Last of Us 2 - POTENTIAL SPOILERS. Poster Beware

[Broncofan]

13 hours ago, JTagg7754 said:

I was really excited to see HBO getting their hands on this. Haven't seen Chernobyl yet but I'm sure it'll happen.

I think I might get my second playthrough of the first waiting for FFVIIR in April. It's a short game and since it'll be NG+ it should be quick. Will get me prepped for the second when I get to that point

Yeah I played it on NG+ to get the weapons up for my 16 year old n00b survival horror daughter to play it - she still died a lot, but it was easier than NG for sure.   You won't have any trouble, other than maybe the swinging chain battle (man that's a pain shooting upside down lol).  Upgrades don't help there since it's not an upgraded gun you're using then.

[BobbyPhil1781]

So I'm playing NG+ and I thought all my stuff would transfer over but it's just my upgrades. Doing a more thorough playthrough this time looking for everything. Saw I have 40+ hours so far for this and the DLC. This game is so damn fun. 

Edit: the thing I'm disappointed about is there's no pendants or collectables that saved. I have to find them all over again which I was hoping to not have to do but instead only get those I didn't get in my first playthrough

Edited March 9, 2020 by JTagg7754

[Ty21]

My heart is still palpitating from when I played this last a few years ago and Ellie set off a tripwire behind me when I was moving stealthily 

[Broncofan]

19 hours ago, JTagg7754 said:

So I'm playing NG+ and I thought all my stuff would transfer over but it's just my upgrades. Doing a more thorough playthrough this time looking for everything. Saw I have 40+ hours so far for this and the DLC. This game is so damn fun. 

Edit: the thing I'm disappointed about is there's no pendants or collectables that saved. I have to find them all over again which I was hoping to not have to do but instead only get those I didn't get in my first playthrough

IIRC you actually might have them count but they are still there when you look in the same spots.  I don’t think I got them all each play through but I did collect them all.  
 

I thought the chapter completion screen started with past collectibles and pendants already counted.  But maybe I’m just off there.  

Edited March 9, 2020 by Broncofan

[rob_shadows]

Game is now delayed indefinitely due to the virus.😭

[BobbyPhil1781]

28 minutes ago, rob_shadows said:

Game is now delayed indefinitely due to the virus.😭

BASTARDS!

It's OK though. FFVIIR comes out a week from tomorrow so that'll hold me over since we can expect 50 hour completionist time and I only play on weekends. I feel we're going to see this more though. I wouldn't be surprised if CP77 gets delayed even further now. 

Almost done w/ my NG+ of the first one which should be completed tomorrow or the following day. This story is just so damn good. I cannot wait for the show especially since it's HBO. Casting will be very, very important though, especially for Ellie.

[rob_shadows]

10 minutes ago, JTagg7754 said:

BASTARDS!

It's OK though. FFVIIR comes out a week from tomorrow so that'll hold me over since we can expect 50 hour completionist time and I only play on weekends. I feel we're going to see this more though. I wouldn't be surprised if CP77 gets delayed even further now. 

Almost done w/ my NG+ of the first one which should be completed tomorrow or the following day. This story is just so damn good. I cannot wait for the show especially since it's HBO. Casting will be very, very important though, especially for Ellie.

Yeah it'll be interesting to see who they get...I know people are clamoring for Hugh Hackman or Josh Brolin as Joel but there is no way HBO is dishing out enough money to get either of them.

[kingseanjohn]

2 hours ago, rob_shadows said:

Yeah it'll be interesting to see who they get...I know people are clamoring for Hugh Hackman or Josh Brolin as Joel but there is no way HBO is dishing out enough money to get either of them.

They could if it's a mini-series with a predetermined length. It's not like they have a huge cast that they need to pay.

[showtime]

Not sure how many people here have been following what's been happening, but apparently a dev from Naughty Dog leaked the plot of the game and cut scenes from the game because he was tired of the company abusing the employees.  Normally, I try and stay away from leaks, but you guys need to investigate.  I'll link a post if anyone is interested in the leaks.  When I first read them, I thought it was someone trolling.... but it's actually mostly confirmed to be real.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TheLastOfUs2/comments/ga6am9/do_not_buy_this_game/

 

[showtime]

Also, because I heard about the supposed reason why the dev leaked the information from the game, it causes me to look into Naughty Dog.  Last month a piece was written about how they treat their employees:  https://kotaku.com/as-naughty-dog-crunches-on-the-last-of-us-ii-developer-1842289962

Working at Naughty Dog means designing beloved, critically acclaimed games alongside artists and engineers who are considered some of the greatest in their fields. But for many of those same people, it also means working 12-hour days (or longer) and even weekends when the studio is in crunch mode, sacrificing their health, relationships, and personal lives at the altar of the game.

employees were hoping to use their bonus to weather the Corona virus storm and provide for their families. Naughty Dog flat out refused the request to advance them even a portion of their future bonus. The insider says "the employee was told that his contract stated he would be paid out 6 months after the game released OR not at all". The employee was threatened with termination for making the request. The studio was worried more employees would demand their bonuses now if they gave this one employee his bonus early. To add insult to injury, senior staff (including Neil Druckmann) asked for and received their bonuses early. This pissed off the majority of employees at Naughty Dog.

One major consequence of this culture has been attrition. Of the 20 non-lead designers in the credits of 2016’s Uncharted 4, a whopping 14—70 percent—are no longer at the studio, which has had wide-ranging effects on the development of The Last of Us II and led to questions about the continued viability of the Naughty Dog approach.

[Kiltman]

2 hours ago, showtime said:

 

Also, because I heard about the supposed reason why the dev leaked the information from the game, it causes me to look into Naughty Dog.  Last month a piece was written about how they treat their employees:  https://kotaku.com/as-naughty-dog-crunches-on-the-last-of-us-ii-developer-1842289962

 

Sounds like an awful situation to work in. It really sucks that this seems to increasingly be the norm with these AAAA games. Rockstar had a lot of the same issues on Red dead and GTA.

Most industries tend to do it but VGs seem to be the one that no one cares about fixing. 

[BobbyPhil1781]

I'm staying away from leaks but this is interesting. I'm not sure who this guy is but he might be recognizable to some. Please refrain from posting info pertaining to the game if you've read/watched the leaks. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/thelastofus/comments/gb5rw0/jasonschreier_dispelling_rumours_of_unpaid_nd/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

[Kiltman]

4 hours ago, JTagg7754 said:

I'm staying away from leaks but this is interesting. I'm not sure who this guy is but he might be recognizable to some. Please refrain from posting info pertaining to the game if you've read/watched the leaks. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/thelastofus/comments/gb5rw0/jasonschreier_dispelling_rumours_of_unpaid_nd/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Jason Schreier worked at Kotaku for a long time. He was one of the few people who went after companies and kinda got blackballed. He also would post leaks a lot. Leaked a lot of Destiny stuff, like the last couple of Assassins Creeds.

Weird that he’s kinda taking the side of the company and calling out the leakers now. Kind of the opposite of what he made a name for himself doing. However he’d just leak like general story stuff...like back of the box synopsis level.

[naptownskinsfan]

12 hours ago, showtime said:

Also, because I heard about the supposed reason why the dev leaked the information from the game, it causes me to look into Naughty Dog.  Last month a piece was written about how they treat their employees:  https://kotaku.com/as-naughty-dog-crunches-on-the-last-of-us-ii-developer-1842289962

Working at Naughty Dog means designing beloved, critically acclaimed games alongside artists and engineers who are considered some of the greatest in their fields. But for many of those same people, it also means working 12-hour days (or longer) and even weekends when the studio is in crunch mode, sacrificing their health, relationships, and personal lives at the altar of the game.

employees were hoping to use their bonus to weather the Corona virus storm and provide for their families. Naughty Dog flat out refused the request to advance them even a portion of their future bonus. The insider says "the employee was told that his contract stated he would be paid out 6 months after the game released OR not at all". The employee was threatened with termination for making the request. The studio was worried more employees would demand their bonuses now if they gave this one employee his bonus early. To add insult to injury, senior staff (including Neil Druckmann) asked for and received their bonuses early. This pissed off the majority of employees at Naughty Dog.

One major consequence of this culture has been attrition. Of the 20 non-lead designers in the credits of 2016’s Uncharted 4, a whopping 14—70 percent—are no longer at the studio, which has had wide-ranging effects on the development of The Last of Us II and led to questions about the continued viability of the Naughty Dog approach.

The video game industry has always been like this.  It's probably even worse now that there isn't truly a deadline.  Sure, you have to get a game ready to ship, but if there is an issue, you now have a day one patch to get ready.  Then you have the DLC to prepare, hotfixes, patches, all the while over half of the development team has now moved onto a new game.  

Not sure if you are into wrestling, but I love the Something to Wrestle podcast.  Bruce Prichard worked as Vince McMahon's right hand man for years (is now back there) but on the older episodes, he talks about the working conditions and always being on call.  He said the job wasn't for everyone.  Sounds like this is the case in the video game industry.  A lot of companies now are doing other things to benefit their employees while they are there, but at the same time, I think there is a balance that can be struck.  Limit overtime, or actually pay some of the overtime to begin with.  That would go a long way to solving some of those issues just to start.  

Also, I wonder how many young adults, especially now who have grown up playing video games their entire life and are technologically savvy, would die for the chance to work for one of these developers.  While there is likely high burnout and high turnover (as the article you posted mentioned) it is likely pretty easy to fill those spots.  The problem becomes when you have a big turnover in a persistent world like The Old Republic.  Almost all of the original developers are gone, and with the intricacies with the engine they built, they really can't make any changes to it without screwing up the entire game.  

[showtime]

17 hours ago, JTagg7754 said:

I'm staying away from leaks but this is interesting. I'm not sure who this guy is but he might be recognizable to some. Please refrain from posting info pertaining to the game if you've read/watched the leaks. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/thelastofus/comments/gb5rw0/jasonschreier_dispelling_rumours_of_unpaid_nd/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Jason Schreier is essentially the Adam Schefter of video game journalist.  He's an insider that has connections everywhere and he's extremely trustworthy.