@Warhorse
Well done for making the release early/mid week.
Many players were able to test your products before critical mass (weekend) hit.
Your company has been given a grace period to communicate to the wider player base what issues to expect (and work towards repairing product and consumer relations).
Hopefully some communication, a dash of tact, and a lot of humble words can ease prospective judgement.
Other users have noted: DLC serves a product like Kingdom Come far better when it delivers constantly usable in game mechanics and content.
Suggestions have already been made to have Capons DLC offer up some change to maingames story line as an incentive to play it… arguable; but a ‘home village’ should offer that.
Whilst I have no plans to buy DLC until the product becomes what it was sold as (likely now only possible if a community starts to mod it), I like the idea that DLCs can add new graphics/items/rules that modders can then utilise.
I get everything the studio does now seems reactionary. That many cast stones saying ‘cash grab’ DLC, after ‘cash grab’ early release game…
The only way to ease the minds of your loyal followers is to deliver on promises.
Making a Linux workable version is now a task requiring exceptionally little effort on Warhorses part (pre bake the shaders and allow us a download!?)…
Tightening game currency (no more mass looting of battlefield corpses (could be a hard core perk ‘Christian value/fear the dead’)) would extend the vanilla game play experience.
An issue I see with your communications come in time estimations with your products/releases…
Selling a game with 30-80 hours (later confirmed to be more still), which is a massive underestimate in time with the game, then selling ‘several hour’ DLCs as ‘ten+’ hours is crazy. This sets a consumers excitement/expectation- a bitter pill when they find out it was marketing hype.
People buying DLCs have the base product.
They have survived enough marketing hype with this product.
They make for a core audience of ‘believers’ who calue the product/want to see Warhorse deliver more and succeed in the marketplace (if only to make KCD 2.0).
This core audience are waiting for the base product to prove less turbulent.
Continue to build the dream that was pitched.
Fix the myriad back end systems that were pulled at the eleventh hour.
If you insist on charging us for incremental reinclusuons make sure the paying public get polish.
Its one or the other…
Either give us a cheap game and have us deal with issues (no reason to complain), or flog a dead horse for any coin you think you can take (and receive fair criticism for said antics/fair review based on value).
I think KCD is a great buy. (I like hundreds of hours spent in a virtual world)
I assume it will become a better game (no cost)
Not saying the new die game adjustments was just to make a dud AI prove a better challenge; but it doesnt support early adopters like myself who invested in a product that keeps changing for the worse.
I have a great PC.
Played KCD in Ultra + since launch.
Your team knows better than I do just how many times my product has been gimped and pulled back in the last half a year -to make lowest common denominator happy.
You have said with your product - we will build it and make it so…
And then deliver a game that needs a lot more culling before it starts to sync.
My belief back in Feb was ‘in due time’ game currency balancing (world immersion) would improve. Many things that looked to serve a deeper ‘potential’ game play would be fleshed out. .
What I am seeing is many things simply being pulled and culled and dropped and lessened, and now I can pay 1/6 my buy price for a few linear hours here and a new mechanic there…
Fine- your studio/your product!
Who is the target audience and potential market?
If you want general gamers then expect reciews saying FarCry is better. These peiple will buy DLCs and go for trophies.
If you want loyal Historical European Martial Arts enthusiasts etc then polish this gem.
This group will give you more money if it expands the long term value of the product.
Just need the product reliable and replayable.
Stop gimping Ultra and quality improvements (thank you for cloth physics!!)- the lifespan of your title will benefit from enhanced quality more than crippling it.
Using an advanced engine like Cryengine isnt for speed- it is for nature and for eye candy.
Know your product.
Know your audience.
Target one for the other.
Build appropriately.
Now that the dice game has been killed; can I pay $10 for a backgammon DLC?