Do People Actually Believe The Game Would Be 'Thriving' Today Without The Lawsuit Hindrance?

[tyrant666 1,067]

Think about it. Its a legit question. On the surface, this might look like just another 'oh look, a shot at the devs' thread, but im talking logistics here and im not looking to bash. I'm looking at it from a cost perspective weighed against what the playerbase would want.

I think there is some revisionist history out there amongst what's left of the playerbase that this game would be completely fine if the lawsuit wasn't in the way. Especially on places like reddit. That the playerbase would somehow be larger with the occasional content bump every once and awhile. Yet the playerbase was dipping long before the content shutoff was ever a thing. Between the Illfonic patches that broke more than fixed, the emotes, etc. Not to mention the fact that casual players simply move on to the next game and that happens with most games. The backers gradually turning on the game over 2017 into 2018, etc.

For instance, why hype things as if they're coming 'soon', as in within the calendar year if they aren't legitimately close to ready? Why not hype them when you actually have a solid release plan?

Examples (not everything, just some)

- NES/Retro Jason was supposed to be his own thing with music both sides could hear and that was hyped very early on and it never ended up happening

http://f13game.com/news/retro-jason-skin-dlc/

- Paranoia...Hyped up as a new game mode 'coming soon' in late October 2017 as if its something that's clearly going to happen, then...cancelled because it wasn't fun

- Uber/Grendel as we all know from the leaks and heresay around here...wasn't finished...

Now lets just take stock for a minute and pretend the lawsuit wasn't in the way.

The pressure on them to continue to work on this game would be more pressing than it is now. Not only would people be expecting them to continue to patch the game. People would be expecting other things to keep the game fresh.

For instance, lets take their word that Uber/Grendel wasn't finished despite being hyped at the end of 2017. Take into account the content front died in May 2018. They probably would've pushed off Uber/Grendel for a Halloween/Christmas 2018 release. So the playerbase would've likely waited an entire year AFTER the reveal in late 2017 for Uber/Grendel to be released. Somewhere in there, they may have released the 'Pajama' pack to hold over the playerbase over Summer 2018, especially if there is any truth to futuristic clothing for Grendel itself.

So now lets move onto Paranoia. Just because it was cancelled doesn't mean the playerbase would've let them off the hook. The playerbase would've still expected them to get back to the drawing board to make a game mode that felt different from the main mode. Whether that mode would've evolved into a different counselor kill concept or perhaps a Pamela mode is up for debate. Bottom line, people would've expected a new mode even with Paranoia cancelled.

Then you have the Retro rework. A bit before the content shutoff, Wes simply stated he didn't want to reveal anything about it. However lets just say the lawsuit wasn't in the way. The fact that this unique Jason was delayed for some unknown reason in 2017 and both Part 4/Jarvis and Roy/Pinehurst overlapped him is just something that's known. People would've still asked them about this Jason and the pressure would be there for them to go back to this idea and bring it back.

Now what am I getting at with all this? I've only mentioned 3 things from the game's past that the playerbase would've constantly pressured them on. We know the playerbase would've asked for more than this. They would've wanted an NES map, more counselors, more heroes, more canon maps, more modes, new map items, new weapons, new gameplay mechanics, etc. All things that could be done with the lawsuit not in the way.

However the playerbase was dipping on all fronts long before that news broke in 2018. My point being and as Pappus pointed out in his 'death of the game' video. The return of investment to keep the game going wouldn't be justifiable. In other words, the content was going to stop regardless and it likely would've stopped probably by the end of 2018, if not early 2019. They would've pushed out Grendel/Uber, the Pajama Pack probably and maybe if the playerbase continued to beg...they may have reworked Retro. Then we'd all be back right we are now in 2020.

With a dying game (not dead because people still play obviously) and nothing new in terms of gameplay mechanics, maps, items, etc and there would be no lawsuit to give off the 'what if' element.

There wouldn't be enough money coming in from what's left of the playerbase and sales to keep going on with new things for the game. Hence, the game would likely not be thriving today even if the lawsuit was gone.

Agreed or disagree? Maybe you believe otherwise. Other than the unexpected private match toggler we got in the recent update. I have trouble believing Illfonic would be still injecting new things into this game in 2020 with no legal issues in the way and that's even assuming we got some of the things I mentioned above.

[PackASnack_Lodge 32]

I think that had there not been the interference of the lawsuit, the game would have had at least a little more variety of options available. I think everyone can agree that if the lawsuit didn't hinder content the amount of revenue that would be coming in from whatever was released wouldn't be substantial enough to sustain servers for all that much longer as the only bits of content they were charging for was Clothing packs and kill packs and they were dirt cheap and wouldn't have really brought in all that much.

Now in terms of content we do know that Outside of a few sound cues Uber was pretty much complete. Grendel on the other hand wasn't near completetion so that would have taken longer. The retro revamp is a big question as we have no idea why he never happened since in the post on the website said that it would only take a month or so for him to be brought back in as his own unique Jason, yet part 4 Jason and Roy came after the time frame that he should have come out on. As far as Paranoia goes there were leaks that showed essentially how that mode would have worked and from what i saw it looked like it could have been fun and it seemed assets for it were complete but honestly who knows. One thing we do know for sure is that there are finished emotes leaked via the initial switch release and finished kills for new kill packs via the Ultimate slasher edition first trailer. Why those couldn't have been released is beyond me since they were already in the pipeline before the cutoff and were clearly finished.

I will say that i think even without the lawsuit i think the game would be doing a little better than it is but not "Thriving" by any means. Not enough revenue coming in as well as constant issues from patches would still keep the game in the place it is in now.

Just my thoughts though

[SirMang 458]

I think we would have gotten Uber, Grendel, clothing packs and kill packs for each Jason.  Maybe a final virtual cabin.

And right now, the game wouldn't be updated any further, aside from bug fixes, just like things currently sit. 

This is now almost a 3 year old game, the likelihood of new content passed last spring is far fetched and not probable. 

[Thunder 40]

new content will always bring in new players/money etc. 

think about it this way : people play the game for a certain amount of time, if the game doesn't change and is the same thing every single time, majority are going to move on to other games weather it's a new game they purchased, or a game that they enjoy more. friday had some neat updates planned with paranoia, grendel map and jason x. on top of that, we would've gotten new counselors, new kills, new maps, maybe reworked perks or added perks and i think they would've went down the route of putting every map in from the movies. crystal lake = part 1, packanack = part 2, higgins haven = part 3, jarvis house = part 4 and pinehurst = part 5 and with the settings of parts 6, 7 and 8, they could've made maps from those movies, part 9 would've been a tricky one though. 

point is that the game would have more content and with paranoia mode, most friends based groups would play that and have fun. i really wished they would've been able to make new content as i do believe that the game had potential to be really successful in that area but what we have is still good and we all have to be grateful that there still is a f13 game. 

[Wolledc 172]

@tyrant666 you have a valid point.

The Grendel/Uber content you mentioned, would have been added to the game very quickly,  as well as some more clothing and kill packs. On top of that maybe smaller maps of Pinehurst and Jarvis House, but that would have been it.

I also doubt that the devs would have worked on totally new maps, new gameplays and offered them for free - you are right that the ROI would have been the important factor in the end: GunM has devs to pay, rent to pay, many fix costs and has to earn money and I hardly doubt that selling a new clothing pack for 2,50 every few months or maybe a dlc with a new map and a new counselor for 5 dollars would have covered their costs. 

And even if they would have sold a new map as a dlc, then only limited players would have been able to play those maps - deviding the quickplay lobbies even more between the people who bought the map and those who didn’t and that could have accelerated a decrease in playerbase. 

[SteveChristy 220]

I think if nothing else all that content (or a good portion of the best of it) would've come out and most of the fanbase would still be in Gun's corner, and maybe by now they'd be hard at work on a new Friday game. Instead, with the lawsuit, we have a pretty decent game near the end of it's lifespan that's been jaded by unfulfilled promises, a bad case of "what could've been", and nothing else to look forward to.

[ChaosLordWesker 47]

It's not just unfulfilled promises, it's like Gun doesn't even know how their own game works.

They thought that it was possible to take Jason to his knees with a shotgun while he was in the sweater stun when anyone who has ever played the game knows it has never done so.  They mentioned this with the rage update.

It took months just to fix the enviro kill bug and a glitchy drawer in Pinehurst.  We have bugs that have been here for longer that they just have quietly given up on or cannot understand how to fix.

[DontZzz34 668]

7 hours ago, ChaosLordWesker said:

It's not just unfulfilled promises, it's like Gun doesn't even know how their own game works.

They thought that it was possible to take Jason to his knees with a shotgun while he was in the sweater stun when anyone who has ever played the game knows it has never done so.  They mentioned this with the rage update.

It took months just to fix the enviro kill bug and a glitchy drawer in Pinehurst.  We have bugs that have been here for longer that they just have quietly given up on or cannot understand how to fix.

Hahah well said. GUN media doesn’t know how their game works. They come out with a lazy ass rage update that made Jason easier to kill. They didn’t even realize hits that don’t stun do more damage. And he already doesn’t have much HP to begin with. And with Jason’s clunky combat system and them refusing to give Jason proper buffs this is more of a disrespect to Jason than anything. Good job gun media 

[Fair Play 2,856]

@tyrant666, I would say with or without the lawsuit, the game would probably be in a similar spot.

New maps, clothing packs, kills packs, game modes, or other goodies would attract and/or keep players to a point.

Bugs that came, went, and and in some cases came back, would have pushed some players away, with or without a lawsuit.

Communication issues would have pushed players away with or without a lawsuit.

Newer games on the market would have pulled people away, lawsuit or no lawsuit.

While many of us enjoy this game a lot, it would run its intended course, with or without a lawsuit.

[Laotian Lam 45]

I agree that regardless of lawsuits, this game was never going to be much more than it currently is.

 

The AI for the offline counselors is a perfect example of the programming skills (or lack there of) the devs have.  What we are playing really is the best they can do. lol

[JED 24]

On 2/17/2020 at 7:52 AM, ChaosLordWesker said:

It's not just unfulfilled promises, it's like Gun doesn't even know how their own game works.

They thought that it was possible to take Jason to his knees with a shotgun while he was in the sweater stun when anyone who has ever played the game knows it has never done so.  They mentioned this with the rage update.

It took months just to fix the enviro kill bug and a glitchy drawer in Pinehurst.  We have bugs that have been here for longer that they just have quietly given up on or cannot understand how to fix.

Hehe yeah unfulfilled promises/misleading statements/straight up lying. That's the Gun experience!😉

[Dolemite 894]

I still say the biggest thing was Illfonic's gross incompetence when it came to patching the game, with each successive patch breaking it more and more. I'd kill to roll the changes back to the state the game was in before the stupid engine upgrade.