Epic: Forum Posts Helped to Shape Gears of War 3

[Logan Westbrook]

Epic: Forum Posts Helped to Shape Gears of War 3

Gears of War 3's design director says that Epic listens to what fans have to say and then tempers it with cold, hard data.

You might have helped design Gears of War 3 [http://www.amazon.com/Gears-War-3-Xbox-360/dp/B002I0H79C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315224281&sr=8-1]. You might not realize that you did, but according to design director Cliff Bleszinski, if you've offered your opinion on the Gears games on a forum or Twitter, your feedback could have helped push the Gears 3 towards its final shape.

"We use a multi-tiered system [to meet audience expectations]," Bleszinski said. "The first thing we do is always pay attention to forums and Twitter and social networking, that's a good temperature check." Of course, online chatter isnt the only thing that Epic checks. Bleszinski said that it was often the most hardcore fans posting online, and they didn't always represent the more casual player who represented the bulk of the Gears player base. Epic used data pulled directly from the games themselves to, in essence, fact check the information gleaned from forums and see if it needed to tweak anything.

"There was a big perception when the [Gears of War 3] beta came up that the sawed-off shotgun was the best weapon ever, but then we looked at the backend and found that four times as many kills were being had by the Gnasher shotgun as opposed to the sawed-off. It's just the fact that those guys who were used to getting through a match without dying once because of their shotgun proficiency, were occasionally getting killed by the Digger Launcher or the sawed-off," Bleszinski explained.

While none of this is exactly rocket science, it does highlight how important it is to keep forum traffic and Twitter posts in perspective. Not everyone who posts online about a game represents the typical player, and what the hardcore players want isn't necessarily going to be something that the majority will enjoy.

Gears of War 3 comes out for Xbox 360 on September 20th.

Source: GameSpot [http://au.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/gears-of-war-3/news/6332434/gears-of-war-3-qanda-with-cliff-bleszinski?sid=6332434&mode=previews&page=2]


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[Psycho Cat Industries]

So,the sawed-off is still a killer with bad reload time?
Either way,cool I guess.

 

[blackdwarf]

yeah, i did the beta and i didn't really thought the sawed-off was too powerfull. yeah sure, once he got close i was as good as dead, but when there was some distance between us, he was a easy kill.

 

[Zhukov]

Sounds like a plan...

 

[MercurySteam]

We need more devs that are willing to listen to the people who play the games that they put their blood, sweat and tears into. I'm glad that to this day that Epic has remained, well, epic.

Only two weeks to go!!!

 

[Smooth Operator]

Ya that's the same idea Molyneux had... didn't go well.

I maintain my standpoint of not taking points from the fanbase unless you want to end up with some middle of the road gray slush.
Games need one guy at the helm with a clear idea what the game hasto be ... well then again Gears never had that.

 

[unacomn]

Hey, that reminds me about how we all complained on the Epic forums about parts of the the Unreal Tournament 3 beta being awful and all the ideas being ignored for half a year, resulting in the release version of the game being a sick joke.

 

[Versuvius]

So they listen to the casual players, not the hardcore players. That sounds like a bad policy to me. Cater to the lowest common denominator, all the time? Wouldn't it be nice to listen to both, not dismiss the hardcore players because the 'more casual' gamers might not like what the aforementioned bigger fans want? I dislike this stance, Epic's thread is bad and they should feel bad

 

[Often]

So they listen to the casual players, not the hardcore players. That sounds like a bad policy to me. Cater to the lowest common denominator, all the time? Wouldn't it be nice to listen to both, not dismiss the hardcore players because the 'more casual' gamers might not like what the aforementioned bigger fans want? I dislike this stance, Epic's thread is bad and they should feel bad

I think you may want to reread it, because the way I read it, they are listening to the hardcore players. They're just not only listening to the hardcore players. They're making a point of paying attention to more than just the loudest voices online.

 

[Tzekelkan]

So they listen to the casual players, not the hardcore players. That sounds like a bad policy to me. Cater to the lowest common denominator, all the time? Wouldn't it be nice to listen to both, not dismiss the hardcore players because the 'more casual' gamers might not like what the aforementioned bigger fans want? I dislike this stance, Epic's thread is bad and they should feel bad

Right. Now go finish reading the news article.

He explicitely said that he's not JUST listening to the most die-hard fans (meanins the fans that play the game and immediately start posting on the forums). I seriously doubt Gears of War 3 is going to be a casual game just because Cliff doesn't take game balance advice from half dozen 14-year-old players that moan on the forums instead of looking at actual, real in-game feedback.

 

[Versuvius]

I read the thing. Maybe i was just blinded by indignant rage. Though after another go it still reads back that the hardcore players are getting the dud end of the deal. Now leave me to my miserable, cynical machinations.

 

[Often]

So you're enraged even though you're wrong about what it says? Kind of hard for them to win that way.

It specifically says:

Of course, online chatter isnt the only thing that Epic checks.

Read: 'isn't the only thing'

 

[GLo Jones]

The sawed-off was an awesome close-up ambush tool, or served as a last resort when caught off-guard. But if you're cooperating with your teammates, and keeping on top of the situation, it really wasn't versatile enough.

I read the thing. Maybe i was just blinded by indignant rage. Though after another go it still reads back that the hardcore players are getting the dud end of the deal. Now leave me to my miserable, cynical machinations.

What was said was that they were aware that the forums don't represent realistic demographic of Gears players, and so issues mentioned were cross-checked against actually gameplay data.

The sawed-off was an example of the forum posters talking bollocks. The more sufficient players that were used to lasting to the ends of each round were raging over getting owned by it's enormous close up power. They were whinging on the forums that it was overpowered, while the stats actually showed that the gnasher was far more effective overall.

 

[USSR]

I misread this as "An Epic Forum Post Helped Shape Gears of War 3."

Anywho, guess we'll see how this works out.

 

[Veloxe]

The gears of war forums are a very strange and mysterious place. It's filled with insane people, hopefully they didn't listen to them too much. At least they are looking at the data instead of just listening to said insane people.

 

[LightspeedJack]

I actually thought the sawed-off was pretty balanced. It is lethal if your skilled with it but you have to really be practised.

 

[GeorgW]

Doesn't someone at Epic have a forum account here? I think I've seen him around.
Anyway, sounds like a good way to gauge consumer response. Especially if you keep to this forum, where all the smart people hang out.

 

[duchaked]

ughh the bloody shotguns in the Gears 3 Beta...hahaha yeah I hated them, but it's true the sawed-off was real bad at first until I realized the retro lancer was a good counter. gnasher...well it's as abused as it was in Gears 2 (main reason I didn't play online competitive MP in 2)