[2021] Bandai Namco has been a really bad publisher

That is very unfair and a superficial observation. BandaiNamco is the only one listening to our feedback and fighting against decisions Neowiz makes that negatively affect the community. The same kinds of decisions that ran Bless Online into the ground. They have to fight for every scrap of information they give us. If we're not getting as much info from them, its because Neowiz is keeping it from them. Judging from this post, the sabotage is working

I sincerely worry about direction of the game after PC release when Neowiz makes decisions without BNEA involved. The whole move feels ungrateful after BNEA saved the franchise from fading away forever.

I can confirm it for you now. Awakened is 100% coming to console

Amen

Thanks ;)

I've got a bunch of real life stuff happening. Doing my best to be active here and on discords in the meantime

I appreciate it. It's getting there^{^}

I've never participated in the official discord because it has always been moderated like a drunken pub. I play, but I had to take a break, which doesn't somehow erase all of the hours and experience I put in. A lot of my videos don't make BNEA or the game look like peaches and lollipops. I call BNEA out on their bullsh*t as much as anybody, and I refused to become a PCC until they agreed that my opinions would never be censored. I've been on the inside track watching Neowiz try to sabotage their own project while BNEA has been trying to save it for months. I'm not an authority, but I do know some things, and if I'm not sure when I make a statement, I tell you I'm guessing

I could link a few where I do but I'm not convinced the effort is worth the payoff

Yes Bandai has confirmed it. It's definitely happening. Neowiz is contracted to keep all releases identical for all platforms. What PC gets, we get

I am. There was a communication deadzone for several months between BNEA and the PCCs. It was frustrating for all of us. I feel that is beside the point when it comes to Neowiz's persistent MO of hyping with big promises and never fully delivering. The current influx of communication between Round8 and players also perfectly fits the Bless Online profile, and it down and became very frustrating shortly after launch. I wish people would be more wary before potentially buying snake oil

I see Round8 and BNEA is the good guys here, because I see Round8 doing good things and I believe you can't be a dev without having some passion for your work. BNEA is a 3rd party publisher in this setup, more of an intermediary, with Neowiz being the primary publisher that makes most of not all executive decisions that affect the direction of the game.

Sadly BNEA has no say when it comes to design decisions. I don't know if someone was asleep at the negotiating table, but BNEA definitely should have way more influence on the direction of the game than it actually does.

From my perspective Neowiz is the publisher and carries the most responsibility for success or failure across all platforms

In no way is that confirmation. It' a supporting opinion. When you act petty or smug towards me specifically, it puts me in an awkward position, because we are in my house right now. Comments like that provoking other users usually result in a warning, or I just remove the comment to keep it from turning into a fight, or I issue a temporary ban in extreme cases. I'm proud of thiss subredit being one of the least toxic BU environments because of these things. Since you targeted me specifically, doing any of those things would appear biased. So I would like to just ask you to respect that people may disagree with you, and that people may correct you when you appear misinformed, without the need for your feelings to get hurt. This entire post is not statement of an informed opinion, it is more of a lashing out, and we have rules against that here. If slander gets out of hand, I remove it. I hope we are clear.

That's still just several people saying the same thing. There are also lots of people saying the opposite is true. Something being present in multiple medias doesn't mean no one is controlling the narrative and you shouldn't think for yourself. If you look at the established pattern by which Neowiz has operated in the last 7 years, you can see what's happening today.

I never claimed BNEA is communicating well. They're absolutely lacking. But when you consider that almost all of the information Neowiz provided for them to pass on has been inaccurate, I understand their hesitancy. When it comes to wanting the community to thrive and get their money's worth, I trust BNEA 100%. Neowiz has a long history of cold cash-grabbing, with short bursts of hype before a launch and then utter indifference shortly after.

I have a great deal of respect for Luke. He's a good guy. But his association with Neowiz potentially makes his opinion just as biased as you say mine is for being affiliated with Bamco. You gotta pick a lane. I am severely invested with Bless, even on days I wish I wasn't. I discuss it on multiple discords and moderate this subreddit every day. I answer questions about it in DMs everyday. I also still make Bless content, just not on youtube because what is the point of making guides just before a major update that changes a ton of core mechanics? I didn't want to just be doing opinion rants while we wait for Awakened

It's cool I get it. I don't see this between us as an argument. It's a mutually respectful discourse. To me, the entire history of Bless Online is one of promising "this game will be great once we finish it, just hang in there!" until the hype and money ran out before the promises could be kept. Everytime thing's got tight, they picked up and released to a new region, and I worry this pattern is still in effect. Bless Unleashed was never really finished before being ported somewhere new. Roadmap and deadline after deadline got delayed or changed at the last minute. Not out of malice probably, but it appears very much that there are execs at Neowiz who highly overestimate what a human development team can realistically accomplish, and as a result Round8 are scrambling to get done and leaving gaps in the game and its mechanics to save time. And before they get time to fill the gaps, they get slammed with another unrealistic deadline. I find it heartbreaking to watch. When I worked as a dev we had tons of unpaid overtime and sometimes very little sleep, so I sympathize. A truely sustainable game requires well-rested devs and realistic milestones.

I'm 100% with you that Bandai has communicated poorly. Perfect examples are the dumpsterfire that is the official discord and the 3 months we PCCs were left wondering if we had been forgotten. But I do believe even with those failings, they want the community to get the game they deserve

As a specific example

Hi guitarrist. Sorry, that's just an expression. We expect everyone to be respectful of each other here, and when I feel someone is being disrespected I try to step in. When I feel disrespected specifically, it puts me in a weird position because this is my subreddit and no matter what action I take it could be construed as biased or petty.

Luke asked the same question about my comment on delivery. I hope it's ok to refer you to my response there rather than writing the same thing again.