Rdubs wrote...
Denethar wrote...
Anyone have an idea on how long it will be before Bioware actually understand how bad this is?, I mean, seeing the price for the game now, it has clearly affected them in a negative way. We're seeing no real wish to fix it because then their "artistic blablabla" would suffer. But I do wonder if the numbers are better then I think, or if they're still in the denial phase. If they're still trying damage control....then I'd fire my PR department right away, because this is the type of situation that they are needed in and it has apparently failed at most fronts.
What I REALLY wish is that either a former Bioware Edmonton employee or sympathetic current one would tell us what the hell happened and what the hell the internal reaction was, not the front put on by the PR people. We do know how the ending happened thanks to the PA post fiasco, but there's a lot more to know - like how did the higher-ups react. Where there many late night conference calls trying to figure out what to do, etc. It will be a year or so before anyone feels comfortable enough to be earnest about what happened behind the scenes.
Well, the sales figures for the first three weeks are...somewhat ambigous. The % drop in sales is roughly in line with what you'd expect from an AAA title, a few points lower but nothing that would seem to cause undue alarm. It appears that the important points are the first week, and then the 5th,6th and 7th weeks. The really good titles show a rise in sales around the 5th or 6th week that carry on for the next three consecuitive weeks - Both DAO and ME1 showed significant increases in sales around this time, for ME1 it was something like 27% increase in sale in week 7. (I posted sales figures yesterday somewhere on here. The figures were for the X-Box 360 global sales).
Badly received games show consistant falls of around 30% or so after the third week, regardless of how much money was spent on advertising or for that matter what the reviews said about it - DA2 is a prime example.
Of course sales figures don't tell the whole story, as they don't indicate if the price was lowered nor returns or trade ins. If Amazon UK has been giving out so many refunds they feel that they have to stop selling a title...well that implies that a very large percentage of the sales figures are 'ghost' figures, in so far that they have been cancelled out by returns.
EA/BW should be VERY concerned over Amazon's decision, because this is the second Bioware title in 12 months to see Amazon accept mass refunds on. With DA2 they were giving full refunds because the bugs in the game made it impossible for many console players to play the game, let alone finish it. As far as I know Amazon never stopped selling DA2, although the price dropped like a stone, but this is probably because it was known that Bioware was working on a patch, and the main delay in that patch's release was due to Sony and Microsoft needing to test and clear it - a process that was totally out of Bioware's hands.
ME3 is a different matter, in that the reason is false and/or misleading advertising with no clear indication from Bioware that this problem will be resolved.
Now this is a serious problem because Amazon, and indeed other retailers, are going to view DA3 (or whatever game BW release next) in a negative light. At best they will hold out for a VERY good deal from EA before deciding to stock any future titles, stock far less than EA/BW would like and almost certainly make it crystal clear that if they end up with another misadvertsied or bug ridden product that gets returned in droves they will simply pull the game from sale. At worst retailers could simply refuse to stock any new Bioware games at all, and could potentially (although unrealistically) do the same for all EA games as well.
We've long known that PAX is going to be Bioware's own crucible. But with Amazons decision to stop sales it has become far more vital than ever. If Bioware announces that it will have an ending DLC out in the near future, and this is a free DLC to anyone who wants it, they they will carry on - although with a badly dented reputation. If they give no answers, don't change the ending or release a paid DLC...they are simply finished as a company. Amazon will simply refuse to stock the game, and so will everyone except maybe Origin - and Origin rather tellingly not only allowed refunds but is currently offering Arkham City for £10 if you buy ME3...so yes, EA is very well aware of how serious this situation is.
In a way it *should* give us some hope, because the only viable option that seems left for Bioware is to provide a decent ending DLC we don't have to pay for. Not least because EA is going to be screaming at them to sort the mess out, and the company producing the Mass Effect film will likewise be threatening to put the project on hold for the forseeable future.
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