200 réponses à ce sujet

[Aermord]

Like many of you, I've been very frustrated when Bioware employees praise their decisions in interviews and try to make the number of people disliking DA2 into a minority. Words like "We care deeply for our fans" and "Their feedback is very important to us" from the Bioware employees sounds hollow when they seem to be doing the exact opposite every time they defend their decisions in the media.

First of all, there is no doubt that as games goes these days, DA2 is a "good" game. However DA2 is a "good" game in the sense of what gamers of especially the consoles seems to go for - games that focus on fast paced action and arcade style play. So in that sense DA2 is probably "good", its not "great" because there are a lot of console games that does what DA2 tries to do, a lot better.

Furthermore, it seems when reviews are handed out by people getting paid for such, that the main focus is graphics and flow of action. But to me, graphics and action in a game title is secondary. I've -never- bought a game because of its graphics.

I go for games that are deep, challenging and where you really have to -think- to survive. And games that has a story that pulls me in and makes me forget time and space. Dragon Age Origins did exactly that. The games graphics were not top, the combat had its problems. But I didnt care, because the story was great and the game was challenging. It pulled me in. DA2 took away all that. DA2 is an action game, that is what it does well. I feel Hawke and his actions doesnt matter, he isnt the "hero" I wish to play. In short, I hate him, he's a social climber, a violent one, who surrounds himself with scum. There's no beauty, no chatting around the campfire or Lelianna singing a song. Hawke is the kind of guy I would have been happy to have my hero get rid of.

Bioware might claim all they like that DA2 is a success, it sold well, but a lot of us who bought it expected something different than just hack and slash. They tried to apologize, at least that is how I see it, when they gave away Mass Effect 2, which by the way is also based on action. The funny thing is that the story in Mass Effect is far better than in DA2 - still not comparable to Dragon Age Origins, though, but enough to give me the desire to play it for an hour or two. DA2 I stopped playing weeks ago, it got angry and frustrated while playing and simply left it.

Now back to Biowares interview and seemingly lack of understanding of the damage they have done. They are doing damage control now, except that it results in quite the opposite among their (former) fans, They might be able to sell a few more copies following this strategy, but they will suffer because they are up against the power of word of mouth:

Friends are not recommending DA2 to each other, they warn each other against it. There are lots of examples of employees in game stores that warn people against buying DA2. There are reviews on Amazon and other online sellers of the game that show a general warning against buying the game. Metacritics user score are all time low - perhaps too, low - but disgruntled fans, who feel they have been cheated and that Bioware doesnt care about their oppinion, create accounts simply to put in a bad review. The word of mouth is not to be underestimated, and right now Bioware seems to be doing just that.

[Firky]

I think this a fair post and word of mouth can be very important. I'd be really interested to know who is really saying what, but how would you prove it? I've been telling people I think it is great and I bought a copy for my Dad. (Mostly because of ME2, though. He's a sci-fi nut.)

[FellowerOfOdin]

When people ask for a good RPG at our local gamestop, they just recommed pre-ordering The Witcher 2.

Surprise.

[DraCZeQQ]

FellowerOfOdin wrote...

When people ask for a good RPG at our local gamestop, they just recommed pre-ordering The Witcher 2.

Surprise.

Why is it suprise? TW2 looks baller =)

[Mantaal]

I get my Games in a Shop where you can buy and Rent all kind of Video Games. And they have a magic the Gathering and P&P room in the basement.

I was looking on the DA2 Box in there and the Vendor tolt me to not buy this game if i like RPG games.

I think its really strange if a Vendor tells you to not buy something they selling..

[Sacred_Fantasy]

None of my friends who used to play MMORPG with me are interested in DA 2 after I shown them the demo. No FPS fans from at my local cyber cafe bother to try out the demo. They totally ignored it because it's not their type of game. Sigh.. I guess I am the only DA-nerd in the crowd although I play MMORPG and MMO FPS with others as well.

[Edhriano]

Never underestimate the power of mouth to mouth review and recommendation .

[randName]

Aye, I normally endorse BioWare games to others, promoting them to friends and family that play games, but I'm finding myself telling them to avoid DA2 - not sure how many direct sales goes down due to it, my guess is 3-5 copies for DA2 so far, not much, and indirect is hard to estimate (could actually be a good thing that I don't promote it, since I could sell it to someone who hates it so much that they get more people off the game than I would get on).

Either way ~ a small loss, but still.

[Shadowbanner]

I honestly think this "war" is over now.

Large retailers, such as Amazon UK, have already discounted over 70% in one month (For the PC version). What does that twell you? It ain't selling.

[Aermord]

Shadowbanner wrote...

I honestly think this "war" is over now.

Large retailers, such as Amazon UK, have already discounted over 70% in one month (For the PC version). What does that twell you? It ain't selling.

Actually I dont think the war is over. I think it might be in regard to DA2, but Biowares response to the fans critic of the game seems to have spread a lot of anger and depending on what people are saying out there, Bioware might suffer from this for a long time.

Who's going to believe the reviews of Bioware games in the future for instance? When they differ so dramatically from user reviews, and from what is said among friends? It smells of positive reviews given in return of some EA advertising goodwill on the reviewers websites.

[Gavinthelocust]

Word of mouth will always be better than what the "officials" say.
Shadow Of The Colossus became popular because people who played it praised it like hell while reviewers ignored it. Hell, Mass Effect 2 wouldn't be as popular if it weren't for practically everyone who played it worshiped the game instead of just the reviewers. Call Of Duty wouldn't be around if it wasn't for people telling their friends to buy it and play it with them.

[dostunuz]

i lost my interest when you said "da2 is a good game".

[Aradace]

Here's a question. If you played the demo, hated it, and then STILL went out and bought the game, why in the nine hells are you *****ing again?

[Aermord]

dostunuz wrote...

i lost my interest when you said "da2 is a good game".

Then perhaps you should read a bit further, because I clearly state that -I- dont think it is a good game. I state that DA2 is a "good" game based on how games are defined by most reviewers as being "good" these days: Eye candy and action and little else.

[Gavinthelocust]

Aradace wrote...

Here's a question. If you played the demo, hated it, and then STILL went out and bought the game, why in the nine hells are you *****ing again?

Because otherwise they wouldn't be able to register their game and **** in the registered only sections.
Or because people are stupid, either one is correct.

[Aermord]

Aradace wrote...

Here's a question. If you played the demo, hated it, and then STILL went out and bought the game, why in the nine hells are you *****ing again?

I didnt play the demo. I didnt want to have stuff revealed before the full game and made the mistake of -trusting- Bioware.

[JabbaDaHutt30]

Gavinthelocust wrote...

Word of mouth will always be better than what the "officials" say.
Shadow Of The Colossus became popular because people who played it praised it like hell while reviewers ignored it. Hell, Mass Effect 2 wouldn't be as popular if it weren't for practically everyone who played it worshiped the game instead of just the reviewers. Call Of Duty wouldn't be around if it wasn't for people telling their friends to buy it and play it with them.

Both Shadow of the Colossus and Mass Effect 2 have a score of 90+ on metacritic. there's a reason why developers get antsy when looking at the metacritic scores of their game.

[Aradace]

Aermord wrote...

Aradace wrote...

Here's a question. If you played the demo, hated it, and then STILL went out and bought the game, why in the nine hells are you *****ing again?

I didnt play the demo. I didnt want to have stuff revealed before the full game and made the mistake of -trusting- Bioware.

Well then, seems to me you should take a valuable lesson away from this experience yes?  Aside from your "lack" of trust in BW it seems.  I personally enjoyed DA2 but thats neither here nor there atm.  My point is, it's precisely for your situation alone that I always, ALWAYS go out of my way for demos when I can get my hands on them.  If I dont like the demo, I dont buy the game.  Simple as that.

[Gavinthelocust]

Aermord wrote...

Aradace wrote...

Here's a question. If you played the demo, hated it, and then STILL went out and bought the game, why in the nine hells are you *****ing again?

I didnt play the demo. I didnt want to have stuff revealed before the full game and made the mistake of -trusting- Bioware.

So you didn't trust them enough to have a spoiler free demo(which there was no spoilers btw) but you trusted them to make a game that you'd like?

[Aermord]

Gavinthelocust wrote...

So you didn't trust them enough to have a spoiler free demo(which there was no spoilers btw) but you trusted them to make a game that you'd like?

Yup.. silly me, right?

[Aradace]

Aermord wrote...

Gavinthelocust wrote...

So you didn't trust them enough to have a spoiler free demo(which there was no spoilers btw) but you trusted them to make a game that you'd like?

Yup.. silly me, right?

Indeed.  Hope you are the wiser for it :happy:

[Sabriana]

Word of mouth is one of the most powerful marketing vehicles there is.

And no, I'd never tell anyone "not" to buy DA 2. I do, however, strongly recommend to my friends that they research it, rent it, borrow it, or come over and play it on my machine first (if they bring the pizza, that is).

[Louis deGuerre]

I work with a large community of IT people and based on that I can confidently state that Bioware killed their reputation for excellence.
Every gamer I know pre-ordered it and they are all disappointed (and vocal about it).
They don't hate the game, but they all agree it is mediocre and unfinished. It just screams : "We ran out of time or money and duct-taped it all together".
It is an OK game, but it could so easily have been great. It is very sad and an idiotic management decision.
For the next Bioware games, they will wait untill the user reviews speak of excellence once again, or it shows up in the bargain bin.
A reputation can be mended, but it will never be as good as when it was untarnished.

Was it worth it ?

[Aradace]

Louis deGuerre wrote...

I work with a large community of IT people and based on that I can confidently state that Bioware killed their reputation for excellence.
Every gamer I know pre-ordered it and they are all disappointed (and vocal about it).
They don't hate the game, but they all agree it is mediocre and unfinished. It just screams : "We ran out of time or money and duct-taped it all together".
It is an OK game, but it could so easily have been great. It is very sad and an idiotic management decision.
For the next Bioware games, they will wait untill the user reviews speak of excellence once again, or it shows up in the bargain bin.
A reputation can be mended, but it will never be as good as when it was untarnished.

Was it worth it ?

While I enjoyed the game, I can and will admit I was "disappointed" by it in some aspects.  One being the constant recycled dungeons and maps.  A minor annoyance for me, but still distracting none the less.  And the second reason Im disappointed is for a reason that most others would say they would have been disappointed had it been implemented and that is NG+ mode.  Again, just a personal preference thing for me but had I known 100% for sure before hand that it wasnt going to be in this game, I'd have rented DA2 instead of buying it.  Wont make that mistake again for DA3.  I'll rent it first, and if it has a NG+ this time around then and only then will I buy it.  Again, my reasons for my "disapointment" are different than most others, but it is disappointment none the less.