"Thin Tail" Call of Duty Drags Down Sales

[tangoprime]

Hey developers, try making games that aren't overhyped pieces of shit with 5x the game value in DLC planned from the get-go.

If you make a good game, and people start telling other people how good it is, and people enjoy it enough to replay it and hold onto it instead of offloading it for trade in credit on another piece of shit AAA title, then maybe you'll have continuing sales.

If you make a rushed, incomplete, buggy, generic piece of shit and spend half the development cost on hype advertising, then once the first wave of people get their preorders and realize it's a piece of rushed, incomplete, buggy, generic shit, IT WON'T KEEP SELLING.

The more you know.

 

[CrazyJew]

I will just copy this Facebook comment on the article, credit to Lorien van Arden:

"So you built a game without replayability and cookie cutter multiplayer(COD/MW3/BF3) that's beeing blown out of the water by upcoming free2play titles like tribes, maintain astoundingly horrible customer support (EA) and cut out longstanding features like modding from your franchise(Diablo3) and expect your customers NOT to run off in horror and disgust? Well, clearly it MUST be the fault of used games..."

 

[ElPatron]

I can't tell if this article means it'd be a good idea to pick up MW3 or not. On the one hand, I could lengthen its 'tail', which seems to be the problem here, but on the other hand, I'd be supporting CoD.
Oh, well. First things first, I need to get Mass Effect 3 before anything else.

Why would you lengthen it's tail anyway? Everyone is free to play the games they want, but when you are actively saying "IW, we don't need originality. We only want more DAKKA DAKKA and gadgets we saw on Future Wepaons!"

CoD should drop the price this instant. It's the only way.

Article posted April 11...about 'predicted sales' for March.

Am I missing something here?

Haha

That's the first thing I thought.

I assumed it was predicted sales for next march. But then again maybe this just got reported on very late.

Or maybe they are still expecting the results for the last month?

 

[JoesshittyOs]

How ironic. People claim that CoD is holding back the industry, when really it's one of the things that's keeping it afloat.

Obvious troll is obvious.

I'm... not trolling.

I'm one of the few people on these forums who thinks that the CoD hate is ridiculous and immature.

The fact that you think I was trying to troll there is pathetic within itself. Is that really how bad people hate the games nowadays?

 

[DiamanteGeeza]

OR, and this is just a thought, you released the exact same game 3 times with no real changes. If you want people to play MW3, cut online service of MW and MW2. Plus that elite service thing probably doesn't help. Or perhaps, since MW3 sold so well, alot of those same people bought the game when it first came out, who knows.

Yes, that's right. There are absolutely no completely new environments, models, textures, audio, story, voice overs, and cut scenes in the sequel of a game. Oh, and the hundred or so people who worked 16 hour days, 7 days a week, for months and months to get the game done weren't really doing anything either. In fact, you should probably call them all lazy; I'm sure the developers and their families would really appreciate you for that.

I'm so glad you understand how game development works.

 

[lacktheknack]

"casual gamers leaving the market" what does that even mean? Im sorry but people band the 'casual gamer' market around like they have even the faintest clue what a 'casual gamer' is and what they play/ where. This is the same shit that is leading to another HUGE bubble in the social/mobile gaming market.

Here are the facts; MW3 is the same game as MW2 and every other Call of Duty game since Call of Duty 4. A large % of mass market games provide poor value because they are being made by risk averse, non creator driven empty suites who don't know their MMORPGs from their big, smug asses. 'AAA' massmarket games have gone down in quality, memorability and even sanity. So people are going to buy less and they are going to forgt about them quickly.

Contrast that with the 'long tail' of something like Skyrim, Portal 2 or any number of actually decent games. They don't sell billions in the 1st week but they sell and keep selling for years to come.

This is what happens when you keep making £40 - £50 10 hour shite with an online pass to actually acess the tacked-on obligatory multiplayer; Because even bad multiplayer is replay value right? day one DLC, microtansactions and retailer exclusive content are pretty much givens for a big release. I mean its not like the publisher is going to turn ALL the multipler servers of 12-18 months after launch [http://www.geek.com/articles/games/online-pass-buyers-lose-out-as-ea-announces-server-shutdowns-20120319/] is it? I mean its not like they made you pay £10 for the crime of daring to utilise your consumer rights and buy a cheaper game and get the sweet sweet privelage of getting all the content you paid for that is on the disk. Its not like you already gave Microsoft £30 this year for the luxary of having online actually available to you. Of course 3 months into your 12 month rental of the game there will obviously be a £15 map-pack or equipment pack that will leave you unable to play in 1/2 the online games unless your buy it.

In 2012 'AAA' Gaming as an experience is fucking horrible. I think im going to take up underwater basket weaving or something.

Or you could just do what I did and pull out an earlier generation system.

Hello there, PS2, I've missed you.

Or, even better, look at the indie market.

"Legend Of Grimrock": Appealing to my childhood dungeon crawlers while making my internal graphics whore shriek with happy.

 

[ElPatron]

Yes, that's right. There are absolutely no completely new environments, models, textures, audio, story, voice overs, and cut scenes in the sequel of a game.

Visual changes are not gameplay changes.

Look, the game engine is dated and it still features major bugs. Every patch they announce that some bugs were fixed but they have just been "misplaced". I am not sure right now but I think they haven't fixed the glitch that allowed people to shoot behind cover with their heads almost completely hidden.

The spawns are still horribad, this haunts the game since MW3.

I'm one of the few people on these forums who thinks that the CoD hate is ridiculous and immature.

There is a difference between hate and common sense.

CoD is not holding the industry on it's shoulders.

 

[Nurb]

Companies aren't going to make the money they think they should?

Sooo that means something is costing game companies "potential sales"?

OMG THAT MEANS COD IS STEALING FROM OTHER GAME COMPANIES! QUICK! SHUT DOWN THEIR SERVERS! THE THEIVES!

 

[JoesshittyOs]

There is a difference between hate and common sense.

CoD is not holding the industry on it's shoulders.

I never said it was. But it is one of videogames highest profits as of right now. And thinking you have common sense because you're somehow to "smart" to like the CoD series? Give me a break.

What do you know, that's how a lot of people feel about CoD itself..

I'm sure there are. I mostly think that people are so proud of themselves for not hating the series, that they've gone to making up some imagined standard of video games that they like flaunting in other people's faces.

Sort of like mine. But keep it up while I still clearly give a shit.

 

[DiamanteGeeza]

Yes, that's right. There are absolutely no completely new environments, models, textures, audio, story, voice overs, and cut scenes in the sequel of a game.

Visual changes are not gameplay changes.

I must ask, out of curiosity... it's the sequel to a Call of Duty game. What gameplay changes do you propose? Whether you like the series or not is irrelevant - it has a massive fan base that like the Call of Duty style of gameplay. If you suddenly change the core part of the game that the loyal fans (and they are loyal, whether that annoys you or not) like, they're not going to be very happy.

So, bearing that in mind - what gameplay changes do you propose for a Call of Duty game?

(And I'm assuming you're not counting things like the little robot vehicle you can trundle around in as a gameplay change? Or the new multiplayer modes?)

 

[karloss01]

and gay marriage

Curses, they're onto us!

sorry, couldn't resist the temptation.


Catcha - look out!

Don't help him Catcha, you'll only doom yourself.

 

[zehydra]

OR, and this is just a thought, you released the exact same game 3 times with no real changes. If you want people to play MW3, cut online service of MW and MW2. Plus that elite service thing probably doesn't help. Or perhaps, since MW3 sold so well, alot of those same people bought the game when it first came out, who knows.

Don't be silly! This is OBVIOUSLY the fault of used games sales and pirates.
also immigrants
and gay marriage

and immigrating gay pirates!

OT: Soooo is there any other evidence to support this other than CoD? Personally, I think this is nonsense. Besides, it would actually be very good for the industry if gamers decided to get tired of playing the same thing over and over again.

 

[ElPatron]

I never said it was. But it is one of videogames highest profits as of right now. And thinking you have common sense because you're somehow to "smart" to like the CoD series? Give me a break.

Okay, I will assume that you are sleepy or under the influence of something. Because you must be trying REALLY hard to piss us off.

There is a difference between hate and common sense.

CoD is not holding the industry on it's shoulders.

Read that part again.

hate =/= considering that CoD is NOT a cornerstone of today's industry. That is common sense.

READ MORE, POST LESS.

So, bearing that in mind - what gameplay changes do you propose for a Call of Duty game?

Return to the previous Call of Duty and forget the Modern Warfare approach to things.

The gameplay, as is, favors the use of SMGs and full automatic secondary weapons. Call of Duty was supposed to be based on bolt action and semi automatic rifles. CoD 4 was able to pull it off but MW2 and MW3 are living proof that the game engine was not supposed to have full auto weapons.

Remove all the retarded gadgets and forget the retarded killstreaks if they can't get it to work (CoD4 had a very low incentive for higher killstreaks, MW2 was a complete joke and MW3 went FULL RETARD).

And please someone forbid Treyarch from making more Call of Duty games.

 

[REPTILE 0009]

Seriously, you guys are just a bunch of immature COD-haters. Not trying to flame or insult anyone, but you guys just need to grow up and stop blaming Call of Duty for everything that goes wrong. What's next are guys going to start blaming COD for the apocalypse?

 

[DiamanteGeeza]

So, bearing that in mind - what gameplay changes do you propose for a Call of Duty game?

Return to the previous Call of Duty and forget the Modern Warfare approach to things.

The gameplay, as is, favors the use of SMGs and full automatic secondary weapons. Call of Duty was supposed to be based on bolt action and semi automatic rifles. CoD 4 was able to pull it off but MW2 and MW3 are living proof that the game engine was not supposed to have full auto weapons.

But none of this is changing the core gameplay mechanics. All of what you're complaining about is content changes (that of course have a knock-on effect to the gameplay), which according to the person I quoted originally, doesn't count as making any changes to the game. That was the point I was trying to make: MW3 is not exactly the same as MW2, for example - a huge amount of work goes into each game.

And please someone forbid Treyarch from making more Call of Duty games.

LOL!

 

[JoesshittyOs]

Okay, I will assume that you are sleepy or under the influence of something. Because you must be trying REALLY hard to piss us off.

That is exactly my point. You legitimately think I'm trying to piss you off because I have the nerve to say that CoD isn't as bad as people are making it out to be. That's what I'm having a problem with. That people blindly hate the series so much that when someone tries to defend it, they think they're merely trolling.

Read that part again.

hate =/= considering that CoD is NOT a cornerstone of today's industry. That is common sense.

READ MORE, POST LESS.

Hate does not equal what? Because that's what that sign means. Maybe you should put more effort into the wording of your posts, and I might understand what you're trying to say.

Then we could avoid this entire situation of me apparently not reading your posts.

Is it the cornerstone of the industry? No, not anymore. And I never said it was. But it is the highest selling series in Video game history, which tends to say something about it.

But it is one of the contributing factors to why gaming is doing so popular these days.

 

[DiamanteGeeza]

Okay, I will assume that you are sleepy or under the influence of something. Because you must be trying REALLY hard to piss us off.

That is exactly my point. You legitimately think I'm trying to piss you off because I have the nerve to say that CoD isn't as bad as people are making it out to be. That's what I'm having a problem with. That people blindly hate the series so much that when someone tries to defend it, they think they're merely trolling.

Read that part again.

hate =/= considering that CoD is NOT a cornerstone of today's industry. That is common sense.

READ MORE, POST LESS.

Hate does not equal what? Because that's what that sign means. Maybe you should put more effort into the wording of your posts, and I might understand what you're trying to say.

Then we could avoid this entire situation of me apparently not reading your posts.

Is it the cornerstone of the industry? No, not anymore. And I never said it was. But it is the highest selling series in Video game history, which tends to say something about it.

But it is one of the contributing factors to why gaming is doing so popular these days.

It's also worth noting that the massive franchises, such as Halo, Call of Duty, WoW, Guitar Hero, and so on, have really contributed to moving the perception of gaming from something that was only for spotty dweebs in their bedroom to it being the socially acceptable norm. Just think how many mentions of these franchises you see in popular culture now, and not in a negative way - all late night talk shows have mentioned them, South Park, The Office, and so on. That would never have happened a few years ago because games weren't cool. Now they are (sort of!).

And, love 'em or hate 'em, it's the massive franchises that have done this, and it's a good thing for the industry.

 

[ElPatron]

But it is one of the contributing factors to why gaming is doing so popular these days.

I can't see a correlation to CoD's popularity and Skyrim's sales.

And I am one of those who doesn't care how "popular" gaming is. Since the 80's that there are people willing to pay for content.

In my opinion, videogames being as popular as films or music only makes it more susceptible to piracy.

which according to the person I quoted originally, doesn't count as making any changes to the game.

Well, but it would be a change.

Call of Duty keeps some popular weapons and rotates the "others". The way the engine works should not allow the unbalance the game suffers from.

Example: shotguns. They have a pathetic and unrealistic range. But apart from that, they have been nerfed and powered up constantly by IW and they couldn't hit the sweet spot already. It seems like shotguns won't even kill at point blank, and the next patch they kill people from 10m away (in Call of Duty, a shotgun doing that is impressive).

The lag issues are still here. The whole engine needs to go away or introduce more realistic combat. Since the latter would turn off a lot of people from the game, IW needs to develop a new engine.

How are they going to do it in 2 years while developing a new game? Perhaps CoD shouldn't come out every 2 years.

And, love 'em or hate 'em, it's the massive franchises that have done this, and it's a good thing for the industry.

The problem is that when CoDMW2 was released, most of the general public's perspective on videogames was already positive. Black Ops and MW3 didn't do much either.

Halo had already been a massive success, WoW had already hit it's peak and people were already aware of party games.