From Killed in a Smiling Accident:
Am I at fault for setting my expectations against the output of their hype machine? I used to think that maybe I was; I’m under no illusion that the promotion of these games is almost entirely undiluted finger-waggling horseshitery, as an MMO developer tries to build a critical mass of community around its forthcoming product. I should take it all with a pinch of salt, but lately I’ve come to realise that the amount of money these companies spend on marketing could be spent on improving their game such that it’s not an embarrassing bug ridden piece of half-realised promises and pie-in-the-sky design ideals. I find that it’s much better, for me, if I take the marketing of these companies at face value, and if they don’t live up to the tenet of what they’ve spent hundreds of thousands of $monetaryunit preaching to the masses, then it’s a fairly safe bet that there won’t be any substance to the game in the long run either.
Because you are judged against your hype.
: Zubon
I haven’t tried Spellborn yet.
Very mixed reviews, though even those of us who didn’t like parts of it (I am reticle-impaired) still acknowledge that it *tries* very hard to move away from standard DIKU models, if only in presentation.
It’s really different-looking (at least to me), and it has some interesting mechanics. I suspect if I could just get past how unutterably crap I am with reticle-based combat (to the point where I can’t hit anything that isn’t stationary, let alone hit and strafe and click buttons at the same time), I’d be playing TCOS at least to the end of the freebie sections and quite possibly beyond.
Damn it Mr Z, did you just hype my post?!
Thank you for the hat-tip, it’s pleasing to know that I’m not entirely alone in having such an opinion.
Indeed, my opinion hasn’t changed, but I am pointing out to people that TCoS is free to play initially, barring any download costs, so really there’s little harm in trying it for oneself. I would never want to be the reason for people to not play an MMO, I’m just trying to explain the thought process behind why I’m not going to play it, in order to perhaps armour others against their own marketing-influenced expectations.
My intention is to be a deflater of hype bubbles, not a destroyer of games.
Hype bubbles are interesting.
I won’t call it _entirely_ organic, as the devs have trotted out the pony show or three, but I think DCUO’s hype bubble is both growing immensely, and yet… close to factual. Which is really freaking weird. It’s a game that everyone ‘should hate’ ‘omg SOE’, and is slowly looking better and better entirely on what they’ve shown off.
Hm. I dunno. Warhammer had a huuuuge bubble, of course. Stargate… well, they did a little with the flamethrower video, but not much.
What do you see as hyped games right now? I’m seeing a curious lack, excepting Champions. I’d _like_ to hear more about Jumpgate Evolution, but for a game opening in June, it’s vewwy quiet.
What do you see as hyped games right now?
Star Wars: The Old Republic. Already. And it’s nowhere near release.
An example of one that is being played close to the chest? CCP’s World of Darkness.
It’ll be interesting to see how they pan out. Bioware have the dream license and they’re an amazing company, but Star Wars Galaxies showed us that really, in MMOland, that doesn’t guarantee anything. CCP have a strong license, and we’ve seen how they can grow and nurture a community from the ground up after the game has been released.
Contrast and compare, as they say.
Good call on TOR.