My Gaming Brethern, we must unite...

[Hectix777]

The Boston Tea Party? I seem to remember that as being the time when America gave a big fuck you and middle finger to my country. Not the first, and certainly not the last. All my support left... well actually it left sometime in the first paragraph but by the end I was laughing pretty hard so you provoked a response at least.

What's your plan? How are you going about implementing it? How will you rally the gamers of the world, a group well known for its schisms and internal conflict, into uniting against anything, let alone a subject so broad as 'boycott all publishers'? At best you'll get a tiny group of utterly hardcore gamers, but the majority of the profits of the big publishers, I'm willing to bet, come from the casual crowd, who you probably wouldn't find online very often, and even if you did wouldn't listen to you because they'd be too bust trolling on youtube.

In the end your grand plan can amount at best in only one thing, a group of hardcore gamers stop buying games, disadvantage themselves and eventually leave your group, while the publishers don't feel a thing because you haven't convinced any of their core profit groups. At worst you'll just remain a single voice adding to the inordinate amounts of yelling going on on the internet.

My apologies for being idealistic and using history as a backing point. And no, Ii don't like farmville or mafia wars or whatever is on, Bulletstrom, Gears, Halo, Elder Scrolls, my muses and staples. P.S. Revolutionary War and War of 1812 ended oh...235&199 years ago respectively! Drop the whole," America is BS and all the people are selfish fat pigs who love guns and would sell their mom for a quick buck,' because when someone in England posts something amongst those lines I'm thinking,"dude, get over it, it was 2 centuries ago! Your country and mine are buddies! If it makes you fell better, England is our motherland!" Look I'm sorry that I'm calling you out or it sounds like I'm insulting you, it's just when I go to international forums, and people from other countries begin to go off out stereotypes instead of our accomplishments, it pisses me off. You, the UK, are responsible for the world today. You kick the Industrial Revolution with James Watt and the steam engine! Without you guys, I'm pretty sure would just NOW be using M1 carbines. Don't judge me for stereotypes and what you see as ,"a middle finger," because that was the crowning moment of our history, the day we stood up to an empire that had the possibility of world domination. The day we proved to other nations, that anyone can overthrow their tyrants.

 

[New Troll]

I buy what I like. Always have. Always will.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

"The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
Let us not buy a game until someone on an internet forum says it's perfect!
Rally to the ending of our illusions, and that games are good only if fanboys say so!!!!
Sales numbers mean nothing! Only the minority of hardcore gamers matter!"

This isn't what the OP said, but I'll be damned if that's what it sounded like to me!

I'm not asking for perfect games from publishers. I'm just asking that they put up or shut up. Saying a man is guilty or murder is nothing unless you have the smoking gun. HL:2 E:3 has just been concept art, bits of plot, and Gabe Newell taunting us with, "surprises." I'm not saying,"make them now," I'm saying if your giving us bait-and-hook, let us see us. If you hook us, publishers need to reel us in with cold hard evidence of its existence. Evidence so true you could smack someone in the face with it and they know it's real. I mean, if you make a great movie and say there will be a sequel, but you said that 10 years ago, let us know if you're giving it up and not make think your dragging your heels or just using the sequel to make consumers buy/rent the first movie or memorabilia to the first movie just to line his coffers.

Since no one else has, I'll say it: Welcome to the Escapist! [sub]Stay out of the basement, though. The sounds coming from there are...unnatural.[/sub]

I have literally nothing to add to this thread, so hey, what do you all make of this?

http://www.siliconera.com/2011/02/25/an-e-mail-from-atlus-usa/

So they are aware of the outrage. I still like them, I'm just a little (read: more than) PO'd at them right now. Kind of like that friend who you've known for a long time that made a big fuck up. You still like them, but you are going to let them hear it.

 

[bl4ckh4wk64]

Ok, I'm going to go out and say I didn't read your original post because I got a couple sentences in and lost focus. However, I seem to be getting the general idea of "Let's boycott this because they're not going to release this game, yet they continue to tease up about it." To me it just sounds like a Valve fanboy complaining that there isn't another half life game. Hell, why would you want another? 2 basically wrapped it all up and I felt no sense of mystery or the need to buy another game. Yes, Valve does put out some great stuff, not including TF2 which completely sucks. (flame shield up) However, there are a whole lot of companies that do this. Hell, Lucas Arts dangled SW:BF 3 in front of us just in time for Pandemic to be sucked up by that hellhole known as EA. They do the same for Republic Commando 2. Am I going to ask my internet brothers to rise up in arms against them? No. They put out quality stuff and I'm willing to wait. It could also be because the only game series I really care about now are Mass Effect and Ace Combat...

 

[Hectix777]

this kinda feels like a cult..like unitology from dead space or somthing

A cult? No, we're no asking you to let us strap you to a chair and cleanse your mind of the lies made by the Evil Ones saying that we are weak, we're just asking you... to join us....

OT: Less of a cult, more an ideology. Political theorists say power is in the hands of those who can control the people, because the common people are the blood to all things. Listen, if it sounds like a cult, sorry. I meant to sound like Karl Marx and his theories of how much power lies in the hands of those responsible for production over the wealthy.

 

[Retosa]

Snip

You've got the right idea, but it takes a lot to get apathetic people to boycott and refuse to spend money on luxury. Best way to do that is to give an inspiring speech, not an uninspiring one! It kinda went all over the place too much, covering too much in a short post. But the problem with going larger and longer to cover individual topics is TL;DR.

Either way, point people toward good games from publishers that aren't doing things wrong, while publicizing the boycott.

 

[katsumoto03]

-snip-

Holy fucking shit, that was unpleasant to read. It was monotonous, even for text.

As for the idea... Why? This is silly. Remember when people were going to boycott L4D2? Yeah, that fucking worked, didn't it.

I'll buy what I like, thank you very much.

Besides, people will cave like a house of cards when (or rather, if) Half Life 3 comes out.


Silly people and their boycotts. When will they learn?

 

[wammnebu]

I would be careful about your choice of words here. Brethren and Community implies that we look out for each other, or at least show interests in other people's concerns due to a feeling of kinship.

Everyone seems to do this, but a cluster of common interests is not a community.

 

[Sneaky Paladin]

This read too me like plea for us too beg for an FF7 remake alongside you. Also if we want better games we should not buy bad ones. Well thats a pretty fucking obvious observation. We don't need to boycott, the customers will speak for it themselves with their wallets natrually.

 

[Dgxphyrefightx]

It's completely impossible to unite such a diverse, apathetic, and all-around douchebaggerous group into something as ridiculous as thism especially if it's just because you're impatient...

 

[acolyte]

Wow...So a little idea i picked up from you speech was..."Hey...Let's boycott Valve for taking they're time and making a quality product."
And the following to that idea would be "YAY IT WORKED! Valve will now speed up they're process of making games! Oh no! They're shit! Now how did that happen?"

So you want not to wait very much time for a good game...then you want what? A game to take just a year to make? Well my friend...I think EA is just for you...except for the quality part...

But hey...You fight the power brother...

 

[RowdyRodimus]

Oh and why did everyoen want to boycott Left 4 dead 2?

I think it had to do with them promising updated for the original L4D but deciding to turn the updates into L4D2 IIRC (I don't keep up with Valve, sorry.)

If anything, I think we (as a whole) should work more for a Gamers Bill of Rights (not that owning games is a right, but more of what we should be allowed to expect from the companies as a good faith pact from them) that includes stuff such as timely demos (it would get rid of one excuse for piracy), a reduction of Day 1 DLC (save for stuff like costumes and things that might be pre-order bonuses), the ability to return games if they are bought and need a patch to run that won't be available for a week (the only game that did this that I remember was MLB 2K6), etc.

Just small things that would give the customer a bit more faith that the companies aren't trying to screw us over and give the companies a way to look like they care about the customer.

It's a dream, I know but it still is better than trying to organize a boycott that will never happen because they didn't make the game you wanted them to.

 

[BioHazardMan]

Problem is the masses are content with gaming, there is little we can do to change it.

 

[LawlessSquirrel]

I can't help but substitute 'gamers' with 'people' and 'publishers' with 'government', because I'm cool like that.

But uh, on topic: if such a universal boycott were to happen, yes they'd take notice. But more importantly, companies like Valve would take a massive blow from lack of sales. In Valve's case, they'd probably survive since they're technically independent, but the developers that aren't are bound to feel the full wrath of their publishers for failing to make a game that breaks even, and may even be terminated. Games are expensive, usually high-risk projects, and if a developer starts releasing multiple games that bomb, they're pretty much done for.

That wouldn't help the games come out any faster.

Oh and why did everyoen want to boycott Left 4 dead 2?

Because it was announced before the original was a year old, and released on its anniversary. The complaints were that it didn't add enough, and was certainly going to split the community and render the first one obsolete (which is pretty much did).

 

[CGI Artist]

Where the hell is the FireFly based Frontier Elite 4? I mean cmon! Don't w have enough shooters and BS plat-formers. Where is the really good space sim/RPG? F***ING NOWHERE!!

 

[justnotcricket]

So we should indulge in that sort of self-entitled bullshit?

we're totally entitled to being treated fairly as consumers. No-one is disputing that.

But bitching because a few studios don't release games you want (the part where you brought up Ep3 actually made me laugh) is pathetic. Companies make money somehow. It's their choice. And the dev teams work hard to bring us the games we love. And you're saying we should be bitching more because you spend small handful of your country's currency every now and then on some games?

Your entire post is nothing but bitching because you want your games NAO. If a developer releases a game you'll enjoy, buy it. If not, you won't buy it. If they try to cheat you, complain.

No-one is trying to cheat you, for fuck's sake. Re-read your post and then tell me with a straight face that it doesn't sound ridiculous. You're telling us that because publishers tease us (IT'S CALLED MARKETING) with the promises of games they might not release (IT IS ENTIRELY IN THEIR HANDS) and even sometimes - shock horror - delay or cancel games that we might enjoy, then we must rise up against them and demand they completely change the way they do business in order to accommodate us!

They're not doing it for a cheap lol, they're doing it because companies need to keep making money, and so they will strive to release games that will sell well. The rest is all down to internal decision making and the work that developers put into their games. So what if they say they might release a game that never sees the light of day? have you nothing better to do with your fucking life? If we never see Ep.3, for example we'll cry a bit and move right on. You make it sound like this whole thing is just publishers trying to keep extracting pennies from us in a bizarre plot to keep us hypnotised. Which doesn't make sense. Here's why:

IF ALL THEY EVER DID WAS SPECULATE ABOUT GAMES YOU LIKE, THEY'D BE OUT OF BUSINESS. GAMES YOU ENJOY WILL ALWAYS COME OUT ON A REGULAR GODDAMN BASIS.

Now, unless there's some insane publisher somewhere that asks for money in exchange for a product that might not come out, I think my point is made.

To drive this point home even further, you gave your money to Valve but now you're not seeing a Half-Life 2: Episode 3. You say that this is unfair. It isn't. You never gave them money for that game, you gave them money for Half-Life 2. They didn't take money from you, they didn't ask you to pay full price for episode 3 but then put off giving it to you, you spent money on another game entirely and you enjoyed it. This isn't a fucking pre-order system, just because you bought from them before doesn't mean you're entitled to demand evidence of a future title. You never gave them anything for that future title. You're not getting screwed with in the slightest. Now, if HL2Ep3 ends up cancelled, I assure you, you'll know about it. because apparently you never realized that Valve spending money advertising something that they'll never get to see a return on would just be shooting themselves in the foot financially. But You're a little pissed off about something, so it must all be down to some easily-targeted corporate money machine, right? yeah, let's all get together and ***** and moan about how these people apparently have an obligation to us! WHICH THEY DON'T! =D

*Applauds* Well said =) You put it perhaps more forthrightly than I would have done, but I agree with your answer to the OP.

OT: My philosophy has always been to buy games that I think I will like, regardless of who publishes them. I agree that it is bad if a much-hyped and hinted-at game does not eventuate, especially if it was one you were particularly looking forward to. I, for example, would be seriously disappointed of Uncharted 3 got suddenly scrapped.

HOWEVER. C'est la vie. You might not like it, but la vie also goes on ;-).

 

[Souplex]

I already don't buy games that don't appeal to me. I'm speaking out with my wallet. Spreading that to the whole publisher just seems arbitrary.
I already boycott Valve for moral reasons, other than that the above applies.

 

[SpAc3man]

We don't need to be dicks to get what we want. Just look at Guitar Hero. It got milked to death and was given up on as a consequence. Most people couldn't care less or wanted this to happen. Just because a minority of gamers reject parts of the industry doesn't mean the industry should change for them. Valve can take as long as they like for all I care. I believe it will be worth the wait. The L4D2 boycott was a joke. A FF7 remake is just not what SE want to do right now so stop asking for one. If it comes it will come.

I will wait patiently for any Valve game. I will roll my eyes at the mention of a FF7 remake until SE actually say they are doing it.

 

[KeyMaster45]

The Boston Tea Party? I seem to remember that as being the time when America gave a big fuck you and middle finger to my country. Not the first, and certainly not the last. All my support left... well actually it left sometime in the first paragraph but by the end I was laughing pretty hard so you provoked a response at least.

P.S. Revolutionary War and War of 1812 ended oh...235&199 years ago respectively! Drop the whole," America is BS and all the people are selfish fat pigs who love guns and would sell their mom for a quick buck,' because when someone in England posts something amongst those lines I'm thinking,"dude, get over it, it was 2 centuries ago!

But that's kinda what the Boston Tea Party was; a giant "fuck you" to the British monarchy for imposing heavy taxes on everyday goods via the Townshend Acts and the Tea Act. They didn't just opt not to buy the tea they flat out destroyed about £10,000 worth of tea.

 

[Katana314]

Alright, I agree with PARTS of this.

I agree that we should acknowledge we hold control over publishers, and that boycotts WILL change their direction about things. However, I don't agree with your direction about what we should do.

I really don't see how it's fantastically cruel for someone NOT to be making a sequel to, or remake of, a game. The FF7 people probably realize with newer teams and new graphics, they would inevitably make a disappointing product with the FF7 remake. Valve has been enjoying some of their newer ideas like Team Fortress, Portal, and Left 4 Dead, so I don't see why they should solely concentrate on an IP that's been around since 1998 unless they have serious new ideas for it.