Are you paying for promises and hype instead of actual games?

Shaigh

In the last few years there has been a steady shift where we went from buying finished mmorpg and now pay for mmorpg that are being built.  During this time we have had an explosion of kickstarters, early access, founder's pack that's marketed to us indie alternatives to a stagnation in AAA development.

 

We have seen a few of these promises being dumped out of development, development slowing to a halt or the game just being bad, Landmark, Pathfinder Online, The Repopulation and the recent WH40k: eternal crusade among many others. We also have bold new promises in 2016, Chronicles of Elyria, Dark & Light, Gloria Victis with game after game showing up on early access. At the same time its hard to ignore that lots of people that bought No Man's Sky had no idea which game they actually paid for.

 

While I like to think I'm making intelligent choices , checking out reviews or lengthy gameplay videos before I order games I have still pledged for Divinity Original Sin 2, Bard's Tale 4 and Wasteland 3 without having any idea what game the developer will deliver in the future, gambling that I will have better than a 50% hit ratio on my kickstarters. While I don't pay for alpha/beta/EA I have purchased a few mmorpg in the past that was nothing like the game I thought I was buying.

 

How about you, are you paying for promises and hype or are you paying for actual games? How often are you satisfied by games that you bought based on dev promises?

SavageHorizon

Every single mmo has been bought on the basis of hype, some more than others. Whether that mmo lives up to the hype is another question but make no mistake devs sell they're mmos on the basis of hype. 

Shaigh

SavageHorizon said:

Every single mmo has been bought on the basis of hype, some more than others. Whether that mmo lives up to the hype is another question but make no mistake devs sell they're mmos on the basis of hype. 

Given that many mmorpg has given away beta-keys so that you had the opportunity of doing extensive playing of the game before you bought it your comment that every single MMO has been bought/sold on hype is wrong.

SpottyGekko

There's definitely a trend towards giving people money if they promise to make your impossible dreams come true. But "they SAID they could do it !", therefore critical thinking is switched off.

All you need to float a $1M KS project is a talent for creative writing and a basic understanding of what backers want. Whether you can actually deliver is irrelevant.

Mendel

I'm older school.  When I give a developer money, I want a playable game in return.  that used to be called a 'purchase'.  However, I will carry their hype away for free.

Muke

SavageHorizon said:

Every single mmo has been bought on the basis of hype, some more than others. Whether that mmo lives up to the hype is another question but make no mistake devs sell they're mmos on the basis of hype. 

If ppl are that dumb to buy stuff/hot air based on someone they don't know and never will. Smart move by the devs.

Shaigh

DMKano said:

I have no problem giving money to reputable developers. 

I question giving money to new studios that have game devs that have never made a game before - huge red flag for me.

But regardless it's ALWAYS a good idea to play a finished product if you just want to be 100% sure.

Some of those reputable developers have completely failed to deliver on their promises so I try not to stare myself blind just because its a well known developer behind it, unless they have a qualified producer that steer the developers in the right direction.

There are also a lot of smaller products that I didn't pledge for just because I didn't notice any big names behind, that I later found myself enjoying.

I agree with @SpottyGekko that its really important to see that the goals are feasible, particularly with the money they have in hand. Lots of people remove all critical thinking when the huge promises flows down on them.

FrodoFragins

I bought SWTOR and GW2 on hype and what I saw before launch.  Neither kept me more than a month or so.  I pretty much knew what WOW:Legion would be when i bought it.  It was fun for a month or so and I'm sure I'll be back eventually.

I didn't buy into the hype for other MMOs of teh apst like AoC, WHO, BDOm NWO or ESO.

Kyleran

Shaigh said:

SavageHorizon said:

Every single mmo has been bought on the basis of hype, some more than others. Whether that mmo lives up to the hype is another question but make no mistake devs sell they're mmos on the basis of hype. 

Given that many mmorpg has given away beta-keys so that you had the opportunity of doing extensive playing of the game before you bought it your comment that every single MMO has been bought/sold on hype is wrong.

MMOS are a different breed, quite possible to play them in a beta and think they are fun at first, only to find out later they lack in the long haul.

Loke666

Kyleran said:

Shaigh said:

SavageHorizon said:

Every single mmo has been bought on the basis of hype, some more than others. Whether that mmo lives up to the hype is another question but make no mistake devs sell they're mmos on the basis of hype. 

Given that many mmorpg has given away beta-keys so that you had the opportunity of doing extensive playing of the game before you bought it your comment that every single MMO has been bought/sold on hype is wrong.

MMOS are a different breed, quite possible to play them in a beta and think they are fun at first, only to find out later they lack in the long haul.

Yeah, the early game can more or less be the only thing a MMO have going for it... And no beta keys will tell you that.

Phaserlight

"Are you paying for promises and hype instead of actual games?"

No.

CrazKanuk

I've backed a number of games in the past. There are none that I can say I actually regret. The closest might be Firefall, but for the amount I played it in beta and how much fun it was in beta, I was happy with what I got out of it. 

Honestly, I don't think that there is much difference in hype generated by developers themselves. These types of things have been going on since before the Internet. However, I do feel like the Internet has become a vessel for GAMERS to play a 21st century "Telephone Game". It's actually interesting to see some of the wild assertions that are made, even when all of the information is available. People will still cherry-pick the information that fits their belief and hype that. Psychologists probably love it. 

Shaigh

Loke666 said:

Kyleran said:

Shaigh said:

SavageHorizon said:

Every single mmo has been bought on the basis of hype, some more than others. Whether that mmo lives up to the hype is another question but make no mistake devs sell they're mmos on the basis of hype. 

Given that many mmorpg has given away beta-keys so that you had the opportunity of doing extensive playing of the game before you bought it your comment that every single MMO has been bought/sold on hype is wrong.

MMOS are a different breed, quite possible to play them in a beta and think they are fun at first, only to find out later they lack in the long haul.

Yeah, the early game can more or less be the only thing a MMO have going for it... And no beta keys will tell you that.

Developers can't promise you that the game is fun in the long haul, they can only promise that certain things will be inside the game and that the content isn't total crap . While there are cases where developers lied their ass off or completely dropped the balls most times its just that you didn't enjoy the game that you bought.

I bought warhammer online based on hype, with aion I just mistook myself, since then I bought every mmorpg based on the game and not the hype and promises.

Talonsin

Is the problem with the developers hype, the way gaming media handles it or the people who fall for it?  No Mans Sky is a perfect example, no real gameplay footage was ever shown, all we got was hype from the gaming media.  Heck one gaming outlet announced there was PvP in the game at one time. 

Did Sean Murray promote the game excessively and lie his butt off? YEP
Did the gaming media promote the game, distort the facts and imply certain things were in the game? YEP
Did gamers go nuts and buy it without seeing any real game play footage? YEP

As long as gamers continue to follow the herd/next big thing and throw money at things before they have any idea what is actually in them, things will only get worse.  Just look at the trend over the last 15 years:

2000 - You paid for a game when it was finished
2008 - You pre-ordered a game before it was finished and maybe got to play it in beta
2015 - You pay for a game when it is just an idea.

To get a real look at the hype and miss-steps of the gaming media just watch this video

https://youtu.be/JCG9YLeIB98

 Until gamers wake up and start researching before purchasing, it will only get worse.

cameltosis

I'm still old school I guess. 

I've never backed a crowd-funding campaign (and probably never will)
I've never pre-ordered a game without having played it first, or spoken to someone who has played it, or it being a sequel

It's rare that I preorder at all. Tend not to bother with single player games as there is no need to have it day one. MMOs, there tends to be headstart stuff for pre-ordering, so I will do so for them. However, I always do a ton of research before jumping into an MMO. 

I still get stung though. 

For example, I was in a closed beta for SW:TOR in 2010, over a year before release. The gameplay and worldbuilding sucked then just as it does now, but I later saw gameplay suggesting open worlds, better pvp etc. All lies, the game still sucked. 


I will pre-order sequels. So, I pre-ordered Total War: Warhammer, as I enjoyed most previous titles and loved Warhammer, so seemed like minimal risk. Same with Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - human revolution was great, so sequel seemed safe.