This is just a theory, but I believe the puzzles are starting to fit in place now. Please hear me out.
With the quest to make more money, Ubisoft looked to the C.O.D franchise model as their ticket to do this. The big elephant in the room was the MP IGE. Farcry players created their own downloadable maps to play on, whereas C.O.D players paid for theirs thru downloadable content. So prior to FC3, executives were brainstorming ways to stop this. They couldn't just stop the MP IGE for FC3, that would be too obvious. The best way to do this was to cause frustration/attitudes toward the MP IGE. What better way to do this than create a broken lobby system for FC3 and then pretend to try to fix things. You don't go from a great lobby system (FC2) to a broken one, without having a motive to do this. Now that the mapping community as become frustrated/fractured, the MP IGE will get abandoned. The plan worked beautifully. Now instead of doing something drastic (taking something away that worked great in FC2), they now have "data" to back up their decision to not include the MP IGE in FC4. The "data" shows that the MP IGE was not popular said the developer of the IGE. The proof is in the "created data". Now the door is open for the DLC. Gamers of multiplayer will say, "I'm tried of playing on the same maps!" No problem, for $$ you can download new maps for the game. C.O.D here we come!
I hope I'm proven wrong, I really do love the FC series! There's a lot of people out there that doesn't want to leave, but are at the tipping point now. GTAV or some other games could easily tap into your base of fans (mappers/players) and give us what we want. Please prove my theory wrong and let the good times roll again.
It's possible. However, you can still have MP IGE and new map DLC as well. Many people don't even touch the map editor, and only play the stock maps - so those people would still buy the new map packs. In addition, Ubisoft could release DLC with new map editor items and components.
Just look at Trials Fusion - which coincidentally is also a Ubisoft title. That game has a fully featured IGE. Their DLC includes new stock maps, as well as new items for the IGE. There's no reason why Far Cry couldn't have the same setup.
In general yes, but I think its simpler. They wanted to make more money, but couldnt remove the map editor because it is what FC is known for. So simple solution. Take out the MP IGE and give whatever reason sounds best. I think, "nobody played it", was a poor choice, but hey stats show that 95% of developers are dishonest, the other 5% enjoy lying to you.
I highly doubt this is the case. I suspect that the reason for the declining MP has to do more with the fact that Ubisoft outsourced the development of the multiplayer components of FC3 and FC4. I feel that any component of any game that is ever outsourced isn't going to be as good as what the actual development team created. These subcontractors lack the ownership and responsibility over the game/franchise because it isn't their studio that is going to get all the credit.
Unfortunately, many components of games have to get outsourced because stock holders of big game companies force developers to meet certain launch deadlines regardless of what the development team wants. I honestly do think that it is just a matter of time and budget. In order to develop the game in less than 2 years MP had to be developed out-of-house by a studio that isn't invested or attached to the franchise, creating a second rate MP experience with many corners cut.
Furthermore, I suspect that the development team at Ubisoft didn't provide the MP development tools because they didn't have those tools in house. The map editor seems to contain the components that the actual Ubisoft development team had available to them to make the campaign. Hence why the MP editor is SP-only.
I am not trying to defend Ubisoft. I am just trying to think about the most logical reason the map-editor has no PvP. I am just as disappointed as everyone else (as you will be able to see from my last few posts). But in the real world, this is how things happen.
This could be the case. You would think that when you're doing a series, the team would sit down and ask, "What worked in the previous installment?/What didn't work?" To just blindly give the reins over to another company and say, "Have at it!" seems odd. But maybe that's the case. I just find it odd that the creative director of the IGE would say that their "data" shows that there was little interest in the MP IGE on FC3. It's as if he has no clue that the lobby system was broken in FC3. If this is the standard for the gaming industry, then I think they need to only do one thing (single-player or muliti-player) or change the way they do business.Originally Posted by Manlius10A Go to original post
I am sure there were some high level conversations between Ubi development and the mp subcontractor about what they wanted in FC4 mp. I just don't think they had the time to incorporate the PvP mapeditor. I think the failure is that they just looked at the data from FC3 without critically analyzing it (either because of lack of time or lack of interest). They saw that mp was not popular and IGE for MP was not popular. They foolishly based their conclusions on the raw data without stopping to think if there was a reason why FC3 mp was not popular, and they failed to identify the systematic flaw of why FC3 mp was not popular (which in this case was the broken lobby system).
I doubt this failure is due to malicious intent to charge more for MP DLC. I think it is purely the result of the FC4 development team being overworked, overwhelmed, and understaffed to make the 2 year deadline that was forced upon them by Ubisoft's board of directors (aka representatives of the shareholders). The board of directors are not gamers but businessmen that need to turn a regular profit to grow shares. This is the standard for the non-Indie gaming scene. It is sad and it is broken. But unfortunately that is how the world works and I do not know any clear solution.
And there wont be. The most we'll get it the continuation of The Cycle of Perpetration and Apology.Originally Posted by TheRealDrewdelz Go to original post
"We're sorry you're angry and we didn't seem to care. Please buy our next game."
You just figured this out? I figured it out the day I first played FC3. I have been trying to warn my xbox friends that this was their plan. Hopefully people listened and didn't waste their money. Many people, including myself, gave them other ideas for DLC. They simply chose not to listen.Originally Posted by Shinyt4pestry71 Go to original post
Yeah, I'm a special needs person! I'm a slow learner. Whatever you're thinking now, I'll think of it in a couple of years.Originally Posted by Champ2647 Go to original post
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