I didn’t buy AoM:R because I saw trailers, videos, and gameplay that clearly told me I wouldn’t enjoy the game. Many issues and design decisions I didn’t like. [Correction: I might actually enjoy it on the surface level, or for a while, but I noticed several things that would bother me or negatively distract me in every match I played. AoE3 was a game that taught me to be careful with that sort of thing]
Did you pre-order or not watch media pre- and post-launch before buying?
If you could wait until after the holidays for the game to launch in the first place, certainly you could’ve used all the holiday time evaluating whether or not the game is on the quality par you need and if it would bring you any joy. You said yourself companies care less and less about quality, so that should’ve been your signal right there to wait before buying, and see what others say about the game, as well.
It’s too bad we’re trained to do this, but I highly recommend being more hyper-focused on looking at videos before buying games next time, if you weren’t already. I stopped pre-ordering 99% of games years ago because I got screwed over too many times by finding out too late that the game wasn’t for me. It is very rare that I buy games on Day One, let alone Week One, Month One, or Year One. There is so much gaming competition out there, so I can get distracted for a long while as I check reviews, media, and such
Are you sure? People felt the same for V&V DLC, but I think that got debunked when the artist’s husband posted:
Here’s a thread about AoM:R’s art, specifically. I will read more thoroughly later, but in viewing random posts there, I don’t see the certainty that they’re AI-generated. Still, it can be a concern, for sure: