I think expressive mechanics like "run around a ship putting out fires and manually operate big cannons" fits way better into a sandbox game rather than the pressure cooker of a one team wins everyone else loses session based game.
Replies
Lots of reasons why this is IMO, but most of all: the amount of gameplay altering agency expressed through say just the ship flying loop is almost custom-built to break teams. Sure, you can lose in COD because your teammates keep dying, but it doesn't alter YOUR gameplay.
aug 27, 2025, 7:07 pm • 0 0 • view
Really good thoughts! I agree, and I am concerned about what the gaming landscape looks like in 5 years because of all of the changes happening with the business today... can designers and devs even be rewarded for doing great work? Seems more like a crapshoot than a plan :(
aug 27, 2025, 7:11 pm • 1 0 • view
To be fair, it looks like the folks at DICE are about to be rewarded for doing great work on BF6, but yeah, that's a "more of the same" kind of game. I'll point to things like Helldivers 2 for a semi-recent example of a novel game doing well, but it's all indie and AA.
aug 27, 2025, 8:05 pm • 1 0 • view
That is to say, in Wildgate, what options you have available to you, how combat is or isn't joined, what strictures exist on your behavior (do I need to go repair? Can I get allies to join me on this POI?) depends on ally behavior. This makes people dislike the captain and makes no one want to fly.
aug 27, 2025, 7:07 pm • 0 0 • view
So long story short, I think the major new innovation they brought might be a net negative for less coordinated play. If you're playing with your friends on voicechat it's probably a blast. If you're playing with randos, it's the worst. Games need to support play with randos to survive.
aug 27, 2025, 7:07 pm • 0 0 • view