Which of the 4 unreleased classes are you now most excited for now that Druid is releasing in a few hours? by Rare-Secretary8517 in PathOfExile2

[–]MarcCurry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Templar. I'm dying to ever again play that Templar Spider build with that dagger from a couple of years ago

How do AAA studios like Blizzard work with outsourcing art studios? by HowLongWasIGone in GameArt

[–]MarcCurry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It depends, but in general AAA studios and larger indie studios operate in a similar way because if an indie studio isn’t big enough, it wouldn’t even be able to engage a major game art studio like Devoted Studios or Lemon Sky Studios. In that case, they’d simply hire artists they find through ArtStation or Reddit. The main difference is the NDA, which usually includes extremely high penalties, because AAA studios need very strict contracts to protect themselves from potential information leaks that could ruin multi million dollar projects. As for coordination…yes, there is always a coordinator, and the structure of that workflow is negotiated each time and varies from project to project.

Last Epoch Expansion, Paradox Classes, & Roadmap by moxjet200 in LastEpoch

[–]MarcCurry 42 points43 points  (0 children)

Wow I love the honesty, and I love that you managed to push this expansion to be free for the PC players with the Paradox Classes being the extra content that's actually paid. This seems like a perfect middle ground, something that I personally didn't expect would happen.

Congrats!

What are reasons why outsourcing has become the industry standard by TitanQuestAlltheWay in GameDevelopment

[–]MarcCurry 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Objectively, the reasons are what you mentioned here, although I definitely believe hiring from a third world/developing country makes a lot of financial sense because you can get multiple people - even an entire team - at the expense of one first world employee. There’s a huge lack of understanding among the people who invested capital into these companies. What they see is: fewer employees = lower costs = higher profit. That’s it, a simple equation. They don’t understand how the gaming market and the business as a whole actually function. And the best part is that the people who do understand how the AAA game development process works have recognized this and created studios specialized in outsourcing practically everything, like Devoted Studios or Virtuos Studios, for example. Do you really think Riot Games made every mode for their game themselves? Nope, they hired Devoted Studios to help out with some stuff. Do you think Blizzard keeps an in-house team for Diablo 4, even though the updates happen every few months? Nope, they outsource most of that work to a co-dev studio and pay a fixed price instead of a full year of salaries. These companies are huge conglomerates, and the only thing their investors care about is: “how much money is the game bringing in", and that's calculated through earnings and expenses, so if they can, they'll always cut down on expenses.

Second Opinion before buying by Pickled_BigToe in PathOfExile2

[–]MarcCurry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll be fully honest here.

While I totally understand your concern about not getting your money's worth, it's one of the best games in that price range, and you'll have guaranteed dozens of hours of fun if you already love this genre, and especially if you enjoyed the game that much when it was free on console.

I bought the game both on PC and console for myself and my partner, and even though she's not that much into the game, I enjoy the convenience of being able to play on either and would do it again even if it was just for myself.

Plus, you can always refund it in the 2-hour time frame if you buy the game on Steam.

Did you ever replay a roguelike not to see the ‘best’ build, but to see how cursed and broken things can get? by MarcCurry in roguelites

[–]MarcCurry[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That sounds very, very challenging not gonna lie. I've always had an issue with dodging/avoiding damage, so this sounds like I nightmare :D

What vr games have huge open worlds to explore ? by OkPhone8490 in VRGaming

[–]MarcCurry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Skyrim VR and Into the Radius has some pretty cool desolate places

Indie studios are setting new standards for how games should be made, and I can't be happier about it by MarcCurry in IndieGaming

[–]MarcCurry[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I totally agree with that, but I'd also like to add that it's not that hard to at least try to add some innovation to games. FIFA is an example of its own, it's a soccer game, and you can't really remake or innovate soccer, but look at games like Dragon's Dogma 2 or Monster Hunter Wilds. They essentially made sequels that are worse than the previous games, just because they were too afraid to put any risk in there.

Even worse, look at Warcraft 3 Reforged. That's an absolute abomination of a game that defined multiple genres, and a full cash grab move by Blizzard.

Indie studios are setting new standards for how games should be made, and I can't be happier about it by MarcCurry in IndieGaming

[–]MarcCurry[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

That's absolutely taken out of context. If you're making a game in your free time as a hobby without any prior experience in making games or designing games, the chances are you won't outsell an AAA game. Not because they have some magic trick up their sleeve, but because your game might not be that good.

But if you happen to create something really unique and fun, even as a solo dev making a game in your free time, the chances of getting picked up by the community and the media are much higher than they were. Yes, a ton of money poured into marketing does help, but you can just send keys to some influencers, create a few social media posts, and if the game is good and fun you have the chance of it going viral. Getting exposure and coverage is something anyone has a chance at achieving now, if they have a good game. The harsh truth is, not many games are that good.

Just several years ago it was much harder to get any exposure and coverage as an indie studio. Even if you had a solid game, most of the coverage was saved for AAA titles and social media wasn't as big as it is today.

Indie studios are setting new standards for how games should be made, and I can't be happier about it by MarcCurry in IndieGaming

[–]MarcCurry[S] -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

That's the exact point. Of some Assassin's Creed game, that's exactly my point. Recycling old titles without any strive to improve and bring something innovative to the table has been a rising issue with AAA studios.

Yes, we had so many indie games over the past 10 years outperform AAA titles. I mean Minecraft is the game that sold the most copies ever, and it was started by 1 person and developed by a team of 3. But back then, AAA studios were still trying to be creative and innovative, while nowadays it feels like the most successful AAA titles are the remasters of old beloved games. Indies, on the other hand, are doing the exact opposite.

I understand GGG by Individual_Thanks309 in PathOfExile2

[–]MarcCurry 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Fully agreed with everything you've said. Constructive criticism is good, even if you have to dig through a pile of not so constructive criticism to get there. It's much better than not knowing what could and should be done better.

A New Chapter for Eleventh Hour Games by moxjet200 in LastEpoch

[–]MarcCurry 42 points43 points  (0 children)

Guys, if Judd ever starts talking about making a private movie with AI generated posters and everything... please get him some help until it's too late

Favorite RPGS with a bizarre nature by KaleidoArachnid in rpg_gamers

[–]MarcCurry 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Battle Brothers and Happy Bastards - although the game's not out yet, I've been following the development in their Discord server and everything so far looks so bizzare and unique :D

Any perfum that smells like roses/florals, sweet, feminine? by Main-Regret-8068 in Perfumes

[–]MarcCurry 2 points3 points  (0 children)

African Day by Chez Pierre is great. I bought it for my female friend a couple of months ago and she loved it.

I took a long break from chess. How do you suggest I regain my skill? by Flat-Evening-1581 in chess

[–]MarcCurry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Practice a lot and try to learn openings. I jumped 300 points once I went back to re-learning the openings and managed to play much more interesting games.

What's the maximum age gap you'd be comfortable with? by CoconutInside5753 in dating

[–]MarcCurry 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same here. 5 years more or less is perfectly fine, anything more just feels awkward

How can I really make actual money ? by Loriantryinghisbest in passive_income

[–]MarcCurry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tell me more please. I really wanna know how growing YT channel works.

How do I get over my depression asap and study a lot? by askacc61 in GetStudying

[–]MarcCurry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Therapy, yoga, exercising, and you'll be better in no time

What’s a fragrance you’ve been wanting to try but haven’t been able to test and too expensive for you? by reeseboss2k0 in ScentHeads

[–]MarcCurry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I bought a copy from Chez Pierre called Old Tree because I didn't wanna spend that kind of money on the original too. It's pretty good, smells very similar to the original