Activision: Engaging With Fans Turned MW3 Leak Into a Triumph

[Korten12]

Also why do you have a problem with it? I mean honestly, if people are having fun still with the series, is that honestly a bad thing? I get sick when people say they don't understand why people keep buying it, its because of FUN, and that should be all that matters.

Because what follows is even more derivative crap where other studios think their audience is being stolen. It affects everything from game mechanics to how often they're released.

It also rather lowers people's standards ("CoD has good writing!").

That's still not CODs fault I will use my analogy again:

It's like:

If a kid in school began to make a card game and it got popular. Then other kids in attempt to get popular made there own card games. Then everyone began to blame the original kid when it wasn't there fault.

I'd bang my head against the wall in disgust that people keep buying into the same game that gets released every single year but I think it would only be detrimental to me.

The next video game crash can't happen fast enough. >_<

If the Call of Duty games were bad, I would agree with you.

But you don't get a billion dollar worth of sales for nothing.

You've seen how much the Transformer films make, haven't you?

Movies aren't nearly as much as Video Games, so you can't compare them. Plus the second transformers was panned by almost everyone, while COD isn't. (Well on here it's panned almost ever day.)

 

[Adzma]

My problem is that the series is choking the industry and flooding the market with "CoD-clones." The very same thing happened in the early 1980s which caused the video game crash; the market was flooded with cheap clones and knockoffs and the industry was nearly crippled by it.

Not its fault, honestly it isn't. All COD clones are because of other people.

It's like:

If a kid in school began to make a card game and it got popular. Then other kids in attempt to get popular made there own card games. Then everyone began to blame the original kid when it wasn't there fault.

Well that's as maybe, but do we really need one released every single year? Call me bitter, I don't see the appeal.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well leaks are frowned upon for a reason, sure people are hyped now but by the time the game comes all the goodies will be old news, or worse yet some other company might put it to use.

But hey CoD is the new Halo, it's fans will buy everything, hype or not.
Doesn't work for others tho, if you burn the hype too early on then fans will already be bored of your features by the time you release.

 

[Korten12]

My problem is that the series is choking the industry and flooding the market with "CoD-clones." The very same thing happened in the early 1980s which caused the video game crash; the market was flooded with cheap clones and knockoffs and the industry was nearly crippled by it.

Not its fault, honestly it isn't. All COD clones are because of other people.

It's like:

If a kid in school began to make a card game and it got popular. Then other kids in attempt to get popular made there own card games. Then everyone began to blame the original kid when it wasn't there fault.

Well that's as maybe, but do we really need one released every single year? Call me bitter, I don't see the appeal.

Maybe not, if they did it every two years or like gave 1 year of no COD, then 2 years of COD, to give more development time, maybe that would be better. But they want to release more and hell, maybe this will the next COD to make a COD-changing (not genre changing) gameplay element like MW2 did compared to MW.

 

[Logan Westbrook]

Activision: Engaging With Fans Turned MW3 Leak Into an Triumph

Are you trying to tell me that Activision didn't deliberately release the information themselves, claim it was a leak and then state that only some parts of the leak are true and tell the public to figure out what parts are real?

Come on it's obviously a set up, I mean, if it was a real leak then why would half the info given out be BS?

Still, fair points to Activision, they've come up with a brilliant strategy to seriously hype up this game - but it's pretty obvious whats going on.

I suppose that's possible, but it seems rather unlikely. Activision doesn't really need to resort to elaborate schemes to get people to buy Call of Duty games.

 

[Aesthetical Quietus]

WARNING: I'm tired and doing an assignment, this post could contain nonsensical Logic, English and/or Maths and may ramble. Robots are suggested to avoid this post. Humans are suggested to avoid this post if they value their time.




I wonder how they managed to keep ol' puts-foot-in-mouth-d**khead (read: Bobby) from ruining this moment. Gagged, handcuffed and chained him to the basement with several layers of reinforced steel stopping him from getting out? Even then, I suspect we'll see him back out and causing his usual PR problems in a few days. You can't stop him.

In all seriousness though, Activision, while I liked MW and MW2, I refuse to buy your products while you have Bobby at your helm, no matter how good they look or sound. Your treatment of IW was the last straw.

Also why do you have a problem with it? I mean honestly, if people are having fun still with the series, is that honestly a bad thing? I get sick when people say they don't understand why people keep buying it, its because of FUN, and that should be all that matters.

My problem is that the series is choking the industry and flooding the market with "CoD-clones." The very same thing happened in the early 1980s which caused the video game crash; the market was flooded with cheap clones and knockoffs and the industry was nearly crippled by it.

How is it choking the market? The good developers aren't making copies of it and the others are only doing it to their detriment really. Most people won't buy the clones if they are bad and if they are good then they deserve the success. You forget that the major difference between now and then is that most people are playing and buying for the multi-player. Only the good games manage to keep a solid user base to play online, meaning there isn't that much benefit in trying to cash in on the success of the franchise with a cheap clone.

 

[Jonny49]

Also why do you have a problem with it? I mean honestly, if people are having fun still with the series, is that honestly a bad thing? I get sick when people say they don't understand why people keep buying it, its because of FUN, and that should be all that matters.

Because what follows is even more derivative crap where other studios think their audience is being stolen. It affects everything from game mechanics to how often they're released.

It also rather lowers people's standards ("CoD has good writing!").

I'd bang my head against the wall in disgust that people keep buying into the same game that gets released every single year but I think it would only be detrimental to me.

The next video game crash can't happen fast enough. >_<

If the Call of Duty games were bad, I would agree with you.

But you don't get a billion dollar worth of sales for nothing.

You've seen how much the Transformer films make, haven't you?

Transformers is different in that it's audience is far wider, and there are so many factors that contribute to how much a film makes. Everyone agrees the films (especially the second one) aren't very good, but it'll make it's money back and more so because it's core audience (children) don't care. Parents will take kids to see Transformers and will bring in enough money to probably warrant a sequel.

And even with the numbers in mind, CoD still gets good reviews. Someone must be doing something right.

 

[ravendna]

It's a trap!

But seriously... well played, Activision. Did you lock Bobby up in the board room or something?

well thats obvious lol

 

[Frostbite3789]

Also why do you have a problem with it? I mean honestly, if people are having fun still with the series, is that honestly a bad thing? I get sick when people say they don't understand why people keep buying it, its because of FUN, and that should be all that matters.

Because what follows is even more derivative crap where other studios think their audience is being stolen. It affects everything from game mechanics to how often they're released.

It also rather lowers people's standards ("CoD has good writing!").

I'd bang my head against the wall in disgust that people keep buying into the same game that gets released every single year but I think it would only be detrimental to me.

The next video game crash can't happen fast enough. >_<

If the Call of Duty games were bad, I would agree with you.

But you don't get a billion dollar worth of sales for nothing.

You've seen how much the Transformer films make, haven't you?

Transformers is different in that it's audience is far wider, and there are so many factors that contribute to how much a film makes. Everyone agrees the films (especially the second one) aren't very good, but it'll make it's money back and more so because it's core audience (children) don't care. Parents will take kids to see Transformers and will bring in enough money to probably warrant a sequel.

And even with the numbers in mind, CoD still gets good reviews. Someone must be doing something right.

And you think the huge audience of bros that play CoD care anymore than children? That's laughable.

 

[smudgey]

CoD still gets good reviews. Someone must be doing something right.

Like paying reviewers, or threatening to withhold early copies of future releases if they don't get a good score?

 

[samsonguy920]

It's a trap!

But seriously... well played, Activision. Did you lock Bobby up in the board room or something?

Nah, they put him in a virtual reality where he got to stomp on customers for cash and go swimming in his own Scrooge McDuck Vault of money. That way he is so happy that anytime they need a yes from him they will get it.

 

[Jonny49]

Also why do you have a problem with it? I mean honestly, if people are having fun still with the series, is that honestly a bad thing? I get sick when people say they don't understand why people keep buying it, its because of FUN, and that should be all that matters.

Because what follows is even more derivative crap where other studios think their audience is being stolen. It affects everything from game mechanics to how often they're released.

It also rather lowers people's standards ("CoD has good writing!").

I'd bang my head against the wall in disgust that people keep buying into the same game that gets released every single year but I think it would only be detrimental to me.

The next video game crash can't happen fast enough. >_<

If the Call of Duty games were bad, I would agree with you.

But you don't get a billion dollar worth of sales for nothing.

You've seen how much the Transformer films make, haven't you?

Transformers is different in that it's audience is far wider, and there are so many factors that contribute to how much a film makes. Everyone agrees the films (especially the second one) aren't very good, but it'll make it's money back and more so because it's core audience (children) don't care. Parents will take kids to see Transformers and will bring in enough money to probably warrant a sequel.

And even with the numbers in mind, CoD still gets good reviews. Someone must be doing something right.

And you think the huge audience of bros that play CoD care anymore than children? That's laughable.

No, because there's no denying that alot of CoD's audience is made up of morons, as is the same with any large franchise. But that doesn't mean the games are bad in themselves.

CoD still gets good reviews. Someone must be doing something right.

Like paying reviewers, or threatening to withhold early copies of future releases if they don't get a good score?

So...Activision payed all of the following...
http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2/critic-reviews?dist=positive
...into giving Modern Warfare 2 a amazing scores.

Yet didn't feel the need to do the same for Black Ops:
http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/call-of-duty-black-ops

 

[Frostbite3789]

Also why do you have a problem with it? I mean honestly, if people are having fun still with the series, is that honestly a bad thing? I get sick when people say they don't understand why people keep buying it, its because of FUN, and that should be all that matters.

Because what follows is even more derivative crap where other studios think their audience is being stolen. It affects everything from game mechanics to how often they're released.

It also rather lowers people's standards ("CoD has good writing!").

I'd bang my head against the wall in disgust that people keep buying into the same game that gets released every single year but I think it would only be detrimental to me.

The next video game crash can't happen fast enough. >_<

If the Call of Duty games were bad, I would agree with you.

But you don't get a billion dollar worth of sales for nothing.

You've seen how much the Transformer films make, haven't you?

Transformers is different in that it's audience is far wider, and there are so many factors that contribute to how much a film makes. Everyone agrees the films (especially the second one) aren't very good, but it'll make it's money back and more so because it's core audience (children) don't care. Parents will take kids to see Transformers and will bring in enough money to probably warrant a sequel.

And even with the numbers in mind, CoD still gets good reviews. Someone must be doing something right.

And you think the huge audience of bros that play CoD care anymore than children? That's laughable.

No, because there's no denying that alot of CoD's audience is made up of morons, as is the same with any large franchise. But that doesn't mean the games are bad in themselves.

But there is debating the quality of the games developed by Treyarch and those developed by IW. Noticeably quite the drop-off in quality. First we got CoD: Not Another WWII shooter from Treyarch. Then BlOps, which was not in any way, shape, or form, fun. Anytime I played it, it left a bad tasted in my mouth.

I never bought it. Rented it once. Played it at friends' places occasionally, but it was just never that enjoyable.

 

[Wandrecanada]

OMG newsflash! Using fandom to promote your game actually works! In other exciting news, studies show water is wet. Science baffled.

A company as big as Activision finally figuring out a decade old strategy makes them look as tired and out of date as their policies imply...

 

[Logan Westbrook]

I absolutely have to agree with Syrus27 here. This is all too perfectly set up. From the humongous "leak" to the rapid release of the prepared teasers. The entire thing reeks of a marketing ploy, and kudos to for them for pulling it off so well. Suggesting that Activision's marketing team can just kick back with a margarita when it comes to generating and sustaining the hype for Acti's biggest golden goose after WoW, is entirely wrong. They know, as well as anyone, that they're re-cycling the same game over and over again and that marketing strategy is critical for the franchise, because eventually the bubble will burst. They have to maximize the hype, and their profits, while they can. It's as simple as that.

I never said that the marketing team could rest on its laurels, I said it didn't have to resort to elaborate schemes, which is something very different.

I think a few too many people are building this into some elaborate conspiracy, when the most likely explanation is that someone from one of the three studios working on the game, or a contractor, or middleware provider or whoever, decided he or she wasn't going to keep his or her mouth shut.

 

[Jonny49]

Also why do you have a problem with it? I mean honestly, if people are having fun still with the series, is that honestly a bad thing? I get sick when people say they don't understand why people keep buying it, its because of FUN, and that should be all that matters.

Because what follows is even more derivative crap where other studios think their audience is being stolen. It affects everything from game mechanics to how often they're released.

It also rather lowers people's standards ("CoD has good writing!").

I'd bang my head against the wall in disgust that people keep buying into the same game that gets released every single year but I think it would only be detrimental to me.

The next video game crash can't happen fast enough. >_<

If the Call of Duty games were bad, I would agree with you.

But you don't get a billion dollar worth of sales for nothing.

You've seen how much the Transformer films make, haven't you?

Transformers is different in that it's audience is far wider, and there are so many factors that contribute to how much a film makes. Everyone agrees the films (especially the second one) aren't very good, but it'll make it's money back and more so because it's core audience (children) don't care. Parents will take kids to see Transformers and will bring in enough money to probably warrant a sequel.

And even with the numbers in mind, CoD still gets good reviews. Someone must be doing something right.

And you think the huge audience of bros that play CoD care anymore than children? That's laughable.

No, because there's no denying that alot of CoD's audience is made up of morons, as is the same with any large franchise. But that doesn't mean the games are bad in themselves.

But there is debating the quality of the games developed by Treyarch and those developed by IW. Noticeably quite the drop-off in quality. First we got CoD: Not Another WWII shooter from Treyarch. Then BlOps, which was not in any way, shape, or form, fun. Anytime I played it, it left a bad tasted in my mouth.

I never bought it. Rented it once. Played it at friends' places occasionally, but it was just never that enjoyable.

Yeah, I second that. Black Ops was just so bland, I did enjoy it for a while but it quickly became a slog. Not to mention the campaign wasn't fun at all.

To me, Modern Warfare 2 was fun because of how insane it was. None of it made sense, but it was epic, intense and ridiculous. It felt like a kick-ass 80's action movie, while Black Ops felt like a poorly made action film from 2006.

 

[repeating integers]

CoD still gets good reviews. Someone must be doing something right.

Like paying reviewers, or threatening to withhold early copies of future releases if they don't get a good score?

Ah yes, my personal favourite hater argument strategy. The professional reviews disagree with my opinion? Clearly, they must be paid.

OT: Well played, Activision. I was actually thinking "Is this really Activision saying stuff like:

We kept coming back to the fans, to the people who love this game; who are just waiting; for whom that day was just a really cool day

...this? Maybe they really are gonna get better, like they said they would.

 

[Woodsey]

Also why do you have a problem with it? I mean honestly, if people are having fun still with the series, is that honestly a bad thing? I get sick when people say they don't understand why people keep buying it, its because of FUN, and that should be all that matters.

Because what follows is even more derivative crap where other studios think their audience is being stolen. It affects everything from game mechanics to how often they're released.

It also rather lowers people's standards ("CoD has good writing!").

That's still not CODs fault I will use my analogy again:

It's like:

If a kid in school began to make a card game and it got popular. Then other kids in attempt to get popular made there own card games. Then everyone began to blame the original kid when it wasn't there fault.

I'd bang my head against the wall in disgust that people keep buying into the same game that gets released every single year but I think it would only be detrimental to me.

The next video game crash can't happen fast enough. >_<

If the Call of Duty games were bad, I would agree with you.

But you don't get a billion dollar worth of sales for nothing.

You've seen how much the Transformer films make, haven't you?

Movies aren't nearly as much as Video Games, so you can't compare them. Plus the second transformers was panned by almost everyone, while COD isn't. (Well on here it's panned almost ever day.)

Actual money earned is irrelevant. The only thing that trumped it that year was Avatar.