-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
Ubisoft dev: "Linear story games are really going to suffer in modern marketplace"
- Thread starter shinobi602
- Start date
I'm still baffled a full generation later on how Ubisoft convinced so many gamers to embrace AC as one of the kosher mainstream IPs and a model for decent open world gaming instead of a shallow anti-skill robbery of any sort of hard earned feeling of accomplishment in the face of almost all of its unique and visually impressive tasks being done with hardly any input on the part of the player. Ryse gets so much shit for just taking the same path its bizarre. Don't make gamers learn how to move from grip to grip climing a wall, just hold down a button and do it for them. Sure they started out making a PoP game way back, but those games were the antithesis of the garbage choose your own adventure they have created instead.
Why take away the sense of control and challenge unless you just have such a low opinion of your customers that you think their are either unable to learn and plan, or the developer just never developed one of the fundamental motivations that is part of most people's self-pride and has been a cornerstone of gaming since day 1. The hugely powerful drive in most people to overcome challenge and adversity though actively drawing from skills that are developed and honed to the point where they can be executed and blended to create unique solutions that result in a feeling of ownership and personal success is what helped us create things that are impressive and can't be explained away the cynical mindset that sees anything above the required as requiring more incentive period. That hollow bullshit is how a beancounter would see the goal and motivation of gamers that result in shitty boring gameplay like this being championed as anything but a total step in the wrong direct. Telling your character to do something and then holding a button and a general direction until the task is done sounds great if you are just trying to get as quickly through the process as you can. But most gamers don't view gaming their time playing with the same mindset that they would apply to a colonoscopy.
But clearly they are projecting how the feel about development, the sooner it is done the better. Don't spend even a moment making something better than it needs to be because that is silly. Pride in something just leads to putting in extra content that is much more beneficial to save for DLC or the sequel.
But thankfully companies like R* who are made up of people who have pride in their work and want to make something great put their cynical crap to shame because what they don't realize is that passion in work is noticeable and the little winks and nods that can be found everywhere might have been able to sell and make money as DLC, but by just providing great value they are building relationships and trust which pay them back in spades. Oh and for the people who don't view everything the do as a hassle and chore they also have the knowledge that people respect their work and don't hesitate to support their work knowing full well that it will be the result as great effort and care.
Why take away the sense of control and challenge unless you just have such a low opinion of your customers that you think their are either unable to learn and plan, or the developer just never developed one of the fundamental motivations that is part of most people's self-pride and has been a cornerstone of gaming since day 1. The hugely powerful drive in most people to overcome challenge and adversity though actively drawing from skills that are developed and honed to the point where they can be executed and blended to create unique solutions that result in a feeling of ownership and personal success is what helped us create things that are impressive and can't be explained away the cynical mindset that sees anything above the required as requiring more incentive period. That hollow bullshit is how a beancounter would see the goal and motivation of gamers that result in shitty boring gameplay like this being championed as anything but a total step in the wrong direct. Telling your character to do something and then holding a button and a general direction until the task is done sounds great if you are just trying to get as quickly through the process as you can. But most gamers don't view gaming their time playing with the same mindset that they would apply to a colonoscopy.
But clearly they are projecting how the feel about development, the sooner it is done the better. Don't spend even a moment making something better than it needs to be because that is silly. Pride in something just leads to putting in extra content that is much more beneficial to save for DLC or the sequel.
But thankfully companies like R* who are made up of people who have pride in their work and want to make something great put their cynical crap to shame because what they don't realize is that passion in work is noticeable and the little winks and nods that can be found everywhere might have been able to sell and make money as DLC, but by just providing great value they are building relationships and trust which pay them back in spades. Oh and for the people who don't view everything the do as a hassle and chore they also have the knowledge that people respect their work and don't hesitate to support their work knowing full well that it will be the result as great effort and care.
Cave Johnson
Member
Umm.. has Ubisoft looked at the mirror recently?
AC3 was, indeed, a crappy game. But Far Cry 3 was fantastic and I'm very much looking forward to Far Cry 4. So that statement strikes me as a shitload of hyperbole.
Wanna hear something dirty? I'm really looking forward to Assassin's Creed: Unity, too. I know, I know, I'm not supposed to, but unity looks like a great game that's doing some interesting things to push the AC series forward.
November should be a pretty awesome month for UbiSoft games. Thankfully I really dig open world adventures.
matrixman92
Member
If I understand what he is trying to say correctly, then I completely agree. Majority of times, people will pick an open world massive game over a linear game. Its that feeling of getting bang for your buck. Of course there will be exceptions like Uncharted though
plasmawave
Banned
But people criticize FC3's story all the time.
dickgumshoe
Member
Ubisoft devs' statements reliably are good
for a laugh
Solaire of Astora
Death by black JPN
Yup. Can't wait for more gamers to wake up and reject Ubi's crap. The sooner that happens, the sooner we might get a game designed by game designers and not box ticking committees. Honestly, with a little extra time, love, care and effort, ubisoft could make some great games.
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
Because it's fun, and not everyone wants hard for the sake of hard controls, and actually, it's harder to do stuff in AC Unity than it is in other assassins creed games. We're talking about huge open cities, a ridiculous learning curve for an environment this big would definitely fall into tedium quickly and turn off a good amount of players.
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
Never understood this, "I don't like this company so I hope all of their games fail." Terrible mentality to have. Thing about the box ticking committee was also quite offensive too.
And why would we do that exactly?
Acquiescence
Member
I look forward to Ubisoft's next variation on the whole climb the pylon/climb the lofty historical monument/hack the server-in-order-to-unlock-all-the-side-quests-and-arbitrary-activity-bullshit-in-the-local-area shtick that they so lovingly abide by in their games.
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
Using viewpoints no longer points out every single side activity in the surrounding area in AC Unity.
Alx
Member
Well we already know about a few people that watched a playthrough of a game on Youtube rather than buy it, things like Twitch will certainly increase that phenomenon, so there is a risk indeed. Although I think the issue is more with being story-based than linearity. If people care more about the gameplay than the plot they'll buy the game, whether that gameplay is linear or not.
IAmRandom31
Banned
I'm just confused on this one really. What proof of this does the guy have? Tomb Raider, Uncharted, The Last of Us, many others last generation did pretty darn well for themselves.
Doesn't make any sense. The " marketplace " hasn't exactly shifted dramatically in the past 12 months.
Weird comment. Makes no sense. Has no proof or point of reference or ... example.
Not sure what is going on at Ubisoft but they need to put a lid on themselves. They were doing so well with Child of Light and Rayman Legends and such. Lately though. Horrible.
Doesn't make any sense. The " marketplace " hasn't exactly shifted dramatically in the past 12 months.
Weird comment. Makes no sense. Has no proof or point of reference or ... example.
Not sure what is going on at Ubisoft but they need to put a lid on themselves. They were doing so well with Child of Light and Rayman Legends and such. Lately though. Horrible.
Solid Samus
Banned
what a grim projection.
but if that is the future that gamers want then they can keep on bro-gaming without me. and I don't blame Ubisoft for coming to this conclusion, because they're probably right. I blame the general gaming public for being so swayed by things like scale and ease of access that appreciation for challenge and good design has fallen by the wayside in favor of autism-level interactions that push instant satisfaction in general.
and even if I don't like AC personally, even if I believe it emblematic of this sort of thing, Assassin's Creed games are damn art compared to some other successful open world games, like Skyrim or FO3, it's like who cares if your game has utterly mindless combat, utterly mindless, characterless, emotionless characters, inconsistent and straight up intelligence-insulting storytelling, and a main plotline to put you to sleep. You can see a tiny mountain in the background AND THEN GO THERE whoahaaoaahaahoahoooo. AC's system's have some depth and skill gamut to them. These other shits...
but if that is the future that gamers want then they can keep on bro-gaming without me. and I don't blame Ubisoft for coming to this conclusion, because they're probably right. I blame the general gaming public for being so swayed by things like scale and ease of access that appreciation for challenge and good design has fallen by the wayside in favor of autism-level interactions that push instant satisfaction in general.
and even if I don't like AC personally, even if I believe it emblematic of this sort of thing, Assassin's Creed games are damn art compared to some other successful open world games, like Skyrim or FO3, it's like who cares if your game has utterly mindless combat, utterly mindless, characterless, emotionless characters, inconsistent and straight up intelligence-insulting storytelling, and a main plotline to put you to sleep. You can see a tiny mountain in the background AND THEN GO THERE whoahaaoaahaahoahoooo. AC's system's have some depth and skill gamut to them. These other shits...
Glass Rebel
Member
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
Uhhhhh what? Accessible=autism level now?
It works like in the e3 demo where you encounter random events like murders and add them to your quest log at the press of a button.now that's what I call inspired game design
eso76
Member
It's the other way round.
They have been making open world games for a while because they believe they would be better perceived on the market
I can't disagree there.
The Dennis System
Banned
I'm getting really tired of open world games. Opening a map and seeing a trillion little things I'm supposed to do and crap I have to collect is getting old.
BiGBoSSMk23
A company being excited for their new game is a huge slap in the face to all the fans that liked their old games.
Sure hope that's not the case.
thelastcrusader
Banned
Exactly. I prefer linear games 9/10 times. Uncharted, Dead Space 1 & 2, Halo, etc. are all amazing linear games. Linear isn't going away.
If anything I'd say 900p games should be going away...hint Ubi.
Unbound By Death
Member
As long as they sell, no way they'll stop.
Yup. In terms of game design their AAA output is an absolute poison to this industry. No exaggeration.
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
An absolute poison? Who're they hurting, their games make a lot of profit for both Sony and Microsoft and due to their successes they allow their teams to continue trying new things and adding new ideas to established franchises while also maintaining a high output of new ips so how is that poison? That would insinuate that life would be better without them. Or "I don't like this thing so they should go away."
Suzushiiro
Banned
First post nails it once again. Pretty much every company that mostly hangs out in a certain niche in the game industry (probably any industry, really) likes to say that their niche is The Future or that a niche that they don't occupy is The Past. I specifically remember a GAF thread where some fucking company was saying that all games were going to go F2P in the future. Guess what kinds of games that company made?
I think that most "linear story games" have enough you lose by just watching them on twitch or youtube that it's still much better to buy the game and play it yourself, but that's just me.
Cave Johnson
Member
I don't know where you got this intention. Some of the toughest games have simplistic controls.
Handy Fake
Member
MidgarBlowedUp
Member
Yes, and Far Cry 4 will fill this new void of non linear open world story telling that we created. So buy it please!
I said in terms of game design. Clearly I'm not saying their games don't make money. The fact that they sell a lot means their game design principles are going to spread to other studios. Hence the word poison.
Glass Rebel
Member
Yeah, I can see this working as well as most of their other systems. And by that I mean that it'll feel tacked on and be a colossal waste of time.
regenhuber88
Banned
Exactly my feeling. AC games and WD for example I play those like a story driven and maybe do some of (the very few) cool side missions.
Ubi always has 10h of cutscenes and story missions, after that's done you get:
- find all 100 ______'s
- bad guy compounds
- liberate every ____
- side activity X
LegendofDragoonLives
Member
lol, I've more fun with Uncharted than any game Ubisoft made last generation. BUt hey, as long as we have countless, repetitive shit missions from all of the open world games Ubi makes, it's all worth it right? The amount of eyerolls one can make when I read things like "make Uncharted open world" is getting up there..
I'm still not even 5% into Watch_Dogs. Keep pounding that chest Ubisoft!
I'm still not even 5% into Watch_Dogs. Keep pounding that chest Ubisoft!
Zuhzuhzombie!!
Member
Good thing in my opinion. Games need to stop trying to simply be "another Hollywood".
Hmm, I actually think that games like Dishonored and Deus Ex almost fall into what UbiSoft is condemning here. They are my favorite types of games but still ultimately somewhat linear. You move mission to mission with a small hub acting as the connecting tissue. They are not open world games which is what Ubi is promoting here.
I'd take ALL of the games you mentioned over a typical sand box experience. The issue with those games is that everything outside of the main storyline feels like busy work. There's nothing in Ubi's open world games that feels "special" while just exploring. You're just going through a check list repeating the same actions over and over again in addition to the linear story missions.
Although more related to Ubisoft's previous comments about 30 fps being more cinematic, TB posted a video about the company's recent PR and "delusions".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whblEgTZ6GE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whblEgTZ6GE