Cyberpunk Apology and Refunds

[GazzaGarratt 11,066]

CD Projekt Red publicly put out the following apology about the below sub-par PS4/Xbox One versions of the game and also advised that you can request for refunds via the normal procedure.

 

 

I'm not sure this is going to save them from more criticism but what I do like is they address this situation front and centre which I think is a good move. Any thoughts if they should be taking a hammering on this one?

[phil bottle 9,817]

The financial need to release an unready product is a fact of life for a while now. Nothing new here.

 

Fallout New Vegas, a classic game, buggy as fuck on release.

Skyrim, classic game, buggy as fuck on release, one of which almost ruined the game for me.

Battlefield 4. I saw more of what was under the map than on the map the first month I played it.

 

It's nothing new. And the guys doing the work, well we hear about working practices in the industry.

 

Nothing changes other than the weaker games like Mass Effect Andromeda sinking from trace....only for the whole series to be rebooted a few years later when the dust has settled.

 

Random thoughts ^

 

 

 

 

 

[J4MES OX4D 10,055]

They (the publishers) deserve all the flack they are getting for sure. My experience on PC hasn’t been half as bad as some have seen on the old gen consoles but even so, I am astonished at the amount of bugs and lack of polish in many regards. Let’s not forget this game was supposed to be released in April BEFORE the new consoles were even released so this is actually an old gen title. The base PS4 version seems almost unplayable and when it does run, it looks like utter dogshit and extremely inferior to even the PC version running at barebones settings.

 

This vid sums it up

 

[techno 3,511]

I started it and so far no bugs but it doesn't look great but not sure what I should have expected tbh.

I did watch a video that suggested turning all the graphic settings off on old consoles, non of which I see as affecting anything of I'm honest.

Will see how it goes.

[J4MES OX4D 10,055]

IGN have released a separate review for the PS4/XB1 versions and it's pretty savage

 

[GazzaGarratt 11,066]

Whilst I lol'd at a response on Twitter to the apology that said 'Imagine if this was Bungie' which is another story entirely, I think there is a way to muddle through the crap that has followed this ambitiously well-hyped game.

• Concept = Great
• World Setting = The best possibly ever
• Ultra PC version = Great albeit fiddly with settings
• PS4/Xbox One version = Shambles and not acceptable
• Crunch Mentality = Not great although thats culture all over the world imo not just a gaming one

 

It seems a game that without last gen promises and recent bad leaks about their culture, this game would be up at 95ish on metacritic. Whilst they felt they had to release eventually because of previous promises, they still could've saved face by saying last gen would have to release at a later date, or, never at all.

 

The more I talk to you all it was never going to be a new defining genre in gaming, the hype was brought along by their last game, Witcher 3 and rightly so. The phrase 'You only as good as your last result' starts to spring to mind.

 

I'd like to think this will still be a super game to runthrough even if its just another open world game because the setting, scenary and story is well worth it. Maybe we need to start to look at gaming in a different way moving forward if this has took 7 years in the making. Early access games and more of an acceptance of bugs could manage expectations of how gamers react. I'm not saying thats a good or bad thing, btw.

[Greboth 2,721]

2 hours ago, GazzaGarratt said:

Early access games and more of an acceptance of bugs could manage expectations of how gamers react. I'm not saying thats a good or bad thing, btw.

 

It certainly is a method that I'm happy to support especially as it seems helpful for smaller developers to make games as it's in essence crowd funding.  The issue is that it can't work for all games; something like 7dtd works as it's a survival game and while they can add more stuff (either as new mechanics or actual things like vehicles) it will remain a survival game.  How does that work for a story driven game though? The only real way to do it for a single player story driven game is similar to Destiny and release content periodically that continues the story.  Though that then runs in to the problem that, for a game like CP2077, how to put in enough content to span the months between releases.  Comparing to Destiny, even that struggles but has a lot more (raids, pvp, special events etc.) that do help give 'content' over a longer period of time.

 

This whole situation reminds me of No Mans Sky and Hello Games.  Sure the game launched badly but Hello Games sorted it out and from what I've seen so far, it looks like CDPR are so far doing the right thing and I hope they continue to do so.  The first impression is the most important sadly, NMS is still remembered more for it's botched launch than the game it's become and I think CP2077 will be remembered similarly.

[J4MES OX4D 10,055]

2 hours ago, Greboth said:

I think CP2077 will be remembered similarly.

Yeah definitely. The Witcher 3 had some issues that required work post-release but there was no pressure or expectation on that game and if anything, it exceeded on release and then got better. This game however will go down as being in development a very long time, massively bankrolled, heavily marketed and ultimately disappointing a huge amount of gamers with technical and conceptual issues. CDPR's reputation as being one of only a few trusted developers left is well and truly shattered and I'm not sure if they'll ever recover no matter how many copies they sell or how much money they make. To date, I'd say The Witcher 3 is their only good game that is proven and deserving of its success. I regard it as my favourite of all time so it's a bigger shock that they've ballsed up with Cyberpunk not just technically but from a RPG standpoint too. 

 

With many gamers being let down relentlessly by publishers and developers these days, the disappointment here is even more exacerbated. 

[J4MES OX4D 10,055]

Seems refunds are being rejected despite the promise from CDPR. 

Cyberpunk 2077 Dev Promised Refunds It Couldn't Actually Guarantee - IGN

WWW.IGN.COM

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Cyberpunk 2077 players are discovering refunds aren't guaranteed after CD Projekt Red said customers unsatisfied with PS4 and Xbox One performance can request them.

 

[phil bottle 9,817]

What happens when you let short term profit override your common sense. 

 

Personally I don't care about CDPR or how they're remembered, I don't care about corporations, I despise them. What I do care about is the people who made the game and the people who spent their hard earned money buying a dud.

There's no excuse for any of it. The guys who spent years and years of hard graft and non stop crunch making it must be fucking destroyed by all of this. These people have no say over when the game is released and their work is being trashed because it was not released when it was ready.

If Rockstar can do RDR2 on base consoles and make it look beautiful, then this could have been achieved for CPunk, they could have simply delayed the release. As an artist I would want my art to be presented in the best possible way...and they have been let down by their bosses.

At the same time it astounds me that the workers haven't the nous to collectively organise and do something about it themselves. 

 

As for the early access thing, take a look at Star Citizen🙂

 

 

[J4MES OX4D 10,055]

Not sure how you're feeling about the game Phil but GOG has a 30 day refund policy regardless of time played so if you want out then it may be worth exploring that. 

 

I managed to cancel my £25 Amazon order of the hardbook strategy guide right before it was shipped. That was a bloody relief! 

 

Uninstalled the game last night - not too far from the end but I honestly could not bare another hour on it. 

[phil bottle 9,817]

57 minutes ago, J4MES OX4D said:

Not sure how you're feeling about the game Phil but GOG has a 30 day refund policy regardless of time played so if you want out then it may be worth exploring that. 

 

I managed to cancel my £25 Amazon order of the hardbook strategy guide right before it was shipped. That was a bloody relief! 

 

Uninstalled the game last night - not too far from the end but I honestly could not bare another hour on it. 

 

To be honest, I've played around 20 hours and I've only done the first main mission with Jackie. Since then all I've done is side missions and explore the city.

 

I might wait for bugs to be fixed before I progress the main story, will see. I've not suffered any issues or crashes myself, and I've been having a blast. 

 

I think it's a really good game, though not as much of an RPG as I'd hoped. But then I found Fallout 76 to be okay, so what do I know😁

 

 

[Riff Machine 2,105]

Cyberpunk 2077 Pulled From PlayStation Store, Refunds Offered

WWW.GAMEINFORMER.COM

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The troubled PlayStation 4 version of Cyberpunk 2077 didn't hit Sony's bar for customer satisfaction.

 

[J4MES OX4D 10,055]

5 hours ago, Riff Machine said:

Cyberpunk 2077 Pulled From PlayStation Store, Refunds Offered

WWW.GAMEINFORMER.COM

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The troubled PlayStation 4 version of Cyberpunk 2077 didn't hit Sony's bar for customer satisfaction.

 

That is an unprecedented move and the right one too. If Microsoft follow suit then it will be one of the most significant moments in gaming history. For once the consumer is being protected against this practice.

[GazzaGarratt 11,066]

Nice share @Riff Machine , totally agree @J4MES OX4D  but it felt like they had to make a move eventually with such a high profile game otherwise they were getting the grief over a game that isn't one of their own. Be good to know whos asking for refunds here or whether you'll swerve it and carry on playing?

[J4MES OX4D 10,055]

Brief statement released by CDPR merely acknowledging the move 

https://forums.cdprojektred.com/index.php?forums/red-tracker.10794446/

 

Not even Fallout 76 had this problem. Let that sink in for a moment😂

 

[LordBaguette 844]

Yes, definitely one of the best moves forward for the gaming industry in a long time. It should be treated exactly the same as any other product. If you bought a new car that drove fine but the brakes only worked 75% of the time, youd take it back..

 

This will hopefully extend to games with horrendous loot box systems and things etc and people will know they can boycott the games (although this could be abused)

 

 

 

 

[GazzaGarratt 11,066]

4 hours ago, J4MES OX4D said:

Not even Fallout 76 had this problem. Let that sink in for a moment😂

 

And now I realise why this was trending earlier 🤣

[techno 3,511]

Someone on twitter referred to it as an Xbox exclusive 😉

[J4MES OX4D 10,055]

I bet the Taiwanese developers of Devotion; Red Candle Games are having a right chuckle at this situation after CDPR removed their game from GOG for political reasons a couple of days ago. That's some karma right there!  

[J4MES OX4D 10,055]

Microsoft now offering refunds

 

[J4MES OX4D 10,055]

Cyberpunk 2077 devs reportedly angry with management about unrealistic deadlines | PC Gamer

WWW.PCGAMER.COM

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CD Projekt Red's directors were grilled at a meeting this week, reports Bloomberg.

 

[GazzaGarratt 11,066]

On 12/18/2020 at 9:33 PM, J4MES OX4D said:

Cyberpunk 2077 devs reportedly angry with management about unrealistic deadlines | PC Gamer

WWW.PCGAMER.COM

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CD Projekt Red's directors were grilled at a meeting this week, reports Bloomberg.

 

 

Well I hope they've had some form of immunity when saying their peace. Clearly anyone that was in charge of the release would've took any of the other options we've all spoken about rather than to just release it in the wild to all platforms like they did.

 

After all of this though, I think we could easily come back here in a year's time and be praising them for putting stuff right. Similar to how @Greboth mentioned how No Mans Sky sorted their shit out. Although that took a few years to do and also that time was needed for everyone to forget the main man Sean Murray flat out lied to everybody about MP and other things such like.

[J4MES OX4D 10,055]

Class action suit filed for CD Projekt investors over Cyberpunk 2077 | PC Gamer

WWW.PCGAMER.COM

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The lawsuit has been filed, but courts may not let it proceed.

 

[J4MES OX4D 10,055]

David Guetta delivers CDPR's official apology video

Hate these kinda things where they still lie or don't acknowledge the more serious converns.

 

Roadmap looks almost as threadbare as the game - the amount of work in the coming year that has to be done is insane and even then I don't think the game will be all that great. Detracting away from the bugs will just showcase other core problems that can't be addressed with a simple patch or update.