Putting influencers in the game feels icky at first… but I know that in the end it won’t matter, as I won’t even know what characters are the ones interpreted by them (or at least, I wouldn’t if I wouldn’t have read about it on the news).
CDP are fans of Cohh and Cox and figured why not do something cool with them?
But yeah let’s be cynical, it’s in vogue these days
GAME IS TERRIBLE. DEVELOPER DISTRACTS WITH COLOURFUL CHAIR.
Heh yeah, I agree with Gordon that casting a streamer is waaaaay down the list of things I actually care about. Not a fan of it, but it won’t impact my decision to support them and I can’t imagine it’s going to be something I really notice once playing - I trust CDPR would cut the character if his performance is truly awful.
It hasn’t been an issue for me in past. I didn’t care when Dan Ryckert was in L.A. Noire or when I interacted with Colin Moriarty in Fallout 3 as I had no idea who they were. I’m still excited for the game, but I find the prospect of seeing the likeness of big streamers in the game a little immersion breaking.
I definitely agree with Gordon that in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter.
I’m still annoyed at those NPCs in Pillars of Eternity that have nothing to do with the game and are just callouts to backers. Not that it was ‘corrupt’ mind you (I’m sure it was all laid out quite forthrightly in the Kickstarter campaign), just that it took you right out of the game.
Oh yeah, I thought it was some kind of puzzle when I started playing.
“Maybe I’ll understand what they’re saying when I learn a code or a different language later in the game”. Then someone on the forums told me it was backers, and I was pretty pissed every time I ran into one. I didn’t make it very far in the game.
I don’t expect Keanu Reeves will review the game or play it for hours on a public stream all while going on about how he’s gonna kick it honest with his viewers.
I know I’m old man yelling at clouds about this, but I’ve never liked the booster gifts or swag for reviewers.
Not trying to pick on you or make a statement here, but I genuinely don’t know how you have the spare energy to notice or care about this right now. I can’t even appreciate the momentary return to frivolity.
I have an abundance of persnickitiness!
Don’t most review sites have rules about gifts over a certain monetary value? Obviously this is not relevant for people with their own youtube channel or twitch streamers or whatever, but I’m pretty sure accepting that chair would be a big no-no for an IGN employee, for example.
As long as people aren’t sitting in that chair giving a scored review for the game, I don’t really have an issue. It’s a trivially cheap (in relation to the marketing budget of a project this size) way to build some hype and good will amongst “influencers”, and almost certainly has a good ROI as far as their marketing dollars go.
ZeTh1
1801
I don’t care about chairs or other free things for streamers, reviewers, whatever. Journalism in gaming has never been real journalism, it’s just a bunch of people talking about (grown-ups) toys so I never expected the rigours of journalism from them.
I only care about gameplay and I hope they improved it compared to the Witcher games…
Tim_N
1802
I really don’t get this, for grown-up toy reviews to be in any way useful they need to be honest to their own subjective opinions. If they aren’t, there’s no way to read them and get any insight into whether the gameplay has been improved compared to the Witcher games, for instance. Noone is expecting game reviewers to uncover the next watergate, but they really should not be corrupt. It’s a low bar to clear.
With that said, anyone watching a stream or lets play in this day and age and expecting a completely impartial assessment is almost always setting themselves up for failure. Part of it is economics, there just isn’t enough money to sustain a living for 98% of people interested in doing this work. So they accept help whenever they can get it, and gravitate towards games that can attract viewers whether they like them or not. You just need to go into a lets play / stream with that in mind.
ZeTh1
1803
We just have different views. I see gaming journalists as influencers, not journalists. Some reviewers blatantly try to sell the game they are reviewing. Others are more sophisticated in promoting it. And others offer their honest views. It’s up to me to decide who is full of shit and who isn’t(in the words of the great George Carlin “takes about 8 seconds”).
Because they’re not cool, and it takes away from the experience of the game (for me)? I would hate if they put Ninja and Shroud in there as well.
What I don’t get with the chairs and the influencers is that this is just CDP wasting money. The game is hyped beyond belief already, so they don’t need to do this shit. Thy’re basically flushing away the €60 I paid them for pre-ordering the game, and personally I’m not a fan of it.
KevinC
1805
I don’t know of any business that would say “Welp, I think it’s hyped enough” and stop hyping as they get closer to release.
Counterpoint: Uploading the digital likeness of a streamer shill into your electronic videogame is 100% immersive cyberpunk.
And even cyberpunks need to sit somewhere?
Just you guys wait, for all we know Tom could be in this, probably teaching Keanu Reeves how to play a boardgame in the game. ;)
