In no particular order.
Blizzard - Diablo IM: "Don't you guys have phones?" (he asks to a bunch of PC nerds)
Bethesda 1 - FO76: "It just works" (no Todd, it really doesn't)
Bethesda 2 - FO76: "There is a shortage of canvas" (seriously?)
EA/Dice - Battlefield 5: "You don't like it? Don't buy it" (best advice ever, thanks EA)
Seriously, waddafuq is going on with AAA game publishers, is there a shortage of marketing graduates or something?
Isn't communication important for these people?
Do you think Gaming publishers are underestimating the gaming community?
Granted we gamers made it pretty easy for them in recent years, I understand why they are so casual with their actions and statements.
But it's the tide finally turning?
Comments
think that was from this year
My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB:
https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul
Aloha Mr Hand !
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
There's nothing wrong with telling ignorant consumers lambasting your title for including female avatars to shove off. That's not a fair critique of the title's quality as a video game, because it's a video game and not a documentary (not to mention that females served in WWII anyways).
the comment "you don't like it, dont buy it" was rude at the time and poor PR. could have easily went with "we are trying to appeal to our female fan base with a female model, and there is historical precedent for females on the battle field. Please give the game a chance" ...this would have been a more appropriate response.
There is everything wrong with telling customers off...they are paying your salary and the salary of everyone else in your company. its literally shooting yourself in the foot.
Aloha Mr Hand !
Sure, EA could've responded more diplomatically to that vocal group, or they could've ghosted them to more diplomatically address the other issues (i.e. prosthetic usage). But the group had already been given the facts to refute their stance by other gamers on the internet multiple times before EA responded because it wouldn't die.
Even so, disputing artistic liberties with a setting isn't nearly the same level as broken games or griefer's-dream-glitches. I mean, do we shit on Wolfenstein because Hitler never actually owned a mecha-battle suit, and there were never genetically altered German supersoldiers as shown in those games? We do not.
While a guy on a stage is liable to say something in the moment that is just hillariously bad, the others can't really make that excuse, really makes you wonder what their PR departments are paid for
"don't you guys have credit cards?"
Aloha Mr Hand !
I was trying to make a fun thread while talking about a serious issue.
The amount of PR slip ups from senior company directors in the last couple of years is astounding.
They are totally care free about what comes out their mouth.
But what I noticed is that now even fanboys are starting to take this issue a bit more seriously and that is reflected by the poor sales of their games.
But the fact you are saying that about one of your own product is criminal.
To me it translates as "Our product is so awesome that we don't need your money".
You need an ego as big as a dinosaur to say something like that.
But the funniest one is "There is a shortage of Canvas", I cannot even start to comprehend how someone could come up with such a lame excuse.
This is High School material at best.
EA was attempting to respond to a specific group of players pushing an agenda that had little to do with qualitative merits of the game. Setting and aesthetic choices are not objective or binary features; see my Wolfenstein example.
EA should've been clearer about the direction maybe, but when your head honcho literally tweets out about how the previous title had two folks riding a horse with flamethrowers, so DICE isn't trying to go for setting realism, and players still kick up a fuss about a woman, or a prosthetic limb? Then I can see why EA/DICE may have thought the obvious needed reiterating. They addressed it reference the previous title, but gamers wouldn't let it go.
But that's not the way you deliver it.
In these cases all you have to say is something along those lines:
"At EA we believe in diversity and strive to share our believes through all our games whenever is possible. We understand that some people might not agree with it, but we still believe that's the right thing to do."
I basically said the same thing Patrick Soderlund said without sounding arrogant AF.
Most of the people complaining about BFV approach are fanboys who bought every single Battlefield game, and felt the game was losing its identity.
So saying something so abrasive as that, it's like spitting on the plate you are eating from.
"First, let me be clear about one thing. Player choice and female playable characters are here to stay."
"We want Battlefield V to represent all those who were a part of the greatest drama in human history, and give players choice to choose and customize the characters they play with."
"The Battlefield sandbox has always been about playing the way you want. Like attempting to fit three players on a galloping horse, with flamethrowers. With BFV you also get the chance to play as who you want. This is #everyonesbattlefield."
It absolutely was addressed publicly in a way that explained their stance professionally. That just wasn't enough for that small, vocal group of folks who continued to bitch because the answer they got wasn't "okay, we give in."
Consumers aren't always blameless in these situations. I feel EA's case here is an example where gamers acted very irrationally.
Aloha Mr Hand !
Nowhere to go but up RIGHT?!?!?!
If 2018 is, "The year that dev's lost touch," I wonder what 2019 will be. Hopefully, "The year that dev's bought a clue and really turned things around."
Gut Out!
What, me worry?