Drummodino said:
Victimization is a bad tactic. No fair and reasonable person would say anyone in this thread has attacked andrearene venomously.
Why You Should Still Be Pumped For Watch Dogs
- Thread starter andrearene
- Start date
Victimization is a bad tactic. No fair and reasonable person would say anyone in this thread has attacked andrearene venomously.
In this case I disagree with the poster as regards your article, because there's actually a game there that you've played. If you want to write about your first impressions of it, well fair dos. If you liked it, great, tell us what's good about it. Exactly as you have done. That's absolutely fine. Hell, the reason I visit this website in the first place is to get advice about what I should spend my hard-earned money on.andrearene said:
HOWEVER: "Why you should be pumped for..." is a really, really bad title for your article. It's the kind of title that's used for fluff pieces on IGN, not on "first impressions" shows. Context is everything. "Publicity fluff" is exactly what I come to the Escapist to AVOID. Why lump yourself into that crowd by using a title like "Why you should be pumped for..."? You're basically inviting some pretty nasty comparisons there.
Again, as far as the content of your article goes, I don't think those comparisons are warranted; I think your article does exactly what it says it will, and I have no problem with that. I would just advise you to show some awareness of context when naming it.
YES! There's nothing wrong with the article, from my point of view anyway. I think it does exactly what it should. I think it summarises what you've played of the game so far very well. And for people interested in this game (which I am), it's a good starting point.andrearene said:
Again - context. "Why you should be pumped for..." articles are exactly what a lot of people here come to "The Escapist" to avoid. We don't want the kind of content that is usually named like that - "fluff pieces" for overhyped games that often don't even have working demos yet. Andrea, with regards to this article, when you put in a title like that then you're effectively inviting comparisons with those articles. And you don't NEED to. Your article stands on its own.
Ha, captcha is "That's it". Convenient!
Agreed. I think some people saw the title, and were annoyed enough that they posted their stuff without really reading the article itself properly. Never a good idea.Drummodino said:
What differentiates this from a "hype piece" is that, very often, the authors of "hype pieces" haven't even played the game that they're "hyping". Hell, we started to see hype pieces for games like "Titanfall" before there were even working demos yet. Same thing with "Aliens: Colonial Marines". And we all know how well that last one was received. I have no problem whatsoever with a journalist giving a first impression of a game they think deserves it - which Andrea obviously does here. It's solely and simply the title.
So I guess I shouldn't care about what you have to say then? How silly of me to think people would actually watch the interviews or read the article before making judgement calls. Call me crazy but I believed The Escapist community was of a higher standard than that.Zac Jovanovic said:
Not just you it's extremely silly to judge an article from one line alone, which is what seems to be happening here.Xsjadoblayde said:
I feel this forum needs to get back on track and start talking about the game:
Sense you seem active in the forum could you tell me if it's possible to avoid gun combat? I enjoy stealth games that don't force you into direct combat.andrearene said:
andrearene said:
YES. Thank you guys.lord.jeff said:
It's a good article. I enjoyed it and thought it was helpful to me, as someone who's interested in the game. The title just draws some really unfortunate comparisons. But yeah... JUST judging the article on the title alone is no good at all. A few less "kneejerk" reactions would be good.
I went back and read the whole thing before posting, obviously...andrearene said:
And my presumption of the article was spot on, that's why I said what I said.
Call me crazy but I believed The Escapist was of a higher standard than to post articles like these.
Not too sure if its because i'm British, but that made i giggle like a little school girl.andrearene said:
Ah silly internet, i am often ashamed to be part of it with such cringeworthy criticisms.
Do all the escapist journalists get this type of flak or just Andrea
Well, I probably don't have much to add...
I'm 66 years old, have been a gamer since they were invented, and...
wait...
Of course I have something to add...
1. I am interested in this game.
2. Andrea went to the trouble of playing then informing me of her OPINION (See dictionary for definition.)
3. I found this helpful...
You guys really ought to dial down the cynicism...Trust a geezer. The payoff for optimism is much more than what you will receive from constant masochistic massaging of your need to be disappointed.
And try not to give people a hard time for the wrong reasons
I'm 66 years old, have been a gamer since they were invented, and...
wait...
Of course I have something to add...
1. I am interested in this game.
2. Andrea went to the trouble of playing then informing me of her OPINION (See dictionary for definition.)
3. I found this helpful...
You guys really ought to dial down the cynicism...Trust a geezer. The payoff for optimism is much more than what you will receive from constant masochistic massaging of your need to be disappointed.
And try not to give people a hard time for the wrong reasons
Why is it one or the other?andrearene said:
And, I don't mean to say what was or wasn't your experience with the game, but this reads like a promo piece to me from the position of someone who hasn't played the game but has read PR material before.
Or, you know, this is the logical extension of decades of being lied to, misled, and deceived, both by PR and press. Not to say Andrea is responsible for any of that. Like Winter, this was always coming, whether a fast-talking misanthrope became trendy on the internet or not. This is the extension of the dynamic between the promotion that has promised us everything short of hookers if we buy a game and the reality that we're getting more promise for less product. And while I'd like to believe the multiplayer is "seamless," if I had a nickel for every time I heard that about a game where it didn't apply, I could buy the Escapist and the Occulus Rift and offer forumites the most immersive experience ever (it's just like you're sitting at your computer!). I'd also imagine that people are extra cynical with Watch_Dogs.dll because we've already had a "bullshots" scandal (I don't care much, because the "downgraded" stuff looks good enough for me, but still).PoolCleaningRobot said:
Yahtzee is a symptom, not a cause.
Though yeah, people don't need to be outright hostile about it.
I want Watch_Dogs_./ to be good, for the record. I'm personally less cynical and more just unimpressed.
That's nothing.NiPah said:
There have been news articles here that HAVE actually been advertisements:
Five quotes from one comment, I feel so popular!
I should probably actually give my opinion on the game since I neglected to previously. I was looking forward to this... about a year ago. Now my enthusiasm has died off a bit, mostly because I've just moved onto other games. Ubisoft have published some terrific games in the past though, so if this gets stellar reviews I may look into it.
I should probably actually give my opinion on the game since I neglected to previously. I was looking forward to this... about a year ago. Now my enthusiasm has died off a bit, mostly because I've just moved onto other games. Ubisoft have published some terrific games in the past though, so if this gets stellar reviews I may look into it.
I think you've hit the nail on the head. People saw the title and immediately jumped to conclusions. I hope anyone who actually read the article realized that it wasn't just marketing hype fluff, it was a legitimate first impressions.TheMadDoctorsCat said:
IGN comment sections scare me almost as much as YouTube's D:TizzytheTormentor said:
Since when is it a journalists' job to hype a product without being paid for as "marketing"?
Oh wait, gaming industry.
Oh wait, gaming industry.
Just watched an interview with Angry Joe with the developer of Watch Dogs. Made my interest perk up abit more for this game.
http://youtu.be/Wkw39b0N_zY
http://youtu.be/Wkw39b0N_zY
andrearene said:
In the last couple of years there's been lots and lots of 'preview events' and even some 'review events' and I can't remember a journalist having ever come away and proclaimed their testing time to have been bad or worrying. It makes sense, you are presented with a portion of the game, you have the developers on hand to guide you, tell you the good bits will be 'more good' when the game lands and the bad bits will be 'fixed' by release.
These things are carefully choreographed to remove any trace of doubt from the guest's minds, you play a tailor made executable that works perfectly, it's got more than enough content for the hour (or half hour, twenty minutes?) that you will get with the game, there's someone over your shoulder and there's lots of positive reinforcement. It's very easy to come away and write a glowing preview after these events, but in reality you aren't so much testing the game as being given a guided tour of the best bits.
Then a couple of months later the game comes out, with quotes of you all over the box and the general public finds that their full price game is four hours long (Titanfall), doesn't work at all (Battlefield 4), is a completely shameless cash grab (Ryse: Son of Rome) or the promised features were completely made up (too many to list).
I don't believe that gaming journalists and websites (Escapist and staff included) do this deliberately for a second, but it's a trap you collectively walk into time and again. The end result is that any positivity is viewed with a massive amount of skepticism from our part, because we've heard this before.
As for how to avoid it? Beats me, I guess being more cautious with the optimism would be a start. Enthusiasm's great, but when it's coming from someone who's supposed to be asking the questions it can be off putting.
We're also talking about a video game, not the latest Kony 2012. And the emotion in question is "look forward to something" or "happy". You're also assuming that because its positive it must be an advertisement. Imagine if you tried talking to someone about a movie or game you liked only to be told "Hey, don't tell me how to feel. I don't care what the makers of that thing you like paid you". Moreover, this isn't a review. Nobody's saying you should go out and buy this finished and wonderful project but that it looks promisingThreeName said:
Probably because we just don't see very many experimental games anymore. If a game like Shadow of the Colossus was made today, I would probably expect to see it coming from an indi developer than a AAA. Then again, Ubisoft also made Blood Dragon so I can't really expect nothing but uninspired games from AAA. Which says a lot considering some of the quotes Ubisoft is known for and their whoring of the Assassin's Creed seriesIpsen said: