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Penny Arcade - Comic - Atomic Side-Eye

DogDog Registered User, Administrator, Vanilla Staff admin
edited June 2017 in The Penny Arcade Hub

imagePenny Arcade - Comic - Atomic Side-Eye

Videogaming-related online strip by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins. Includes news and commentary.

Read the full story here


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  • ZomagicZomagic Registered User regular
    edited June 2017
    I don't get this one. I've been here for ten minutes contemplating what Gabe is insinuating at the end. Can someone explain? I find a scenario in which Tycho thinks XP means something other than experience rather implausible, so it must be some other thing. ...Right?

    Zomagic on
  • darklordgenesisdarklordgenesis Registered User regular
    Randy Pitchford is the Gearbox CEO and they made Battleborn

  • YoungFreyYoungFrey Registered User regular
    I doubt Blizzard is anywhere near petty enough to do this to hurt Battleborn. That game is so far from being a threat to Overwatch. Battleborn's peak concurrent users since it went "free" is about 1500. 30 million people have bought Overwatch. If only 0.01% are still playing, that would still be twice as many as Battleborn has. Unless Randy Pitchford killed Jeff Kaplan's dog, this is just a coincidence and the comic is just a joke.

  • joshofalltradesjoshofalltrades Class Traitor Smoke-filled roomRegistered User regular
    Zomagic wrote: »
    I don't get this one. I've been here for ten minutes contemplating what Gabe is insinuating at the end. Can someone explain? I find a scenario in which Tycho thinks XP means something other than experience rather implausible, so it must be some other thing. ...Right?

    It's a classic clue, evidence, smoking gun joke with a twist. The twist is that even when presented with the smoking gun Gabe is still in the contemplation phase.

  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    YoungFrey wrote: »
    I doubt Blizzard is anywhere near petty enough to do this to hurt Battleborn. That game is so far from being a threat to Overwatch. Battleborn's peak concurrent users since it went "free" is about 1500. 30 million people have bought Overwatch. If only 0.01% are still playing, that would still be twice as many as Battleborn has. Unless Randy Pitchford killed Jeff Kaplan's dog, this is just a coincidence and the comic is just a joke.

    I would imagine the userbase is much larger than that.

  • KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up in the Undercity.Registered User regular
    YoungFrey wrote: »
    I doubt Blizzard is anywhere near petty enough to do this to hurt Battleborn. That game is so far from being a threat to Overwatch. Battleborn's peak concurrent users since it went "free" is about 1500. 30 million people have bought Overwatch. If only 0.01% are still playing, that would still be twice as many as Battleborn has. Unless Randy Pitchford killed Jeff Kaplan's dog, this is just a coincidence and the comic is just a joke.

    WHAT

  • YoungFreyYoungFrey Registered User regular
    edited June 2017
    YoungFrey wrote: »
    I doubt Blizzard is anywhere near petty enough to do this to hurt Battleborn. That game is so far from being a threat to Overwatch. Battleborn's peak concurrent users since it went "free" is about 1500. 30 million people have bought Overwatch. If only 0.01% are still playing, that would still be twice as many as Battleborn has. Unless Randy Pitchford killed Jeff Kaplan's dog, this is just a coincidence and the comic is just a joke.

    I would imagine the userbase is much larger than that.

    Exactly my point. Overwatch clearly has more than 3000 active players. Battleborn's entire userbase is literally a rounding error on Overwatch's player count.

    YoungFrey on
  • KageraKagera Imitating the worst people. Since 2004Registered User regular
    Battleborn is still a thing? How quaint.

    My neck, my back, my FUPA and my crack.
  • d.TFFoSd.TFFoS Registered User regular
    >I doubt Blizzard is anywhere near petty enough to do this to hurt Battleborn.

    I wouldn't say petty, but Blizzard is well known to "play to win" in terms of marketing. It's no coincidence that many of their releases, events, and patches line up with those of other games. If they can ensure people will stick to their games, they will.

  • YoungFreyYoungFrey Registered User regular
    d.TFFoS wrote: »
    >I doubt Blizzard is anywhere near petty enough to do this to hurt Battleborn.

    I wouldn't say petty, but Blizzard is well known to "play to win" in terms of marketing. It's no coincidence that many of their releases, events, and patches line up with those of other games. If they can ensure people will stick to their games, they will.

    Oh, I'd believe they timed their launch to spike Battleborn, but I don't think anything they're doing now has to do with it. They could run an event where you got zero XP for a week called "Go Play Battleborn, we'll see you in 7" and it wouldn't change anything.

  • PMAversPMAvers Registered User regular
    Kagera wrote: »
    Battleborn is still a thing? How quaint.

    I need to fire it up sometime to check out the new patch. Unlike OW, it's still installed.

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  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    I'm trying to think of another recent large-scale game that was as big of a disaster as Battleborn and I'm coming up empty. Even Evolve didn't seem to do that bad.

    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    Randy Pitchford is the Gearbox CEO and they made Battleborn

    Not to be confused with Randy Pinkwood, esteemed journalist.

    What is this I don't even.
  • LucascraftLucascraft Registered User regular
    edited June 2017
    Blizzard is not above pitting their games against their competitors, even if their competitors are not competition.

    They are launching the next major content patch and raid in WoW the very same week that Final Fantasy XIV is launching its next expansion pack. Not coincidence.

    Lucascraft on
  • HyzeHyze Registered User regular
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    I'm trying to think of another recent large-scale game that was as big of a disaster as Battleborn and I'm coming up empty. Even Evolve didn't seem to do that bad.

    Brink.

    It was supposed to be the next big arena shooter in a vein similar to TF2.

    Had a slew of problems. Crashed and burned almost instantly. The only DLC they ever released was made free when originally it was going to cost money. Saw it in a store for about 2 bucks before the servers got taken offline.

  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    Evolve did pretty bad, like prior to battleborn it was THE game to compare to for failure of an online mode to catch on.

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    Lucascraft wrote: »
    Blizzard is not above pitting their games against their competitors, even if their competitors are not competition.

    They are launching the next major content patch and raid in WoW the very same week that Final Fantasy XIV is launching its next expansion pack. Not coincidence.

    It's conveniently also exactly the week where if I have to run NightHold one more time ill scream.

    steam_sig.png
  • PonyPony Registered User regular
    "Liebot, what is the saddest thing?"

    "The saddest thing is when a Gearbox staffer created a Battleborn porn subreddit posing as a fan and posted one picture in it and then Randy Pitchford pretended to stumble upon it as if it was some crazy fan thing, and nobody posted in it because nobody fetishizes the Battleborn characters because nobody cares about them, and everyone found out it was the saddest publicity stunt and everyone laughed."

  • ArtereisArtereis Registered User regular
    I wonder what percentage of the people at Gearbox or otherwise working on the game knew it was going to be basically DoA. The first thought that popped into my head when I saw this game at PAX, other than "What the hell is wrong with that guy's neck?" was "bargain in" and I don't even play Overwatch.

  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    Pony wrote: »
    "Liebot, what is the saddest thing?"

    "The saddest thing is when a Gearbox staffer created a Battleborn porn subreddit posing as a fan and posted one picture in it and then Randy Pitchford pretended to stumble upon it as if it was some crazy fan thing, and nobody posted in it because nobody fetishizes the Battleborn characters because nobody cares about them, and everyone found out it was the saddest publicity stunt and everyone laughed."

    Seriously? God damn that's like selling your mom as your girlfriend from Canada at prom sad.

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • joshofalltradesjoshofalltrades Class Traitor Smoke-filled roomRegistered User regular
    Yeah, but did it make him Randy?

  • KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up in the Undercity.Registered User regular
    Pony wrote: »
    "Liebot, what is the saddest thing?"

    "The saddest thing is when a Gearbox staffer created a Battleborn porn subreddit posing as a fan and posted one picture in it and then Randy Pitchford pretended to stumble upon it as if it was some crazy fan thing, and nobody posted in it because nobody fetishizes the Battleborn characters because nobody cares about them, and everyone found out it was the saddest publicity stunt and everyone laughed."

    ...oh my

  • H3KnucklesH3Knuckles But we decide which is right and which is an illusion.Registered User regular
    edited June 2017
    Yeah, in isolation I could believe it was a coincidence, but that's a textbook-standard Blizzard play with a long history (going at least as far back as releasing The Burning Crusade in Everquest 2's Vanguard: Saga of Heroes'* launch window), so I definitely think it's deliberate.

    I really like the Borderlands series, but... Battleborn just does not appeal to me at all. I mean, let's set aside Overwatch or TF2 and just compare it to other MOBA-shooters; I look at the heroes for Gigantic or Paladins, and (other than the fact they both seem to be designed by Blizzard expats; Paladins style in particular reminds me a lot of Torchlight and Wildstar) the characters look visually appealing and have neat ability profiles. I want to play as them. I just went to the Battleborn official site and browsed the hero section to refresh my memory and... nope. If I wasn't sick and tired of steampunk clichés the gentleman robot Mordecai wanna-be would be fun (he even practices falconry like our favorite sniper). I like the elegant lady-knight archetype so maybe Phoebe, I guess? I dunno, but as with fighting games, when the cast of characters is a central selling point they need to be appealing.

    Battleborn is to Overwatch as Mortal Kombat is to Street Fighter imho.

    *Edit: Thanks Preacher, I got mixed up.

    H3Knuckles on
    If you're curious about my icon; it's an update of the early Lego Castle theme's "Black Falcons" faction.
    camo_sig2-400.png
  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu PIGEON Registered User regular
    Preacher wrote: »
    Pony wrote: »
    "Liebot, what is the saddest thing?"

    "The saddest thing is when a Gearbox staffer created a Battleborn porn subreddit posing as a fan and posted one picture in it and then Randy Pitchford pretended to stumble upon it as if it was some crazy fan thing, and nobody posted in it because nobody fetishizes the Battleborn characters because nobody cares about them, and everyone found out it was the saddest publicity stunt and everyone laughed."

    Seriously? God damn that's like selling your mom as your girlfriend from Canada at prom sad.
    This really happened?!

  • dennisdennis aka bingley Registered User regular
    Preacher wrote: »
    Pony wrote: »
    "Liebot, what is the saddest thing?"

    "The saddest thing is when a Gearbox staffer created a Battleborn porn subreddit posing as a fan and posted one picture in it and then Randy Pitchford pretended to stumble upon it as if it was some crazy fan thing, and nobody posted in it because nobody fetishizes the Battleborn characters because nobody cares about them, and everyone found out it was the saddest publicity stunt and everyone laughed."

    Seriously? God damn that's like selling your mom as your girlfriend from Canada at prom sad.
    This really happened?!

    No. It was his aunt.

  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    H3Knuckles wrote: »
    Yeah, in isolation I could believe it was a coincidence, but that's a textbook-standard Blizzard play with a long history (going at least as far back as releasing The Burning Crusade in Everquest 2's launch window), so I definitely think it's deliberate.

    I really like the Borderlands series, but... Battleborn just does not appeal to me at all. I mean, let's set aside Overwatch or TF2 and just compare it to other MOBA-shooters; I look at the heroes for Gigantic or Paladins, and (other than the fact they both seem to be designed by Blizzard expats; Paladins style in particular reminds me a lot of Torchlight and Wildstar) the characters look visually appealing and have neat ability profiles. I want to play as them. I just went to the Battleborn official site and browsed the hero section to refresh my memory and... nope. If I wasn't sick and tired of steampunk clichés the gentleman robot Mordecai wanna-be would be fun (he even practices falconry like our favorite sniper). I like the elegant lady-knight archetype so maybe Phoebe, I guess? I dunno, but as with fighting games, when the cast of characters is a central selling point they need to be appealing.

    Battleborn is to Overwatch as Mortal Kombat is to Street Fighter imho.

    Everquest 2 launched around the same time as WoW did.

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • ZomagicZomagic Registered User regular
    edited June 2017
    Zomagic wrote: »
    I don't get this one. I've been here for ten minutes contemplating what Gabe is insinuating at the end. Can someone explain? I find a scenario in which Tycho thinks XP means something other than experience rather implausible, so it must be some other thing. ...Right?

    It's a classic clue, evidence, smoking gun joke with a twist. The twist is that even when presented with the smoking gun Gabe is still in the contemplation phase.

    Ooooh, thanks. This really reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend recently, where we discussed the number of times we've had miscommunications online, over the lack of a tone of voice. I didn't really latch onto the fact that Tycho was responding to the initial question (from panel one) in the last panel, and thought he was replying to the comment immediately above, where I now understand that Gabe is just still thinking about it, and trailing off. This strip suffers a little for lack of verbal tones, IMO.

    Zomagic on
  • ZomagicZomagic Registered User regular
    Randy Pitchford is the Gearbox CEO and they made Battleborn

    I got that part, it was just... well, read comment above.

  • H3KnucklesH3Knuckles But we decide which is right and which is an illusion.Registered User regular
    edited June 2017
    Preacher wrote: »
    H3Knuckles wrote: »
    Yeah, in isolation I could believe it was a coincidence, but that's a textbook-standard Blizzard play with a long history (going at least as far back as releasing The Burning Crusade in Everquest 2's launch window), so I definitely think it's deliberate.

    I really like the Borderlands series, but... Battleborn just does not appeal to me at all. I mean, let's set aside Overwatch or TF2 and just compare it to other MOBA-shooters; I look at the heroes for Gigantic or Paladins, and (other than the fact they both seem to be designed by Blizzard expats; Paladins style in particular reminds me a lot of Torchlight and Wildstar) the characters look visually appealing and have neat ability profiles. I want to play as them. I just went to the Battleborn official site and browsed the hero section to refresh my memory and... nope. If I wasn't sick and tired of steampunk clichés the gentleman robot Mordecai wanna-be would be fun (he even practices falconry like our favorite sniper). I like the elegant lady-knight archetype so maybe Phoebe, I guess? I dunno, but as with fighting games, when the cast of characters is a central selling point they need to be appealing.

    Battleborn is to Overwatch as Mortal Kombat is to Street Fighter imho.

    Everquest 2 launched around the same time as WoW did.

    Derp, you're right. I was thinking of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, made by Brad McQuaid, one of the creators of Everquest, after he left Verant/SOE to pursue his 'vision' of what an MMORPG should be. While WoW & EQ2 launching in the same month might seem conspicuous, it was November (holiday shopping season), whereas Blizzard timing a release to stomp on a dark horse like V:SoH is probably more relevant to the example in the comic.

    H3Knuckles on
    If you're curious about my icon; it's an update of the early Lego Castle theme's "Black Falcons" faction.
    camo_sig2-400.png
  • I needed anime to post.I needed anime to post. boom Registered User regular
    please, paheal alone has 173 pictures tagged as battleborn porn

    liEt3nH.png
  • PLAPLA The process.Registered User regular
    You say "paheal alone" as if paheal doesn't have the lowest standards.

  • D-Wolf AlphaD-Wolf Alpha Registered User new member
    "Battleborn is to Overwatch as Mortal Kombat is to Street Fighter?"
    I don't get what you mean. I thought the whole thing was Overwatch is better.

  • ziddersroofurryziddersroofurry Registered User regular
    H3Knuckles wrote: »
    Blizzard timing a release to stomp on a dark horse like V:SoH is probably more relevant to the example in the comic.
    Blizzard didn't need to stomp it. Its developers stomped all over it before it was even out.

  • Golden YakGolden Yak Burnished Bovine The sunny beaches of CanadaRegistered User regular
    Preacher wrote: »
    Pony wrote: »
    "Liebot, what is the saddest thing?"

    "The saddest thing is when a Gearbox staffer created a Battleborn porn subreddit posing as a fan and posted one picture in it and then Randy Pitchford pretended to stumble upon it as if it was some crazy fan thing, and nobody posted in it because nobody fetishizes the Battleborn characters because nobody cares about them, and everyone found out it was the saddest publicity stunt and everyone laughed."

    Seriously? God damn that's like selling your mom as your girlfriend from Canada at prom sad.
    This really happened?!

    Oh god. That is one of the worst things I've ever read.

    H9f4bVe.png
  • H3KnucklesH3Knuckles But we decide which is right and which is an illusion.Registered User regular
    edited June 2017
    "Battleborn is to Overwatch as Mortal Kombat is to Street Fighter?"
    I don't get what you mean. I thought the whole thing was Overwatch is better.

    On the off chance you're not being sarcastic; I am a big fan of Street Fighter, particularly because I enjoy playing a lot of the different characters they've had over the years, whereas Mortal Kombat's characters always seemed pretty lame to me, and the few times I played MK 1 or 2 were really underwhelming given all the hype.

    H3Knuckles on
    If you're curious about my icon; it's an update of the early Lego Castle theme's "Black Falcons" faction.
    camo_sig2-400.png
  • DjiemDjiem Registered User regular
    "Battleborn is to Overwatch as Mortal Kombat is to Street Fighter?"
    I don't get what you mean. I thought the whole thing was Overwatch is better.

    Exactly.

  • SorceSorce Not ThereRegistered User regular
    I wouldn't be surprised if Overwatch did the weekend to put a nail in the coffin for Battleborn, but Randy Pitchford himself said that Battleborn was going to take on Overwatch (before they launched) and drive it into the ground.

    sig.gif
  • Noodlez!Noodlez! am I supposed to write something here? LA CaliforniaRegistered User new member
    Not going to lie, they did that on purpose.

    N o o D l e Zzz
  • YoungFreyYoungFrey Registered User regular
    In case anybody was hoping the switch to "free" would help Battleborn, you might want to temper that.
    cz1wvtckpuox.png

  • MonoMono Registered User regular
    Lucascraft wrote: »
    Blizzard is not above pitting their games against their competitors, even if their competitors are not competition.

    They are launching the next major content patch and raid in WoW the very same week that Final Fantasy XIV is launching its next expansion pack. Not coincidence.

    Having played WoW for nearly 8 years, I can confirm this.

    It happens way too often for it to be coincidence.

    What really rubs me the wrong way is that Blizzard denies it.

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