I refunded this game.

[Caffiend]

I almost never refund games. I've "grinned and bared it" plenty of times through games that weren't up to snuff or had launch issues, but I'm getting tired of the over-promising and under-delivery. This strikes me less as "Kinks to iron out" and more "Underbaked and rushed."

The UI is horrible - way too many clicks to get through what you have to get through.

The controls are clunky - once again, way too many steps. Not freeform enough.

There is less to do in this game than PC1, and the inclusion of water rides doesn't make up for it.

The performance doesn't seem well optimized.

It's extremely buggy. Not only are there cosmetic bugs out the wazoo, but a lot of my rides and shops are stuck at negative appeal, even after I reset/restart/close/open them.

I know you can turn them off, but I dislike the power management system. It feels completely arbitrary. It isn't challenging in an interesting or a fun way - it just feels like a time and money sink that is also an arbitrary gate to having fun and making progress. I see why it's here, I don't think it's the kind of management depth we were asking for.

Less concretely, I feel like a lot of the whimsy and charm is gone? The whole game just feels... more sanded down? Trimmed? More corporate? You didn't even carry over some of the more interesting mascots like Street Fox Coffee, which had a thematic strength and wink-and-a-nod at starbucks/megacapitalism enough that you could theme an entire park around it if you were creative. Yet, core, common themepark themes like Western are missing entirely.

I loved PC1 and PZ; this feels like an objective downgrade in almost every way, and it's not just nostalgia talking. The music and sound design are nice! When the graphics aren't bugging, they're fantastic. They're not enough to carry what feels like a shameless and low effort cash grab :/

Like I've said in previous posts, I'm really not trying to be mean. Rarely is it ever ground-floor devs that make these kinds of problems happen, and to those who really did put time and love into the game, it shows. But a lot of the over-all, larger changes to this game usually only made by the upper brass absolutely killed my enthusiasm.

If by some chance this all gets fixed, I will HAPPILY buy the game again. I'll get all the DLC, even. But I'm not going to keep feeding the hand that bites me.

Edit: The lack of communication from them on the above issues is also in of itself a problem. If you folks at Frontier agree that any of these things above are a problem, you should talk about them NOW when the iron is hot.

 

[David K]

As far as Street Fox Coffee, it was a character that was created by a user and later added to the game via a competition. I'd go out on a limb and say that the character wasn't included and the coffee brand changed because of an issue with licensing and it being an externally created character.

 

[Caffiend]

As far as Street Fox Coffee, it was a character that was created by a user and later added to the game via a competition. I'd go out on a limb and say that the character wasn't included and the coffee brand changed because of an issue with licensing and it being an externally created character.

It seems like, then, they could easily replace them with something else that has stuck with modern times, like an e-influencer theme'd something.

It's not really specifically the lack of street fox coffee that's the issue, (though it was a neat character), I guess if anything it's more it just feel like it adds another bullet point of: the game seems low effort. I get why you'd want to do something else for licensing reasons completely.

So add something else that is in the same vein and fun, not.. Nothing. The lack of communication from Frontier is another negative I forgot to mention.

 

[Sclurp]

I'm considering doing the same. First pass got the auto-rejection due to hours played, but I know trying again will likely put it under the eyes of a human who can read what the issues are with the purchase.

I'm waiting to see what Frontier have to say after the weekend. I don't expect immediate fixes, but I do want to see them own their mistakes and lay out what exactly is going to be done to make things right.

 

[Caffiend]

I'm considering doing the same. First pass got the auto-rejection due to hours played, but I know trying again will likely put it under the eyes of a human who can read what the issues are with the purchase.

I'm waiting to see what Frontier have to say after the weekend. I don't expect immediate fixes, but I do want to see them own their mistakes and lay out what exactly is going to be done to make things right.

A little communication from them would go a long way about now lol

 

[FunGaming]

I'm considering doing the same. First pass got the auto-rejection due to hours played, but I know trying again will likely put it under the eyes of a human who can read what the issues are with the purchase.

I'm waiting to see what Frontier have to say after the weekend. I don't expect immediate fixes, but I do want to see them own their mistakes and lay out what exactly is going to be done to make things right.

I seen Playstation and Xbox giving refunds because of many bugs, i'm sure steam will follow that example, i'm not refunding yet but sure getting close to it right now with the server being down almost all day today and all the bugs and not even forgetting the frontier workshop problems on its own with needed constant updating.

 

[Asjemenou62]

I almost never refund games. I've "grinned and bared it" plenty of times through games that weren't up to snuff or had launch issues, but I'm getting tired of the over-promising and under-delivery. This strikes me less as "Kinks to iron out" and more "Underbaked and rushed."

The UI is horrible - way too many clicks to get through what you have to get through.

The controls are clunky - once again, way too many steps. Not freeform enough.

There is less to do in this game than PC1, and the inclusion of water rides doesn't make up for it.

The performance doesn't seem well optimized.

It's extremely buggy. Not only are there cosmetic bugs out the wazoo, but a lot of my rides and shops are stuck at negative appeal, even after I reset/restart/close/open them.

I know you can turn them off, but I dislike the power management system. It feels completely arbitrary. It isn't challenging in an interesting in a fun way - it just feels like a time and money sink that is also an arbitrary gate to having fun and making progress. I see why it's here, I don't think it's the kind of management depth we were asking for.

Less concretely, I feel like a lot of the whimsy and charm is gone? The whole game just feels... more sanded down? Trimmed? More corporate? You didn't even carry over some of the more interesting mascots like Street Fox Coffee, which had a thematic strength and wink-and-a-nod at starbucks/megacapitalism enough that you could theme an entire park around it if you were creative. Yet, core, common themepark themes like Western are missing entirely.

I loved PC1 and PZ; this feels like an objective downgrade in almost every way, and it's not just nostalgia talking. The music and sound design are nice! When the graphics aren't bugging, they're fantastic. They're not enough to carry what feels like a shameless and low effort cash grab :/

Like I've said in previous posts, I'm really not trying to be mean. Rarely is it ever ground-floor devs that make these kinds of problems happen, and to those who really did put time and love into the game, it shows. But a lot of the over-all, larger changes to this game usually only made by the upper brass absolutely killed my enthusiasm.

If by some chance this all gets fixed, I will HAPPILY buy the game again. I'll get all the DLC, even. But I'm not going to keep feeding the hand that bites me.

Edit: The lack of communication from them on the above issues is also in of itself a problem. If you folks at Frontier agree that any of these things above are a problem, you should talk about them NOW when the iron is hot.

I dont agree at all.
I played PC for over 550 hours and PC2 only for a few hours and I love it.
Grafix are superb (on my rig), game runs smooth with and stutter whatsoever with all maxed out. I hardly feel and UI diff between this and the former edition, its even quicker that the good old PC1.
The communication is great but at launch they cant responce personaly to anyone and they need the time to fix things. Perfect lauch games dont exsist.

Dont I have any complains, ofc I do and I posted them also with the knowledge that they will get fixed.

So yeah perhaps your hardware and attitude are not good enuf for this game and you made a good choice by refunding it.

 

[Caffiend]

I seen Playstation and Xbox giving refunds because of many bugs, i'm sure steam will follow that example, i'm not refunding yet but sure getting close to it right now with the server being down almost all day today and all the bugs and not even forgetting the frontier workshop problems on its own with needed constant updating.

I fear it may be the only thing that gets their attention.

 

[EmSay]

I fear it may be the only thing that gets their attention.

They might be working on fixes already, just aren't ready to release them yet.
They might just doesn't tell until it is ready.

 

[Hawk269]

I bought the game on PS5, Xbox and PC. Refunded the PC version before I even downloaded it....but I have been denied so far by both Xbox and PS for a refund.

On PS5 what es me off is that the game is flagged on the Store as PS5 PRO enhanced...but comparing the PS5 PRO version versus Xbox Series X it is identical...no better frame rate, no better resolution, not better lighting etc. Why is it advertised as PS5 PRO enhanced if it is NOT????

Usually a sequel to a game is better but not in this case. Every time I "try" to play it I get discouraged due to the bugs, lack of good controls to do things (how can this be if the first game on Console played fantastic with a controller??).

 

[Chief Burning Socks]

I so agree with everything you posted right in the first place, Caffiend. I feel with you and sadly already refunded.

Like I've said in previous posts, I'm really not trying to be mean.

It is just a huge deep disappointment about a developer and game series we loved so much. Or at least the question: "What happened?" .And there are so many out there feeling the same. They want to love the game. I want to love it. But in its current state with the feeling of an unfinished product which could have been just a fine Early Access release, I can't.
And I still don't understand how the game passed through testing and how the developer might thought "Hey, it is solid enough to full release."

But I'm not going to keep feeding the hand that bites me.

Right!

Edit: The lack of communication from them on the above issues is also in of itself a problem. If you folks at Frontier agree that any of these things above are a problem, you should talk about them NOW when the iron is hot.

That's it. With everyday passing by with no clear communication I feel like I don't care anymore about the game.

 

[jillio]

It hasn't even been a week (and most of it over a weekend). You all need to chill and understand how long things to take to get through the dev cycle.

The communications manager (or community manager) is not going to want to put out a bunch of communications if they are still soaking in the launch, making a list of bugs and important suggestions, and preparing for upcoming updates or DLC announcements.

The "I've got to have it perfect now at launch" attitude was for games in the 90's that didn't have a way to be updated. Have some patience. Play some updated Factorio or something while you wait, and stop panicking about a game that has barely been released. Or stop buying games at launch! Wait til they simmer and have a few updates before you decide to refund an entire game based on the few days its been out.

- Former Video Game Community Manager / Producer

 

[Sclurp]

It hasn't even been a week (and most of it over a weekend). You all need to chill and understand how long things to take to get through the dev cycle.

The communications manager (or community manager) is not going to want to put out a bunch of communications if they are still soaking in the launch, making a list of bugs and important suggestions, and preparing for upcoming updates or DLC announcements.

The "I've got to have it perfect now at launch" attitude was for games in the 90's that didn't have a way to be updated. Have some patience. Play some updated Factorio or something while you wait, and stop panicking about a game that has barely been released. Or stop buying games at launch! Wait til they simmer and have a few updates before you decide to refund an entire game based on the few days its been out.

- Former Video Game Community Manager / Producer

Pfft, how about no?

The game is barely functional and Frontier need to communicate with people who have spent £55 on it with some urgency.
No one is asking for immediate fixes.

 

[David K]

It hasn't even been a week (and most of it over a weekend). You all need to chill and understand how long things to take to get through the dev cycle.

The communications manager (or community manager) is not going to want to put out a bunch of communications if they are still soaking in the launch, making a list of bugs and important suggestions, and preparing for upcoming updates or DLC announcements.

The "I've got to have it perfect now at launch" attitude was for games in the 90's that didn't have a way to be updated. Have some patience. Play some updated Factorio or something while you wait, and stop panicking about a game that has barely been released. Or stop buying games at launch! Wait til they simmer and have a few updates before you decide to refund an entire game based on the few days its been out.

- Former Video Game Community Manager / Producer

As a software developer myself, I actually concur with a lot of this. Patches/Fixes take time to develop and QA. Most reputable dev companies will not communicate resolves until they have been QA'ed, because that can be a bit of a vicious cycle of regression testing, passing back to Dev, so on and so forth.

That being said, I definitely notice the difference in the community management side of things from PC1. With the constant communication from Bo, being part of the Coaster Head club, and community involvement, PC1 definitely felt more inclusive and informative. While I understand them not communicating specific fixes, they could be giving more updates in the way of "Hey, we are looking into this" so on and so forth.

I love the Planet franchise too much, and have seen the awesomeness of the two previous games growing into what they became. From my days of growing up with RCT1 to being a part of the very early Alpha of PC1 and how that game evolved from it's early versions. I would not refund this game, I have faith they will work out the problems. And in the mean time, I am still having fun playing it as it is, even more so knowing it will continue to get better. But, the state of the game right now feels like it did when the Alpha started for PC1. This game needed some more time in the oven. It'll get there though.

 

[jillio]

Pfft, how about no?

The game is barely functional and Frontier need to communicate with people who have spent £55 on it with some urgency.
No one is asking for immediate fixes.

I am so glad I am out of community management. The game is very playable. Your experience is not everyone's. Sorry to hear you have found it more difficult.

The way they have fixed pathing and their updates to the engine are going to give this game a stable footing that the first never had. I wish the game was bigger at this point too, but I have patience and time to allow the developers to properly understand their launch, the game's issues, the customer's needs, and the timeline they have in front of them.

Gamers have become so aggressively needy for instant gratification. It took years to get PL1 to the state it is in now and even it is difficult to play because Planet Zoo came out with a variety of cleaner mechanics.

I understand developers need to make money, have timelines set by their executives and budgets, and will communicate with their fans when they have better answers. Fudging bad responses is worse than taking the time to respond at all.

 

[jillio]

As a software developer myself, I actually concur with a lot of this. Patches/Fixes take time to develop and QA. Most reputable dev companies will not communicate resolves until they have been QA'ed, because that can be a bit of a vicious cycle of regression testing, passing back to Dev, so on and so forth.

That being said, I definitely notice the difference in the community management side of things from PC1. With the constant communication from Bo, being part of the Coaster Head club, and community involvement, PC1 definitely felt more inclusive and informative. While I understand them not communicating specific fixes, they could be giving more updates in the way of "Hey, we are looking into this" so on and so forth.

I love the Planet franchise too much, and have seen the awesomeness of the two previous games growing into what they became. From my days of growing up with RCT1 to being a part of the very early Alpha of PC1 and how that game evolved from it's early versions. I would not refund this game, I have faith they will work out the problems. And in the mean time, I am still having fun playing it as it is, even more so knowing it will continue to get better. But, the state of the game right now feels like it did when the Alpha started for PC1. This game needed some more time in the oven. It'll get there though.

The Game Industry is suffering a bit and removing their lower paid employees is usually the first step in a reduction of staff/costs.

Sometimes newer (and even experienced) community managers can be overwhelmed with such a large launch. Especially if it didn't go as planned or there is a huge amount of feedback and bugs that are reported. You'd be surprised at what doesn't get found (including solutions or origins of bugs) before a launch.

I think the entire industry (unless you are a small studio that has yet to be consumed or collapsed) is going to be suffering from a giant reduction in force, and suffer all-around with things like a lack of communication for the next few years until the industry feels safe enough to hire the appropriate number of staff again.

 

[Chief Burning Socks]

The "I've got to have it perfect now at launch"

It is not about a "perfect" game at launch, it is about at least a solid game. It just feels like an early access state. And I guess with an early access release the complaints would be much less. It has potential. But it is clearly a mess. And I still can't imagine that no one from the developer recognized it and they expected an overall positive feedback.

While I understand them not communicating specific fixes, they could be giving more updates in the way of "Hey, we are looking into this" so on and so forth.

That's it. Just something like "hey, we hear you" or "we know".

I understand developers need to make money, have timelines set by their executives and budgets

I understand as well and nothing wrong with that. But I don't pay full price for have baked games anymore. Again, would have this been an early access release I would understand everything about the overall gaming experience (it is not about minor bugs or personal taste in color saturation)

 

[Leaf Productions]

listen i understand that people have frustrations with this game, i do too, believe me, the controls are like trying to walk through peanut butter half the time from the flexicolor "confirmation" button to the multiselect being a bit broken, to a few other things, but at the end of the day, i really don't think the game is as egregiously terrible as everyone says it is. i am more than happy to speak my mind regardless if i received the game for free or not but after 90 hours, completing the campaign, doing a franchise park, and a few sandbox projects along the way, it's certainly better than planet coaster 1 in so many ways. i can understand frustrations with the game but maybe i'm unfortunately accepting the fact that live service with updates over time is the current standard for games nowadays and certain that we'll see improvements sooner rather than later, but idk, it's a fun game. it's broken a little bit but i still have a lot of fun with it. again, really wish this stuff was addressed beforehand, as i brought up a plethora of issues during that early access 2 hour bit, many of which arent addressed still, but the game still is playable, idk just my silly little thoughts

 

[Sclurp]

I am so glad I am out of community management. The game is very playable. Your experience is not everyone's. Sorry to hear you have found it more difficult.

The way they have fixed pathing and their updates to the engine are going to give this game a stable footing that the first never had. I wish the game was bigger at this point too, but I have patience and time to allow the developers to properly understand their launch, the game's issues, the customer's needs, and the timeline they have in front of them.

Gamers have become so aggressively needy for instant gratification. It took years to get PL1 to the state it is in now and even it is difficult to play because Planet Zoo came out with a variety of cleaner mechanics.

I understand developers need to make money, have timelines set by their executives and budgets, and will communicate with their fans when they have better answers. Fudging bad responses is worse than taking the time to respond at all.

Listen, I appreciate you have a personal experience in this industry that makes you sympathetic towards what individual teams might be going through in the Frontier office. But the fact of the matter is, despite however much you personally are ok with the PC2 experience, the first game launched in an alpha state with the understanding that fans of the genre were funding its development.
I paid more than the retail price to help Frontier along and I gave feedback for every update they rolled out. Was happy to.

This is not the same situation. They've marketed and priced this title as a 1.0 launch. Ready to go. And it has endless problems. They've pushed it out early before it's finished and expect players to be their QA team.
I know fixes won't come particularly quickly but this situation should not have happened in the first place. It's not like it's a few bugs here and there.
There are key features of this sequel that just outright do not work. There are things in the game that make no sense. That are badly desgined. With everything together making this launch a disaster in my opinion.

They've destroyed their reputation in my eyes and you would think they would have learned a lesson from how Elite Dangerous Odyssey went.

Time for accountability and to actually speak to the people who spent money on this game. We are in an age of games releasing too early but that doesn't mean it's ok. I feel like they've conned us.

 

[Sclurp]

listen i understand that people have frustrations with this game, i do too, believe me, the controls are like trying to walk through peanut butter half the time from the flexicolor "confirmation" button to the multiselect being a bit broken, to a few other things, but at the end of the day, i really don't think the game is as egregiously terrible as everyone says it is. i am more than happy to speak my mind regardless if i received the game for free or not but after 90 hours, completing the campaign, doing a franchise park, and a few sandbox projects along the way, it's certainly better than planet coaster 1 in so many ways. i can understand frustrations with the game but maybe i'm unfortunately accepting the fact that live service with updates over time is the current standard for games nowadays and certain that we'll see improvements sooner rather than later, but idk, it's a fun game. it's broken a little bit but i still have a lot of fun with it. again, really wish this stuff was addressed beforehand, as i brought up a plethora of issues during that early access 2 hour bit, many of which arent addressed still, but the game still is playable, idk just my silly little thoughts

With respect, you spend most of your time, as a content creator, working on builds and I expect you have a more enjoyable time with the game because you are getting out of it what you need.
Most people are not playing the game in the same fashion as you are, for as long.
I don't know what the objective is here with coming into this post and telling people who are disappointed in this terrible launch 'ah thats just the state of the industry'

Frontier need to get their act together. I paid for the game. I didn't get a free copy.