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Twisted Metal |OT| Don't Eat. Don't Sleep. Play

BurningNad

Member
NO
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NNONONONONONONONONOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO


9 KILL STREAK NO DEATHS AS TALON AND THE GAME FUCKING FREEZES ON ME
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LOL, I'm sorry but that post made me spit on my monitor.

Similar thing happened to me the other night, was in a winning match of nuke with 2 minutes left and the game froze on me... was not happy. :(
 

newjeruse

Member
Jaffe needs to filter himself for his own sake. There's a difference between being open and responsive to the community and being insecure and paranoid about the success of his game. I follow him on Twitter and he comes off as a borderline manic-depressive. I love his candor and enjoy hearing him speak; but he needs to see the distinction between that and just venting. No one will ever doubt his talent as a game designer; it's the other stuff that will endanger his career.
 

Himself

Member
Just... damn. I got the game a week ago but haven't played it much as I've been trying to finish FFXIII-2 (which I just did), but are things seriously that dire?

Probably exaggerating/morbidly joking. Supposedly the game has already sold above expectations and continues to do well. The server issues are fucked and not necessarily Jaffe's fault. As soon as the servers are fixed, everything should be cool I would imagine.
 

~Kinggi~

Banned
The server shit is nowhere near acceptable. I could think of worse reasons for something to kill someone's career. Release broken shit, get shit on.
 
Probably exaggerating/morbidly joking. Supposedly the game has already sold above expectations and continues to do well. The server issues are fucked and not necessarily Jaffe's fault. As soon as the servers are fixed, everything should be cool I would imagine.

Oh I know he was joking, wasn't really talking about his career just the problems people seem to be having. Anyway hopefully it gets better before I dig in.
 
Probably exaggerating/morbidly joking. Supposedly the game has already sold above expectations and continues to do well. The server issues are fucked and not necessarily Jaffe's fault. As soon as the servers are fixed, everything should be cool I would imagine.

Yeah, I'm listening to his little talk with Jim Sterling and one of the first things he says is how the game has already sold well above their expectations. Hopefully he wasn't being falsely optimistic when he said that but still.
 

Cactus

Banned
Haha, that's pretty funny. I really want to see the sales numbers. I think the game needs to hit 2.0mil in order to be profitable.

Is that just a guess or did you read it somewhere? Maybe I'm way off, but I think it would probably take a lot less than that for ESP/Sony to break even.
 

rdrr gnr

Member
Reasons!?,please.

Is that just a guess or did you read it somewhere? Maybe I'm way off, but I think it would probably take a lot less than that for ESP/Sony to break even.
I can't remember exactly. I think it was just piecing together various bits of information from various podcasts. I have no insider information about what their budget was whatsoever. I'm just assuming there is no way they are profitable at just a million units or under; how many games are? 1.5mil + makes more sense -- or not, obviously. I know the game looks like a budget title, but it's been in development for quite a while.
 

I'm an expert

Formerly worldrevolution. The only reason I am nice to anyone else is to avoid being banned.
Are these PSN (SEN) issues affecting any other games besides Twisted Metal? It's been weeks since the demo, what exactly is wrong at Sony's end? Just the TM servers?
 
I can't remember exactly. I think it was just piecing together various bits of information from various podcasts. I have no insider information about what their budget was whatsoever. I'm just assuming there is no way they are profitable at just a million units or under; how many games are? 1.5mil + makes more sense -- or not, obviously. I know the game looks like a budget title, but it's been in development for quite a while.

I know it took a while, but wasn't the staff size for the game pretty small too (relatively speaking to other Sony titles)?
 

Cactus

Banned
I can't remember exactly. I think it was just piecing together various bits of information from various podcasts. I have no insider information about what their budget was whatsoever. I'm just assuming there is no way they are profitable at just a million units or under; how many games are? 1.5mil + makes more sense -- or not, obviously. I know the game looks like a budget title, but it's been in development for quite a while.

I'm obviously just speculating as well, but it just seems strange to me that they would expect this game to sell almost double what Black sold.
 

rdrr gnr

Member
I think 1m units would be sufficient.
I know it took a while, but wasn't the staff size for the game pretty small too (relatively speaking to other Sony titles)?
I'm obviously just speculating as well, but it just seems strange to me that they would expect this game to sell almost double what Black sold.
I think TM averages around that number (1 million) per iteration. So there may be more legitimate reasoning to believe that than my rather arbitrary figure. We won't know for sure until Jaffe or Sony speak up.
 

Bruiserk

Member
I think TM averages around that number (1 million) per iteration. So there may be more legitimate reasoning to believe that than my rather arbitrary figure. We won't know for sure until Jaffe or Sony speak up.

Well, Sony will spin it as a success regardless of its sales numbers.
 

KiNeSiS

Banned
Jaffe you are the man this game is unbelievably good.
Props to the whole team at Eat Sleep Play.
I hope you don't leave to do mobile games, I would really love to see another war of the monsters game with crazy destructibility!
 
Oh, then I was right in laughing at that line. I shall continue my hearty laughter in that case.

Although such great netcode going to waste with network errors is no laughing matter.
 
Jaffe is blowing things out of proportion and, although stressed, isn't making it better by being a drama queen. Wonder how his team feels about him being so openly displeased. Makes the game seem like it's not a success, when it seems that it really is. Just puts a negative spin on the entire launch.
 

rdrr gnr

Member
Jaffe is blowing things out of proportion and, although stressed, isn't making it better by being a drama queen. Wonder how his team feels about him being so openly displeased. Makes the game seem like it's not a success, when it seems that it really is. Just puts a negative spin on the entire launch.
You're right. More developers should be less honest -- wait.
 

Massa

Member
Sony needs to step up their QA when it comes to multiplayer scalability, this is 100% their fault. Last year I remember both Killzone 3 and Resistance 3 were botched at launch as well.
 
You're right. More developers should be less honest -- wait.

Uh, that's not the point. At all. 'Honesty' isn't the problem. It's that he's VERY NEGATIVE about the entire launch. So much so that entire parts of this thread ARE ABOUT DISCUSSING HIS NEGATIVITY ABOUT THE LAUNCH.

You can still be honest and say your team is trying to fix it without constantly appearing stressed on youtube and twitter, and thus giving the impression that it's been a disaster. People in this very thread quoted his twitter where he said he wasn't going to have a job anymore and reacted with, 'wow it's going that bad, huh?'

Jaffe keeps harping on it, so people believe it. That's my point. He's giving a bad impression.
 

KuroNeeko

Member
I know it's not my place but I'm just going to throw this out there since I know Mr. Jaffe drops by occasionally. I think most people can see that he's really emotionally invested in this game (along with his team at ESP) but I think it might do him some good to take a step back. At the very least, maybe spend some time away from the hectic rush of PR, community support, damage control, and venting. Maybe unplug his computer or something and just chill with his kids and their dog. Maybe go get a movie or something and just unwind.

I know how easy it is to put yourself out there and get swept up by it all and there's no shame in taking a night or two off. Reminds me of that Kevin Smith youtube video that he put on his site a while back. I don't know, I'm sure he's got it under control and it's not like we need to stage some kind of intervention or something, but I just think it's a lot of stress and sometimes the best you can do is just take some time for yourself.
 

KodMoS

Banned
I've given up on trying to play with Jaffe. Tried to get in one of his games a few nights ago when it was 1/16 and 2/16 (immediately after he tweeted about it) and still got a network error. I don't think our connections are compatible.

Yeah it disconnected right when the game started.. Heh..
 

ElRenoRaven

Member
Uh, that's not the point. At all. 'Honesty' isn't the problem. It's that he's VERY NEGATIVE about the entire launch. So much so that half this thread IS DISCUSSING HIS NEGATIVITY ABOUT THE LAUNCH.

Jaffe puts himself out there, good and bad. I think this is one of the bad times.

You can still be honest and say your team is trying to fix it without constantly appearing stressed on youtube and twitter, and making jokes about your career ending that some people seem to have taken a little too literally. He's talking too much, plain and simple.

David talks a lot. He always has. Also odds are he's damn stressed by it and he's not afraid to show that. He's also being honest. You can't spin what it is to be a positive when it's clearly a huge negative. This franchise isn't a huge series. Never has been. At the same time it's been out of the limelight for 10 years. If a franchise ever needed some tlc and support from the IPs owners it was this series. The way Sony's handled the entire launch has been shitty. Let's be honest here and recap.

1. Demo with the same broken ass online.
2. Sony promised to fix demo yet doesn't
3. Sony promises to extend demo yet doesn't
4. Sony assures that it won't happen with Retail yet it does
5. Not one fucking ad anywhere to be seen.
6. Skin tools promised days before launch and don't come out till days after.
7. Sony changes time for that to be up time and time again.
8. Game and Demo both actually crash some PS3's and make others overheat.

Need we go on? He is right and honest to say that what is going on is shitty because it is. I'm sure he's not alone in thinking that. I'd put my money on the rest of the ESP team feeling the same way. Hell most of fans are thinking that. Go and look at the tweets he's getting. Some are pretty fucking vile. The whole thing is beyond fucked up. The saddest part is that he and the ESP guys are taking all the blame while Sony themselves don't say a fucking word or man up and come out and take responsibility for their large part of this debacle. All this is made worse by the fact that this isn't the first time either. Sony manages to do this shit every goddamn time they launch a fucking game.

So I applaud him for manning up and saying you know what this shit fucking sucks and you're right to be pissed. He's not filling us full of shit like other developers do. He's not making excuses like the other developers do. He's being honest and that's very fucking refreshing because it shows that he's a goddamn human being and not some uncaring bastard who's just out to make a goddamn buck fans be damned.

Now that said it's late here. I'm off to bed. Hopefully we'll get that patch tomorrow and it will fix most of the problems. I just really hope that all of this shit hasn't seriously hurt a franchise that I've loved since game one.
 

Raptomex

Member
I bought a PS3 just for this game alone. Huge fan of the series and I have every game. However, the online is still broken but I enjoy the challenge/endurance modes. It's a shame about the multiplayer. But I am able to get into some games.
 

rdrr gnr

Member
Well said, Psycho.
Uh, that's not the point. At all. 'Honesty' isn't the problem. It's that he's VERY NEGATIVE about the entire launch. So much so that half this thread IS DISCUSSING HIS NEGATIVITY ABOUT THE LAUNCH.

Jaffe puts himself out there, good and bad. I think this is one of the bad times.

You can still be honest and say your team is trying to fix it without constantly appearing stressed on youtube and twitter, and thus giving the impression that it's been a disaster.

He's talking too much, plain and simple.
No. You are interpreting it as such. I hate to break it to you, but somethings in this world are, well, objectively bad -- like the matchmaking for this game. How many multiplayer games have had an absolutely flawless launch recently? Probably very few if any. What was the response from that particular publisher/developer? Some stupid tweet from a community manager like BF3? Some one-off post on the game's official forum that no one actually reads? Give me a break. I, for one, am glad Jaffe put himself out there with no PR bullshit or political correctness in between; and not as you would like. In fact, his humility and sincerity has done nothing but buy him good will in this thread. I know for a fact that I would view TM less favorably if Jaffe had not be so consistently public with the issues (I spent 45 minutes on Saturday trying to play with friend and had no success). Him putting his feelings out there is just fine by me and many others, plain and simple. I do not know if you work in the games industry and thus have a skewed perspective on things, but I hope most people (consumers) don't share in your naive and damaging sentiments.
 

Vilam

Maxis Redwood
I can't remember exactly. I think it was just piecing together various bits of information from various podcasts. I have no insider information about what their budget was whatsoever. I'm just assuming there is no way they are profitable at just a million units or under; how many games are? 1.5mil + makes more sense -- or not, obviously. I know the game looks like a budget title, but it's been in development for quite a while.

That's a whole lot of ignorance contained within a single post. Good job.
 

AwShucks

Member
Haha, that's pretty funny. I really want to see the sales numbers. I think the game needs to hit 2.0mil in order to be profitable.

Pretty sure I remember Jaffe saying in interviews he'd be stoked if it got past one million. Could be wrong though

EDIT: You gotta remember how small their team is/was and that a million is still quite a few copies.
 

Vilam

Maxis Redwood
Well, are you going to elaborate?

Do I need to? From projecting other game's budgets and sales expectations onto Twisted Metal (which makes zero sense if you know about ESP as a studio and the franchise's sales history) to saying it looks like a budget game, it's a pretty shit post all around.
 

bonesquad

Member
I got in on time! Im about to play. :D

Got in as well. Played a game of Nuke and lost like 6-0. Second game started and was going ok (minus the time my dumb ass drove into the lava dragging a leader).

But then. Game freezed. Ruined my game :( I'm terrible at finishing.
 

rdrr gnr

Member
Do I need to? From projecting other game's budgets and sales expectations onto Twisted Metal (which makes zero sense if you know about ESP as a studio and the franchise's sales history) to saying it looks like a budget game, it's a pretty shit post all around.
I had other posts, you know? I've also elaborated that I like how the game looks and plays for what it is, but there is no way this game doesn't look dated.
 

KuroNeeko

Member
Well, are you going to elaborate?

Don't mean to step in here but I've got to say that I had a similar reaction when I read your post. First, it's impossible to know how much money was spent on the game (unless someone from Sony or ESP comes out and elaborates), it's also impossible to know what their goal was (again unless Sony and / or ESP comes out and elaborates - especially since their goals can be different). Also saying that the game looks like a budget title - well, can you elaborate? Are you talking about art? Low production values? Gameplay representative of insufficient time / budget? Are you familiar with the game enough to recognize why the team made the decisions it made (in regards to memory issues, online play, time / budget constraints?)

Just for the record, I partly agree with you - I'd be surprised if Sony made a profit with anything less than 1.5 million, but that's simply because of the long production time, online support, and marketing costs. The fact is that I have no idea though - perhaps their goal is simply to bring back the franchise, betting that it will be profitable in the long run.

Simple fact is that until we hear from someone who knows, we don't know.
 

AwShucks

Member
Newly discovered fact - Mr Grimm, not so hot as a Nuke mode vehicle. I did not do my team any favors while playing as him the first two rounds. Not sure what the best vehicles are however, but Kamikaze seemed much better suited for the mode.

But I will continue destroying w/ Mr Grimm in any DM game
 

KuroNeeko

Member
Newly discovered fact - Mr Grimm, not so hot as a Nuke mode vehicle. I did not do my team any favors while playing as him the first two rounds. Not sure what the best vehicles are however, but Kamikaze seemed much better suited for the mode.

But I will continue destroying w/ Mr Grimm in any DM game

Yeah, I can't speak as to how effective Grimmy is since I haven't unlocked him yet, but I'm starting to get the feeling that TM is not going to be about rolling with your favorite character. I mean, it's not one of those games where you can just pick a favorite, get good at him, and then just expect to do well on the majority of maps / modes. Rather, if you're playing to win, you'll need to pick the character suited to the mode / map. I will say that from my time with the demo, Grim was pretty good on defense in Nuke. You have a decent amount of speed and since your opponent will be confined to a relatively small area - you'll have an easier time flamesawing their a$$.

If true, I understand why they did it - but I would have preferred the former, especially since I like Grim and Kamikaze.
 

Tokubetsu

Member
Not sure if Nuke is the mode for me. Did very poorly in that Jaffe room until the third round where I switch to Death Warrant. Still did poorly but managed to get a nuke off and into the statue's face so I wasn't totally worthless to my team. Most of the game was spent running around, being too late, getting lost, failing to spot stairs and failing miserably at hitting anything in the air. I know about right stick aiming but seriously, if it's in the air, I can't hit it.
 
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