227 réponses à ce sujet

[Viktoria Landers]

I was just reading some statistics which I was unaware of and I thought to share my views with you guys. Apparently only 36% of the people who played Dragon Age Origins ever completed it, a game that was named Game of the Year, was highly praised and it was the first of the DA series.

What does this number show us? That number shows that all of us who completed DAO even once are in fact a minority. And those who played a second walkthrough, in order to choose different choices this time and obviously experience the RPG to it's full potential are even less. Probably less than 10%

That means there is the majority of players behind every game who buy the video game and probably some extra DLCs, play a little with it and eventually get bored and drop it. Subsequently they are also not involved afterwards in the forums or anywhere else, that's why they are silent too.

So when corporations produce video games and seek to have big sales (that's not a bad thing of course), they want their product to appeal to their potential customers and the silent majority will obviously give them the biggest part of the revenue. That means the game needs to be mostly appealing to their needs which is often not a good thing.

That's why I think they are doing a disservice to us, who love these series and desperately want it to be something good.

Modifié par Viktoria Landers, 28 novembre 2012 - 05:53 .

[Pheonix57]

I haven't completed it yet, but I know how it ends and I'm always very interested in news and the future of the series. Honestly though, the reason I haven't finished DA:O or DA:2 is because I keep messing something up along the way.

DA:O - Wanted to keep Alistair as a warden, but messed up and hardened him. Now I'm more than half-way through the game, he wants to be king, and I don't have a save game to reset to.
DA:2 - Wanted to be with Isabela, got the first loves scenes, then Merrill came to my room and I didn't want to be a jerk/thought I could break it off later, and lost Isabela entirely. Again, I made the mistake of saving and the idea of restarting is daunting.

But for what it's worth, I plan to do a full playthrough of both games, and all their DLC, before the release of DA3. I did the same with the Mass Effect series.

[Vortex13]

I am one of the people that completed DA:O / DA:A and I agree that making the game more mainstream is not always a good thing, but I feel confident in the DA team.

Doubts are understandable, but I feel that the info released currently; specifically companion armor customization, is a sign that the developers are listening to what the more "engrossed" fans want. Plus change is not always a bad thing; I for one am looking forward towards DA:I's multiplayer.

[Rawgrim]

How do they check if someone completed a game anyway? If you look at the xbox games, they don`t show up as completed untill you have all the achivements and things like that. Not really an accurate way to find out, I think.

[MichaelStuart]

It's very possible that most people just didn't like the Dragon Age Origins enough to want to finish it.
If this is the case, why bother making game for the people who are likely not going to buy the sequels.

[Viktoria Landers]

MichaelStuart wrote...

It's very possible that most people just didn't like the Dragon Age Origins enough to want to finish it.
If this is the case, why bother making game for the people who are likely not going to buy the sequels.

DA2 was very simple, and allowed people to catch up even if they missed playing DAO.

[Cid Revolution]

Where did you get these numbers? Present the data and its source before opening it up to scrutiny.

[Viktoria Landers]

Cid Revolution wrote...

Where did you get these numbers? Present the data and its source before opening it up to scrutiny.

Sure. Here is the source: http://uk.ign.com/ar...oadable-content

As you can see from the article's title, I intetionally didn't include the link in the first place because I didn't want the thread to end up into a Day-1 DLC discussion.

[JWvonGoethe]

Game developers have to assume that most professional reviewers will play the game to the end, and also that they will experience most of the content (even if they don't always do that.) And, obviously, good and bad reviews influence people in their decision of whether to buy the game or not.

Just as a thought experiment: if a review says a game has an unsatisfying ending, that might put someone off purchasing the game. If the same person reads a review that says the ending is great, however, they might end up buying the game. If that person never actually completes the game, they never experience the ending that swayed them in their decision to purchase the game in the first place! But they still bought the game because it was supposed to have a good ending.

Of course reviews aren't everything, but word-of-mouth can function in a similar way. Marketing is the real problem, which can influence people to buy a really shoddy product.

EDIT: My point was that reviews and word-of-mouth function as the best way for the 'minority' of completionists to have their views attain influence when it comes to sales and game development.

Modifié par JWvonGoethe, 28 novembre 2012 - 06:38 .

[MichaelStuart]

Viktoria Landers wrote...

MichaelStuart wrote...

It's very possible that most people just didn't like the Dragon Age Origins enough to want to finish it.
If this is the case, why bother making game for the people who are likely not going to buy the sequels.

DA2 was very simple, and allowed people to catch up even if they missed playing DAO.

But alot of people didn't play Dragon Age 2 at all.
I believe that Dragon Age 3 is not going to get those people back.

[Foolsfolly]

Honestly.... most gamers do not complete their games. Red Dead Redemption's one of Rockstar's best games to date and only 13% or so of those who bought the game actually completed it.

Why do people abandon games? Devs have been asking that question for a while. In DA:O and RRD's case they had great stories with great characters. So you can't say the story wasn't gripping (although, there are no doubt people who wouldn't like the stories). I think it's just the way of things. Any game with a storyline longer than 10 hours requires a lot of time and energy away from real life concerns that are hard to justify.

And if something bad happens (funeral for example) and you stop playing a game because of that.. it's really hard to come back to a character abandoned for a few weeks.

[Twisted Path]

I've played through Origins a couple of times but generally I'm one of those people who looses interest at some point in most long games and never completes them. Sometimes I don't like the game and loose interest but there are lots of games that I really enjoyed that just sort of ended up sitting on my shelf when I changed jobs/started reading a new book/started playing a different game/got a new dog/etc.

Which reminds me, I really need to get around to beating The Witcher one of these days. I really liked that game but I just got distracted when I got about 2/3 of the way though and it's collecting dust on my shelf.

^^Edit: Speaking of Red Dead Redemtion, the games that I most often don't compleat are sandbox games. I've never beaten a Grand Theft Auto game in my life, and I've gotten my money's worth and more from games like Morrowind and Fallout 3 without ever getting around to finishing the main quests.

Modifié par Twisted Path, 28 novembre 2012 - 07:00 .

[unbentbuzzkill]

I've played DA:O DA:A and all the dlc for the first game about ten times, DA2 i've played three times ( one time for every class ) and the dlc's once for every playthrough. I just didn't enjoy DA2 as much as DA:O. but your statistics are indeed interesting but if I were bioware I wouldn't focus on merely statistical data or what to do to mainstream a game that's been the downfall of many game franchises. (i.e. DA2, Fable 3, metroid, DMC reboot, sonic the hedgehog, etc......)

[Viktoria Landers]

EDIT: My point was that reviews and word-of-mouth function as the best way for the 'minority' of completionists to have their views attain influence when it comes to sales and game development.

Yeap, that's our big weapon. But from what I guess you also agree with the statement that silent majorities have also their own impact to the game development.

[Rawgrim]

Does this statistics take into account people who have finished the game more than once?

[Viktoria Landers]

Rawgrim wrote...

Does this statistics take into account people who have finished the game more than once?

No, the article (I posted the link in one of my replies), is only giving the 36% as a number, however when it comes to those who completed it more than once, the numbers must greatly drop. In the first post I said "less than 10%" but that's a mere hypothesis.

[Bernhardtbr]

Perhaps some people have more stuff to do in real life than bother, ya know, with computer games?

No one should be forced to use forums or give input, specially about games.

[Sylvius the Mad]

Just because someone doesn't complete the game doesn't mean he doesn't replay it. Nor does it mean he moves on to something else.

The OP's analysis is shallow.

[Cid Revolution]

There are three things in the world: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

Bioware just threw that number out in an attempt to justify its day 1 DLC, and I'm not sure how accurate it is without seeing the methods used and their sample size. If they only used the information given to them by online feedback, then it's certainly flawed. Half my trophies never loaded onto this site and more than half the characters I've created share the same fate. There are many factors to take into consideration if everything comes from internet feedback since depending on the gaming platform, the user may not even have the internet connection enabled; I know I didn't back when I first got DA:O. Then there's the question of when they collected the data. Maybe it took the majority of players a lot longer to complete the game than others; it is a long game.

I'm not doubting that there are people who have picked up the game only to toss it away without completing it. That happens all the time, and I'm guilty of it myself on several games. But 36%? That doesn't sound right to me.

I also don't agree with the arguments presented in favor of day one DLC. First they tell us that 36% of consumers will not finish the game, then they say:

Contrary to what you might hear on the internet, fans do want more content. They tend to say, ‘I want it now.’ The problem with day one content and the challenge around it is that the right answer for now is different for every player. There is no single right time, there is no single now. It’s subjective, and it’s unique to every player....You’re making it available on their time. They choose when to pick that  up. It’s not based on us. It’s not based on some first-party release schedule. It’s there, if they want it they can pick it up day one. If they don’t, they can wait until they’ve finished their game.

So the justification for selling day one DLC is to entice people who would normally never finish the game into buying a product they probably won't even play if they choose to save it for the end of the game? Or maybe they'll only get as far as the DLC and just stop?

I don't agree with this model at all. If you can have it readily available for launch, then it should be on the disc. I fail to see how this supposed "36%" factors into the equation when the others are the ones not likely to get their money's worth in the first place.

Modifié par Cid Revolution, 28 novembre 2012 - 08:17 .

[Allan Schumacher]

Sylvius the Mad wrote...

Just because someone doesn't complete the game doesn't mean he doesn't replay it. Nor does it mean he moves on to something else.

The OP's analysis is shallow.

Be careful taking one's own experiences and ascribing them to other people, however.

Take this as you will, but I consider you very unique among the gaming population (based on my interactions with them for the better part of 15 or so years).

[Dhiro]

Yes, but who are us? And how do you know that we all want the same thing and BW is therefore doing us a disservice? I've completed both games several times, but does that really means I like and support or dislike the same features as those who also completed the game?

[Melca36]

It shows me that a great many gamers are lazy and want things handed to them instead of having to play.

Its a sad reflection of society. I had no problems finishing BOTH games but then again I am NOT lazy and I dont want instant gratification.

[Rawgrim]

I finish the games several times, though. But it seems to me that most people on this forum has finished alot of Bioware games at least once?

[AtreiyaN7]

As Sten would concisely state in his response to the OP's analysis: No.