Lionhead fed up with fans?

[chartownnorthside]

I agree with Drew2686, the only ones complaining are the loud minority. forums are the only place i see people complaining about games over every little thing. so i gotta represent the silent majority. Everyone of my friends who played fable they all loved it and so did i it was a fun game. It just makes me dissapointed to see all these "true fans" just criticize every little thing about the game plague forums ( not just this forum, EVERY FORUMS, but the people on this forum are tolerable and not jerks). but i have to say, there will always be a loud minority, they will try and ruin the majorities experirnces (co-op, not dying, the dog, the fun arcade games and family friendly games like journey and heroes for little kids should just go because we dont like it so we will complain about it and try to ruin everyone elses fun with an amazing franchise).
So Lionhead being fed up with "Fans", i dont blame them, you dont want pure bantering on your website so when the silent majority goes on to check out the game, they might get turned off.
p.s why all the hate for fable III, if someone says story, it had a good story, but most people, including me, dont play games for story, we play to have fun and entertain ourselves, most people dont even notice the story. so story is no excuse to say the game was ruined.

 

[Drew2686]

So, if you complain about something you're just an immature idiot who should be happy with a mediocre product (read Fable III)?

Not at all what I said. The people who complain and whine and criticize typically can't do any better, and when their suggestions get incorporated into the game it (unsurprisingly) generally turns out worse than it was. The main games to which I refer are Halo and Space Marine, though I'm sure many others suffered under this pandering to the whine. People whined, things changed and not for the better. Gameplay got ruined for those that were simply having a good time with what was there. The changes were "You can't do this, you can't have that, you aren't allowed to have fun or be creative, everyone plays exactly the same with nothing new." That gets a bit stale. If I wanted to play a game where everyone was given equal everything and nothing was special, I'd play Chess.

I have enjoyed every Fable, and I'm a rather particular person when it comes to games. How many people post on here regularly? A couple dozen? Maybe three? And how many people bought the game that aren't online hating it? A few hundred thousand (but most likely a lot more)?

It's my opinion that people need to really take a step back and reevaluate what they think makes games bad. I've found them all to have a fun story, easy and intuitive controls (a bit less so for F3 I admit), and excellent visuals. What more is necessary to make it good? It seems to me that people that criticize so harshly are like w(h)ine snobs or something and treat the rest who simply enjoy it as philistines, when the truth is farthest from for both parties.

If you complain about something and know you can do better...why don't you already? If you can't do better, than at least acknowledge the effort that went into producing your entertaino-disk.

 

[El Mosqueton]

I agree with Drew2686 (...)

Fable III is a bunch of good ideas executed poorly. Story is a very important part of a game like Fable, one that prides itself with rich lore. If you don't mind the story then you are missing one of the qualities of today's Fable. Still, that's saying much considering that half of Fable III got chopped in order to not delay it.

Lionhead, like all other companies should learn to take criticism. Fable II did NOT get nearly as much hate because quite simply, it was more polished and was actually finished when shipped. Fable III took 3 months for its first patch, one that only fixed a few of the game breaking glitches it had at launch and that still present themselves today. Micro transactions? taking pieces out of a game to sell them later? Lack of support after launch? Qualities of a bad game, IMO.

Also, not dying is the worst thing that has happened to Fable.

I have enjoyed every Fable, and I'm a rather particular person when it comes to games. How many people post on here regularly? A couple dozen? Maybe three? And how many people bought the game that aren't online hating it? A few hundred thousand (but most likely a lot more)?

Okay. I respect your opinion. Alas I must point out that just because the majority of people do something it doesn't mean that they are right. I think we see Fable differently you and I, perhaps...

Ah I'm tired, I'll continue later if you allow me

 

[The Paladin]

I visited the new Lionhead site today and it struck me that they seem to have got rid of almost all opportunities for fans to give opinions.
They've closed the forums, so no chance of having a decent discussion there. Instead they've introduced a 'comments' section which requires a log in. Problem... There's no way to sign up or retrieve an old account.

Do you think Lionhead has had enough of fan expectations or am I just reading too much into this?

I'm probably going to avoid the Lionhead site for now and stick to fan forums like this.

why Don't they just go back to where things went bad and use peoples opinions to improve the new games

 

[DarkONI]

why Don't they just go back to where things went bad and use peoples opinions to improve the new games

You guys don't really know about the news? Most of the development team and key-people left the company. Therefore, they are bringing new people and changing a lot of staff; they had to shut down the community without much of a choice for the time being.

 

[GhostlyIcicle]

Even if the forums were shut for that reason, (which Dark Intellect disproved above) personally I wouldn't blame them. The bitching about Fable 3 and Fable: the Journey even here on projectego is enormous. I'll admit that Fable 3 was nothing like what I hoped it would be, but it was still an alright game in it's own right. I cannot wait until Fable 4 comes out and shows people that Lionhead are still good at what they do. Just give them a chance is what I say.

 

[Daniel Ray]

Most of the development team and key-people left the company. Therefore, they are bringing new people and changing a lot of staff; they had to shut down the community without much of a choice for the time being.

The development team we're looking at now has only 15% of the original team that worked on Fable I. So when we ask them and beg them and threaten them for a return to the original Fable gameplay, these new people know they cannot grant us that wish. They cannot emulate the creativity and thoughts of the original crew. What they can do is give us something new. Whenever they do so, however, we, the fans, bitch more. So, yes, Dark Intellect has it right. The forums weren't helping them, and so they shut it down for the time being. They might bring it back up in the future, when we've gotten tired of bitching, or something. Not now, definitely. Lets wait and see then. The Journey first, then Fable IV.

 

[VeeBee]

I must admit I liked Fable 3 (apart from the Crawler) and I'm enjoying The Journey... although yes the kinect is pretty infuriating, the controls just needed a bit of fine tuning.
I've tried contacting Lionhead several times, and they've never gotten back to me (i wasn't bitching, just wanted to ask some questions).

 

[NaledgeTheSpellWarrior]

I like all the games personally, but the gradual degradation of the series as time went on is hard to not notice. From shady business practices (charging for dye, really?) to their not so subtle approach at raunchy humor (The Swinger). It's no mystery why a lot of people don't take this series seriously.

But the most crucial question is: why are fantasy series like The Elder Scrolls and to a lesser extent Dragon Age succesful? And the answer is lore, and a lot of it. Their writers have bibles of lore stashed away filled with ideas of how the universe works and embrace fan input which only motivates even more speculation. This is something that's been sorely missing since Fable: TLC.

There were the Archons and the Old Kingdom, the Sword of Aeons, Avo's Tear, William Black and the Court. What the hell happened? Instead Fable 3 introduces gnomes shouting explicitives and weapons that upgrade depending on how many STDs the player character can contract. For every step forward they take two backwards. When and where did Lionhead stop giving a damn?

Until they can get a myriad of creative minds caring not only for the mechanics and gameplay, but for the world itself Fable will never tip. Til then I'll continue playing my old copy of Fable: TLC on my XBOX 360.

 

[TheChickenMan]

When Project Ego was in the early stages the developers talked directly to fans on a regular basis. Mostly Dene and Simon Carter. It was very cool. Over time that's changed and I think fans opinions and ideas became less important. I think the amount of fans and interest in the game caught Lionhead off guard and they didn't know how to handle it so they just shut fans out completely over time. Just my opinion though.