CDPR were absolutely hammered (rightfully so) by fans and others. Although I only encountered minor problems (PC) I have full respect for those who did have issues with it. To CDPR’s credit they did go out and said they will fix the issues at hand.
The impression was that the game is ready to go, kind of like with this sim. We all have different expectations but I expected the sim to have fully working airplanes to the extent a default plane can have. Well, we all have our opinions.
I am not upset with MS or Asobo but I am very very upset at the dishonest youtubers/influencers who gave us updates on their channels close to the release. I unsubscribed from some of the bigger channels because I felt they basically lied to me when describing the state of the game. No, I am not buying the NDA argument. They could say no…but then there is no free trip to Seattle…that tasted too good for them…Glad I unsubbed…
I think CDPR was much worse than MSFS. For me it isn’t the small glitches or even the crashes etc (which I’ve not had with cyberpunk) but more the fact that the game actually isn’t that good. Combined with having strange things like a vest with armour rating higher than a flak jacket - so some of the concepts are good, just badly executed.
And now I’ve written that, I’ve realised that the same is true of MSFS to some degree.
The difference though, for me is that all these things are fixable and I’m sure will be fixed. Fixing CP2077 feels a much more substantial rebuild!!
If I may add to it, this is what happens when companies plan to use and then knowingly exploit these ‘influencers’.
MS/Asobo are certainly guilty of influencing the influencers and exploiting them, all expenses paid trips to San Diago (if not San then certainly to the US) for example.
MS/Asobo are culpable I think. I personaly see most influencers as parasites driven by ego, view stats and base inepitude (I reiterate the word most, there are exceptions). I guess, the forum troll had to evolve into something
There is trial for 1$, refund process after short of time testing, and social media\ forums exist to read where is the sim status, there is plenty of option to see if this fill individual need or not, once you have these option, all fact are public and online, it’s individual decision to buy it or not!
That’s pretty commonplace these days it seems. Companies provide free goodies in the form of product and other perks to influencers in exchange for positive reviews. I’m far from being what I would consider to be an influencer with my humble little YouTube astrophotography channel, and I’ve had a couple of offers for “free stuff” in exchange for a favourable reviews of products (they would basically write the review and I would stick to the script), which I promptly declined.
In another case several years back, I had a major “reputable” manufacturer contact me about a review of their latest, greatest product I reviewed on my blog. While the review was mostly favourable, in the end, the shortcomings led me to the conclusion that the competition’s “equivalent” product (which I had previously reviewed) was far superior. I was offered free stuff in exchange for removing the negatives from my review and recommending their product as the better choice. Of course, I also declined. My word is just that. MINE, and mine alone.
So yeah, greasing the palms of influencers, whether by directly paying them off or just showing them a great, all expenses paid good time is fairly commonplace. This should come as a surprise to absolutely no one.
I recall seeing several alpha tester youtubers outright lie about stutters/microstutters.
"Oh no that’s just an issue from the 4K video recording…“MSFS is totally stutter free”…“stutters are now a thing of the past” they said.
As if 20+ year simmers of FS9/FSX/P3D/XP don’t know what stutter,microstutter,judder looks like.
It’s essentially no different to a celebrity advertising a product or product placement in TV shows, although the advertising standards agency are way behind the curve on this sort of thing. Also similar to sports people wearing kit from sponsors etc. Doesn’t make it any better. What’s the saying? There are lies, damned lies and then there is Marketing
Exactly. It’s done all the time and it should surprise no one. Whether it’s right wrong is a completely different discussion. But it happens.
I won’t claim to be all ethical and not have a price tag, but it better well have a lot of zeros on the end of if (pre-decimal point and enough for me to retire on) in order for me to promote something I don’t believe in.
Oh, yeah. This kind of promotion has been going on forever and is a well-known tactic in many industries.
I was fortunate to be a little big-wig in software development in south Florida back around 1988 or so. We were using Microsoft C, but because our product was heavily database oriented, we got a lot of interest from Borland to try to convince us to change to Borland C and the Paradox database engine.
Disney World (in Florida) was due to open the MGM Studio theme park extension in early 1989. Borland put together a tour package and flew like 250 software developers first class to Disney World for an exclusive opening one day before the official MGM Studio opening. My company got invitations for me and two of my senior guys, all expenses paid, including two night’s stay at the Contemporary Hotel.
The morning of the tour, we had the whole MGM park to ourselves. There were big buses that took us to the MGM as a big group, and when we got there, they had lines of fake paparazzi taking our pictures and what must have been hundreds of “fans” forming lines down each side like we were movie stars or something. We were all geeks, and it was just so nerdy cool! Phillipe Khan himself welcomed us, and released us into the park. We were the first people to ever ride the Tower of Terror. It was really, really, well done!
Shortly after the trip I switched to Borland C and Paradox, and have personally used Borland Delphi (Object Pascal – later Inprise and now Embarcadero Delphi) ever since. In fact, all of the simulators and offline tools I use right now are coded in Delphi.
So yes, that marketing tactic has been around forever, and yes, it works quite well. It is not unethical and it has been a very positive influence in my long career. I am not ashamed in the least for being convinced to select the company that worked the hardest to get my business.
There’s a big difference between accepting something from a company to use their product (so long as the product is good and suits your needs) vs lying about the state of something to mislead other potential buyers.
I have no issues with anyone endorsing something if they believe in it, are honest about it, and would or do use it themselves personally. And I mean them choosing to use it vs someone paying them to.
I have a problem with “trusted” people who’ve been paid off (either through money, product or hospitality) obfuscating negative facts about a product to mislead potential buyers. That’s a breach of trust. At that point, their word means absolutely nothing.
One, cynical and manipulative though it is, works by exploiting humanities general gullibility.
For example, as a kid, I bought a Gibson SG guitar because my [at the time] hero played one.
Naïve? yes, Gullible? absolutely. But no crime was committed.
The other, however, is at best deliberately misleading and at worst concealment or just plain lying.
These things are criminal.
No. There is a whole world of programming back before Windows and IDEs. The software we were developing back then was before Windows. It was called NOSO-IV (later QLogic II) and dealt with infection control and medical quality management in hospitals. It was “windowed”, but that was manually done for text displays just using character borders and stuff.
I did (at a different company) do Windows development, too. Windows 3.0 was really the first mainstream version of Windows as we know it today. Not to brag too much, but Microsoft put out a little brochure that listed the first 200 Windows (3.0) programs, and I am the author of one of those! It was a Sales Engineering simulation program written under contract to Volvo, Michigan, and Euclid (heavy mining equipment).
Good times.
[EDIT: Changed Windows 3.0 brochure from “first 20” to “first 200”.]
Distasteful? Yes. Misleading? Yes. Criminal? No, can’t see that you can view it that way. Buried somewhere in theirYoutube channel will be the right declarations, or generic enough declarations to cover their backsides.
Criminal is where you have influencers deliberately accepting money to show of gear/wear gear that is counterfit. Now that’s criminal, and the “I didn’t know” argument is no defence there.
I’ve criticized people many, many times in this forum for being “posers”. After reading my recent posts, I sure start to sound a little unbelievable as to my claims. So here are just a few pictures to cement my credibility as a software expert.
I was very grateful. And understanding. And patient. Until they sloppily broke the nicely working encrypted DV20 with a totally stupid CG issue. Not so graceful anymore. Hasn‘t been fixed for 2 1/2 months.
