Fallout 4 and other titles. Does all this hype hurt the game, or not?

[_Shadow_]

We all saw once again a big company building hype for a new title. Fallout 4.

First thngs first:

I am a fan of Fallout 2, believing is one of the best RPGs ever made for the PC.

I liked Fallout 3.

I also liked Elder Scrolls Morrowind.

What I didn't liked was the hype for Oblivion. So much hype was a joke, at least when it comes to a game with main story length, that ended in 4 days of gameplay. In my opinion compared to Morrowind that was a joke.

Next came what? Fallout 3. No real hype, because Bethesda was risking the port to 3D, vs hardcore Fallout 2 fans. Let's be fair. There was no hype. And the game was actually really nice. It had that feeling Fallout has. So well done. What if there was too much hype on Fallout 3 though? Would I had the same reaction?

Then came the hype for Skyrim. And a lot of people asked "ok it was just like the others, why so much hype about it"?   And they were right in my opinion. Oh whatever! Fus-Ro-Dah!

Then Watchdogs... SUPER hupe, then the feeling of an average game, with expensive DLCs. Don't own it, but i can read comments all around.

And now, hype for Fallout 4.

Here comes what I believe.

Too much hype, creates disappointment.

A game might be really nice, and if there will be not SO much hype out there about it, your expectations might be realistic about the game.

So you might actually enjoy it.

But hype creates high hopes and high expectations, to raise the sales.

Thus you might end up being disappointed.

And comment accordingly.

And that might even affect sales in a negative way too.

What do you believe people about this?

Does too much hype actually hurt the reputation of a title?

 

[Pine]

It's obvious that hype hurts anything. Setting high, often unrealistic expectations, is only going to make it much worse when someone is let down. And let's just be clear: someone is ALWAYS let down because developers can't please everyone as everyone has different tastes.

A game that has the right model of advertising, shows considerably detailed gameplay and doesn't try to sell something it doesn't have it's going to have a lower profile and if the game is actually good, it'll get a better reputation because of it. Other games just have a low profile on release, retain a low profile, and eventually people forget it even if it was pretty good. Like the case of, since you mention Fallout, of New Vegas, which is infinite times better than F3 was.

As far as money goes, I'm not sure hype affects it. If the hype is enough, they can get money out of console peasants who buy the game on release because, reasons.

I think you're wrong about Skyrim, though. That game was a masterpiece, and I played it unwillingly given all the hype around it.

 

[_Shadow_]

I never said Skyrim was bad.

I said some people were disappointed, because of the hype. And they were right.

Still Skyrim was a good release.

What was in my opinion a joke, was Oblivion's length though.

As for New Vegas, you are absolutely right. I believe that New Vegas kept low profile as the first sequel to F3 for the same reasons though. The hardcore fans. Still New Vegas is way better than F3, you are right, and people don't even know that.

 

[AceOfAces_Mod]

I really haven't played much of either Fallout 1, 2 or New Vegas. They are enjoyable, but I have a hard time to play them.

I wonder if Namco Bandai will announce a new Ace Combat. I think I saw somewhere, somebody who works there having a photo with the hashtag #AssaultHorizon2. Hopefully they will have a story similar to AC5 or AC0.

 

[cabfe]

It happens (almost) all the time.

When you get to see a movie or read a book someone (or several people) said "it's fantastic!", you're often disappointed because you expected something like a dream product.

On the other hand, when you're told that something is meh, you can have a good surprise.

However, on the marketing side of things, hype works. They don't care if people enjoyed the product or not, it was another sale made.

 

[Ms Littlefish]

I've seen this question asked pretty often. I think we live in an era where information is now abundant, and in some ways, needed to stay relevant and remembered in what is now a much expanded market. But, it's almost like we're being spoiled. Nowadays, it's often we know so much about a game before it's released that maybe what we now lack is the sense of discovery about a game. The unknown is exciting, and depending on how much the developers and marketers dish out it can leave us having too little to find out for our selves.

 

[Pine]

 it's often we know so much about a game before it's released that maybe what we now lack is the sense of discovery about a game. 

I'm not sure... I usually scout games heavily in youtube and various sites to see what the game is all about. Otherwise I end up with another wasted $40.

 

[Ms Littlefish]

Well, of course. Consumers need to be told why they should buy a product. And, in the information age most people want enough for their decision to be well founded. I have nothing against that.

But if there is an overshare of information people may still be expecting the game to have more, yet realize there were no surprises or more than what they already knew. Which may be disappointing.

 

[_Shadow_]

I think we live in an era where information is now abundant, and in some ways, needed to stay relevant and remembered in what is now a much expanded market. But, it's almost like we're being spoiled. 

Absolutely

"Here is a preview of the bithday cake you will have at your suriprise party we are planning for you! Wow! This will be the best surprise birthday party ever! We invited even that friend you have so long time to see! You will be delighted!"

It just doesn't work like that....

I'm not sure... I usually scout games heavily in youtube and various sites to see what the game is all about. Otherwise I end up with another wasted $40.

 

Well wasting $40 should be the nemesis of a company.

Meaning customers should not be SO forgiving. We are spoiled.

But today people get ****TY customer service but still buy products.

That's why EA  and comapnnies with no service at all still exist.

 

I wonder if Namco Bandai will announce a new Ace Combat. 

 

Got no idea but I liked Ace combat games a lot.

 

 

 

[Andar]

I think it depends on the result - if the game has a good quality, then people will trust the series and believe in hypes about it.

But bungle even once with a hype and then delivering a bad game, and the name will be burned forever.

That is what some salesmen don't understand - you can lie to someone only once, and then he'll never believe you (or purchase your products) again.
So each company hyping a game does in reality gamble on their programmers to pull the feat off before they finished the work (because hypes usually start during programming, they don't wait until the game is finished).

 

[_Shadow_]

That is what some salesmen don't understand - you can lie to someone only once, and then he'll never believe you (or purchase your products) again.

So each company hyping a game does in reality gamble on their programmers to pull the feat off before they finished the work (because hypes usually start during programming, they don't wait until the game is finished).

And deadlines don't help programmers and software engineers eradicate ALL bugs in time.

Good point mate!

Actually it comes to what I really wanted to express.

Once upon a time, you had a weekend to rent a CARTRIDGE to play on your console a game.

Once upon a time, you had to buy a VERY expensive cartridge (or set of disks) and install a game on your system.

There was NO internet, no patches, no ****!

If your game had flaws, you were doomed. And so the company that made it.

Of course we have all seen the Action 52 review of AVGN.

And we all know that LJN was publishing awful games.

Atari almost destroyed the Industry.

Nintendo created customer trust. And it still has that trust.

And then came the internet.

And then companies said "Let there be patch". 

And hell broke loose...

As an "old era customer" I demand what I buy to work at least most of the time properly.

THERE WILL BE BUGS OR GLITCHES. I know that. I can tolerate it in a certain degree.

I can adapt to the modern world I suppose but I can not adapt to a model that demand me to be an IDIOT that will buy whatever any hype promotes.

I am coursious though to see how Fallout 4 will be. I liked Fallout series so far.

 

[Pine]

If you expect, say GTA V, to be released almost perfectly and with no flaws, you can expect that game in 2020. And then some random guy will manage to crash it. Nostalgia does something pretty to people's minds. Pretty, but unreasonable. I'm not saying that as customers, gamers don't deserve a satisfactory experience, but implying a satisfactory experience means a completely bug free experience is... it's not gonna happen.

You can't realistically compare bug ironing and testing games from back then to the complexity of today's game engines. It's utopic.

 

[_Shadow_]

You can't realistically compare bug ironing and testing games from back then to the complexity of today's game engines. It's utopic.

 Correct.That's why I said that "I can tolerate it in a certain degree."

Commodore Amiga, IBM compatible systems, SNES, Genesis were systems that did not vary.

ALL SNES were the same for example. ALL Amiga 500s were the same. That's what I mean.

Nowadays each PC is a unique case (I sometimes work as a technician so I REALLY know that) .

So I know and can understand what you are saying here.

But if on release the game will be 100% broken, in a way I won't even be able to play it, then I will get pissed off.

No seriously, who wouldn't after paying 40 to 60 dollars or something? And what if I pre-purchased it showing trust to the brand name or the company? You know what I am saying?

 

[CrazyCrab]

Eh, this is a very complex issue, so this may become an essay quite quickly. ^^' Sorry in advance.

Let me tell you a little story to start us off. There is an indie game called ''Darkest Dungeon'' and it's one of the games that I've been waiting for a while and I actually bought it as soon as it became available for purchase. I almost never do that, the only other game was GW 2. In 15 years. Why? Well, I knew the game inside out before I even bought it. I watched Youtube videos, Twitch streams, I read the wiki. Those people could access the game early, the kickstarter backers had it as well. I just waited there patiently, consuming every little snippet of information before I could even play it, that's how much I was into it. Now, how many hours into it am I? 7. I spent more time watching stuff before it came out than that. It's just that I actually ''passively'' played it beforehand and I knew everything. There were no surprises, no cool items to discover or anything. And to this day I regret it, as it totally ruined the experience.

Now, let's look at the preorder culture and the idea of a ''hypetrain''. If you go to the Fallout 4's page, it doesn't even tell you when it's coming out. IT DOESN'T TELL YOU WHEN IT'S COMING OUT, YET PEOPLE ARE BUYING IT. Sorry, felt like that needed to be highlighted. All that we have is a, most certainly, CGI trailer. There is nothing about the gameplay, there is nothing. Hell, the game could come out in 2020. Despite that, it's the 4th top seller on Steam right now.

If that's not insane I don't know what is. 

Now, what do these 2 stories have in common? Well, in the 1st case I bought the game when I already knew everything about it. In the 2nd case, people are buying it without knowing anything about it. Both situations are just ridiculous and would make no sense whatsoever to any outsider, it'd be like being excited for a book without a cover while having ridiculous expectations about it, the second one would be being excited to read the book for the 20th time. Neither is healthy or normal to be honest, I mean I'm as excited for Fallout 4 as the next guy (Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas are probably easily my top 10 games of all time), but you don't even know the system requirements! How do you know whether it will even run on your PC?

I feel like with the prevalence of all the info before the game is released it is up to the consumer to make the intelligent decision and to gather just enough info to decide whether you want to buy it or now. Too much and you'll burn out when you start playing, not enough and you may regret your purchase. Oh, and seriously, I'd like to go up to the CEOs of those big companies and show them the middle finger for heading in this direction. I mean how greedy can you get, you haven't shown us anything about the game yet you want us to buy it anyway.

I may end up boycotting Fallout 4, this is getting out of hand. Maybe I'll buy it in like 10 years when it'll cost 2 euros at Tesco's good old classics section and I'll be able to run it on my microwave.

 

[_Shadow_]

1] There is nothing about the gameplay, there is nothing. Hell, the game could come out in 2020. Despite that, it's the 4th top seller on Steam right now.

If that's not insane I don't know what is. 

2]  I mean how greedy can you get, you haven't shown us anything about the game yet you want us to buy it anyway.

1] ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! I MEAN WTF! (Insert Melodysheep - The WTF news song player version here)

2] I wouldn't call it greed. I would call it "Taking advantage of human incapability to make rational decisions". In any case I don't like it happening and BOTH sides are responsible.

 

[cabfe]

I'm not surprised to see it high ranked in the sales chart, despite having no info about the game.

Its name and the studio behind make the sales speech.

Haven't you seen on movie posters "by the director of <insert movie title here>"?

Sometimes it's just "by the producers of". Like they did the movie themselves.

I'm waiting for the "by the lighting technician of"

 

[Pine]

Actually, I'd like to point that MANY already-buyers aren't totally unreasonable. Full disclosure: I'm one of the nutjobs who already bought it.

I have a couple of reasons: One is bonus pre-order content. Back in NV, pre-order equipment helped me a little, second: I want access to it as soon as it's out. And third and most importantly: I don't know the requirements, I don't care about the requirements, I'm 100% sure my PC will be able to run it.

 

[hian]

I don't think hype hurts games - it only hurts the idiots who got hyped and then disappointed.


You can't really blame other people for your own hype though - it's our own responsibility as human beings to manage


our own emotions, not anyone else's.


Then again, I am realist, and pessimist, so I'm pretty much immune to the kind of "positive" thoughts that leave


other people disappointed. I can't relate to that kind of mental frame-work at all.

 

[_Shadow_]

@Pine if a PC you own is modern you don't really care for the specs, all right, of course you don't.

People show trust on a company and "thus they mist be rewarded". So buying a pre-order grants them extra content.

In my opinion that content should be in the product for everyone. If you wanna reward a loyal customer, give the product on a discount price. But no. Hype = profits.

Don't get me wrong, a company is a company. Period. A company will seek ways to maximize profits and if I was in their marketing department, I would probably suggest this plan. I hate hypocricy, so please, do not get me wrong here. I am not against Bethesda.

What I try to tell everyone here, is despite what the company does, in this game the consumer is a player. So correct moves make better or worse results. I won't get the bait personally, no thanks. Notch when had Minecraft in beta, was selling it for $15 instead of $20. THAT means you reward your backers.

In any case @Pine, I really hope Fallout 4 will be epic. I hope so because I would like to play a fourth one really.

More to the point of the conversation though, is @hian. I am sad to know you are pessimistic. I hope you are not depressed. Being a realist is not bad at all in my opinion though.

Being romantic gives you fuel to fly through life, buy flihgts have the possibility of a bad crash, you know what I am saying right?

Well not everyone has such a filter. Some  people even age and never learn. 

You got a point there. But most of the people get disappointed through hype. So here comes the question. Doesn't that disappointment hurt the game's reputation?

No matter how "stupid" or "immature" or "unrealistic" hype is, it is a very common mental framework that marketing takes advantage.

So I will have to disaggree with your first statement.

It might hurt the game AND the company and of  course all the people who got that hype.

P.S. :  @Pine my like for your guts to defent yourself and your decision. I consider this a feat to a person. You are not nuts. But you probably show trust to Bethesda to a level I can not. This is not 100% bad, it depends of the end product. So don't worry I don't consider you crazy or stupid or something.

 

[Touchfuzzy]

I actually avoided playing Skyrim until 2014 because of the hype. Didn't pick it up until a crazy sale.

Damn that game is amazing. (On the other hand, Morrowind kind of disappointed me because I was expecting something more like Daggerfall...)