Has the hysteria died down yet?

[Agrar Therenus]

I have played it, but I'm one of the lucky ones who's had no real issues. I'm just disheartened by the fact that people have to post their immediate reaction as reviews of the game, less than two or three days after release. Yes, it was botched, but does that justify posting a very permanent and very negative review online? How many of these dumbasses are going to update their reviews when Odyssey does improve? Probably only a single figure percentage I'd guess. How does that help the game and the player community?

No Man's Sky managed to to a very good job of restoring its reputation. Just how hammered was that on release?

It must be the case that despite the bad press, the initial income when a game is new is just worh it financially. Otherwise companies wouldn't just keep doing it over and over.

You are in fact having terrible performance anyway. Even if you have a quad 3080 ti set-up, it willrun badly for those specs. It may be acceptable for you, but that isn't the point I'm making because performance metrics are not subjective. Odyssey just runs badly.

Anyway just because YOU aren't having many issues, it seems a bit selfish to let that colour your impression of others' experiences. Though I will say you have a point in that people most certainly do tend to go head-first into the realm of hyperbole and exaggeration. So I party agree with you. Personally I'm only really experiencing graphical glitches - as well as the universally bad framerates - that do make the planets look very ugly half the time.

 

[Cmdr Travers]

No Man's Sky managed to to a very good job of restoring its reputation. Just how hammered was that on release?

It must be the case that despite the bad press, the initial income when a game is new is just worh it financially. Otherwise companies wouldn't just keep doing it over and over.

You are in fact having terrible performance anyway. Even if you have a quad 3080 ti set-up, it willrun badly for those specs. It may be acceptable for you, but that isn't the point I'm making because performance metrics are not subjective.

Anyway just because YOU aren't having many issues, it seems a bit selfish to let that colour your impression of others' experiences. Though I will say you have a point in that people most certainly do tend to go head-first into the realm of hyperbole and exaggeration. So I party agree with you.

I would never diminish the problems people are facing, they are real and many. Frontier need to fix things and quickly. In my original post though I was saying that (some) people have been claiming that this is what Frontier had intended the game to be, and this is just what Odyssey always would be, which is horse ****!

 

[Andrew Gaspurr]

While I will admit the release of Odyssey was, it's fair to say, botched. The fact that David Braben made a public apology within twenty four hours of the launch, and the fact there have been multiple patches and updates since show a determination to make things right on Frontier's part.

"Woohoo! Lord Braben made his presence known!"

The fact that Braben appeared on the forums and made a boilerplate PR apology while suddenly taking things very seriously - and apparently thinking this sleep spell would work on the disgruntled masses - shows that a personality cult of an 80ies computer guru isn't up to date in 2021 anymore. He's a CEO. Yes, there are a number of financial decisions involved in the release of EDO but when Frontier decides to go down that rabbit hole, they also need to take the heat from an upset player base into account. And with the tools of the internet at their disposal they know how to land a blow: reviews. Nobody can blame them for knowing their arsenal.

Obviously, the heat from the player base was found to be less of a concern than the heat of the financial side. Understandable, but when you make decisions you have to live with the consequences.

 

[NotBiffle]

I don't disagree with you but I am concerned that when the issues are resolved, eventually and in the fullness of time, whenever it is, would it still be appropriate for thousands of Steam reviews to remain there saying the game isn't finished and is unplayable. Hardly anybody will change those reviews and if Steam doesn't do something to hide or remove them it could hurt the game, and ultimately the player base, in the long term.

The only people responsible for the state of the product that was released are Frontier. They opened themselves up to this possibility, nobody else. Those reviews would not be there if the DLC was not in the state that it is in. Yes, its a real possibility that those reviews don't get changed when the game is finished (or as finished as an Elite product gets), but when you get down to the root of it, they made the decision to release as is, no one else. If you dont want to be known as a company that makes broken products, dont be a company that makes broken products? Seems pretty simply to me.

 

[VR StarLightPL]

You have RECENT REVIEWS on steam:

And ALL REVIEWS on steam:

I wonder what NMS looks like now... w8 a sec:

Despite "mixed", the game is selling like crazy, because hello games still exists And they are pumping FREE patches into it like there's no tomorrow.

 

[Cmdr Travers]

The only people responsible for the state of the product that was released are Frontier. They opened themselves up to this possibility, nobody else. Those reviews would not be there if the DLC was not in the state that it is in. Yes, its a real possibility that those reviews don't get changed when the game is finished (or as finished as an Elite product gets), but when you get down to the root of it, they made the decision to release as is, no one else. If you dont want to be known as a company that makes broken products, dont be a company that makes broken products? Seems pretty simply to me.

And everybody playing Odyssey is doing so on Windows

 

[Bomba Luigi]

I'm now on day 9 of having a littlerly unplayable game I paid money for and waiting for customer support to make this broken mess work again.

"of course thats gonna happen, should have know!" ... okay.

 

[NotBiffle]

The thing that bugs me, and I've asked the question several times in this thread, but not a single person has given a suggestion as to what might happen, is what's going to happen to all these negative reviews of Odyssey after the dust has settled and things are fixed?

Negative reviews can hurt future sales, that in turn can hurt Frontier, and hurt investment into Elite. Personally I am MUCH more concerned about being able to play a still supported Elite ten years from now, than I am in what happens during the next ten weeks.

Again, this is not the fault of the consumer, this is Frontiers own fault. You are addressing the symptoms, not the cause.

 

[Agrar Therenus]

I would never diminish the problems people are facing, they are real and many. Frontier need to fix things and quickly. In my original post though I was saying that (some) people have been claiming that this is what Frontier had intended the game to be, and this is just what Odyssey always would be, which is horse ****!

I'd say that's true for about half, who like to join the "Downgrade!" club or such. Also the more neglectful side of things like laziness.

The other half, frankly, to me lack the articulation to express what they actually mean.

While it's true that a release as buggy and unomptimised as this deserves to be dragged through the mud, it's misleading to say the game is 'just bad'. What I think is increasingly more required is a seperate review score specifically for technical performance. One score for the quality of the gameplay itself, and the other for the technical side of things.

If a game is just badly conceived, it will never be good. This for me isn't at all the case with Odyssey (yes, there are a few questionable micro-design elements, but overall the concept is good).

 

[Pigletslastand]

Frontier really needs to do a Hello Games.. sit in their bunker, head down, make a list of all the pressing concerns and work through them methodically.. don't come out till it's done. Which to be fair to them I think they are now doing.. It will be great to celebrate this great game once they have done that. But we have been waiting for years for them to do this so now is not the time for me personally to give them anymore benefit of the doubt like I have done previously. Because they have taken that goodwill and squandered it. i will however be delighted to change my tone if they change theirs.

 

[Rat Catcher]

You have RECENT REVIEWS on steam:

View attachment 233603

And ALL REVIEWS on steam:
View attachment 233604


I wonder what NMS looks like now... w8 a sec:

View attachment 233605
Despite "mixed", the game is selling like crazy, because hello games still exists And they are pumping FREE patches into it like there's no tomorrow.

Don't forget that Hello Games added VR to NMS, despite it being a 'niche' interest.
(Although I wouldn't describe the PCVR addition as particularly spectacular - it does work everywhere!)

 

[Old Duck]

While I will admit the release of Odyssey was, it's fair to say, botched. The fact that David Braben made a public apology within twenty four hours of the launch, and the fact there have been multiple patches and updates since show a determination to make things right on Frontier's part.

Originally I had zero intentions of buying Odyssey until it was either fixed or went on sale for at least 50% off, but I'm slowly beginning to change my mind, primarily because Frontier really seems to be owning their mistakes and making an effort to right their wrongs. I've seen what it looks like when Frontier ignores problems, and Odyssey is a shiny exception to this typical behavior from FDev. So yeah, I do think Frontier will make things right, at least as right as any release finally ends up being...

 

[VR StarLightPL]

You have RECENT REVIEWS on steam:

View attachment 233606

And ALL REVIEWS on steam:

View attachment 233607

I wonder what NMS looks like now... w8 a sec:
View attachment 233608


Despite "mixed", the game is selling like crazy, because hello games still exists And they are pumping FREE patches into it like there's no tomorrow.

fixed the images in my post, forum is weird like that.

 

[Pigletslastand]

Originally I had zero intentions of buying Odyssey until it was either fixed or went on sale for at least 50% off, but I'm slowly beginning to change my mind, primarily because Frontier really seems to be owning their mistakes and making an effort to right their wrongs. I've seen what it looks like when Frontier ignores problems, and Odyssey is a shiny exception to this typical behavior from FDev. So yeah, I do think Frontier will make things right, at least as right as any release finally ends up being...

Yup I'm hopeful too.. and it is really good fun when you can play it, the ingredients are there.. It's almost an amazing dish, 95% of the preperation has been done but it's being thrown at the customer, served on dirty plates with knives and forks missing and some of it picked off the floor etc.. So close to being michelin starred and hella fun when the bits that you're playing actually work!

 

[Cdr Voorheez]

While I will admit the release of Odyssey was, it's fair to say, botched. The fact that David Braben made a public apology within twenty four hours of the launch, and the fact there have been multiple patches and updates since show a determination to make things right on Frontier's part.

I have to say though I was rolling my eyes throughout the first few days. The reaction, and especially the reviews posted by people on Steam really do demonstrate how unbelievably stupid people can be. I mean, I sometimes wonder how people this thick are able to stand upright and feed themselves

As an example, the "immediate reaction" of these people was "Odyssey is broken, it's unplayable, and this is clearly what the game is, what it was intended to be, and what it always will be". All this no more than 48 hours after the launch when patches and updates were already incoming, and Frontier had acknowledged the problems.

But no, this is just what Odyssey was and clearly it was never going to be fixed, and so the thick gobby brigade posted their reviews and messages. It's quite pathetic really. Has it died down yet, as I very quickly switched off so I could read something intelligent instead

It is called opinion, just like the one you are expressing. Not hysteria.

 

[ShiftedX]

Kind of a stupid thread, really.

Odyssey, even now after patches, is borderline unplayable in certain situations (settlement framerate, bugged missions, etc).
It wholeheartedly deserves the "Mostly Negative" it got on steam.

Frontier released it in this state knowingly, most likely because their fiscal year is closing in a few days.
So I say let them deal with the aftermath. I'm keeping an eye on how they progress with it from now on.

 

[Cmdr Travers]

It is called opinion, just like the one you are expressing. Not hysteria.

It's hysteria when people are claiming this is what Frontier intended, what Odyssey will always be and it'll always be unplayable. Those are the idiot reviews I was referring to.

 

[Old Duck]

Yup I'm hopeful too.. and it is really good fun when you can play it, the ingredients are there.. It's almost an amazing dish, 95% of the preperation has been done but it's being thrown at the customer, served on dirty plates with knives and forks missing and some of it picked off the floor etc.. So close to being michelin starred and hella fun when the bits that you're playing actually work!

I've seen two types of negative reviews - those who like what Odyssey promises but hate how it's delivered (the broken state of Odyssey), and those who hate what Odyssey promises. I'm in the first group, so I can be appeased over time. People in the second group hopefully recognize that Odyssey isn't for them and will move on. The problem I have with people in the second group being "hysterical" is that we've known since Alpha what Odyssey was going to be, so anyone who bought it afterwards and is surprised must not have done their homework.

 

[the100thmonkey]

I don't understand how Steam reviews work! I don't understand how Steam reviews work?

How do Steam reviews work?

In this image. you will see that there are two snapshot summaries for an established product - recent reviews and all reviews. If I go to a Steam game and see one with all reviews as mixed or negative, with recent reviews as positive, I will make sure I look at both sets of reviews in some detail in order to help me make an informed decision. I find it generally indicates a game that was released as a mess and fixed over time, or has a new DLC that is garnering positive opinions, usually because the patch that came with the DLC addressed many issues and introduced new, well-thought out features. In other words, the bad reviews will be there forever (the reviews were written for a good reason, I would add - launch was an unmitigated mess), but that doesn't "hurt the community" or the game. It serves as a reminder to all - customers and development studio - that the launch was a train wreck.

In the second image, you will see the categories for filters that can be applied, including play time of reviewer, age of review and others. These can help to narrow down when/if a product just had a bad launch/patch or whether the positive/negative reviews are spread out.

If you just look at the reviews headline for Odyssey right now, you'll only get recent reviews -- mostly negative -- because it's been out for 9 days. Over time, I suspect that the majority of players of the game hope that the ratio of positive reviews to negative improves, reflecting the state of the game. The first week of patches would likely prompt me to go back and edit a review, had I written one, because it was a total turd on launch, but steps have been taken that have much improved the experience of Odyssey. I still wouldn't give it a positive one, but I'd temper the negative feedback to reflect the work that has been done.

I particularly like this positive review - it starts honestly:

I want to preface this review by saying that the negative reviews are justified.

It's possible to like something while still understanding that it's broken, that the release was a disaster, and that there were aspects of the release verging on the dishonest.

 

[Cmdr Travers]

It is called opinion, just like the one you are expressing. Not hysteria.

As an example, Cmdrs Will and Kate on YouTube, who are normally pretty good. Put out a video saying that fleet carrier maintenance charges had suddenly doubled. That was a bug and was swiftly fixed in just a few hours. Did they then put out another video clarifying they had made an error? No, of course they didn't.