[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH It could be connected to that competition that ran in the MEA community, I think.

Oh my, this is worrying indeed. Not to mention a bit "tax-dodgy" tactic, if it is true. I guess we'll have to wait and see how it all turns out. One thing I found good is that some big companies are hiring instead, notably, I read recently that CD Project Red advertised many positions recently, many of them in Poland ( @Marcelek, @Prywatny and @TrendaTen maybe you know someone who may find those interesting?), so it is not all bleak and hopeless.

No, those Mafia videos are safe, developers share those themselves as they allow us to peek behind the curtain of their creative process.

I reached out to our tech team when you first mentioned those issues with the signature, but you seem to have figured it out faster than they did 😄 Glad to see that the signature is working for you now!

[DoctorEldritch]

Originally Posted by tntiseverywere

@DoctorEldritch Enjoy your holidays !

@tntiseverywere Oh, I've been back for a while already, this thread is somewhat old by now 😅

But thank you, it was quite enjoyable while it lasted 😊

[ZaidH]

@DoctorEldritch Oh wow, that’s quite a lot of job openings. They’re also looking for a Community Lead for EMEA 🤩 This region is often neglected, and things like DLCs (The Witcher 3 DLCs, for instance) are outright banned. Hopefully, these job listings are a sign of positive change in that regard.

Relocation package – flight ticket, company apartment for your first month, relocating your pet, shipping your belongings: it’s all covered.

As a pet owner, this part from the job listings feels incredibly generous. This is exactly the kind of positivity I was hoping to see in the gaming industry, and you shared it with me, so many thanks for that 😁

Cool, I’ll check out the videos then. Btw, IGN recently released a short gameplay walkthrough of the game, and people seem divided over it. Have you seen it?

Thanks again for doing that! Maybe the tech team did something to get the SIGPIC tag working, since it wasn’t functioning before (at least for me). Man, if I had a little more time, I would’ve started a small flair creation activity in the community. I’ve seen people use creative text in their signatures, so just imagine the creativity we’d see if people could design their own stuff.

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH I would hope they are not the only ones with openings either, but this is one of the better examples I came accross recently, and it too gave me a little hope 😊 If all goes well, EMEA will be better looked after for Withcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2 😉

Indeed, there are many perks, and that is good to see. I have a pet, but she lives with my parents, so I do not have this particular requirement, but it is a great help to make sure you can find your footing faster in a new place. I wish more companies did that. And you're very welcome, glad you liked that bit of positivity 😊

Ah yes, I've read about that gameplay video. I did not put it up here because, from a certain aspect, it may have minor spoilers. I am not too worried, I never thought Mafia would be groundbreaking, I am in the camp where I will be happy if they make a very good game with a mature story, it does not need or have to be spotless or perfect to succeed. Not to mention that they deliberately made it affordable. So to those who say that graphics look old, I'd say, "It could look better and make the game cost 80$ instead of 50$, it looks good value for money". And we must not forget, there are more than 1.5 months till release, they may tweak things up somewhat still.

That'd be a dream. I'll raise this idea of yours with the tech team too, and see if maybe there is some way to make it easier. Can't promise anything, but it will not hurt to ask 😊

[ZaidH]

@DoctorEldritch Yeah, good on them for making things easier for their employees. These are the kinds of things that make people go above and beyond in their jobs.

So I watched the Mafia video we were talking about, and it looks alright? Not sure what people were expecting from the gameplay. Not every video game can match Max Payne 3 when it comes to gunfights. And yeah, like you said, the real innovation in this series is in how they keep evolving their storytelling techniques. People complain way too much these days lols.

That would be great 😄

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH I'd say above and beyond is more about ongoing perks, relocation package is good and all, but it is a one-time thing, and running perks remind you all the time why your workplace is good.

It may be true that people complain way too much these days, but also, I want to say, after Mafia 3, complaints may be more justified, that game did not live up to the expectations. So it is natural that people would fear that this game may fail to deliver too, and complaints may stem from that outlook. I mean, simply complaining may be way too much does not mean that complaints, at least a portion of them, are not justified.

That being said, I too thought it was alright. Maybe our standards are lower than the rest? 😅

[ZaidH]

@DoctorEldritch Agreed 100%. Just hope CDProjekt’s leadership doesn’t get bitten by the AI bug anytime soon. I’d take job security over everything 😅

People have every right to be wary of the game and voice concerns (I do it all the time 🤐). It’s just that in this particular video, the gameplay seems to be the main concern. Imo, that wasn’t the biggest problem in Mafia 3. It was the repetitive mission design that dragged it down (I think). So yeah, I’d love to see more comments and concerns, as long as they include proper feedback and not stuff like “this feels like a PS2 era game” 😅

That said, I just wrote all that, but I’m kinda worried about the game too 😂 The old country setting looks amazing, and the characters seems to be well written, but I’m lukewarm on it. Same with Ghost of Yotei. I really liked Ghost of Tsushima, and Yotei looks like an improved version of it, but I still feel whelmed. Maybe I’ve hit gaming burnout 🙃

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH I think that after they lost faith of gamers with that Cyberpunk 2077 release and had to work so hard to get it back, they would probably stay clear of AI with all its cotroversy. At least, I hope so.

Ah well, we can only hope that was concerns they voice here come from a place of passion and a genuine wish for the game to be good rather than just complaining for the sake of complaining.

Maybe it is more the lack of novelty? Sequels are always tricky, you need to keep the spirit of the game while improving on it, this is where Mafia 3 failed; as you said, the change in mission design was a step back, not forward, and people did not like it. In this case, and Ghost of Yotei, there is a danger that it will be more of the same thing, which is not necessarily bad, but having just one of the same is not good enough for such iconic and big games, this is where Assassin's Creed is struggling, for example. Maybe your concerns are from that?

[DoctorEldritch]

@ZaidH here is a little sidenote for you that I stumbled upon this weekend. Remember we discussed Rockstar's Bully a bit, and how it is unlikely they could make a second part these days? Well, it may not be Rockstart, of course, but Refugium Games is working on Agefield High: Rock the School:

And some people are hoping that it will be "poor man's bully 2", seeing as we're unlikely to see the second part of Bully anytime soon, if ever. It's due to come out early next year. So maybe that's something to keep an eye on, with some luck, it will turn out decent 😉

[ZaidH]

@DoctorEldritch That's very true yeah.

here is a danger that it will be more of the same thing, which is not necessarily bad, but having just one of the same is not good enough for such iconic and big games

I think this pretty much sums up how I’m feeling. I know it’s unrealistic to expect the kind of leaps we saw between Assassin’s Creed 1 and 2, but I still wish there were some meaningful new additions to keep things exciting. At least with Mafia, there’s hope the story will be good, but I can’t say the same for Yotei since Ghost of Tsushima's story was pretty generic. I sincerely hope I’m wrong and that both games turn out to be great 😄

Haha, there’s definitely some jank in the Agefield trailer, but honestly, it doesn’t look too bad 😁 According to the Steam page, it’ll probably take 8 to 10 hours to beat, so they might actually be able to craft a tight experience. I’ll definitely keep an eye on this. How did you even come across the game 😄?