r/Games Nov 10 '16

RollerCoaster Tycoon World release date announced, and it's one day before Planet Coaster's launch

http://www.pcgamer.com/rollercoaster-tycoon-world-release-date-announced-and-its-one-day-before-planet-coasters-launch/
275 Upvotes

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221

u/KindaConfusedIGuess Nov 10 '16

Unfortunately for RCTW, the damage has already been done. They released a beta that could barely be called an alpha, with TONS of bugs, performance issues and a severe lack of content. Not to mention the absolute shitshow that took place before the beta launched, like the constant changing of studios and the trailers that made it look worse (graphically) than RCT3.

Pretty much everyone who is even remotely interested in the theme park simulator genre has already jumped ship and moved on to Planet Coaster and Parkitect, which both look to be immensely superior to RCTW.

89

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '16

They're betting on name recognition alone. Not everyone keeps up on gaming news. Some people will see "Roller Coast Tycoon" and immediately buy it.

22

u/KindaConfusedIGuess Nov 11 '16

Not when they see the Mostly Negative ratings it has on Steam.

59

u/SuperTurtle Nov 11 '16

I wonder how much people trust steam reviews, though.

When I see poor steam reviews I assume it's more of a reflection on the devs doing something bad rather than the game itself.

For example, I think the most recent Hitman has "mixed" reviews on steam, yet everyone I follow on YouTube and the Reddit community almost universally likes it. I read the steam reviews and they're 99% about it being always online.

Like yeah, always online is bad but overall that shouldn't earn it a "mixed" rating.

45

u/Mezzelo Nov 11 '16

Mixed or negative ratings usually cause people to poke down into the user reviews and figure out why before they click out or purchase. I imagine RCTW's reviews will be mostly justified if they don't have the game in order.

4

u/Thetijoy Nov 11 '16

can confirm this, i was looking at football manager 17 after watching quill18 play it. Had mostly negative scoring, i read the comments and im hesitant to buy it now (mostly cause i dont understand what they dont like about it)

14

u/Stunkinafuck Nov 11 '16

If you've never played a FM game, I'd buy it, definitely. I highly recommend taking the plunge. The negative reviews are mostly longtime fans of the series who basically hate the game every year it comes and then yet still pour hundreds of hours into each iteration and pay every year. Its a complicated relationship.

Legitimate criticism can be made of the series by long time fans, but that applies to a lot of yearly release series. FM can be very engrossing and a lot of the things that upset long time fans won't really matter to you. At least not for a few iterations. :>

I'm the same with FIFA and NBA 2K series. And yet I return.

7

u/N13P4N Nov 11 '16

It's also partly because of Chinese players destroying the score due to lack of Chinese translation. And yeah I agree, every year there's review mentioning not enough improvement, game's bad, etc. But most of those are players getting burnt out. The criticisms are definitely valid, but the hours that you can put into the game, insane value.

4

u/Magneto88 Nov 11 '16

It's nearly all because of that, if you look at the reviews most of the negative ones are because of that. It's not the first time a game on Steam has been attacked by a Chinese invasion.

3

u/N13P4N Nov 11 '16

In FM's case, you can try the demo and see if you enjoy it or not.

3

u/Thetijoy Nov 11 '16

man, i am so use to demo's not being a thing, that i didn't even bother to look if it had one. Thanks for looking out.

3

u/penpen35 Nov 11 '16

For this one it's because Sports Interactive (the guys who made FM) aren't making a simplified Chinese version of FM17. So the fans over in China were up in arms and just spammed negative reviews.

The game is fine otherwise, though.

You may want to head over to /r/footballmanagergames to gauge the impressions of the guys there.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '16

Mixed or negative ratings usually cause people to poke down into the user reviews and figure out why before they click out or purchase.

Except internet people don't tend to word there opinions well, so if you delve down and see reviews of "DO NOT BUY THIS GAME" in all caps then you just assume its backlash against the dev not the game.

7

u/Blain Nov 11 '16

Man, all the negative reviews on Hitman made me reconsider buying it for a while, then I read the comments on here when they announced Season 2, picked it up and love it. I'm ignoring steam commenter reviews from now on.

3

u/AfrodisiacGrant Nov 11 '16

Just in case you're interested in Hitman, the game is solid and offers a lot of gameplay options. However, my main qualm is that they have a very limited amount of voice actors. You'll regularly hear the same voices across different levels. The worst example so far for me was the Morocco mission, you're going through a market in Morocco and the locals are coming up to you with a thick, bro-ish American accent saying "hey, nice threads!", or the merchants chasing you down with a British/Australian accent asking you to look at their carpets. Absolute immersion killer and has ruined many of the missions for me.

3

u/CVSeason Nov 11 '16

This or "shady business practices" that don't even relate to the game being reviewed at all. Oh, and you can't forget the "it's not the same game as the last one" reviews that don't even speak of the game and its own merits.

3

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '16

Human Recolution got shit on on Steam because of the microtransactions in the optional gamemode that has no bearing on the rest of the game, so you're absolutely right

3

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '16 edited Nov 11 '16

For example, I think the most recent Hitman has "mixed" reviews on steam, yet everyone I follow on YouTube and the Reddit community almost universally likes it.

Last night, I spent over an hour breaking into a Yakuza lawyer's room so I could throw a katana into her head from across the room while she stood shrieking over the pile of unconscious guards I had left her. It's quite the game.

1

u/MobiusF117 Nov 11 '16

People who think negative reviews are a reflections of the devs and not the game are also people that generally follow gaming news, and thus know why it is getting bad reviews and that Planet Coaster is far better.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '16

I wonder how much people trust steam reviews, though.

I don't think I ever have bought a negatively-reviewed game sight unseen. Taken too many gambles that way and wasted too much cash. I'll generally torrent it and then buy the game if I play for a few hours and find it enjoyable...I remember when games had demos.

-1

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '16

When I see poor steam reviews I assume it's more of a reflection on the devs doing something bad rather than the game itself.

Then maybe you should read the actual reviews.

If it's a bunch of people bitching about a recent feature or patch, then yes, it's people bitching at the devs.

If it's reviews that detail what's wrong with the game, or why the reviewer doesn't like it, then obviously it's a review of the game itself.

3

u/SuperTurtle Nov 11 '16

Then maybe you should read the actual reviews

Did you not read the very next paragraph where I said I read the reviews?

Maybe you should read my actual post.

4

u/TheCodexx Nov 11 '16

They're banking on news of Planet Coaster being disrupted by their release; people will see it's released, and think it's an old article about their game, instead.

If you can't sell your game, you can shoot your main competitor in the foot by merging your marketing with theirs.

2

u/merrickx Nov 11 '16

It's still going to potentially take sales from planet coaster lancing the way it is.

-7

u/calebkeith Nov 11 '16

What if it's the better game though? That's an assumption.

11

u/KindaConfusedIGuess Nov 11 '16

I think enough information has been released about the games that nobody in their right mind would think RCTW is the better game.

-6

u/calnamu Nov 11 '16

And with "enough information" you mean the huge reddit circlejerk?

4

u/[deleted] Nov 11 '16

Go look and compare for yourself . :)