And the funny part is that because they refuse to fund medium sized projects that could lead to potential new or revitalized franchises, they keep running what they have further into the ground and then leaving things for dead instead of listening to the fandom and fixing issues.
I don’t think anyone asked for Rebirth to be a “bigger”, “better”, open world game… Intergrade seemed to strike a really good balance for a lot of people.
Squenix is so busy sticking to risky projects that it thinks are safe bets, while interpreting every underperforming title as sign of fans not being interested. It’s like they think there’s no money to be made unless the entire planet is playing the game.
I mean, it doesn’t automatically result in atrocious games, either. The Tomb Raider games we’ren’t bad, Deus Ex Mankind Divided was incredible, and recent Final Fantasy games have a ton of fans.
They just can’t seem to understand that overspending past a certain point doesn’t get you a more better game, and therefore more better sales. Whenever they hit a balance, they instantly overshoot thinking they can just “venture capital” their way to the big bucks the second something has a semblance of traction.
When they should be making more games, at medium budgets, they push for fewer games with bigger budgets, and then act surprised when all the eggs in one basket meant some of them cracked under the weight.
Beyond addressing your actual retort, could you have resisted being rude? “Naive” and idiot emojis?
Not to mention the hypocrisy of “look into it before pulling shit out your ass” when that’s exactly what you did, in response to which I commented because I do actually have an idea of the numbers involved.
Lastly, trying to shut someone down by asking for sources without bothering to check them yourself first, to make sure you’re not the one incorrectly assuming the facts will back you up… I could throw those first and last sentences of yours right back at you, word for word.
This has been a thing with Squenix for over a decade.
The Tomb Raider reboot trilogy, too. The first one sold well so they upped the budget and then did a surprised Pikachu face when the sales didn’t go up to match.
Their execs seem to think spending on production automatically means sales will go up to match, which is why their franchises have so oddly good production quality, even as the game ends up mediocre.
When I heard Rebirth would be “bigger and better and open world” I just went “here we go again”.
Intergrade worked for a lot of people, but when shit works, Squenix just can’t leave it alone. They immediately throw way too much money at it, scaling things up to the point they miss out on why something worked in the first place.
Additionally, by implying that each individual “person” is not already commodified as a body of data in a collection of similar is woefully naive.
Elaborate, this sentence doesn’t seem to make sense. Typo?
I’m saying, on average, per person, collecting a bunch of people’s data, and putting that data to work, you’re not gonna make money hand over fist out of nowhere.
I had a nightmare situation a few years back with a ZenFone 6.
It bricked itself within a week, and after I sent it in I got months of radio silence, until I started calling them about it. They had no clue what the status of my repair was, there were a ton of orders for part after part, and it just kept going.
Eventually I just started pressuring anyone I could with “I need a new phone, this old one is falling apart, I can’t just keep using it for months on end as you figure your shit out” and they eventually relented, instead just giving me an entire new unit.
Last year I bought an Asus monitor with clearly advertised “on-site-warranty” (which means a courier comes to your house and just drops off a replacement in exchange for picking up the old one), it was DOA.
I thought great, “on-site-swap” should have this sorted by tomorrow. I started the RMA and the first thing they want me to do is ship my monitor to Germany at my expense. I said “fuck no”, and instead returned it to the retailer as I was still within the return window, and then just walked into another retailer with more in stock, to pick up another, which then worked.
Then, months later, some dude calls me and asks when I’ll be home for my on-site warranty swap, straight up dropping my jaw to the floor. I know I cancelled my RMA.
Lo and behold, the RMA case-number wasn’t even the same, so for some reason Asus decided, on their own, to open another RMA, WITHOUT TALKING TO ME for a monitor I TOLD THEM I WOULD BE RETURNING. Maybe someone tried to fix the fuck-up of not honouring the on-site warranty, but holy fuck if that took two months, thank god I took it into my own hands and got it fixed within 24 hours.
Except it isn’t. On average you can make a couple bucks extra on each person.
But if they don’t try to double dip, that’s a couple bucks left on the table, and that’s worse than death, apparently.
Nevermind that by trying to double dip they lose money in the short run, but if they can push the standard practice towards it even half a step, that’s fine.
It’s one of the few things corporations seem to be able to see the long view on.
Your approach to discussion is similar to that of a wrecking ball.
Next time, just add a single sentence along the lines of “still glad seeing everyone involved anti-consumer bullshit crash and burn”.
That’s still a valid take. But you’re not gonna see the improvement in the industry we all want realized without caring about the nuances, or acknowledging how and when most people actually care.