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HolyJellyfish wrote...
No, they aren't. In the demo-combat game, you CAN play either male or female Hawke (That's nice), but you wouldn't know that unless you got your hands on the demo-combat. And that wouldn't happen unless you were press or at a convention.
Destructoid doesn't work for Bioware. He is an independent writer. I was very pleased he decided to take on the review in a different direction (Female Hawke), but the lack of Lady Hawke screen shots that could mix in with the Male Hawke screenshots show you some weakness to Bioware's PR material. I would love to see more writers decide to review in the perspective of Female Hawke, and match it with the Male Hawke screenshots. Maybe Bioware would realize that confusion could be easily cleared if they provided more Female Hawke screenshots.
So yes. Bioware needs to make more of an effort outside of demo play that isn't even being shown publicly (Unless its through an independent avenue) and a single screenshot floating around of Lady Hawke that isn't even on their official website.
So I went away from this topic, but I'm back again.
I know you've missed me, Jellyfish.
I'm going to respond to the bolded part of your above post in particular.
That is exactly the opposite of what you should be arguing. I've said this numerous times here already, albeit a few pages back now.
Bioware has a lot of numbers available to them that you and I will never get our hands on. That is multiplied by the level of expertise of the EA marketing-team. Believe you me, when I say EA marketing is damn good at selling games - that's why they're at EA.
Bioware/EA-marketing is obtaining exactly the results that they want with their PR/marketing campaign of DA2. They are grabbing hold of the male casual-gamer market. They are attracting, I imagine, mostly shooter- and action/adventure-game fans. "Press a button and something awesome happens", "Not like playing chess", "Fast-paced", etc. etc. The "Fight like a spartan" and all the instances in which rogues are described as "ninjas" or something to the like also particularly stand out. It's a mash-up of pop-culture references, and cool concepts and ideas.
It's being marketed to the same crowd as Mass Effect 2, only this time we aren't "in the darker and more gritty second chapter", but instead in the "sexier, grittier and deadlier sequel"(or whatever the phrasing is).
It is remarkably similar - and can you blame Bioware/EA for trying to emulate the marketing-campaign that brought them the biggest sales-totals of any of their modern-day games?
I've already agreed that you should expect to be told, that "female Hawke" is an option, on the website, and somewhere not hidden-away like the FAQ... Although I don't think you should expect any screenshots or videos, and if they come, don't expect to find them without flipping through pages of other screenshots first.
Bioware are, in essence (and sorry if anyone is offended by this), going for the frat-boy crowd, because the frat-boy-gamer crowd is growing every year (with the large majority being in console-purchase-and-gaming) and such people will often not want to play a game that has female(or even makes them a possibility) lead characters. They take one glance at female Hawke and go "What the hell?" then look at the word "Story" in turn it off. As long as "Story" is only mentioned in reference to male Hawke and "Rise to power!! Become awesome champion of Kirkwall and wield sword and cool magic while you rip people in two with giant hands" it's alright.
I mean, you're (women) not the only ones being overlooked here. The marketing isn't focusing on stereotypical gamers either - just like the game is being tweaked to be a lot more accessible (possibly losing a few RPG-features in the process) because it needs to appeal to a larger audience.
Then again, I'm being melodramatic - the group "male rpgamers" aren't really being overlooked, we just aren't being specifically targeted... Kind of like you guys. The only group Bioware/EA-marketing is specifically aiming for, is the casual frat-boy-crowd, who will look at the game for two seconds and then buy it ("Wow this game looks cool!") - then again, it's people like you who prove this kind of marketing to work. People need to be interested from the get-go, else they will walk away.
You walked away from the original Mass Effect because you couldn't clearly see right away that you could play a female character. It wouldn't, for instance, have taken more than "Mass Effect character creator" on YouTube to show you that you could, hell I'm pretty sure you could even watch that video on their own website.
This means, in essence, that Bioware was missing out on the whole casual frat-boy crowd in DA:O, but managed to draw them in with Mass Effect 2. That means they need to appeal instantly to this crowd, with box-art, website and everything, to get those same sales-totals.
Bioware values marketing towards the "frat-boy crowd" over the average "female gamer" - that is obvious.
Is it sexist? Certainly not.
Does it, mayhap, have to do with wanting to make as much money as possible? Certainly!
EDIT:
Another worthwhile mention of the overhaul DA2 is getting from the chess-like original is the graphics style. The game is meant to look cooler, the interface is being simplified and the game... Let me just quote the website: "Discover a whole realm rendered in stunning detail with updated graphics and a new visual style." Nobody, I repeat nobody, will think DA2 looks like some state-of-the-art game, and the fact that it's being blown up as one of the main features is... Embarrassing. But you see, the casual crowd cares a lot more about graphics than you and me - and when they can read "stunning detail" and even "new visual style" on a box (or front page of the website) they get very interested.
Modifié par Liablecocksman, 21 décembre 2010 - 11:27 .
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)" and "I agree totally!!" posts. If you're really lucky, you might even get a simple "+1", since that seems to be what you're looking for.
