I know it’s technically free content, although I wouldn’t call it free content for paid content; but the new portrait of Demeter, if you can even call it that, is disappointing. I feel like it would have been better not to do anything because, come on, it’s the same portrait but with glowing eyes, and they could have left it out because nobody was asking for it, but by releasing it and comparing it to all the new portraits that have been made so far, all of them great, it feels like the bare minimum of minimum effort.
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There were a vocal few constantly complaining about demeter not having glowing eyes. I still think it was a waste of an announcement for the same portrait but with glowing eyes, especially when the glowing version looks worse than the original.
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I can “understand” it in relation to her brother, but it never crossed my mind to want to see her with glowing eyes, not when there are so many other gods who don’t have glowing ones.
It’s not that I was expecting a new portrait of her, but I generally expect something different from portraits: different poses, different themes, different outfits, like Tsukuyomi as an ikemen and Bastet covered in cats, not this.
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i repost this (sorry) but i totally agree and want to push this.
thanks for pointing this out guys. i wasn’t bold enoough to say this and just appreciated the attempt. but yeah i TOTALLY agree with you just thought i critizised Demter enough already.
i also think the eye glow too robotic.a few others and me already showed (with AI..) how the glowing eyes should look.
also its not truely a different look, i don’t know why they name such a small change like that, they had so many options of blue prints others and me gave them with AI… but no… sigh 
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I don’t know if it’s just in my country, but we have a saying here that in English would be something like, “He who doesn’t speak, God doesn’t hear him.”
It means that we can’t know if someone wants or needs something unless they tell us first. You don’t have to hold back or be embarrassed; after all, these are the official forums, they’re there for the developers to hear our opinions.
Of course, they’re not going to listen to everything we say, but I think they welcome these kinds of things, if they even see them, of course. Suggestions on how to improve something, complaints, or reports—I’ve already reported a bug report, for example. It’s important because we can find flaws they haven’t noticed.
Or we can give them suggestions on how to improve the game with ideas they hadn’t thought of, something poor Demeter needs because she’s not quite finished.
I personally made a post about the music, which I love, but I suggested creating themed versions of “A Cat Named Mittens” (menu theme) for each civilization. That is, adding Greek, Egyptian, and Norse versions, since we already have Japanese, Chinese, Aztec, and Atlantean versions (I assume The Titans’ version is the Atlantean one). I also suggested adding the previous versions (without removing the new ones) of the menu theme: Victoria, Mittens, Greek, Egyptian, Norse, and Atlantean. Additionally, I’d like to add all the songs to the Steam store.
All the songs and all their versions are beautiful, or at least I really like them, but I think it could be even better by expanding that aspect, perhaps by combining the old and new material.
As far as I could see, no one was talking about it, so I stepped forward. I know it’s not as important as the game itself, but I think it’s good to voice our ideas and concerns.
I was also thinking of making a post about the Aztec victory emblems/crests, since they feel “unfinished.”
Huitzilopochtli: It feels uninspired, a copy-paste of Isis’s, but it has enough different details to let it slide. However, I would add Xiuhcoatl (the flaming serpent he uses as a weapon), although I understand that it might not be possible due to limited space.
Quetzalcoatl: Empty. I would add wind, perhaps as it’s depicted in the codices when they speak, and a small circle representing Venus, which is a symbol of Quetzalcoatl.
Huitzilopochtli: His emblem is the smallest and simplest in the game, since it’s just a jaguar, omitting things like his obcidian mirror or smoke.
I like these emblems because they have elements representative of the gods, whether thematic or gameplay-related.
Like Hades’s, which combines fire (the underworld), a helmet (his helmet of invisibility), and arrows (making him a god of archers in gameplay).
And these complaints or suggestions stem from the fact that I want them to improve the game, but not just ask for things, rather things I know they can do.
Perhaps the idea of making three more versions of the menu song is excessive; I don’t know how much it costs to make one, or if they’ll do it on a computer or with an orchestra, but adding the old songs is something I know they can do.
Regarding the coats of arms, so far the only ones that have fallen short are the Aztec ones, at least in my opinion; the others are beautiful.
And about the portraits, which is what this topic is about, this is the first portrait that has disappointed me, not because it’s bad in itself—I like the portrait of Demeter—the problem is that I wish it were something more.
Up until now, all the alternate portraits have been beautiful, and without losing their seriousness, I mean, they’re great, but not with League of Legends skins where the characters are funny and/or so numerous; Christmas-themed Odin, for example, doesn’t look like a Coca-Cola ad by being a fat, Santa Claus-like Odin, but rather closer to the European image of Saint Nicholas. Bastet covered in cats looks less like a joke and more like a cat enthusiast, which she truly is. Hades doesn’t look unnecessarily spooky or commercially Halloween-esque. The funniest are Loki and Thor, and they still manage to be serious.
And with that seriousness comes a fairly good quality of work.
As for Demeter, well, I can’t say there’s a difference. As I said, I really like the portrait, but her second portrait is the same thing but without anything.
It’s like Mega Starmie from Pokémon. I know it’s a reference to Ultraman, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s just an elongated Starmie. They don’t do anything, and the same goes for Demeter.
Furthermore, I have an idea: to create a portrait of Demeter, lady of winter, in white and gray garments, or lady of drought, representing her sadness when Persephone goes to the underworld; also in gray tones, because of the color of the icon of her power, so that she appears oppressive, sad, and severe (although in the original portrait she is not more friendly), with tears on her face, which now flow from bright blue eyes.
Or the opposite: Demeter, lady of the harvest, with a basket of multicolored vegetables, surrounded by green fields and hills dotted with trees bearing the same multicolored fruits and vegetables, all under a brilliant blue sky. She has a wide smile and bright eyes, but glowing gold.
There you have it, two options for creating the glowing eyes that many apparently wanted, using concepts different from the standard portrait.
Given how great the portraits of the other gods are, both the standard and alternative versions, I have no doubt they could do what I described and make it beautiful.
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God this forum is fucking dumb. People asked for glowing eyes and got it. No need to get upset about everything cause you can’t whine to mommy anymore. GENUINELY WTF.
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No one is crying about it. In fact it provides devolopers with data as of why people like it certain way but not the other.
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How rude.
So, according to you, any complaint is just whining, no matter how legitimate the reasons, arguments, or even ideas for fixing it might be. I guess you think reporting bugs and glitches is also bad.
And the fact that I can’t go “complain” to my mom because she’s dead is none of your business.
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Considering that the Aztecs used many things from the Return of the Gods mod as a reference, feedback from the community could be very useful for future projects, as well as for rethinking existing projects if necessary.
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No need to bring the death of your mother into this to shield. The devs answered a call and it’s just a “glowing eyes” portrait switch. Maybe one day there will be a demeter portrait but this is just them listening to players and still catching fire for no actual reason. come on now.
Keep it professional gentlemen.
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Yeah!
If they follow the same concept, style, reference and composition as the other Greek Gods nobody would complain at all!
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People can express their opinions (negative or positive) because 1) feedback helps the game grow, 2) we all have opinions, 3) the game isn’t free, 4) just because something was delivered doesn’t mean its quality etc.
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exactly.
i personally was last year THE guy who complained about demeter portrait and i didn’t do this for fun or cause i am a mean or rude person or a person who doesn’t value things. in fact i want the game to be just even better and i think criticism and feedback is a sign of passion and care.
so even we all appreciate that they show us that they listen, this was they by far easiest (and laziest) way to show us this and the change is even worse then what literally everyone can do with latest AI’s (oh no AI is slop but somehow AI does a better job it seems, slop or no-slop doesn’t matter).
you can say “i like demeters portrait” even i am not sharing this opinion i respect that opinion but that the eyes look “robotic” and not on the same fitting level like the other greek gods is a n objective fact.
ppl want that its on the same level as the other god portraits simple as that.
if they are not able to give Demeter the glowing eyes in a fitting way for this portrait, they also could actually do a separate optional skin like they did with Tsukuyomi. they should has they can do it, so why seel it like that hurts a little and feels like not “we” don’t respect Demeter but the devs who are responsible don’t value Demeter.
- I PERSONALLY would have done Demeter totally different from the ground up as some others too. but we have what we got and now we try as a community with the (very often) very passionate work of the devs to improve on what we got to make her better - visuals included.
i did this several months ago with the help of AI and i still think (except for the sickle) this would have been a much better at least OPTIONAL portrait for her. the glowing eyes are also there and it would actually be an optional different look…
you also see that for example i myself didn’t just “complain” but also give constructive feedback cause i give suggestions via text and even visual examples. - and others did the same or similar. this is not rude this is care and interest.
@moon cause it really sounds like that in your point of view:
and that is very obviously totally and completely wrong. but there is a slight chance you totally overracted and didn’t mean in that way - we all have such moments so don’t worry if that’s the case.
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I want to think he’s simply had run-ins with intransigent people or seen absurd requests or complaints and is fed up with it.
What I don’t like is the typical internet attitude of assuming everyone is pathetic except you, and therefore feeling entitled to bother them about it. I hate that “I’m going to assume they don’t like you because you take the time to whine online, and therefore discredit anything you say” attitude.
Not to mention that his stance is very complacent, “People wanted bright eyes and they got them, stop complaining,” when it’s as you said, yes, they heard the request, and that shows they listen to us and take us into account, which we appreciate. It shows that what we say here doesn’t fall on deaf ears, but they did it in the easiest and laziest way.
Okay, we know what we’re getting into, and I don’t want to allude to the toxic “the customer is always right” culture, but it’s certainly not a free-to-play game where it’s up to us whether we spend money on it or not. It’s a paid game; we pay for quality. I’m not going to say that they have to do everything we ask, but we should expect and demand a minimum level of quality.
Personally, I didn’t even know the eye issue was a complaint; and reiterating what I said at the beginning, it would have been better if they hadn’t done anything at all, rather than doing it in such a lazy way and pretending to fix it.
For my part, I hope this is just a temporary patch. Let’s just tweak the portrait a bit while we work on a different one with glowing eyes.
Anyway, I think that’s why official forums exist. Instead of washing their hands of the matter and letting fans talk in separate forums, they maintain the forums where they can see what the fans want. It’s not that they have to please us all, but rather see what the public wants for future releases (although I understand that’s not the case; I don’t know about 2 and 4, but I see that people didn’t like the new Nordic DLC, I don’t know why, I liked it). They get feedback and ideas to fix problems or get inspiration (to patch Demeter again) that they hadn’t had before, and bug reports, which I think is the most important thing.
Now, if the full saying, “the customer is always right,” is taken to heart, it’s not about giving in to a tantrum, but rather the idea that customer complaints and suggestions should be taken seriously to improve the product, either by implementing changes or by directly eliminating the problems.
Demeter was released with many problems (many of which persist), and they’ve tried to fix it, which is fine, but it’s not enough to just listen to the complaints and patch it up with plaster; it needs to be fixed properly.
This happens with Demeter, it happens with the Aztecs; they’re factions that, due to their design, don’t quite work (I would add a ranged Aztec hero; the villagers gather resources too slowly, even if the idea is to focus on calpulli expansions, and the tonalli needs to grant more favor—they’ve already increased it, and it’s not enough, at least 5, I’d say).
As I said before, these aren’t irrational complaints; it’s not “I don’t like this because it’s not my favorite color.” These are legitimate complaints about “this isn’t working correctly because of this, this, and this,” and we offer constructive criticism: “I think this can be fixed if you add, remove, or change this.”
I think the video game market is trivialized because it’s just games, entertainment, when it should be treated like any other product.
If food is spoiled, you complain; if the packaging makes it taste bad or doesn’t keep it in good condition, you complain; if your new car has a factory defect in the transmission, you complain, and it’s fair to ask for a refund.
It’s the same with entertainment. If you go to a show—a concert, theater, opera, movie, etc.—and the power goes out, you complain.
And whoever sells or provides a service looks for ways to fix those problems and prevent them from happening again. Something went wrong, obviously the customers didn’t like it, and it needs to be fixed.
And in these cases, it’s not “Your stupid game doesn’t work!” It’s “Look, buddy, this isn’t working right; you have to fix it.”
Furthermore, I think that as fans and customers, it’s a good thing because, after all, we complain when we like something, when we see it’s not reaching its potential, and we want to see it shine.
If there were no complaints, it would be because nobody cared, like AoE Online, Mobile, or whatever that thing is called.
Or, conversely, “no news is good news,” but if there is news, then it’s bad news, so we have to fix it so there’s no news, so there are no complaints.
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People asked for the glowing eyes because it is the recurring theme with the other 3 Greek major gods. I just think devs exaggerated a bit on the glowing with Demeter, causing the portrait to look like a meme.
With a small adjustment it will look perfect and IMO it should be her standard portrait since that is the theme with the Greek major gods, putting the one without glowing eyes as the optional.