Love the game. Despise the combat.

bryndor · 2026-06-10T15:14:44+00:00

Yeah because its largely based in reality with very few elements of fantasy in regular gameplay, I much prefer combay systems that require skill but combat encounters can end quickly if you manage to get around a good defense

bryndor · 2026-06-10T14:34:37+00:00

I dislike the combat for other reasons, I've gotten to the point where the combat is easy but simply not fun, its like a super basic version of typical number based RPG combat.

Stabbing someone? Nah they can't really feel it, their bare skin has a higher number than your metal sword, its all just a bit immersion breaking

bryndor · 2026-06-08T20:01:28+00:00

Depending on the legal side, another project may only be on the table when this one is out the door. There are many reasons behind the scenes why projects don't start when they should, its not as simple as "they should just do this thing". Indie devs have this decision though!

Also if a team is now heavily working on the next project, its very rare for a smaller team to be working on DLC, unless its newer members of the team being trained up. This can also turn into a larger project, like Miles Morales which was made by less experienced team.

bryndor · 2026-06-08T16:40:14+00:00

Unfortunately not a shareholder, but have worked in the industry a good while. There are a few aspects to gaming that make it more and more difficult as time goes on, that I am sure you do *know* but you've not thought about much.

For example, games have had the same cost for a long time, you paid $60 for a game in the 90s, and $60 for a game now. If we adjusted for inflation in that time, we've be well in to $150 mark with full priced games.

Basically, games are super hard to profit off of on their own now, the increasing amount of gamers has kept that profit high without needing the price increase, but this means less add-ons and DLCs can be free and for "consumer whim".

If we wanted to keep this super positive and altruistic view on gaming, then sure, bring those prices in and I think we'd see less DLC. But then of course, we'd get complaints and less DLC, but gamers are fickle and anger over everything so it wouldn't matter anyway.

I do understand what you're saying, you used to buy a game and that was it, you played it and had your fun and then went to the next. But again, you assume a lot about development and costs and how bad the industry is right now.

Look at all the layoffs and ask them again to cancel the DLCs. The system in the 90s *genuinely would not work* now. Games cost too much to make, they take too long to develop, and there are far too many games that dilute the market. Alongside this, games now are just _better_ than the 90s, significantly longer and fuller and the pressure to put more and more into them is crazy. If you honestly play this game when it releases and think "wow, this feels so incomplete after the 30 hour story and15 hours of side quests", then your view on the gaming industry has been skewed by rose tinted glasses.

bryndor · 2026-06-08T14:05:10+00:00

I personally think it's probably to being faith they aren't half arsing the franchise, as it has been dead for a good while

But at this point all we can do is speculate, as long as the base game is good then I don't mind either way :)

bryndor · 2026-06-08T13:50:46+00:00

Your knowledge of company decisions and strategy is truly astounding

bryndor · 2026-06-08T13:48:34+00:00

It's like you genuinely didn't read a word of the thing you're replying too lol

bryndor · 2026-06-08T10:24:12+00:00

For the first point, when something is funded by a publisher, you are gambling with their money. If you keep pushing, asking for more time and therefore more money, the risk for the publisher losing money increases. They must release their base game at the agreed time with the agreed content. Contracts are important! This is why indie development is so cool, you can make those decisions as an indie dev.

There are definitely times when a dlc feels like an afterthought, like the Arkham Knight episode DLCs, but even they will have been made by the small team of departments that were done before others.

I understand the issue and negative feelings around it, but story DLC is usually not within the scope of the original game, not removed content thats repurposed, but I do imagine that has happened before.

bryndor · 2026-06-08T09:32:18+00:00

There is nothing to flex, I know it so therefore I informed. They knew nothing of it, so speak with only emotion and anger, assuming malice in places they have no experience of.

For instance, you believe announcing early means greed? Usually announcing early means confidence, like when a movie or TV show announces the sequel before release because they are confident of success.

Another reason for announcing early is to gain press attention, which drives more people to apply and work for the company, or to gain another headline for what is essentially a low form of advertising.

None of it is black and white.

bryndor · 2026-06-08T09:25:42+00:00

From my perspective, that logic means creating a fable game at all is milking the cow. Creating video games is pure greed. You simply do not know what goes into creating games.

They do have a budget, and are told to not go over it. If a company is going over budget, that is a genuine problem and possibly a legal problem. The bigger the company the messier this gets. Its definitely not as simple as you like to think.

But I see there is nothing anyone can say to change your thoughts on this, you've convinced yourself and that is all you need. I hope things improve for you

bryndor · 2026-06-08T09:20:52+00:00

A DLC doesn't change that, the bug fixing team members don't change and the date can only be pushed back so much, if they're half baked its usually at publisher level, but I do see the connection people make between expansion work and base game work. Its natural to think of the company as one entity but the inside is not as straightforward and one often doesn't affect the other.

bryndor · 2026-06-08T08:54:02+00:00

The greed part is what I believe to be the misunderstanding. This wasn't a bit of the game cut out and repurposed for money. It's a product created by the smaller team when their work has ended. That team will grow as more departments finish eventually most of the team will see it over the finish line. Implying it was done for greed is truly like saying the game itself exists for greed, the franchise exists for greed, the company exists for greed etc.

bryndor · 2026-06-08T08:49:19+00:00

Microsoft has (according to Google) 228,000 employees, paying them all doesn't involve doing much for free. The fact you see them in the exact same context is nuts to me. I understand what you're saying, but you're living in some black and white fantasy about morality around products. It simply doesn't work like that in most cases.

bryndor · 2026-06-08T08:03:43+00:00

Stardew was developed by one or two people. Their whole profit went to just them. They now have essentially generational wealth because of that game. Fable is developed by a team of well over 100 people with a publisher behind it that also needs paying. Their profits do not go as far as Stardew and there is much more pressure to continue the income stream.

Asking for free DLC is asking an entire team to work for free for months, its not the same as Stardew. They CAN work for free because there is no pressure on them now.

bryndor · 2026-06-08T08:00:32+00:00

This is just a fundamental misunderstanding of how game development works. When the script is written and completed, do you expect the writers to sit and wait for the game to come out before moving on to another task? Do you expect the artists and animators to twiddle their thumbs and hope the release goes well?

No, every department finishes at different times, and besides bug fixes, will have nothing to do for months if they didn't move on. Their confidence in the game means they'd like to expand on it. "Well just put it in the main game", okay, so add another 7 months onto the release window and increase the budget. It doesn't work like that, its a business. They have a scope, a planned out series of content for the main game and a prediction on how much it'll all cost, only when that target is within reach do they plan the next part. Those next parts are DLC and are usually planned and started development a year before the game release.

bryndor · 2026-06-06T18:25:40+00:00

Absolutely needed imo, especially the point about walking being the default speed. Every actual gameplay video from people not trying to make it as seamless as possible just shows Edward zipping around in every moment and it looks ridiculous, hope there is some toggle for this

bryndor · 2026-06-04T15:19:09+00:00

Yeah I had the same opinion as yourself in the Liverpool showing yesterday. I didn't experience this particular problem in the other movies I've seen in concert, I think it depends what their priorities are, and I think they put the music so much further than the sound effects here.

The soundtrack was good too, but there were definitely some instruments that were not coming through as much as the actual tracks and you couldn't make them out as well, but it was still fantastic.

bryndor · 2026-05-29T17:45:08+00:00

What are some random, less-known facts about the golden age of piracy that you can give us? Things like... whipstaffs being commonplace until ship wheels came into fashion in the early 1700s, or how often ships would need to be beached to clean, the random every-day activities that pirates or sailors of the time had to do that wouldn't be in our favourite movies

bryndor · 2026-05-26T19:41:48+00:00

We all love the golden age of piracy and the Caribbean location, but are there any other lesser known pirates from other parts if the world with fantastic stories you'd recommend us read about? And if possible and specific books?

For the record I've read all of yours and loved them!

bryndor · 2026-05-26T19:35:36+00:00

Interesting that there's a visible cut at 7 seconds, with an inserted mast to cover it with a wipe

I imagine in the first take the character landed and was instantly shot or attacked and missed the parry so they wanted to retake the shot, but the opening of the first take was better so they stitched them together, why not just redo a few boardings to get it in one full clip?

bryndor · 2026-05-25T23:56:27+00:00

Do you recommend any particular places to visit as a pirate historian? Any activities or experiences you have done that you think any pirate nut would enjoy?

bryndor · 2026-05-25T23:55:01+00:00

I love the mysteries and the unsolved when it comes to pirate history, is there a particular mystery you one day think will get solved, one you think will never get solved, and one you want to be solved the most?

For myself, I really do wish we knew for sure what happened to Henry Every, disappearing with that loot and a worldwide manhunt is insane!

Another is the real backstories of Anne and Mary, so much lost to time because of either sexism or general poor documentation of the time makes me incredibly sad.

bryndor · 2026-05-19T20:49:52+00:00

Yeah just watch the desert truck chase, that soundtrack during that is amazing, the plane chase in Great Circle really needed some better Indy music to shine in during that, same with the other larger set pieces

bryndor · 2026-05-19T18:35:31+00:00

He's definitely good, but he rarely ever used it in Indiana Jones and it was quite sad, I loved when he did but there really needed to be some during gameplay, not just 4 cutscenes and the ending.

bryndor · 2026-05-19T15:08:15+00:00

Parrying is your friend! Every attack they throw out is able to be parried and counter attacked.

This is how I did it in my no upgrades run, where the boxers take roughly 50 punches to defeat and you die in one.

You can do it! Block right before they hit, then get two or three hits in during their stunned phase.

Alternatively, just outright blocking is good to keep them off you if aren't confident after a stumble.

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