As a Long-Time Player, This Update Is a Huge Letdown

[etleung9394]

First off, as a veteran player of Predator: Hunting Grounds, I pre-ordered this game when it first came out on PlayStation. I've been playing for years and even recommended it to many friends. Despite its imperfections, I've had a lot of fun with this game. But this update has been a massive disappointment. As a PlayStation player, having to pay again for the upgrade and essentially buy the game anew on PS5 is frustrating. Even worse, the PS4 version can't connect with the new version. And PC players get a free upgrade while we don't? That's just unfair.
Also, even with the so-called next-gen upgrade for PS5, I don't see any significant improvements in graphics. What's worse is that some basic bugs, which weren't there before, have now resurfaced. For example, in-game audio is completely missing at times, and audio cues are crucial for tracking enemies. It's shocking that such fundamental bugs are present after all this time, and they weren't addressed immediately despite being reported on day one.

Furthermore, there are some basic issues that any online game developer should be aware of, yet they haven't been addressed even after years. For instance, if a player in the matchmaking queue doesn't hit the 'ready' button in the lobby, the game won't start the countdown. If that player goes AFK, everyone is stuck, unable to start the game, which is incredibly frustrating. Additionally, if the Predator character leaves mid-game, the match continues, making the experience dull and unrewarding, yet we are forced to finish the game. Lastly, in the new next-gen update, the game often freezes at the end, preventing us from receiving our XP rewards. It's embarrassing to advocate for this game to friends, only to face these issues during matchmaking and connectivity, letting down loyal supporters.

Lastly, I hope the developers can truly acknowledge the support of long-time players and not let us down. This game has great potential, especially among fans of the Predator franchise. It could be so much better. Please don’t let it become a dead game too soon. We have supported you with our hard-earned money, even paying for an upgrade that offers little value. It's unfair to PlayStation players, yet we chose to support you. I believe the developers should listen to our feedback and work towards improving the game.

[Divisionario]

Originally posted by etleung9394:

First off, as a veteran player of Predator: Hunting Grounds, I pre-ordered this game when it first came out on PlayStation. I've been playing for years and even recommended it to many friends. Despite its imperfections, I've had a lot of fun with this game. But this update has been a massive disappointment. As a PlayStation player, having to pay again for the upgrade and essentially buy the game anew on PS5 is frustrating. Even worse, the PS4 version can't connect with the new version. And PC players get a free upgrade while we don't? That's just unfair.
Also, even with the so-called next-gen upgrade for PS5, I don't see any significant improvements in graphics. What's worse is that some basic bugs, which weren't there before, have now resurfaced. For example, in-game audio is completely missing at times, and audio cues are crucial for tracking enemies. It's shocking that such fundamental bugs are present after all this time, and they weren't addressed immediately despite being reported on day one.

Furthermore, there are some basic issues that any online game developer should be aware of, yet they haven't been addressed even after years. For instance, if a player in the matchmaking queue doesn't hit the 'ready' button in the lobby, the game won't start the countdown. If that player goes AFK, everyone is stuck, unable to start the game, which is incredibly frustrating. Additionally, if the Predator character leaves mid-game, the match continues, making the experience dull and unrewarding, yet we are forced to finish the game. Lastly, in the new next-gen update, the game often freezes at the end, preventing us from receiving our XP rewards. It's embarrassing to advocate for this game to friends, only to face these issues during matchmaking and connectivity, letting down loyal supporters.

Lastly, I hope the developers can truly acknowledge the support of long-time players and not let us down. This game has great potential, especially among fans of the Predator franchise. It could be so much better. Please don’t let it become a dead game too soon. We have supported you with our hard-earned money, even paying for an upgrade that offers little value. It's unfair to PlayStation players, yet we chose to support you. I believe the developers should listen to our feedback and work towards improving the game.

+1

[Spicy Messiah]

Originally posted by etleung9394:

First off, as a veteran player of Predator: Hunting Grounds, I pre-ordered this game when it first came out on PlayStation. I've been playing for years and even recommended it to many friends. Despite its imperfections, I've had a lot of fun with this game. But this update has been a massive disappointment. As a PlayStation player, having to pay again for the upgrade and essentially buy the game anew on PS5 is frustrating.

I mean, a few things I could say on this:

1. It might be more Sony's decision. They're notorious about getting their money and have spent years blocking crossplay attempts in many popular games. They initially published the game, while Illfonic was the developer.

2. A PS4 costs less than the average PC build required to run the game at epic settings above 1080p by a bit. Yeah, you might have rebought the game, but you also paid less to get in the door years ago. I actually owned the game on both PS4 and PC, with no cross progression enabled. For what I spent on my GPU at the height of the microchip shortage, I could buy three PS4s and extra controllers for each. Saying it's unfair is being a bit myopic to the circumstances. Yeah, I spent the money, because I find gaming to be a hobby I can and will throw money at. Which is why I find complaints about spending money on an optional hobby to be kind of silly. No one forces you to buy this stuff.

3. PC gamers get unoptimized console ports all the time, have to deal with component price spikes or shortages, a rig that has dozens of programs running on it at all times that might have issues or conflict with one another, and dealing with multiple digital platforms to get access to the game libraries we have.

As a PS4 player, you just turn on the button, watch shiny, and everything is streamlined for you. You also can sign up for a subscription service that gives you access to tons of free content (which I would know; I had it for years), retro games via streaming and more. Pro subscribers also get free content for popular games as well, similar to Twitch, and some of that content is normally paid or even exclusive. And we had to wait how long for Ghost of Tsushima?

I'm not trying to invalidate your complaints, but context is important. It's not all just unfairness to you. The gaming industry is rife with unfairness. Simply being a longtime fan of this game doesn't entitle you to any special treatment, is all I'm saying.

Even worse, the PS4 version can't connect with the new version. And PC players get a free upgrade while we don't? That's just unfair.

See above. PC players probably spent more on their components than you did on everything that you use to play your PS4. And still don't get solid FPS like you do because of optimization. This big patch is the first time I've had solid frames on Predator on PC ever.

Also, even with the so-called next-gen upgrade for PS5, I don't see any significant improvements in graphics.

I mean, what tv are you playing on? If it's not a decent 4k tv with higher refresh rate, you won't see much difference. If I play a blu-ray disc on a CTV from 1995, it's not going to look better than VHS either. Again, context.

What's worse is that some basic bugs, which weren't there before, have now resurfaced. For example, in-game audio is completely missing at times, and audio cues are crucial for tracking enemies. It's shocking that such fundamental bugs are present after all this time, and they weren't addressed immediately despite being reported on day one.

I haven't had these issues before or since patch. Are these console issues?

Furthermore, there are some basic issues that any online game developer should be aware of, yet they haven't been addressed even after years. For instance, if a player in the matchmaking queue doesn't hit the 'ready' button in the lobby, the game won't start the countdown. If that player goes AFK, everyone is stuck, unable to start the game, which is incredibly frustrating.

I'm getting fireteam matches faster than I can drink from my coffee in between matches. Just quit and relobby. I've seen this issue like twice in 70+ hours of this game.

Additionally, if the Predator character leaves mid-game, the match continues, making the experience dull and unrewarding, yet we are forced to finish the game.

It's free XP, and sometimes people want the experience or the collectibles, or they want progress towards achievements like extractions, shooting branches, or even weekly challenges. Plus the Predator is still in the match if you want to kill him, you just need to find where he DC'd. This is a pretty petty complaint, considering it's not just your fun at stake here. I've had matches where coward Predators spam bow shots and plasma casters from branches until everyone's dead; I'll take an XP farm match now and again.

Lastly, in the new next-gen update, the game often freezes at the end, preventing us from receiving our XP rewards. It's embarrassing to advocate for this game to friends, only to face these issues during matchmaking and connectivity, letting down loyal supporters.

This is a valid complaint and I hope it's addressed. Never had it myself on PC, so I can't speak for it at all. Console issue? PC issue? How often? What steps have been done to address it? Is the game running on an NVME? Did you revalidate files after patch because of various issues?

Context is really helpful if you intend to complain. Everyone has a right to complain, but to provide some measure of what you're doing to figure it out is what separates a valid complaint and constructive criticism from just whining.

Lastly, I hope the developers can truly acknowledge the support of long-time players and not let us down. This game has great potential, especially among fans of the Predator franchise. It could be so much better. Please don’t let it become a dead game too soon. We have supported you with our hard-earned money, even paying for an upgrade that offers little value. It's unfair to PlayStation players, yet we chose to support you. I believe the developers should listen to our feedback and work towards improving the game.

As a long time player of Smite on PC and PS4, who never got Sony to approve crossplay and lost purchase progress upon switching to PC so I could game with a larger crowd... I get the frustration.

But that frustration doesn't entitle you to anything. Sony is notoriously vicious about getting their claws into any money they can. Most games for PS4 didn't have crossplay at all, or if they did it took years. Numerous games I rebought for PC because I switched platforms and that necessitated progress loss, redoing tedious content, or even level grinding. It sucks.

But really, it's still whining. Lots of people suffered through it. Complaints about bugs that need addressing are valid and, after appropriate troubleshooting has been done, should be forwarded to the appropriate support channels for help.

Still, at the end of the day, if you're just a console player complaining about not getting free stuff, that I can't agree with. Everyone gets screwed in the industry, and bleating about it doesn't entitle you to anything special. If it did, these forums would be full of e-beggars all trying to score free prizes besides clown points.