General: The Daily Quest: Incremental Info or One Big Announcement?

SBFord

A trend that seems to be gaining a lot of ground in games development these days comes in the way that information is released to the public. In days past, new information about an upcoming title was teased out in a series of big announcements over time. Such a way of releasing news about anticipated games was both frustrating and exciting. Frustration set in when we wanted to know more, more, more. Excitement set in after a big revelation that gave us tons to discuss and analyze.

These days, however, it seems to have become more and more popular to give frequent, minuscule updates regarding the process of creating a game. Little nuggets of information are handed out, often several times a week, if not more frequently.

It seems that this has become especially prevalent with the rise of Kickstarter and the heavy involvement of the community with independent developers. Daily blogs are often posted, weekly updates at the minimum. Even games with years to go until any sort of release see frequent, some would say too frequent, updates bombarding our inboxes and dominating the news on our favorite sites. Even the most ardent supporter of a game can become weary from the bombardment of information and become jaded and burned out by TMI.

Many developers have yet to find the sweet spot between too little information being disseminated and too much being sent our way.  Balance, as it is said, needs to be achieved.

What about you? Do you prefer your information coming in big updates, but less frequently? Or do you prefer lots of little updates more often? Let us know!

Image source: Forbes.com

SpottyGekko

In the case of Kickstarter projects, the problem is not the rate at which the info is released, but rather the fact that a great deal of hype has to be created before development really starts. That can mean years before the game will be finished.

 

So legions of fans become very excited about the title, donate money and then have to deal with the disconnect of a few years of waiting before the excitement can be fulfilled. Nobody can sustain hype that long, which inevitably leads to a feeling of being somehow cheated.

 

Would you pre-order a game that is due for release in 2 or 3 years' time ?

Strana

Depending on whats happening,   I'd say every 2 weeks is good to keep interest.

Reklaw

The more excited I become about a game the more I stop reading info on that game.

Reading to much will often result in disappointment.

Nilden

It depends on how much information your getting. For instance a lot of the Crowfall articles or news tidbits/reveals consisted of the title holding pretty much all the information a link to the website and a screenshot. In cases like those it's not information overload it's just creating visibility.

Personally I much much prefer pulling back the curtain for the big reveal over tidbits and teasers.

Hekate27

The flood of tiny snippets of information has in fact been in part one main reason I no longer come to gaming news sites, like this one, as often as I used to.  The sad part of this means that games that release information less often often get lost in the flood of "non-information".

ilikepie5000

Little bits of information tend to raise the hype, as there's always new information to read, which makes it seem like there's a lot of new stuff in the game. Unless you're certain the game will live up to the hype you'll create, launch big announcements with plenty of time inbetween, even if you have all the information ready before your announcement date. This keeps hype at a reasonably high level, while not over-hyping the game. But that's just my thoughts, and I haven't read a single thing about how hype works. I could be completely wrong, but oh well.