Utopia Reviews

[milesfromordnry]

Does anyone know if there is a review embargo up? I would like to read some reviews about the game before launch day. I almost never pre-order games, and am even less tempted to do so when a dev/publisher doesn't allow reviews to go up prior to release.

Note: I am not doubting that the expansion will be good (frankly, I'm a Paradox super-fan) but simply would like to read some perspectives on the expansion prior to purchasing it.

 

[Emraldis]

I don't think there is a review embargo, I just don't think people have gotten their hands on it yet.

 

[Jastebro]

I think there was a review embargo for the original game until release day, so I'll assume Paradox follow that general principle here, too.
There are some streamers with early access on Twitch & Youtube, if you want to have a brief look at the expansion, though.
I'd highly recommend the developer diaries, too.

 

[milesfromordnry]

I've read all the dev diaries and I know some people have their hands on early copies but I don't see any reviews out at this point and we're about a day and a half from release. Disappointed if this is the policy of Paradox since they're fantastic on practically everything else consumer-wise (DRM, community involvement, modding etc).

Handing out keys to select youtubers as a marketing tactic is understandable and great, but some actual opinions/reviews would be nice to read prior to spending money.

 

[Jastebro]

I honestly don't know what a review would do, that a previous experienced Stellaris player wouldn't gather from the dev diaries.
Basically, do you enjoy the specific focus area of this expansion, which is empire customization?

And as soon as the release hits Steam, there will be reviews.
Hardly any need to preorder, if you have concerns.

 

[milesfromordnry]

A few useful things generally contained in a review that would be nice to know prior to spending money on a game:

1. Did the reviewer experience frequent bugs?
2. Is the game experience polished?
3. Do the game mechanics work well together and are they balanced?
4. Overall, how enjoyable is the game with the expansion?

These are not elements that you can gather from a dev diary, which serve an entirely different and useful purpose.

It's not that I think it will be a bad game, it's that it makes me nervous about the quality of a game when a developer or publisher actively blocks reviews from being put up while selling pre-orders.

I am not looking to get this information in order to pre-order the game or not. At this point, I'm just looking to find out if there IS an embargo to begin with or if it's just that nobody is reviewing the expansion yet.

 

[Jastebro]

Good points.

The early access streamers sometimes express their personal opinions & take care to mention that it's not a review, which also strengthens the embargo theory.

But again, why preorder? I''s not like you can play it before release anyway.

 

[milesfromordnry]

Good points.

The early access streamers sometimes express their personal opinions & take care to mention that it's not a review, which also strengthens the embargo theory.

But again, why preorder? I''s not like you can play it before release anyway.

Agreed. I won't be pre-ordering. I've been burned by pre-orders before and realised how pointless they are.

I'm hosting a LAN party on Saturday and want to know if there's any sync/stability issues we need to be aware of and if so we may reschedule until a 1.5.1 bug fix patch or something.

 

[Druesling]

Its pretty hard to decide if the game experience is polished, since it would require to have played the game in the banks patch but without the DLC also, so maybe for that the time may still be a bit short.

 

[Nirmara]

Paradox games reviews tend to be very limited since most reviewers do not have enough experiences playing their, very complex, games.

Just take a look at the reviews Stellaris got on release, most were very positive because the reviewers did not even play until they got to the mid-game. Youtubers, in contrast, have much more experience with the game. Of course, a Youtube play trough is not a review, but it's better than nothing if you want to learn more about Utopia.

If you do not plan to pre-order, you can simply wait a few hours after release and read what ever the community will have to say about it.

 

[Cruxador]

Agreed. I won't be pre-ordering. I've been burned by pre-orders before and realised how pointless they are.

The point of pre-orders is that you're guaranteed to get a copy even if it turns out that the producer doesn't make enough to meet demand. So if you're not getting a physical copy, there's no need to worry because digital copies are created on-demand anyway.

 

[Druesling]

If you dont even get a spider portrait, a badge or a forum avatar, pre-ordering a digital copy over the internet is pretty useless, yes. Even more so two days before it releases anyway.

 

[Repeats]

From the looks of the Lets Plays, Utopia is living up to its promises. The streams I have watched, the game is working well. Probably a first for a Stellaris update. They seemed to have done well with QA this time. It would appear that code freeze 2 weeks ago and the longer development time helped a ton for the soft launch for streamers (ie free advertising).

Great work Stellaris devs! Hoping for a smooth hard launch in 2 days.

 

[Nyrael]

I don't think there is a review embargo, I just don't think people have gotten their hands on it yet.

Quite a few people did actually: several streamers and the leader of Facebook's Stellaris group have gotten a preview copy. Professional reviewers probably also got one.

 

[melkor88]

I thought the embargo had been lifted as I was sure there are videos on youtube

 

[PaulMClem]

I thought the embargo had been lifted as I was sure there are videos on youtube

Think some suspicious young rascals likely regard all YouTubers who get a preview copy of Utopia as de facto Paradox ball-washers. I don't think that's the case. Actually think they send their preview copies to quite a wide range of YouTubers, from high subscription channels to ones with a couple of thousand. If there were any major issues then I'm sure we'd soon know all about it.

 

[Cruxador]

Think some suspicious young rascals likely regard all YouTubers who get a preview copy of Utopia as de facto Paradox ball-washers. I don't think that's the case. Actually think they send their preview copies to quite a wide range of YouTubers, from high subscription channels to ones with a couple of thousand. If there were any major issues then I'm sure we'd soon know all about it.

I have scores of subscribers, why didn't I get a copy?

 

[stumason]

There have been many, many streams on Twitch or Youtube for Utopia - I watched several yesterday (Monday). "Reviews" in the traditional sense are so old hat, but I have read an in depth "preview" on PC Gamer.

As far as the expansion goes, for me it's a no brainer. I have been playing PDS games for years and always get the expansions. I have yet to come away from one thinking "I wish I hadn't". I even pre-ordered Utopia (although the funky symbol in my avatar has yet to appear - along with several others), no real reason, just because. I know I am going to buy it anyway

 

[Tsuihousha]

If you dont even get a spider portrait, a badge or a forum avatar, pre-ordering a digital copy over the internet is pretty useless, yes. Even more so two days before it releases anyway.

It depends sometimes pre-orders have discounts, and if you are planning on buying the game in a few days anyways on release I figure you might as well. For example there is a Utopia + Mandate of Heaven bundle on the Paradox store for like 10 or 15% I think? Normally I don't preorder either but in this case for a slight discount on two things I was planning to immediately buy anyways I don't find it to be a problem.

That said I agree; there has to be some sort of incentive for me to be willing to fork over my dosh for something that I won't be getting for a minute and I generally will still only do that with entities that have built up some amount of trust based on previous experiences with them.

 

[Sucellus]

The only useful thing PDX could do is give the preview to modders. First, because like that I don't have to wait weeks after release to play the mod. Second, because modders actually would be a good source of feedback to PDX and everyone, they could find bugs, etc.

Instead they give them to "streamers" and "youtubers"...