Vertical Slice. Gamers should learn the meaning sooner then later.

[LarZen]

I quote this from a webpage called Whatgamesare.com And you can just google Vertical Slice for more explanations.

"A vertical slice is a portion of a game which acts as a proof of concept for stakeholders before they agree to fund the rest. It is not the same thing as a prototype in that it is expected to look of final quality and play like the final game. It is like asking to see a piece of the final cake before agreeing to pay for the whole.

Requests for vertical slices are a key sign that your stakeholder (publisher, investor, whomever) has no idea what game making actually involves and is likely harboring many misconceptions about the process. The reason is that what seems like 10% of the content and therefore 10% of the effort is actually more like 70% of the effort.

Those who desire to see vertical slices make the mistake of thinking of game development as a pure production exercise, which of course it is not, and will likely misunderstand what further development will entail. Vertical slices are also simply not achievable in many kinds of game. "

So the sooner gamers learn what this means. And have this in mind when watching conferences at E3 next month. The better everyone will be for it.

Do you now understand why The Witcher 3 don't look like at E3?

[GESTALT]

So the concept was bait and switch... well, I knew that before. Thanks anyway.

[LarZen]

It's basically a concept a vision and a demonstration. Not representing the final product in any way. Something we gamers over and over again have gotten burned on.

And it's something the should be clearly explained. I wish that on events like E3 that developers are better at marking vertical slices that it is a concept and not actual game footage.

[Ðurzo]

Yeah everyone does this. You come up with a proof of concept and build the game around it the best you can.

Take a look at the initial FFXI concept:

http://static1.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1280/12809530/2848483-ffxiv_2_0_concept.jpg

Of course, the game looks nothing like that but they claim it was the quality they were shooting for...

[Critical Rocket]

Not a bait and switch, but something developers need to more clearly label at events like E3 so the majority know what a vertical slice is compared to actual gameplay footage. Like Svein Olav said, its something gamer's have been burned on for years now. But despite the OP's post the thread will still be full of the usual crowd of mouth breathers anyway.

[GESTALT]

Well, ok. I get it. I'm not as stupid as I am pretending to be. I give you credit for your attempt at being reasonable. But - it's not that one fact that the visuals have changed, it's that the people concerned about it were repeatedly lied to, that discussions in the official forums were deleted, people banned for asking mere questions and.. and... and. What's happening right now is just the only way of paying them back. They will still sell, and people will still buy. But they - and not only they - will remember this "sh*tstorm" and, PR effect aside, they - and not only they - will never stop asking themselves if they couldn't have sold more if it didn't went down that road. Maybe, just maybe, there will be even some things in terms of visual quality being done, because of the ruckus going on because of this. That's what this is about.

[Snouby]

Origineel geplaatst door Lobotomite:

Well, ok. I get it. I'm not as stupid as I am pretending to be. I give you credit for your attempt at being reasonable. But - it's not that one fact that the visuals have changed, it's that the people concerned about it were repeatedly lied to, that discussions in the official forums were deleted, people banned for asking mere questions and.. and... and. What's happening right now is just the only way of paying them back. They will still sell, and people will still buy. But they - and not only they - will remember this "♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥" and, PR effect aside, they - and not only they - will never stop asking themselves if they couldn't have sold more if it didn't went down that road. Maybe, just maybe, there will be even some things in erms of visual quality being done, because of the ruckus going on because of this. That's what this is about.

That and they always touted their game for being mind blowing graphically. Even in the interviews before concern was raised they never hinted it wouldn't be the case. Thus we got a game hyped to hell on 2 sides :one was the size of it wich seems to stay true to their words, the other were the graphics wich are totally downgraded and look worse than my modded skyrim zzzz.

Since 15 % of the players finished their witcher 2 games *and games in general btw* you can see what was the selling points for the majority of gamers that will buy it. Believe it or not we are in the minority on the forums here and don't represent the average buyer at all.

Of course a game can change during developpement, but it still a fallacy when the graphic are different to that extent.

[Snouby]

Origineel geplaatst door Didio:

Awww poor babies. Didn't get your cookies and cream....There's just no getting though to these dim wits that just want to ♥♥♥♥♥ and moan until the end of time about everything.

Man up and stop ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ about something that doesn't ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ matter.

You seem way more salty and a baby than those making well constructed posts, so far only you whined here. But that's ok mommy will tuck you in your bed soon enough.
Take some of your own medecine? ^^

[Critical Rocket]

Origineel geplaatst door Lobotomite:

Well, ok. I get it. I'm not as stupid as I am pretending to be. I give you credit for your attempt at being reasonable. But - it's not that one fact that the visuals have changed, it's that the people concerned about it were repeatedly lied to, that discussions in the official forums were deleted, people banned for asking mere questions and.. and... and. What's happening right now is just the only way of paying them back. They will still sell, and people will still buy. But they - and not only they - will remember this "sh*tstorm" and, PR effect aside, they - and not only they - will never stop asking themselves if they couldn't have sold more if it didn't went down that road. Maybe, just maybe, there will be even some things in erms of visual quality being done, because of the ruckus going on because of this. That's what this is about.

I agree that the actions of mods to remove certain threads that didn't get out of hand and were reasonable in their discussion is the wrong way to go about interacting with a community. Deleting threads make sense if too many of the same topic keep creeping up, it just causes arguments constantly, like the discussion board here.

CDPR will no doubt be looking at this situation and making sure it doesn't happen again but for the Witcher 3 they will weather the storm simply because they know it will sell well and they can ride the wave of critical acclaim until they need to hype the expansion DLC in a few months time.

I personally think people are blowing this out of proportion, though that isn't to say people aren't allowed to be disappointed or annoyed by the changes made. The E3 demo videos should have made it clear that the footage wasn't final or was at least work in progress, then they could have defended the changes a bit better. This isn't a situation like colonial marines however and people need to make that distinction. To say it is, is simply a lie.