Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread - Page 54

On November 30 2023 03:35 Fango wrote:

They've also announced showmatches at Dreamhack Atlanta, which will showcase micro interactions better than any concept-orientated video can. Personally that's almost more exiting than seeing a new trailer. Will probably end up being a plus for both sc2 at dreamhack, and stormgate building up attention.

On November 30 2023 05:14 Fango wrote:

Well it's also an IGN video. They aren't particularly hardcore RTS people. I wouldn't expect them to show anything more than cool looking units and abilities, nor should they to be honest.

On November 30 2023 07:29 Hider wrote:


I would expect that if Frostgiant had some material that they believed could target the average player, they would distribute it to IGN. Is there anything you've seen from the IGN footage that makes you think a decently sized playerbase finds this very interesting?

On November 30 2023 07:29 Hider wrote:


I would expect that if Frostgiant had some material that they believed could target the average player, they would distribute it to IGN. Is there anything you've seen from the IGN footage that makes you think a decently sized playerbase finds this very interesting?

On November 30 2023 10:03 WombaT wrote:

I’m unsure how the pipelines work these days, have a youngling myself and he sorts of gravitates to what his mates are playing, and his mates will play what he’s playing.

And it feels in that sense the big games are simply bigger than in my youth, platforms are more homogenised, and kids are more connected with their peers, so there’s less natural space to go try something new out.

RTS and arena shooters are two genres hit really hard by this, especially with the latter for reasons I don't quite understand, or well, zone in on which of the innumerable reasons are most impactful and rectifiable.

From my limited experience my kiddo saw me watching SC or playing a bit of Unreal Tournament, had a go at both and thought they were really cool and bemoaned there not being modern versions of the latter.

But he’s not playing those genres if he didn’t have me as his da, how to get a totally new audience, not introduced to it by parents or whatever feels a pretty tough nut to crack.

On the other hand, Baldur’s Gate 3 isn’t super flashy and exciting, nor particularly innovative, but it captured lightning in a bottle, crested a wave of word-of-mouth and was hugely successful outside of traditional DND RPG diehards. The problem is capturing lightning in a bottle is notoriously difficult but I think it shows there is hope at audience expansion in more niche genres.

The Souls series was something a little different sure, but it rode a similar wave by virtue of being very good and the strange ‘get gud’ hype.

The game has to be good first and foremost, I don’t think it has to reinvent the wheel considering the new audience is just that, a new audience who hasn’t experienced its forefathers. Maybe a few big general game streamers pick it up and respond positively and momentum builds from there. Who knows really.

It’s a rare game that I think has the potential to basically land anywhere on the success/failure spectrum. Worst case it’s not that great, doesn’t even capture the hearts of its traditional target audience and the F2P model really fucks it. Best case it helps reinvigorate a whole genre

On November 29 2023 12:59 JimmyJRaynor wrote:
"Real Talk Strategy" is a very good show. I highly recommend it.



WTF answer is that? LOL. If everything is great and funded like Frost Giant is saying then ZG should just continue with her effusive praise of the amazing company that Frost Giant is. ZG has been heaping praise on FG for months now. All of a sudden she is quiet now.

Also, she labels this question "controversial". If everything is great and FG really has $35M USD in cash in the bank right now then how is this question controversial? its a dumb question if FG really has $35M USD in cash in their bank ready to spend on the game.


so the game is in a state that it needs QA Testing. Having a game in a state where you just need 100,000 users to stress test the servers is a long way off from having a game with only 1 faction working and it still requires QA Testing.

Later on in the segment ZG issues a pretty brutal analysis of what is going on... and the dead silence of her co-hosts is telling.

Its been sunshine, rainbows, and Santa Claus parades for months. Now, the back tracking has begun. Now we're in "managed expectations" mode.

Check out "Real Talk Strategy" episodes about Stormgate from months ago and everyone is grinning from ear to ear. Its just a great old time! Then check out the November 22 episode. It looks like they're covering a funeral.

On November 30 2023 12:46 Fleetfeet wrote:


Just as a sidenote, I don't feel like BG3 was capturing lightning in a bottle so much as the convergence of three reputable storms already: The notoriety of the original Baldur's Gate series, the success of Larian's recent two CRPGS, and the general interest in DnD the last decade or so, highlighted by Critical Role / RollPlay / Dungeons and Daddies etc.

Don't get me wrong, BG3 is a solid game, I just don't see it as a breakout success for DnD as a genre.

On December 01 2023 02:49 Fango wrote:

Well the sheer success BG3 had was definitely unexpected. We're talking 10x the active players (on steam) of DOS2's all-time peak. And the games aren't all that different. I was pleasantly surprised just how many friends/coworkers ended up playing it, as most of them never touched tabletop or any of Larian's previous games.

Sure, it had the benefit of a basically guaranteed initial playerbase from those groups you mentioned, but it's mainstream popularity came from word of mouth and unanimous glowing reviews.

As for Stormgate, they also have a guaranteed initial playerbase from RTS diehards and content creators. While they can't actually call the game SC3 or WC4, the headlines all alluding to it being a spiritual successor will draw at least some fans of those franchises.

It's also worth noting that one of the reasons BG3's initial reviews were so good is because the first act of the game is really fantastic, and the reason for that is because it spent 3 years in early access with only the first act of the game available. They essentially had 3 years of feedback and improvements on the portion of the game that reviewers were going to play.

Frost Giant mentioned it being an early access success story and has inspired them to increase the availability of EA and get more feedback in, which I see as a good thing, at least compared to the secrecy of how Blizzard did it.

On December 01 2023 06:29 baykma wrote:

If there was alot of "meat left" on coop or other modes, Blizzard would have further invested into them. But people werent interested, so they had to drop it eventually. Kinda like they do with Battlegrounds in Hearthstone

On December 01 2023 03:28 Waxangel wrote:
My personal feeling from playing some closed Alpha is that it FEELS a lot like SC2, for better or for worse. Personally, I feel like some of the more negative reviewers back in 2010 when StarCraft II first came out, who were going "wait, what's actually NEW?"

At the same time, I do think there was a LOT of meat left on the bone with SC2 co-op mode, and I'd be totally happy with Stormgate if just continued that lineage of co-op play. As for 1v1 competitive, I still think the door is still wide open for both success/failure.