I don't get the hype behind Kingdoms of Amalur

[psychic_dream]

I've yet to play it , but from what I've seen so far, it doesn't seem to have anything particularly special going for it. The terrains feel empty, with only random animals appearing now and then. The story and writing don't seem very gripping, though I could be wrong about that. That said, the dreamy, fantasy theme does look cool.

Has anyone else tried playing it? Why did it flop so hard? I read that its overall budget was around $80 million, just slightly behind Skyrim, which was already a massive undertaking for Bethesda. The only info I know about the game's development is that it was the brainchild of a retired MLB player , who wanted to create expansive RPGs with rich gameplay variety and compelling stories. He even went as far as to hire renowned industry veterans and took out a gov-backed loan from the state of Rhode Island to fund it

[Oyster Sauce]

Hype?

[A Chinese opium den]

Perhaps play it and then make a thread describing your thoughts on the matter.

[Vaako]

I can barely remember it, only played it a little when it came out, was pretty generic but stopped after a few hours.

[rusty_shackleford]

Play the entire game completing all content and write a review

[Valter]

I liked all the different weapons and combos. Nothing special, but enjoyable

[Vergil]

Why did it flop so hard?

I read that its overall budget was around $80 million,

took out a gov-backed loan from the state of Rhode Island to fund it

The answers to your questions are contained within them.

[rusty_shackleford]

Ripping off libtard governments is funny

[ThulsaDoomer]

It's what you get when an MMO is shredded to pieces and a singleplayer "RPG" is built instead with whatever resources were left. I beat the game and its dlcs, it was average. The fairly tale writing and vibe was the most interesting part about it, but most characters are fairly boring. Still, they actually managed to give nearly every single npc some unique dialogue, which is still far more than most modern games can be bothered with.

[Unhelpful Contrarian]

I've yet to play it , but from what I've seen so far, it doesn't seem to have anything particularly special going for it. The terrains feel empty, with only random animals appearing now and then. The story and writing don't seem very gripping, though I could be wrong about that. That said, the dreamy, fantasy theme does look cool.

Has anyone else tried playing it? Why did it flop so hard? I read that its overall budget was around $80 million, just slightly behind Skyrim, which was already a massive undertaking for Bethesda. The only info I know about the game's development is that it was the brainchild of a retired MLB player , who wanted to create expansive RPGs with rich gameplay variety and compelling stories. He even went as far as to hire renowned industry veterans and took out a gov-backed loan from the state of Rhode Island to fund it

It has the best combat I played in an action RPG. The amount of customization you can build in the classes is staggering. Add the fact it just looks cool the different ways you can mix an match combat styles ( something that Skyrim attempted an failed to do )

[Tweed]

Curt Schilling had to sell his dirty laundry to pay the bills after it flopped.

[Vergil]

I really want to play this as some point as I haven't played it since release and the aesthetics seem very charming.
That being said the development was a complete shit show and taking on millions of dollars of debt from the government requiring your completely new game studio's completely new IP to do triple AAA success numbers pretty much made the inevitable disaster a forgone conclusion.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

IIRC it was notable for being the only colorful artbook fantasy RPG releasing in the West at that time. The only other high production value RPGs coming out, Skyrim, Diablo, and Bioware games, had a grungier atmosphere and more realistic aesthetic that wouldn't appeal to everyone. People including me were looking for alternatives, which pretty amounted to either playing WoW or embracing JRPGs.

I also recall that this was around the time when games journalists were still seething because there was a popular movie reviewer named Roger Ebert who made a comment saying that he didn't think games were art. So some people felt they had a "need" to "respond" to that and upheld games like Shadow of the Colossus or The Last of Us as their attempts to prove "games are art!". The announcement that the writer of the Drizzdt novels would be writing Amalur's story I think factored into that.

But ultimately the game was just mediocre and forgotten.

I really want to play this as some point as I haven't played it since release and the aesthetics seem very charming.

I would recommend passing on it.

I tried the original Kingdoms of Amalur twice. Always stalled out by the time I reached the city at the northeastern tip of the first landmass. The gameplay and setting didn't grab me, which was surprising given RA Salvatore was the writer.. I liked how colorful it was but did not like the bland designs and environmemts. Music was forgettable.

[Vergil]

I thought you were Fin again

[Unhelpful Contrarian]

It’s a dame shame what happened to 38 studios it’s not to often you get a wealthy boomer conservative individual making a studio who loves the medium that wants to make a fun game.

[rusty_shackleford]

It was decent. Nothing bad, nothing great.
I tried to play the remaster and bounced off, but I beat it years back. Try to stick with it for a bit if you don't like it at first.

[rusty_shackleford]

In fact @Vergil might like it as its story has a very, for lack of a better term, Greek story feeling to it. Actors in an endless play, their roles known, masks donned.

[Vergil]

its story has a very, for lack of a better term, Greek story feeling to it

No ghey

[Val the Moofia Boss]

It’s a dame shame what happened to 38 studios it’s not to often you get a wealthy boomer conservative individual making a studio who loves the medium that wants to make a fun game.

Yeah, a shame. You see conservative figures often complaining about "why is there no good art that pushes our values?", but then they don't want to create it. Doomcock and all of those other people who amassed large followings in the mid to late 2010s for criticizing Hollywood could have used their audience as an opportunity to launch a book series or an indie animated show or indie games and then grow from there, but they didn't do that. I guess Matt Walsh made a shitty children's book, and Shadiversity wrote a one off novel and then never made more.

As for making a new studio being formed and then diving into making a high production value game - which is very complicated - I suspect it might be difficult to do. Lots of people left Blizzard in the wake of WoW's launch to go form their own studios. Dozens of studios. But only two of them have released anything decent, Arena Net with Guild Wars and Runic Games with Torchlight. Everyone else either released crap or didn't release anything at all. That one Chinese guy who was making his own FF15 imitator all by himself wound up catching the eye of Sony and got to build up a studio to finish his game, which is finally releasing this year, so maybe it is possible and Westerners just suck too much. And I guess KCD1 was okay technically.

[rusty_shackleford]

It’s a dame shame what happened to 38 studios it’s not to often you get a wealthy boomer conservative individual making a studio who loves the medium that wants to make a fun game.

Yeah, a shame. You see conservative figures often complaining about "why is there no good art that pushes our values?", but then they don't want to create it. Doomcock and all of those other people who amassed large followings in the mid to late 2010s for criticizing Hollywood could have used their audience as an opportunity to launch a book series or an indie animated show or indie games and then grow from there, but they didn't do that. I guess Matt Walsh made a shitty children's book, and Shadiversity wrote a one off novel and then never made more.

As for making a new studio being formed and then diving into making a high production value game - which is very complicated - I suspect it might be difficult to do. Lots of people left Blizzard in the wake of WoW's launch to go form their own studios. Dozens of studios. But only two of them have released anything decent, Arena Net with Guild Wars and Runic Games with Torchlight. Everyone else either released crap or didn't release anything at all. That one Chinese guy who was making his own FF15 imitator all by himself wound up catching the eye of Sony and got to build up a studio to finish his game, which is finally releasing this year, so maybe it is possible and Westerners just suck too much. And I guess KCD1 was okay technically.

If you're right of center on any issue your company gets confiscated and you get kicked out.

This happened to the owner of Tripwire, a very milquetoast conservative who had pro-life views. Lost his own company he founded.
See also.the five nights at freddies etc.,.

[Tangerine]

Doomcock and all of those other people who amassed large followings in the mid to late 2010s for criticizing Hollywood could have used their audience as an opportunity to launch a book series

Shadiversity launched a book to his audience. I've heard it's dogshit.

[rusty_shackleford]

It’s a dame shame what happened to 38 studios it’s not to often you get a wealthy boomer conservative individual making a studio who loves the medium that wants to make a fun game.

Yeah, a shame. You see conservative figures often complaining about "why is there no good art that pushes our values?", but then they don't want to create it. Doomcock and all of those other people who amassed large followings in the mid to late 2010s for criticizing Hollywood could have used their audience as an opportunity to launch a book series or an indie animated show or indie games and then grow from there, but they didn't do that. I guess Matt Walsh made a shitty children's book, and Shadiversity wrote a one off novel and then never made more.

As for making a new studio being formed and then diving into making a high production value game - which is very complicated - I suspect it might be difficult to do. Lots of people left Blizzard in the wake of WoW's launch to go form their own studios. Dozens of studios. But only two of them have released anything decent, Arena Net with Guild Wars and Runic Games with Torchlight. Everyone else either released crap or didn't release anything at all. That one Chinese guy who was making his own FF15 imitator all by himself wound up catching the eye of Sony and got to build up a studio to finish his game, which is finally releasing this year, so maybe it is possible and Westerners just suck too much. And I guess KCD1 was okay technically.

If you're right of center on any issue your company gets confiscated and you get kicked out.

This happened to the owner of Tripwire, a very milquetoast conservative who had pro-life views. Lost his own company he founded.

First xeet from this very conservative Christian I see is him saying he doesn't care if people are gay. Also has a pinned xeet about how much he loves blacks and latinos.
Got what he deserved.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Doomcock and all of those other people who amassed large followings in the mid to late 2010s for criticizing Hollywood could have used their audience as an opportunity to launch a book series

Shadiversity launched a book to his audience. I've heard it's dogshit.

Chances are you are going to suck at anything you do for the first time. The key is to keep doing it and get better. I also respect that he even did it in the first place. And eventually his readership would filter down to the people who actually like his stuff. Lots of people don't like Steven King's books and think he's bad, but lots of people also think he's good, enough to keep buying his stuff and making him one of the best selling authors ever.

[rusty_shackleford]

Doomcock and all of those other people who amassed large followings in the mid to late 2010s for criticizing Hollywood could have used their audience as an opportunity to launch a book series

Shadiversity launched a book to his audience. I've heard it's dogshit.

Chances are you are going to suck at anything you do for the first time. The key is to keep doing it and get better. I also respect that he even did it in the first place. And eventually his readership would filter down to the people who actually like his stuff. Lots of people don't like Steven King's books and think he's bad, but lots of people also think he's good, enough to keep buying his stuff and making him one of the best selling authors ever.

I think Stephen King is bad because he wrote a scene about a bunch of children having an orgy

[Vergil]

Just checked the character creator and both races of elves look like Drow.

[Unhelpful Contrarian]

Doomcock and all of those other people who amassed large followings in the mid to late 2010s for criticizing Hollywood could have used their audience as an opportunity to launch a book series or an indie animated show or indie games and then grow from there, but they didn't do that. I guess Matt Walsh made a shitty children's book, and Shadiversity wrote a one off novel and then never made more.

While these content creators are good at making entertaining or informative videos there’s skills in art and writing are quite frankly mediocre and barely above the quality you see in Hollywood.
I have no problem supporting alternatives but I’m not going to put money on the line solely because they political align with my views.

[ArcaneLurker]

Shadiversity launched a book to his audience. I've heard it's dogshit.

Chances are you are going to suck at anything you do for the first time. The key is to keep doing it and get better. I also respect that he even did it in the first place. And eventually his readership would filter down to the people who actually like his stuff. Lots of people don't like Steven King's books and think he's bad, but lots of people also think he's good, enough to keep buying his stuff and making him one of the best selling authors ever.

I think Stephen King is bad because he wrote a scene about a bunch of children having an orgy

In a sewer too...

[Roguey]

There was no hype. It was just an okay-ish game.

It's what you get when an MMO is shredded to pieces and a singleplayer "RPG" is built instead with whatever resources were left. I beat the game and its dlcs, it was average. The fairly tale writing and vibe was the most interesting part about it, but most characters are fairly boring. Still, they actually managed to give nearly every single npc some unique dialogue, which is still far more than most modern games can be bothered with.

The MMO and Reckoning were two entirely separate projects. 38 Studios was having difficulties with the MMO so they acquired Big Huge Games with some of the massive amount of money they had and had them repurpose a third person action RPG they were already making into the Amalur setting.

[Unhelpful Contrarian]

Shadiversity launched a book to his audience. I've heard it's dogshit.

Chances are you are going to suck at anything you do for the first time. The key is to keep doing it and get better. I also respect that he even did it in the first place. And eventually his readership would filter down to the people who actually like his stuff. Lots of people don't like Steven King's books and think he's bad, but lots of people also think he's good, enough to keep buying his stuff and making him one of the best selling authors ever.

I think Stephen King is bad because he wrote a scene about a bunch of children having an orgy

No words can describe my utter revulsion.

IMG_2273.jpeg (6.74 KiB) Viewed 390 times

[Vergil]

Chances are you are going to suck at anything you do for the first time. The key is to keep doing it and get better. I also respect that he even did it in the first place. And eventually his readership would filter down to the people who actually like his stuff. Lots of people don't like Steven King's books and think he's bad, but lots of people also think he's good, enough to keep buying his stuff and making him one of the best selling authors ever.

I think Stephen King is bad because he wrote a scene about a bunch of children having an orgy

In a sewer too...

A fella will write an interracial child orgy in a sewer and then make 9000 tweets about how Trump is evil.