?

Bringing this up because of all the huffing and puffing going on because CD Projekt Red was going to dole out bonuses if the game reached a 90 on Metacritic. (They have since decided to give out a bonus regardless, which is even better!)

I havent been following any of this but my take on it would be that 99% of the people that worked on this game would just be taking orders, and doing what they were told to do, so if a game ended up getting under a 90 on MC, why would it be their fault?.
But like you said, they are paying out bonuses anyway so it doesnt matter.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

 

[Wizzlight]

Anyone who already played a lot knows how much do choices matter in side/main missions from a story point of view past the prologue? I have been seing some hot takes about the game being linear and I seriously doubt that, don't think you can say that playing once with not much information on the game online.

 

[dok1or]

My V.

 

[HotPocket69]

 

[midasmulligan]

Finally finished the prologue. Took me 9 hours to get to this point and it has been an amazing ride. Go online to see that people are saying the prologue is 45mins long...??? Wtf

You and me both bro, I’m running around the looking in every nook and cranny while reading the shards and drinking it all in. The world building is crazy. And given the deep history of the world, there’s a lot of potential here

 

[balls of snow]

Finished the game last night and I had a really good time. Took me about 20 hours to finish the main story but I also did one full romance quest line and a bunch of side quests so far. They did a really good job with the characters in the game they were really engaging and I found myself actually caring about what happened to some of them and not a lot of games do that for me. Story wise it was solid, some of the side stories were just as good as the main story. The ending for me was meh though didn't pay off in a way I would like but the journey there was really enjoyable. The world is beautiful, played it on PC with ray tracing and it's just amazing looking. That being said one minor downside is that it does feel like it has a sense of lifelessness to it and I kind of wish that there was more interaction with npcs and more reason to explore the world which I did spend a lot of time doing but after awhile I had enough. I still do plan on playing through things more but It would have been cool to explore and find hidden vendors with unique gear or weapons, kind of a reason to really search them map.

I also think the RPG stuff could have been a little better. I wasn't a big fan of the looter aspect I would have preferred less loot but more customization. I found often that I would get a gun that had less dps stats but did way more damage than the higher ones (dunno if this is just balancing issues) and I also found weapons I really liked using and would have preferred to customize them more and keep using them. By the end of the game I honestly didn't care what weapons I was using, I wasn't invested in them and most of the time a sniper rifle took guys out in one shot. Combat in general was decent, nothing to write home about but it did it's job. I wish stealth played a bigger role, I found it fun stealthing guys but once you get caught it feels inmpossible to hide and reset that and usually it just ends up being a guns blazing situation. I upgraded a ton of perks but again none of it really seemed to matter much in the end and I barely noticed them doing anything.

The soundtrack is amazing and an absolute banger, got you super hyped when you were in gun fights. Aside from that I did experience some bugs and glitches and while it was nothing really game breaking two of the hardest bosses just rain into a wall and stood there and even after reloading I just ended up killing them because they did it every time. I also had a few ones where npcs weren't following you to advance a quest and one time I punched a window and it shot me out of bounds lol. Overall though really solid game, I'm looking forward to going back in and cleaning up quests to see where somethings with characters go.

Lol. 13 hours in and just met Evelin.

 

[Rex_DX]

I have a serious question regarding the apparent drama around game developers tying bonuses to Metacritic scores.
This seems to be perceived as toxic by the gaming community at large, and I don't understand it.

In every job I have ever held there has been some kind of performative metric tied to my ability to earn a raise or receive a bonus of some kind at the end of the year, and I genuinely don't see how this is any different. It is easily the most relevant "metric" you can tie to game development.

I have seen people screeching that it should be based on sales, but that seems way more dependent on your marketing departments ability to sale the game, and less about the quality of the game itself.

Am I completely off base here and out of touch, or am I just seeing a vocal minority making a big deal out of nothing?

Bringing this up because of all the huffing and puffing going on because CD Projekt Red was going to dole out bonuses if the game reached a 90 on Metacritic. (They have since decided to give out a bonus regardless, which is even better!)

Anyone who already played a lot knows how much do choices matter in side/main missions from a story point of view past the prologue? I have been seing some hot takes about the game being linear and I seriously doubt that, don't think you can say that playing once with not much information on the game online.

I think a lot of the "outrage" over the bonuses being given out regardless of Metascore can be attributed the the Bloomberg piece by Schreier which framed it as a negative to some degree.

He reported that, during periods of crunch, the managers would dole out "tokens" (basically poker chips with the CDPR logo on them) to individuals who deserved special recognition for their hard work and dedication. Once the game released, these tokens could be redeemed for larger bonuses assuming they hit a 90+ Metascore. Now those tokens can be redeemed for a bonus regardless.

On the one hand, this obviously can be seen as a tool to exploit workers' overtime and could easily be used to withhold real money from anyone who didn't work 100-hour weeks, but this hasn't been reported or even mentioned by anyone at CDPR, not even anonymously thus far.

On the other hand, writing a story about workers getting paid regardless of Metascore, and framing it in a negative light, is a hell of a spin - Metascore bonuses and Metascore in general is a fucking demented and cancerous practice and should be celebrated when thrown out.

Either way - the whole tokens angle is a bit draconian but the fact is we just don't know if it was a cruel carrot and stick situation or just a management tool for rewarding hard work.

 

[HotPocket69]

I just 100 %’ed Watson and currently in Westbrook cleaning up side stuff. Still at the beginning of Act 2.

Level 19 and Street Cred is 35. I know the SC cap is 50 and its kind of a bummer that I’m going to hit it way before I finish the main story.

What’s the level cap? 50?

 

[tenebre]

Goodbye Night City !


... actually i'll come back to finish all the things left.

 

[waylo]

My character

 

[Woggleman]

The scary thing is that this game sounds like an exaggerated part of the world we live in today.

 

[Shouta]

I didn't realize it but apparently there are leggings that blink when you walk. Just walked past an NPC that had them and I had to do a double check to make sure it wasn't a bug. I guess I shouldn't be surprised now though.

You know what's the best thing about this game? The fact Night City actually feels like a real city from its building layout to its roads. On top of that, the NPC numbers differ in different areas of the city. I hit a high end business district and the NPC number skyrocketed compared to the outer and poor areas. It was a real stark difference.

 

[Alienware]

I have a serious question regarding the apparent drama around game developers tying bonuses to Metacritic scores.
This seems to be perceived as toxic by the gaming community at large, and I don't understand it.

In every job I have ever held there has been some kind of performative metric tied to my ability to earn a raise or receive a bonus of some kind at the end of the year, and I genuinely don't see how this is any different. It is easily the most relevant "metric" you can tie to game development.

I have seen people screeching that it should be based on sales, but that seems way more dependent on your marketing departments ability to sale the game, and less about the quality of the game itself.

Am I completely off base here and out of touch, or am I just seeing a vocal minority making a big deal out of nothing?

Bringing this up because of all the huffing and puffing going on because CD Projekt Red was going to dole out bonuses if the game reached a 90 on Metacritic. (They have since decided to give out a bonus regardless, which is even better!)

I agree with you.
Fact is most of the "gaming community" has probably never had a job so you have your answer.

That said, although I understand the importance of a metric benchmark to measure their creative effort, and I also understand that there's probably no credible alternative either, I just don't like giving that much power to the Gaming press at large. Because I don't find them responsible enough to wield that kind of power.

 

[Madflavor]

Good. Game is really good, but base console owners should not be paying full price.

 

[Kadayi]

Finally gotten into Act 2 (I like to restart a lot) ...now it's not clear whether I should pursue the main quests (as I'm on the clock) or whether it's ok to doing side content (which seem to be building up). Thoughts appreciated.

 

[Martinski43]

Good. Game is really good, but base console owners should not be paying full price.

Also great price if u have a Series S or X.

 

[cryogenic7]

I think a lot of the "outrage" over the bonuses being given out regardless of Metascore can be attributed the the Bloomberg piece by Schreier which framed it as a negative to some degree.

He reported that, during periods of crunch, the managers would dole out "tokens" (basically poker chips with the CDPR logo on them) to individuals who deserved special recognition for their hard work and dedication. Once the game released, these tokens could be redeemed for larger bonuses assuming they hit a 90+ Metascore. Now those tokens can be redeemed for a bonus regardless.

On the one hand, this obviously can be seen as a tool to exploit workers' overtime and could easily be used to withhold real money from anyone who didn't work 100-hour weeks, but this hasn't been reported or even mentioned by anyone at CDPR, not even anonymously thus far.

On the other hand, writing a story about workers getting paid regardless of Metascore, and framing it in a negative light, is a hell of a spin - Metascore bonuses and Metascore in general is a fucking demented and cancerous practice and should be celebrated when thrown out.

Either way - the whole tokens angle is a bit draconian but the fact is we just don't know if it was a cruel carrot and stick situation or just a management tool for rewarding hard work.

Because many in the gaming "press" are nothing more than political activists. Most were indoctrinated by their liberal university professors and they hate capitalism.

 

[TVexperto]

When do I get my own garage and car? Im already in act 2

 

[Cracklox]

Finally gotten into Act 2 (I like to restart a lot) ...now it's not clear whether I should pursue the main quests (as I'm on the clock) or weither it's ok to doing side content (which seem to be building up). Thoughts appreciated.

You're free to roam and do what you want. Thats when I really started getting into the side content.

Spoiler: Regarding the spoiler part

As far as I can tell the 'clock' is tied to MQ progress. I just nudged it along for the first time in act 2 earlier and the counter advanced for the first time after hours and hours of side missions.

So yeah, have at the side content I say

 

[Majukun]

done a couple mmore side missions...the Ai really rbing the game down though...cyber psychos are not that exciti ng when they have a single, really exploitable attack pattern you can dance around withut many issues,

 

[saintjules]

1:05 lol

 

[Isendurl]

Here it is!

The review we've all been waiting for.

 

[THEAP99]

Cyberpunk resets all my settings whenever I load it up again. Yeah I am avoiding this game for now. It even gave me more crashes than any other game on my ps5.

 

[Nethernova]

hey guys, if i want to do the good side stuff like the side quest with good characters good stories (not just the filler side quest shit like help the cops) what icons should i look for on the map?

 

[Kadayi]

You're free to roam and do what you want. Thats when I really started getting into the side content.

Spoiler: Regarding the spoiler part

As far as I can tell the 'clock' is tied to MQ progress. I just nudged it along for the first time in act 2 earlier and the counter advanced for the first time after hours and hours of side missions.

So yeah, have at the side content I say

Cheers dude. I did want to do a bit in Act 1 but in truth the game kind of hurries you along with the MS, plus your equipment is for shit for the most part. I'll see Judy, then start tucking into some of the side missions.

 

[Chris Walken]

After 20 hours AND NOT EVEN FINISHED the prologue (i'm lost with little secandary quests), i have slmething to say...

Yes, npcs IA is not as good as GTA V or RDR2

Yes, enemy IA can be much better.

Those aspects unfortunately can't be patched and improved, is not that simple.

BUT

Everything else is astonishing, i can't do but laugh at those who say this World is poorly designed, my ass, every little mission has its own minimap a la Deus Ex perfectly integrated in t'he world, it's miles away from dugeon maps in Witcher 3, the atention to detail in level design for an open world game is not even close comparing other games to Cyberpunk.

I was hyped about the game, i thought it would be like a Witcher but in first person, but after playing i found Deus Ex elements perfectly integrated in the world, i never thought CDProjekt had the balls to do this.

Yes it's not perfect due to bugs and shitty console versions, it deserved another year in the oven.

But man this game, let the dust settle, wait for more patches, let the time pass, we have another New Vegas situation here imho.

 

[Senua]

 

[Hawk269]

I have a serious question regarding the apparent drama around game developers tying bonuses to Metacritic scores.
This seems to be perceived as toxic by the gaming community at large, and I don't understand it.

In every job I have ever held there has been some kind of performative metric tied to my ability to earn a raise or receive a bonus of some kind at the end of the year, and I genuinely don't see how this is any different. It is easily the most relevant "metric" you can tie to game development.

I have seen people screeching that it should be based on sales, but that seems way more dependent on your marketing departments ability to sale the game, and less about the quality of the game itself.

Am I completely off base here and out of touch, or am I just seeing a vocal minority making a big deal out of nothing?

Bringing this up because of all the huffing and puffing going on because CD Projekt Red was going to dole out bonuses if the game reached a 90 on Metacritic. (They have since decided to give out a bonus regardless, which is even better!)

Because people like drama. I work in an industry where metrics are tracked and the better you perform as an individual and contribute to the overall success the higher the metrics and the higher the potential for a bonus. It makes it an incentive to do your best. There is nothing wrong with that. But a lot of people grew up with the "everyone gets a participation trophy" mentality. Instead of rewarding the people that excel. I see no issues with what CDPR has done with how they planned on distributing bonus based on metric scores..but the bigger thing that NO ONE is talking about is that the management team said it was on them and they are reworking how the bonus is paid out because the leadership knew they pushed out a game that was not 100% what they wanted and they are reworking the bonus where it is not 100% dependent on the metric scores. That is big of them to admit that and still find a way to pay bonuses out. But because that is a positive thing, no one is talking about it or giving them credit for that aspect.

 

[captainnapalm]

This game has some really nice quiet moments too. Poor Misty.

 

[Majukun]

this game is the new deus ex HR/MD mroe thean the new fallout

 

[Allnamestakenlol]

Can you stay 'competitive' by simply upgrading your equipment or will you reach a point where it stops being worthwhile? Is there a limit to how far something can be upgraded?

 

[Red Rackham's Revenge]

Her aesthetic reminds me of Daryl Hannah in Blade Runner

 

[Lux R7]

lol i didn't know about the parry, once i learned the timing i did beat the two "twins" to a pulp

 

[Shouta]

Can you stay 'competitive' by simply upgrading your equipment or will you reach a point where it stops being worthwhile? Is there a limit to how far something can be upgraded?

I think upgrading goes up as you gain more skill in crafting but the upper limit may be related to their rarity too. I've been doing a mix of using good drops/quest items and crafting stuff so I haven't messed with upgrades as much yet.

 

[saintjules]

 

[JORMBO]

In the quest log is the difficulty listed in relation to my character level? Or is it just a general feel for how hard it will be? Wondering if I should try tackling some of the harder ones or if I need to level first? I ask because as I have leveled so far I haven't seen the quest log difficulties change at all so far.

 

[Fluffhead14]

yo they gotta fix the perk that breaks down junk automatically. a $750 necklace is NOT junk.

 

[led4lyfe]

lol i didn't know about the parry, once i learned the timing i did beat the two "twins" to a pulp

Did you up the wager? Ez money

 

[CrustyBritches]

Her aesthetic reminds me of Daryl Hannah in Blade Runner

Good call. Evelyn reminds me of...

 

[prinz_valium]

lol i didn't know about the parry, once i learned the timing i did beat the two "twins" to a pulp

Also strong punches. Don't even need to paary, to beat them. Just don't spam fast punches all the time.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

yo they gotta fix the perk that breaks down junk automatically. a $750 necklace is NOT junk.

Yeah, I was wondering about that perk. In the first 7 hours I've played, junk is basically the main source of money, so I couldn't see why I would want to automatically break everything down. Better to have the choice. Doesn't take that long to go into the inventory and break down what you don't want to sell for parts.

 

[Loostreaks]

Guns in this game feel really good, but tech weapons are something else. Love also reload animations ( kind of have that stylish Dishonored feel), sounds are super crisp.
Anyone using high end "Borg weapons" ( if they're in the game)? How much Body stat you need with them to have normal recoil?

 

[Deleted member 801069]

Sniper rifles seem broken

I have a body heavy shotgun/LMG build with zero invested in sniping

first sniper rifle I found does close to 3k dmg with headshots

what?

 

[Dynasty8]

I know no one will really know 100%, but just trying to see if I am being somewhat realistic or dreaming about the next gen updates...

1. Do you think we (PS5 and Xbox Series X) users will have a full blown next gen update within the next 6 months?

2. Do you think a majority of the bugs will be ironed out by then?

3. Do you think the next gen consoles will also get an FoV slider?