9976 réponses à ce sujet

[lasertank]

Hold the line

[Razorsteel]

Hoorah! Hold the line!

[Tequila Man]

This is the Raging 27th, Florida Wing, American Fleet...

Holding the line.

[Militarized]

ApophisGoauld wrote...

Militarized wrote...

I was playing ME2 instead, since I like playing... you know.. a wholy satisfying experience.

I envy you, because I can't play even ME1... I am too sad for playing any ME game...

I got ME3 early from using a proxy IP... believe me, it's taken a week and then some for me to even touch a video game. I just started with ME2 again to purge the overwhelming feeling of bile whenever I look at the Mass Effect logo on my desktop. 

Modifié par Militarized, 17 mars 2012 - 12:55 .

[Lozark]

This MP weekend shows that they are getting closer to realizing that they have to listen to us. If we keep holding out and refuse to be silent, then I think we're getting close to getting real answers and real changed.

[EvilChani]

Bump. This needs to stay near the top so it stays fresh in our memories.

[hex23]

While I don't disagree with anything being said here....I find it hard to believe Bioware would be so incredibly stupid that they'd think a week-end playing free multi-player on a game we already own would accomplish anything from a PR standpoint.

[WilliamDracul88]

BrotherFluffy wrote...

Bump to the top, remember to boycott Operation: Goliath. Hold the line.

Read the OP if you didn't already, please. And keep this thread alive.

[Thunderfurby]

At the end of the day Bioware is going to do whatever it had intended to do before the release.

The only thing that all this backlash/complaining is force them to consider their comments a bit more carefully.

If DLC was planned to expand on and explain the ending it will still arrive, if nothing was planned then nothing is coming.

They'll never outright say "shut the **** up consumers, we're doing whatever we ****ing want", but that's what they are thinking.

[atghunter]

Qareen wrote... 

Very informative and also very reassuring. Thank you for taking the time and effort to share this with us.

Also found this extremely reassuring and insightful. Really makes me feel that all this isn't for nothing.

Having your voice heard has meaning Quareen.  That you have spoken out on either side of this is exlemplary!

And no matter how this turns out, corporate PR guys will be talking about you for years!

Modifié par atghunter, 17 mars 2012 - 01:01 .

[mpgeist]

"If the enemy is to be coerced, you must put him in a situation that is even more unpleasant than the sacrifice you call on him to make. The hardships of the situation must not be merely transient - at least not in appearance. Otherwise, the enemy would not give in, but would wait for things to improve."
- Carl Von Clausewitz

"The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten."
- Calvin Coolidge

Yeah I googled a few quotes...sue me. Hold the LIne!

[Thornne]

atghunter wrote...
If sales slow, watch for price cutting within 10 days (just over the two week US release date). It will mean that retailers are getting nervous and will slow new unit orders...

This may already be happening.

I know there was  alot of noise ealier in the week about price drops on amazon.com, but it was always some obscure 3rd-party venor that uses their site, so I figured it was just a teaser offer and dismissed it as nothing significant.

But out of curiosity I went back to Amazon today, and the price, direct sale from Amazon, for PC standard edition ME3 is now down 33%, to $40.

[iiTzCyAniiDe]

Thunderfurby wrote...
They'll never outright say "shut the **** up consumers, we're doing whatever we ****ing want", but that's what they are thinking.

Didn't that actually happen once?? 

[BrotherFluffy]

atghunter wrote...

Greetings All,
 
First, I’m flattered someone would repost this. Many thanks. 
 
A couple follow-up thoughts for those wondering what is likely going on with the other side of the mirror in the last couple days:
 
First, Operation Goliath, the free Star Wars online weekend, and the recent noncommittal overtures to listen are faux olive branches. Sorry. Customers intrinsically want to believe companies they patronize listen and when they stop believing that, the company has to say they are listening and do anything to get the detractors off-message.  There are a dozen names for this, but the most memorable was "The Shell Game." 
 
You will know that there’s a genuine need for dialogue in the corporate bunker when the message turns from “we’re listening” to “we acknowledge we may have a disconnect with our consumers and are willing to discuss a meaningful solution to the problem.” It signals an end to non-committed deflection and opening genuine talks to solve the problem (it’s knows as “Exposing Your Throat” btw). At present, you’ll notice Bioware/EA has only said they will “explain” the endings. That’s not a give, that’s a delay tactic.
 
But here’s the part that amazes me as an old PR guy and is totally new. The disenfranchised base here is changing the old methodology. It’s akin to comparing old-style bunker PR defenses to new blitzkrieg-style consumers. To date, the “bunker strategy” was always used because it was virtually foolproof. However, social media and the 24 hour news cycle have simply changed everything. Twenty years ago, you could not mass 30,000 protesters into a networked base without some luck, money, a GREAT cause and (most importantly) time. By the time you did get organized, folks were either burned out or lost interest. Groups like Take Back have altered the landscape and suddenly the contest is taken from the old paradigm to a crazy new (and wonderful IMO) place. Preorder sales took away customers biggest weapon in the past (i.e. don’t buy the product). Now customers who feel they have received poor value have been potentially re-empowered by the internet. Bioware/EA is feeling the full brunt of this thing while passion is hottest. They are deploying countermeasures faster than the old strategies ever would have ever suggested. To some degree, they are being outmaneuvered atm. But now it depends on how long the protest/outcry holds up.
 
Two more quick points and I’ll close. First, the Child’s Play movement was brilliant. Notice over the past few days how some of the most visceral detractors to the outcry have had to shift their vitriol from “you’re spoiled selfish haters” to “sure you gave to charity, but you are spoiled selfish haters.” Nobody is drinking that Kool-Aid. Better yet, some outlets are now saying “maybe the game has problem but its still art” from the precedent message “best game ever.” That won’t fly with the mainstream. If its one thing they know is that when “art” hits the marketplace, it is a commodity, nothing more. You’ve changed the countermeasures from "unbiased" critics of the movement into drum beaters simply trying to get you angry. EA’s PR guys probably envy you (grudgingly) atm.  
 
Second, don’t buy the only X people voted in the poll out of 1 billion customers, so they don’t care. That’s bunk. Are there "drum beaters" on both sides of this issue that just want to see controversy, sure. But if I was sitting in an office looking at that Bioware poll, I’d be reaching for a cigarette.
 
Finally remember, they have much more data at their disposal. They know how sales are going, how much time people are playing that are synced into Origin, etc. They will watch those numbers this weekend. If sales slow, watch for price cutting within 10 days (just over the two week US release date). It will mean that retailers are getting nervous and will slow new unit orders. As I’ve said before, this will come down to hard currency. If the protests start having an effect on that front, the response will come.
 
I’m an older gamer and again appreciate the repost. To everyone (on both sides) continue to let your voices be heard. You are consumers and have every right to engage in this discourse. The boards being locked yesterday proves someone is watching and knows this is an issue.  I'm in the hated-ending camp to be sure, but I admire everyone one of you who is arguing for what believe on both sides!

Cheers.

Many men may be willing to die heroically for a noble cause, but few men will live humbly for one.  Wilhelm Stekel   
 

I am officially designating you The Man.  Thanks so much for the messages and giving us an inside look at what is going on behind the scenes.  Knowing we're having an effect and doing such a good job is a real morale boost.  

[Lozark]

hex23 wrote...

While I don't disagree with anything being said here....I find it hard to believe Bioware would be so incredibly stupid that they'd think a week-end playing free multi-player on a game we already own would accomplish anything from a PR standpoint.

I think it's a clever ruse, actually.  If the event succeeds, then they gain the PR ability to say that we will continue being their customers anyway, despite our dissapointment and our anger.  It gives them a way out of having to dedicate resources and time to fixing the ending to ME3.  However, I think we have the strength of numbers and unity to show them otherwise by not playing MP this weekend.  When we prove that they have harmed their own brand and their own franchise through their lack of an ending and their poor handling of the situation, their tune will change.

[Versus Omnibus]

I'm not going to forget. I was looking forward to this game and now I can't enjoy it because of the bad ending I'm "rewarded" with.

[DoctorCrowtgamer]

Tequila Man wrote...

This is the Raging 27th, Florida Wing, American Fleet...

Holding the line.

This is the fighting Blue Hens 1st Delaware Wing American Fleet..We are holding the line and costing them sales until they give use what they said would be in the game.

Hold the line people.  The fact that they are stalling proves they are worried. If we just hold the line they will have to cave.

[SilencedScream]

I'll enjoy the game that I paid for to the best of my ability (I did manage a FULL 30 minutes of NG+ before getting sick of it this time).

This doesn't mean I forgive Bioware or that I'll purchase a future title. I still expect my endings to be fixed before that'll happen.

[atghunter]

Regardless of my background, I'm still enrolling in that Krogan's business course. I loved that thread!

[BHynes92]

I know I'm kinda late to the party here, posting 8 pages ina nd all, but I'd just like to reply to the OP...

 well, that was enlightening, but the only response from us I think will have any effect is to continue to
HOLD THE LINE!

[Razorsteel]

Bumping for great justice!

[Lozark]

It's telling as well that the first report of this topic on PR tactics was locked -- Bioware doesn't want us to know that this is exactly what they're doing. Knowledge is power, and if they can keep us from knowing their tactics then we'll be worse off for it. But we do know, and if this topic is locked then we'll just repost it again. Standard PR practice will not work for them here.

[hex23]

Lozark wrote...

I think it's a clever ruse, actually.  If the event succeeds, then they gain the PR ability to say that we will continue being their customers anyway, despite our dissapointment and our anger.  It gives them a way out of having to dedicate resources and time to fixing the ending to ME3.  However, I think we have the strength of numbers and unity to show them otherwise by not playing MP this weekend.  When we prove that they have harmed their own brand and their own franchise through their lack of an ending and their poor handling of the situation, their tune will change.

It would be a clever ruse if the complaints were about multi-player. 

I don't understand how playing multi-player this week end sends the message "we will be your customers anyway".  I do think they are trying to get our mind off the problem at hand as a form of damage control, but I seriously doubt they'll watch the MP numbers this week end like "yeah, we got them back!". There is a huge difference between playing free MP in a game you already own, and shelling out $60 on the next game they release.

And no, I don't plan on playing MP either, but it's because I have no desire to touch anything "Mass Effect" related until the end is fixed.

[Asepsis]

It's sad to see this playing out exactly as the original poster stated, I hope they realize they'll make more money adding to/fixing the game.