Thanks for stopping by. I'm Boomer. I'm old and just trying to compete in online shooters.
I'm a former investigative journalist, although I often ditch that hat to discuss games as an opinionated gamer. I like to publish a wide range of videos about various subjects. I play mainly first-person shooters but I also love Star Citizen and DayZ.
I'm also a #GrayZoneWarfare Community Leader. Along with about 10 other content creators, I have direct access to the Madfinger Games comms team and devs. We share a private discord and meet monthly. That means I can provide direct feedback, offer suggestions, ask questions and even pass on your biggest wishes for the game.
In real life, I'm a dad and husband and I work in IT.
They need to worry about optimization, being able to choose your exact landing and extraction location, and being able to parachute of of the helicopter. They just have to. The LZ mechanic is one of the worst things ive seen in a game like this, it makes pvp terrible.
@@DukesUp1 They’ve noted optimization is Priority 1 and a new hotfix and the massive update should help. They also have already added 9 new LZs to the map to help with LZ camping (be sure to find and unlock them).
Love the vision and how much potential it has but overall, for me, its still practically unplayable. So many buggy, non fluid aspects of the games that need to be hashed out and optimized. My rig is far and above the recommended specs but its just not there yet. I do plan to keep up with how they develop it and bring it all together.
Yes, I feel otherwise. I'm also old. Older than you I'll bet. One thing I've noticed in recent decades is the creation of new words to deflect accountability. The word "pre-alpha" is one of those words. The first playable version of any game is called the "alpha". When it becomes stable enough for a wider test audience it is called a "beta". Inventing the term "pre-alpha" is just an attempt to deflect criticism. A game in a pre-alpha stage would just be textures and models etc. You certainly wouldn't take money from a million plus people for such a product. This word-game BS doesn't inspire trust. I hope this game does get fixed. It has tons of potential. I just feel the relationship between studio and player didn't start off very well. Any game tester worth his salt would have listed aim-bot AI with x-ray vision as the biggest problem. If they didn't get this feedback before launch I would ask, why not? And, if they were unaware of the obvious AI issues, I would ask, who the hell is testing your game? This is the same behavior I see from all the trash game studios that these guys claim to distance themselves from. Apparently, they are using the same useless DEI beta-testers as everyone else.
I find the whole paradigm bizzare. We just completely banned it from our marketing language for our game.. When people start saying.. well its pre alpha! Who told you that? what does it even mean?
@@ai3985rghh I appreciate your thoughts here but we disagree about why indie studios release games pre-alpha, or at least why this company did. They didn’t release the game at this stage to deflect criticism. I’d you w followed them since the beginning you’d know they solicit feedback and criticism and often retweet and even highlight videos that contain criticism. Pre-alpha for many indie studios is one way to inject cash to help fund a project and to get feedback and help testing. I’m OK with that in this case because I’m able to tell you all that because these explanations came from the company directly. In other words: they are open and transparent. I knew what I was buying when I bought the game.
@@FPSBoomerIt seems we disagree fundamentally on the word itself. A pre-alpha "game" is just a bunch of texture files and character models waiting to become assets within a game engine. It is not playable. The first playable version of a game is called alpha. Anything before that isn't even a game yet. The idea that we are playing something that came before the alpha version is just propaganda. The reason studios invented that misnomer is to deflect criticism. Their insistence on using this word has already put them in the strange position of not knowing how to describe any updates. We are currently in 0.1.2.... wtf is that? They added a zero out front to continue with this "pre-alpha" lie. That's the problem with lies. They tend to multiply. When an alpha game gets a huge update with tons of bug fixes and stability and gameplay improvements, it is then called the beta. We are actually on 1.2 atm. This game has immense potential. I hope they manage to fix it before the studio runs out of money. They won't get another chance. There will not be another cash injection. They released the game too early because they wanted to catch all the disgruntled gamers who were leaving Tarkov. It was a cash-grab and it worked. I hope they use the money quickly and wisely.
@@ai3985rghh That’s fair. Thanks for defining the word. And maybe it’s true game companies have previously used that game state characterization to deflect criticism. I just don’t think it’s the case with Madfinger Games. In my opinion, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more open, honest and brutally transparent studio. But that’s my opinion based on my experience and it’s cool if we disagree. Thanks for the feedback and civil discourse.
I play grey zone warfare and it has realism and can only see it getting better in the future the AI is tough sometimes and the pvp is good you have to be tactical
Ive honestly fallen in love with GZW, the team are fantastic its a fresh fun and challenging game without any of the BS of modern gaming as you said. Super keen to see where GZW is heading
I love the game but it barely runs at 60 fps on my computer which is almost to recommend specs except the 32 gb ram I got a 3070ti and 12700k but I believe theres true potential just needs to be smoothed out after that I believe they'll add some cool stuff and dont tell me I need a 40 series cause all my other games run great even streets on tarkov lol
@@FPSBoomer yeah fsr has input delay and I understand too all the bushes and grass that gets rendered is nuts just wish ARMA reforger could do that lol
The game just launched and they're on track to release the first major content update in the timeframe in which they have always said they'd update the game. You should follow GZW on Twitter so you can keep up with what they announce.
@@td6460 Why do you think they’ve dropped multiple patches, hotfixes and rubberbanding corrections already rather than dropping massive amounts of content first? Because they said, before the game was even released, that they wanted the game to be stable and optimized before adding notable content. In fact, Mara details that plan in the video you’re commenting on. I highly recommend you follow GZW. They’ve detailed these plans numerous times.
Base game sales. Upgraded editions. Future DLC ... The company has at least 301 million downloads of all its games. They seem to know how to make successful games and thriving companies.
@@FPSBoomer I just think that’s some ridiculous virtue signaling. If there’s extra money, put that money into making your game better (which I’m sure it’s not perfect!), the servers better, give your devs bonuses, anything. Nobody gives a fuck about charity. Like, are you about the games or not my dude? Or are you about looking like a good guy ceo?
@@nicobeck42069 Let's not try to pretend either of us are experts in the business of managing a successful multi-million-dollar company. With 301 million downloads of their games already, they seem to know what they're doing. And within the first month alone of sales, they made so much money they won't need to make another dollar to fund development for years - well into the future. Not to mention, sales have continued and will spike most likely with each new major update, but especially when the PC version is done and they port it to consoles. I'm all about games - done the right, ethical way made by people who clearly know what they're doing and yet still try to do right by gamers. If you're not for this, man, I don't know what to tell you.
@@FPSBoomer I answered you elsewhere but I am 99% certain you assertion they have money for years is simply not true. I would advise not drinking the coolaid too hard. 😄 With all due respect the data doesn't support that assertion unless their costs are VERY low. (which they could be)
@@prototypechannel6975 They sold almost a million copies the first month and 60 percent of those sales were upgraded editions. That’s roughly between $50 million and $67.5 million. They have 70 people at the company. If everyone got paid $100,000 per year (they don’t), salaries would cost $7 million total. Then office expenses, etc., etc. Plus they’ve sold additional copies after that first month. They’re in good shape.
More buffed AI, I want that realistic feeling and I want them to be able to headshot me cross the map, the moment i leave the base on the helicopter.. that would be more realistic imo. 😂
Love the game but it's dying fast.. very fast. Talk is cheap. To compete action action action is needed. Something needs to be done to bring people back into the game.
Its the first shooter in a long time that comes down to player skill and not gear or pay to win transactions. For example, a newbie can come in and take out a dude with 400 plus hours no problem. It needs some work and the devs need to push out updates and fixes for problems a bit faster, but IMO it already is one of the best FPS currently out there and I cant wait to see where this game is headed. Ive done nothing but play this game since its release. It made me FINALLY escape Tarkov and I will always be grateful for that LOL
I've been a fan of madfinger long before gray zone, their mobile games were genuine games. a bit lackluster if you compared them to console games but as handheld games? they were fantastic. Shadowgun was a great Gears Clone, and Dead Trigger was a really good grindy zombie shooter which was genuinely fun without spending a cent. I haven't picked up GZW yet, but I'm excited to see what they can do on PC.
the studios lack of attention to what the players have requested be addressed and inability to provide constant, working updates is a sign we are probably screwed.
@@sillygoose5138 The game has only been out a few months and they’ve said since Day 1 that major content updates will happen every 6 months. But already they dropped multiple patches and hot fixes and changes based on player feedback.
I'm really glad I ran onto this video by chance. I've been part of the Discord Community for Gray Zone a little while before the game launched and I was super excited for it despite so many people trying to claim it was just another fake game. ( let's face it who could blame people for thinking that after the last couple years filled with fake games and game franchises that used to be good but we're super lackluster after all the hype ) But I can say I had fun even though I had minor issues from the start. All my worries were put to rest when after only a few days mad finger had started communicating with us on Discord and asked that if anyone wanted to help we could jump on the test server (which I did) To help them out. This video has boosted my confidence once again. Subscribed and I can't wait to see more content from you personally I would love to see more Gray Zone content.. Thank you for your time and I hope you're having a great day
That's fair. If I didn't know some of these people much better by now, I'd also be cautious. But we're in good hands. It's smart in the gaming space to be leery of new titles. But in this case I'd stake my reputation on Madfinger Games. They're good people.
I bought it and am hopeful for the future. I really feel they need some sort of indicator above the heads of teammates.. I understand they're going for realism but getting dropped by your own faction constantly is a problem.. I know there's a map you can check but many people don't especially if they're new to the game. Also the helicoptor landing sites.. My god. Camping galore and when you get dropped by your own team/faction that's camping I just turn off the game. Which happens often. If they're marketing open world style we should be able to fly our own helicopters or have our own vehicles so we're not landing at the same obvious spot everytime.
@@rq4793 Yep. It’s early access. The game only has 20 percent of the features, mechanics and tasks, etc., that it will one day have. With each major update, there will be more and more content to grind 👍
I just saw something about No Man's Sky, and how far that game has came since it released is crazy. I haven't kept up with it... but the first thing I thought was "Man... imagine what GZW will look like in the future..." Ive played like 50 hours, which is alot for me, but I also only have a 5700XT gpu so I'm kind of waiting on optimization, and maybe upgrading my GPU in the next year or so. I hope by that point it's more "filled out" and running smoother.
No doubt. Don't worry. They've secured funding for development many years into the future. We're in good hands. Content, features, QoL improvements and optimizations are on the way.
Wildlife would also be sick at some point in the far future. That terrain looks like there could be some big cats, reptiles and snakes or something like that.
I don't believe they plan to add living wildlife, but they are adding animal assets (think dead dogs and cows), to help tell the dark backstory of Lamang.
I have few ideas and improvement for GZW... 1. faction chat - so we don't have to ask or text everyone individually about the "Blue lagoon storage key" or we will know who wants to go where, also team up for a task so it will save the transport time etc... 2. Quad bike - so we don't have to wait for choppers for 15min 3. It is impossible to see beyond 400m even with 25x scope. beyond 400m all building, roads etc looks like a mess 4. It will be nice to see vendors and their shops physically in base.
I got about 400 hours in gzw. After like maybe 5 hours playing it when it released i just jumped and got the supporter pack. Way worth it. I knew mfg was cool after we figured out a spot of ygl where you coule get into the walls, shoot through with out getting hit so you could basically endlessly farm anyone that went down there. After like 3 hours some random messaged us. Claiming to be a dev, and wanted to thank us and had a present. Gave us both 1 mill in wallets, a few mk18s, and some of the big ass back packs. And all he asked was dont share what we found out. And like a ho5fix a few days later. Boom fixed. Talk about turnaround time and rewarding playing for helping. I think at the time i only had like 40-50 hours? And after that ive basically tired to play gzw every chance i get despite the jank. Edit: i think it was ygl or fort narith. Was like the first week or two gzw was out.
Mine rarely ever crashes. For awhile the rubber banding was really bad but its gotten much better. They still have work to do and it has a ways to go before it can be considered a perfect game but its already worth playing over games like COD and Tarkov.
@@silversteele6624 I’ve played 130 hours of the game. I love it. I’m a supporter edition player and I’ve been really a strong defender since I played it week 1. But I have a decent computer that is not minimum spec at all and I crash every time I die since the 2nd patch. I really want to go PvP but I risk just crashing out of the server when I ADS or get shot.
@@austinstenger1692 yea crashing every time you die or ADS is not normal man. I dont know anybody that has an issue that bad. Im not syaing its your rig but it aint the servers either so u may wanna look into that.
350 hours in since June 15th. I have been active in reporting issues and making suggestions and feedback throughout my time playing. Despite some of the teething issues and a couple of frustrating points, I'm committed. But there is one thing that concerns me, and that's server wipes. This issue isn't just restricted to GZW, there are a few titles that currently wipe as well as some new and upcoming titles that will be wiping on a seasonal basis, even if that season is only 6 weeks long! This game ,GZW, should absolutely NOT follow this model. If they wipe you're rep progression, loot and money I guarantee ppl will dump the game. I certainly will put the game down should they wipe out my rep, locker and money. No one wants to redo the tasks over and over. The game is hardcore and at times brutal, taking away my time investment is just shit. I was of the impression that should MadFinger delete my locker and money but leave your vendor rep would maybe be ok. But I've changed my mind. I've made a pile of cash doing loot runs daily, again a time investment. So no, any kind of server wipe is a games end. It's why Tarkov never realized it's true potential and people leave. It's why days has such a high turnover of players. Wiping players time investment also poisons the player base. People begrudge investing any more time on a game that's going to scrub your efforts back to zero. Whilst in the Far East they relish resets and don't have the same attachment to characters or items you farmed and spent time on. In the West it's very different, we do have attachments to characters and items we win. We do value that time invested in that process and it increases our attachment to our toons. So please MadFinger, please PLEASE do not wipe out progression. Id very much like to continue my journey with GZW, like I'm sure many many others do as well, and NOT have to repeat rep grinds. I honestly think it will move a big number away from playing again.
@@FPSBoomer what would be the reason? Tellin ya bro, if they full wipe , the numbers will dwindle fast. There's another extraction shooter coming soon, which despite them pushing the beta back, looks polished and ppl were raving about it. There's been zero mention of progression wiping for that IP. GZW especially given the broken state of the AI, is hard as hell at times and is always a challenge. Wiping that effort and time is like shooting themselves in the foot. I won't stick around if they do just 1 wipe, and money says that after 2 full wipes most will dump it too. It's honestly the worst decision they could make. I'm holding off upgrading to supporter pack until I see the roadmap and there will be no wipe. If the road map says wipe, I'll drop it right then and there. I doubt I'll be the only one. It's already made me step away a little. I've not played for a few days as it's already sort of made me think what's the point. I mean I needed a few days off anyway, I been playing HARD for a month. But ngl, this wipe news has already put me off a bit 😐
@@GreymanGhost That's a great idea. Early on, I'm OK with wipes. It'll be like a whole new game with new tasks, features, map changes, etc. I think once the game is built fully, I'm for fewer or no wipes. Until then, I think they have to wipe from a tech standpoint (but that's over my head).
What a great game company and CEO. Game-Labs could definitely learn something from Marek and his team in continuing to work on their projects to enhance and fine tune their games and not abandon them like the other company. Great channel and content, FPSBoomer.
That's fair. I'll be playing it at each step of the way, but I can't imagine how great it'll be after another year or two of development. We get day-night (and a lot more) later this year, which will be really cool. AI will go to sleep at night. A great time to hit up Tiger Bay :)
Marek and his team are the whole reason GZW will have a bright future and a solid, loyal fanbase. No BS or MT, just putting out a game from the heart and actively developing with input from the community. There's so many people that left bad reviews due to the game running bad, saying 'how long does a pre-alpha have to take' etc, those are the kind of people that play a game solely for the game and not for the team and vision behind it. I've got roughly 150 hours into the game and i'm loving every minute of it. I'm here to stay and watch all the small bits and pieces come together in the near future!
@@V1aviation I don't understand the statement regarding playing just for the game and not the team and vision behind it...this studio were making mobile games right? So even if you knew them from a game on that platform, you're saying you'd buy GZW based on them regardless of the game? That's not to mention if it's any good or not. I think the CEO and studio devs have said stuff I agree with, I like the vision for the game, they seem cool. But so far it's just talk. The game as it stands right now is broken as hell. I'm not talking about the original performance issues right, which imo is poor. Only title I can think of that was worse , and that was a full release was Cyber punk. Performance has been tidied up a bit, but we're still seeing issues. Not to mention how very broken the AI are. As well as damage/ammo problems. The feedback I received was that they'll be addressing that in future updates. Ok...when? Until then you aren't going to fix it? You're already pushing people away due to that. They sold over 900,000 units at drop. Big injection of cash right there, but they haven't raised their game in response. Again, it's all talk. Look I'm not shitting on this, I'm being constructively critical, but I'm also being realistic. We've not seen much from them. They had to roll a major patch back because it tanked everything. That's not good. I hope they fix the issues hurting the game soon and I sincerely hope they don't wipe. I'd like to continue playing and making content on it. And honestly given that those of us that are playing this game HARD, are effectively testing their game...that we paid for the privilege off, they need to sort this lack of comms and fixes out soon, or pay as a salary for being the people responsible for driving the game forward, as we continue to test and report on the game.. Where's the roadmap? Where are the fixes for AI and damage? When will performance be better..not optimized..just better? I honestly think we'll always see performance issues until the engine is upgraded and thats a waaay off. Honestly, MadFinger need to do better. Simple as that.
I’m going to have to upgrade to the supporter pack now lol. Currently have 250 hours in the game and really enjoying it, all for 35 bucks! It’s worth giving them a little extra dough after hearing this.
Thank you for your service :) I bought the Supporters Edition and then gifted the game to two family members. This is a rare example where, if a game offered paid-for content, I'd fork over my money in a heartbeat -- happily.
Same I absolutely love this game! I have around the same hours maybe less. Used to have issues before the hot fixes and freezes but the devs answered my emails and helped me fix my problems throughout my game and now I have not had any problems in a few weeks thankfully; cross my fingers
@@FPSBoomer they are amazing! Honestly took a few emails for them to answer but once they did they were quick to respond! They really helped me out now im playing the game beautifully, only problem i have now is lag stuttering but thats it
The AI can be frustrating. I agree! But they are adjusting the AI (they are in their most basic form right now) with the big update coming later this year. Help is on the way.
I understand what youre saying but Im not sure why thats a complaint at all for some people. I mean the AI are supposed to be a formidable foe. Its completely realistic to think they get a head shot on you from time to time. Im loving the fact that the AI are beefy and almost nerve racking to face as enemy players. Its the way it should be.
@@silversteele6624 I think we all want the AI to be formidable but even the company has said they need adjusting and use just basic data now. They will become more complex, have emotions (like fear, aggression, based on circumstances), live their lives during the day and go to bed at night. There will also be roaming AI factions. So, the AI will undergo constant changes until they're fully fleshed out.
@FPSBoomer that maybe true but the game is nearly dead. How are they every going to afford the cost of the team and the servers with hardly any income..
@@jamiesdivision3742 They sold enough copies during the first month to fund development for many years (luckily) and the dropoff in concurrent players is expected given the stage of development and the current content. But player numbers will spike again when the big update launches, and the game will get more content - which will keep players playing longer. Then, there'll be another dropoff for a bit and a spike when the next big feature/content update launches. I'd imagine this will continue all the way to Version 1.0.
@@jamiesdivision3742 Same. Only time will tell. My biggest hope hinges on the fact that they're good people, experienced gamers and they're trying to do right by us. Anything can happen, but I feel confident they'll fulfill their vision.
Played a game for 1 hour, requested a refund. Releasing the game to the public in a state, where only the upper 2-3% of PC users can run it decently is just unacceptable. I've gotten myself a PC that can run it, but was hoping to play it with friends (since games like that are not interesting solo for me), and none of them can run it with 60fps even with FG\Upscaling in 1080p, and their PCs aren't really even bad. So agenda towards monetization is good and all, but product quality should be first concern, and it's not there, as far as I see.
I get your frustration but in their defense it’s a next-gen game. They are working on optimization, though, so I’d be patient. A hotfix is in the pipeline and more optimization is coming in this year’s massive update.
Bought the game on release and have about 120 hrs in it and paid extra for supporter edition, maybe after 30+hrs into game i got the jysk of what to do and how its based. Fun game, had alot of bugs and they fixed the early ones. I never had any issues with heli times, always been 2min outs and 4min pickup from far away. PVE at first my body would disappear and i would lose gear. But as soon as i played without gearfear gameplay became 10x better lol no stress. Can always get that good lvl 3 loadout. So just played fearless and thats the way to go. dont have gear fear lol. But after that 5.2 hotfix mess up that wasnt perfect and had to backtrack. Thats when i was burnt out and put the game on the shelf. I would like to come back to the game when i just want to go around questing a bit and maybe pvp. But until then just picked up my older games for now; like insurgency and squad. still playing CS2 tho
I’m not sure if you can use a controller via the Steam workaround but in-game controller support is coming and not present yet. They’ve said they plan to port to console.
For now, they have no plans to add "human-controlled ground vehicles." That's a direct quote. I might be reading into this too much, but it leaves room for there to be AI-controlled ground vehicles. Their goal is to build out the map so much with POIs that you want to travel by foot - and get rewarded for foot travel.
im only a newb player, 3 or 4 solid days, im in Australia, and EVERY SINGLE TIME i play, i met the nicest and most helpful people who showed me how to play and helped with quests, its a breath of fresh air to be playing a game where everyone is just out for enjoyment
@@FPSBoomer im 40, and my thought is the majority of the people playing this are for lack of a better word Adults. you would clearly need a decent rig to even play and i think thats great with weeding out the kids who are used to being hostile off the bat in game
