Rockstar: GTA 5 Let's Plays Good, Spoilers Bad

[zaziuma]

I find the unboxing before release quite silly, what exactly are you going to show, the poster or something? I do agree with the other things though, while I find that the whole, "it's alright if there's commentary and it's part of a bigger playthrough" is kind of hard to really judge what is and what isn't at times, it's a good general easy to follow guideline. I approve of this, and hope more companies will start making these kinds of statements (or maybe have it be a part of the users agreement that most games have)

 

[Gearhead mk2]

What if someone WANTS to look up spoilers? You're denying them what they want to see for no good reason! And why ban the in-game TV shows? What if someone doesn't want the game but still wants to know about it? It makes no sense!

 

[Something Amyss]

I think it's a great set of rules. More importantly, Rockstar actually made their rules clear to everybody. This is the kind of thing Nintendo really needs to do.

Nintendo was perfectly clear: we want your money.

Wait? what? escapists agree that we should let them dictate rules of what we can upldo to youtube now? what is this i dont even?

Considering what the rest of the lot seems to be pulling, it doesn't take much to look favourable. Rockstar has basically done the bare minimum to look better than the rest of the racket.

 

[Strazdas]

Wait? what? escapists agree that we should let them dictate rules of what we can upldo to youtube now? what is this i dont even?

Considering what the rest of the lot seems to be pulling, it doesn't take much to look favourable. Rockstar has basically done the bare minimum to look better than the rest of the racket.

Nintendo: we remove all your videos
Users: fuck you nintedo stupid censorship
Rockstar: we remove all your videos except lets plays
users: rockstar is awesome!

yeah, no.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

I don't know how often and effective let's play videos are at marketing but me and the majority of my friends do our own research based on reviews from multiple sites, trailers, price points and what the game in general has to offer, all of that without having to watch a single LP video.

General common research isn't dead yet and I'd expect that to be the leading method into making a buying decision.

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

I think it's a great set of rules. More importantly, Rockstar actually made their rules clear to everybody. This is the kind of thing Nintendo really needs to do.

I agree. They've made the rules really clear and still somehow managed to encourage streaming the game. They've even handled the early access pre-order problem really well; "Play the game and have fun, but since no one is supposed to see it just don't post, show, or talk about it for one day."

 

[Fangface74]

I'd say 90% of the games I buy are because of YouTube videos. If Rockstar wants to limit what users can post, then that reduces the effectiveness of those videos. I guess we'll have to see how much Rockstar leaves online and how much they remove. But if I start noticing DMCA fails on videos, that will reduce my interest considerably. Heck, I still won't see Universal or Sony films because of the DMCA shit they pulled with Captain Sparklez.

Damn straight! It's all to do with this subtle, money-whoring shift towards licensing a game rather than outright purchasing it. As it stands, if I buy a game/dvd/album, it is mine! I'll play it, record it and post it how I want. The only penalties I should face are for misleading video titles. If I post a game ending and clearly advertise it as so, you can choose to watch it or not. If I want to watch others videos of whatever part of whatever game...then it's entirely on me to do so.

Rockstar, I love what you do and I want you to keep doing it....but GTAV is going to make you rich(er), are gamer videos REALLY the enemy?

 

[Brian Tams]

Erm, the in-game TV-show rule is a little odd. I mean, they're nice, but nobody is going to buy GTAV because they want to watch a TV show in game.

 

[Pedro The Hutt]

They're just trying to hide from the general audience how bad the writing is for as long as possible.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

A pity Rockstar doesn't apply the same conditions to some of the online reviews. :/

Aye, but that should only serve as ham-fisted *****-slap hints at where you will not go deliver any clicks to in exchange for anger and disappointments.

I'm still busy with two other game titles and about half dozen commitments, and I'd also rather play GTA V on PC than on console.

But, depending on how things turn out, I might get me a console copy and start playing around next weekend... or the weekend after that. I like to dive into these things at my most virginal, with at least 99% of what matters unspoiled for me. This limits me in my web browsing habits, as some of the spoiling twats have other qualities that serve me just fine before any major release dates.

 

[Something Amyss]

Nintendo: we remove all your videos
Users: fuck you nintedo stupid censorship
Rockstar: we remove all your videos except lets plays
users: rockstar is awesome!

yeah, no.

But that is the point. You don't have to take a step forward if everyone else is taking a step back. And it's not just Nintendo. It's Sega, Sony (I think) and others.

 

[Brockyman]

I truly hope that as many people break these rules as possible. People like to get mad at EA or Activison for being heavy handed, but Rockstar is just as bad or worse. Stick it to 'em

 

[Ayay]

Rockstar is really going downhill huh. They think that making these rules will stop anything ? I guess ´given their rabid fanboys and success so far have given them the same ego as some of their ingame characters.But Rockstar thinks they can get away with anything and sooner or later it will backfire.To bad when that happens but then i stopped caring about their games a long time ago.

 

[Strazdas]

Nintendo: we remove all your videos
Users: fuck you nintedo stupid censorship
Rockstar: we remove all your videos except lets plays
users: rockstar is awesome!

yeah, no.

But that is the point. You don't have to take a step forward if everyone else is taking a step back. And it's not just Nintendo. It's Sega, Sony (I think) and others.

but rockstar also took a step backwards, just not as big one. remember the days when gmae footage videos were actually legal? yeah....

 

[fluxy100]

I love how people are getting angry that Rockstar doesn't want people showing the whole story of their game outright for free. It's essentially the same as taking a recording of a new movie and putting it up on youtube. Now I can understand the anger if they keep these rules for longer than say 3 months or so, but until then these guidelines seem pretty reasonable and understandable.

 

[Something Amyss]

but rockstar also took a step backwards, just not as big one. remember the days when gmae footage videos were actually legal? yeah....

I do, but do you? The provisions that allow that come from the WIPO treaties signed when you were 7 years old. Were you really running around at the age of six saying "yay! My fair use rights are intact?"

That's...that's kind of the problem. Nothing's actually changed. At best, people are using the DMCA system more, but that's not a step backward, because we've already taken that step backward. Similarly, Rockstar isn't taking a step backward because they're still ahead of the bar.

You can say you don't like it, you can say you don't want it, but that doesn't make it a step backward anymore than it makes me a penguin.

 

[Something Amyss]

I love how people are getting angry that Rockstar doesn't want people showing the whole story of their game outright for free. It's essentially the same as taking a recording of a new movie and putting it up on youtube. Now I can understand the anger if they keep these rules for longer than say 3 months or so, but until then these guidelines seem pretty reasonable and understandable.

I really would hope a GTA game of all things would be greater than the sum of its story. Especially after they've spent months showing us all the things we could do instead of the story.

 

[fluxy100]

I love how people are getting angry that Rockstar doesn't want people showing the whole story of their game outright for free. It's essentially the same as taking a recording of a new movie and putting it up on youtube. Now I can understand the anger if they keep these rules for longer than say 3 months or so, but until then these guidelines seem pretty reasonable and understandable.

I really would hope a GTA game of all things would be greater than the sum of its story. Especially after they've spent months showing us all the things we could do instead of the story.

That may be but it doesn't detract from the fact that allowing people to show all the cutscenes and spoil the game would likely take away some of the GTAV sales. It's very easy for someone to see all the scenes and think "Well I've pretty much seen the whole game, no need for me to buy it now". And I think that's what Rockstar is trying to avoid with these rules, while still graciously allowing Let's Players to still show the game

 

[Something Amyss]

That may be but it doesn't detract from the fact that allowing people to show all the cutscenes and spoil the game would likely take away some of the GTAV sales. It's very easy for someone to see all the scenes and think "Well I've pretty much seen the whole game, no need for me to buy it now". And I think that's what Rockstar is trying to avoid with these rules, while still graciously allowing Let's Players to still show the game

Pretty much any demo of the game will cost some sales. By that logic they should DMCA every video that shows footage.