SCL: Stumbled coming out of the gate or simply fallen on it's face?

[Jester David]

Finally decided I should go live with my review:
http://www.5mwd.com/archives/3120

Extra curious when many of those high reviews all say the same thing: "The voice acting is great!" Odd thing to measure a game by, to say the least.

Which is weird, because it was amateur hour at the voice actor factory. There's not even an IMDb page.
Which is ironic given: https://twitter.com/matthewmercer/status/565976368198873088

 

[Warmaster Horus]

I preordered and will keep it since it can be a little bit of a time waster. If run the 'right' way, with a crew of people who have hours to play together, complete with DM to keep the story rolling, it can be okay. I'm also waiting to see what happens with any updates or modding. But yeah, all said and done it spent its' wad on fighting and put nearly nothing into creating interesting story frameworks. The fact that it's sold as 5e when it really has very little to do with 5e is a farce. Probably my biggest gripe is the 'level-less' monster system. Beating beholders at 1st level and being beaten by a handful of goblins at 10th just feels wrong to me.

 

[Jester David]

State of the Game post is out:
https://swordcoast.com/content/sword-coast-legends-state-game

Summary "wait, we have fixes coming. By December the game should be how it should have worked at launch!!"
And they have the Rage of Demons module coming out at some point, which means it might be released closer to the next storyline.
It might get better, but the game is unlikely to catch the public eye again, nor warrant a second round of reviews.

Metacritic gave it a 63 while users gave it a 5.4:
http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/sword-coast-legends

However there's a curious number of really high reviews on the game. That always seem to match the negative reviews in number. And all posted by people whose only review & rating is Sword Coast Legends. Which is curious to say the least.

Since I wrote this there have been 3 or 4 more negative reviews posted. Each time, within a few hours, there's another positive review countering the negative.
It really feels like something hinky is going on there.

 

[darjr]

Yea, it does seem weird. Like they are trying to keep it at just above a 50% rating. What happens on Steam if it drops below that 50%?

 

[Dire Bare]

Finally decided I should go live with my review:
http://www.5mwd.com/archives/3120


Which is weird, because it was amateur hour at the voice actor factory. There's not even an IMDb page.
Which is ironic given: https://twitter.com/matthewmercer/status/565976368198873088

I enjoyed the voice acting! Or, at least, the voice acting I've heard so far, I'm not nearly as far into the game as you are. While I'm not as disappointed as you are with the game, I like your review, it's very thorough and fair!

 

[Uder]

Yea, it does seem weird. Like they are trying to keep it at just above a 50% rating. What happens on Steam if it drops below that 50%?

I don't think anything happens on Steam. Steam will only take down games if they are active scams for the most part. They'll still take their 30% of revenue (BTW, if that number bothers you, Humble Store only takes a 5% cut and you still get Steam keys).

The problem is with publishing. Some contracts may have a bonus contingent on a certain Metascore. Publishers may not want to touch your next product if you have a long string of low scores, or even one particular stinker. NSpace churns out licensed products and sequels, so maybe Metascore ratings don't matter so much in that particular sausage factory.

 

[Jester David]

The main isometric competitor for SCL right now is the Enhanced Edition of Divinity: Original Sin. How's that doing in comparison. Well metacritic has it as an 89 & 8.3:
http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/divinity-original-sin-enhanced-edition

And even with the weekend play boost Sword Coast Legends hasn't managed to recapture it's initial release play numbers:
http://steamcharts.com/app/325600#1m

Meanwhile, Divinity is sneaking up in numbers:
http://steamcharts.com/app/373420#48h
Despite 20k people already having played the game:
http://steamcharts.com/app/230230

It really doesn't look good for the game unless they have a tonne of improvements fast, great word of mouth, and a Steam sale that captures attention.

 

[Dire Bare]

The main isometric competitor for SCL right now is the Enhanced Edition of Divinity: Original Sin. How's that doing in comparison. Well metacritic has it as an 89 & 8.3:
http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/divinity-original-sin-enhanced-edition

And even with the weekend play boost Sword Coast Legends hasn't managed to recapture it's initial release play numbers:
http://steamcharts.com/app/325600#1m

Meanwhile, Divinity is sneaking up in numbers:
http://steamcharts.com/app/373420#48h
Despite 20k people already having played the game:
http://steamcharts.com/app/230230

It really doesn't look good for the game unless they have a tonne of improvements fast, great word of mouth, and a Steam sale that captures attention.

I'm not worried. Divinity by all means is an awesome game (don't have it yet, but its on my wishlist). But I could care less how games rank against each other. The low reviews and play numbers for SCL is a bummer all by itself, regardless of how well other similar games are doing. And like other have said, classic D&D titles like Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights had rough launches and are only remembered as classics over time (and many patches, updates, and expansions).

If N-Space just crosses their fingers and hope for the best, yeah, SCL won't stick around long. But they are already responding to gamer criticism and will be actively supporting the game through the end of the year at least, and probably easily well into 2016. We'll see how it goes!

It would have been cool if N-Space could have delivered a game right out of the gate that knocked everybody's socks off, with glowing comparisons to classics like Baldur's Gate and modern games like Divinity. But the doom-and-gloom talk is premature. And, ultimately, if SCL slides into obscurity without finding a lasting audience, it won't be a tragedy, just a missed opportunity and a bit of a longer wait until somebody does finally knock a D&D title out of the park!

In the meantime, I'm having fun with the game!

 

[Noctem]

I've played SCL. It is an "ok" game. Voice acting isn't great, bugs everywhere, we were promised 5e ruleset which was not delivered AT ALL, DM tools are a joke, etc.. I would give the game 3/10. I requested a refund as well but because I spent 4 hours trying to make the game work (crashes) and trying out the DM tools / online only to realize how bad the game is and how much it's not what was promised I was refused by STEAM. I'll be trying again over the phone and any other means possible and if those don't work I'll be going through my bank ASAP. I bought the deluxe edition of this game. Total regret.

 

[Dire Bare]

I've played SCL. It is an "ok" game. Voice acting isn't great, bugs everywhere, we were promised 5e ruleset which was not delivered AT ALL, DM tools are a joke, etc.. I would give the game 3/10. I requested a refund as well but because I spent 4 hours trying to make the game work (crashes) and trying out the DM tools / online only to realize how bad the game is and how much it's not what was promised I was refused by STEAM. I'll be trying again over the phone and any other means possible and if those don't work I'll be going through my bank ASAP. I bought the deluxe edition of this game. Total regret.

When you purchase a game, or other piece of art, and find yourself disappointed in the quality, you do not deserve a refund. That is part of the risk of purchase, and to badger a company for a refund is poor form (customer service people hate you).

If you purchase a movie (DVD, Blu-Ray, streaming, or at the theater) and decide it was a crappy movie, is the retailer going to give you a refund? No. Nor should they.

If you purchase a novel, read it part way, and decide it's terrible, will the bookstore give you a refund? Nope.

Likewise when you purchase a computer game, and decide it's lousy, do you deserve a refund? No.

Now if the game claims it works on your device, but it doesn't, that's refund-worthy. Or if they game truly is broken, incomplete, or not-as-advertised, those are refund worthy situations. But SCL is not broken, incomplete, or not-as-advertised. A bunch of folks are unhappy with the quality of the game and it's adventure creation tools, but that's not the same thing.

It sucks to drop $40-60 on a new game only to find it's crap-ware. But such is life. This probably wasn't the first disappointing game you've purchased, and it certainly won't be the last.