32 réponses à ce sujet

[Paul E Dangerously]

Thing is, Bethesda learned NOT to announce things way ahead of time, which Bioware hasn't. And that's all because of Oblivion.

 

Look at the original concept stuff for what Oblivion was "supposed" to be. It was stuff they couldn't realistically pull off on that scale, and when the game wasn't like that, people complained about it en masse.

 

So they've gotten to the point where they'll deny the hell out of a game's existence - even if everyone and their brother knows it's in development - until it's late enough in the cycle that they have a lot to show, and they won't get nailed for "Why doesn't the final version have (this feature)?" or endless "Is there any new news?" requests.

[Mello]

That would've worked if they didn't show anything during this year's E3. Granted, it can still work. Maybe that's why Bioware is holding off on in-game/combat because they truly are "polishing" it and want to get everyone hyped up around the release date. 

[Zatche]

It'd probably help the discussion if we had some testimony from people who are susceptible to hype. Four months, three months, one month, it's all the same to me. If anything, I get bored with a game that I've been hearing about for months unless I'm already committed to it.

I can be susceptible to hype, but it usually stems through the game being part of a franchise or from a developer I like, rather from a marketing campaign. Most games, I look at cautiously and wait until reviews and user feedback, and maybe get hyped after hearing good things.

So, right, that probably makes me not the main type of player a marketing campaign looks to get pre-orders out of, so there could be a disconnect.

[Spectr61]

It's not even much an RPG. Skyrim is a fantasy RPG more than ME is a sci-fi RPG. There's hardly anything to the skills. It's strength is in the dialogues, but that not much else.
 
And that isn't bad btw. I wouldn't want to play a real Mass Effect RPG. Then we'd allocate for more things, including aiming. Screw that.
 
But anyways.. Ferrari doesn't need commercials because they sell for $300,000.

'tis the brand, not the cost.

I wonder how much damage the ME3 endings controversy damaged the brand?

And how much more damage like that it can take before it becomes just another mediocre one.

[straykat]

'tis the brand, not the cost.

I wonder how much damage the ME3 endings controversy damaged the brand?

And how much more damage like that it can take before it becomes just another mediocre one.

 

That's a good question. I'm not sure if the majority even hates it.

[Snorka]

Build it and they will come.

[Spectr61]

That's a good question. I'm not sure if the majority even hates it.

Me either.

The market cap loss to EA/Bioware following the endings fiasco was easily quantifiable, around 1.5 B. But how much of it was directly due to the fans reactions and their negative reviews? One thing for sure, it didn't take them all that long to try to address it with the EC, with the idea that EC was free just compounding the perceived sensitivity.

And how much was the brand hurt? Unknowable in my opinion, but even though some/many may like it, I think the overall perception is negative, and that hurts the brand. Not to mention goodwill.

I hope Andromeda turns this trend around. I am skeptical, but hopeful.

[DanielCofour]

The thing is, this theory assumes that the strategy is intentional. Because the fact is no developer would release a trailer showing off artists working on the game, unless they didn't have enough gameplay to show off. Maybe I'm wrong, but such "trailers" previously were only ever released very early in the development cycle. It was indicative that the game is still early in development and they didn't want to show something that could be cut out later down the line.

 

It's very strange for a developer to at the same time advertise the game and not show any gameplay/in-engine/pre-rendered footage. Fallout 4 made not a peep about it's existence, then suddenly half-hour long gameplay demonstration. That was a very different thing.

 

Again, I may be wrong. It might just be a novel advertising strategy, but if the amount of people leaving Bioware and specifically MEA(2 creative directors, lead writer, senior editor, development director, among others) is any indication, the development of this game isn't exactly what you would call smooth. 

 

Guess time will tell.