Early Dragon Age 2 reviews were manipulated: Press insider spills all.
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I haven't played DA2 yet, but from what I can gather the OMG THIS GAME IS SHIT crowd seem to be riding on a big fluffy flock-of-sheep-shaped cloud of hyperbole and groupthink. The critical analysis and feedback that Bioware needs to make improvements for DA3 is being swamped in a sea of trolling. Not cool.
And speaking of hyperbole, the practices mentioned in the actual OP (whilst not ideal) are nothing new to the industry. Every company will have a PR department whose job it is to generate a positive reception to their product and have strategies to minimise negative ones. But I would also hazard that whatever these are (and just to be clear, the idea that Bioware or any other major developer paid off reviewers is ludicrous), it's nothing compared to the shenanigans the Hollywood film studios standardly get up to come awards season.
The focus here on DA2 seems to only be cos this one reviewer is getting his panties in a twist from being left out of the loop. It's a drama made out of nothing, over an average game...
And speaking of hyperbole, the practices mentioned in the actual OP (whilst not ideal) are nothing new to the industry. Every company will have a PR department whose job it is to generate a positive reception to their product and have strategies to minimise negative ones. But I would also hazard that whatever these are (and just to be clear, the idea that Bioware or any other major developer paid off reviewers is ludicrous), it's nothing compared to the shenanigans the Hollywood film studios standardly get up to come awards season.
The focus here on DA2 seems to only be cos this one reviewer is getting his panties in a twist from being left out of the loop. It's a drama made out of nothing, over an average game...
I have to agree with Arno here.MiracleOfSound said:
Like the game or not the review I saw was a little too positive. I don't think it helps credibility on this matter when, at the time, the escapist was covered in DA2 advertisments.
While some fans like the game even they will admit it's flaws - the recycled enviroments being a good example. Yet even those were ignored in the review.
The reason why I personally like Yatzee is because his reviews are just plain honest. Even if he likes a game he'll admit it's flaws - which is what any good reviewer worth his salt should do. At the end of the day the point of a review is to give those reading it a good idea of what they can expect from the game - And if the review I saw at the escapist is true to that then DA2 better be pure gold.
quote="Valdus" post="9.278512.10854598"]
Like the game or not the review I saw was a little too positive. I don't think it helps credibility on this matter when, at the time, the escapist was covered in DA2 advertisments.
While some fans like the game even they will admit it's flaws - the recycled enviroments being a good example. Yet even those were ignored in the review.
The reason why I personally like Yatzee is because his reviews are just plain honest. Even if he likes a game he'll admit it's flaws - which is what any good reviewer worth his salt should do. At the end of the day the point of a review is to give those reading it a good idea of what they can expect from the game - And if the review I saw at the escapist is true to that then DA2 better be pure gold.[/quote]
Reminds me of the GameSpot employee who was fired due to an unfavorable review (gave it a 6) of a game (don't remember which one) which sponsored Gamespot at the time.
I have to agree with Arno here.MiracleOfSound said:
Like the game or not the review I saw was a little too positive. I don't think it helps credibility on this matter when, at the time, the escapist was covered in DA2 advertisments.
While some fans like the game even they will admit it's flaws - the recycled enviroments being a good example. Yet even those were ignored in the review.
The reason why I personally like Yatzee is because his reviews are just plain honest. Even if he likes a game he'll admit it's flaws - which is what any good reviewer worth his salt should do. At the end of the day the point of a review is to give those reading it a good idea of what they can expect from the game - And if the review I saw at the escapist is true to that then DA2 better be pure gold.[/quote]
Reminds me of the GameSpot employee who was fired due to an unfavorable review (gave it a 6) of a game (don't remember which one) which sponsored Gamespot at the time.
I'm going to join you in the corner of people who honestly don't give a fuck about this wank anymore.AlternatePFG said:
This doesn't surprise me, and what Bioware has done will make me think twice about pre-ordering again from them.
Dragon Age 2 was a bad game (In my opinion). Some parts where enjoyable, most parts were bearable, and some of the game downright sucked. This doesn't mean people can't like it. This does not mean people won't enjoy it, but for me it was a dull game with bland characters and a story-line which could have been written by three people with totally different ideas in-mind, the last of which decided to ignore the other two totally, and then went out of his/her way to take no notice of the (possible) ending(s) of the last game!*
As for the Escapist review: I will never know whether they were bribed (money or early access) or not, but either way I'm heavily disappointed with them for the poor review which didn't accurately reflect the game. I genuinely used to think the reviews on this website were well written and trustworthy, and now I'm not sure about both.
Just to clarify, I thought Dragon Age: Origins was an average game although it was very enjoyable, it did have some major issues and my expectations for the sequel is that these would be fixed.
Dragon Age 2 was a bad game (In my opinion). Some parts where enjoyable, most parts were bearable, and some of the game downright sucked. This doesn't mean people can't like it. This does not mean people won't enjoy it, but for me it was a dull game with bland characters and a story-line which could have been written by three people with totally different ideas in-mind, the last of which decided to ignore the other two totally, and then went out of his/her way to take no notice of the (possible) ending(s) of the last game!*
As for the Escapist review: I will never know whether they were bribed (money or early access) or not, but either way I'm heavily disappointed with them for the poor review which didn't accurately reflect the game. I genuinely used to think the reviews on this website were well written and trustworthy, and now I'm not sure about both.
*SPOILER ALERT: At the end of Origins I was under the impression that my Grey Warden spent the rest of his days travelling with Leiliana, not that that Leiliana was some sort of villain, and at some point I'll probably have to kill her; this is only a minor gripe I have, it's possible that they pull the story-together in the next one (which I shall not be paying for)
I do however have major issues with the fact that pretty much everyone has the same ending for DA2. Some shooters have different endings for goodness' sake.
I do however have major issues with the fact that pretty much everyone has the same ending for DA2. Some shooters have different endings for goodness' sake.
Just to clarify, I thought Dragon Age: Origins was an average game although it was very enjoyable, it did have some major issues and my expectations for the sequel is that these would be fixed.
I have not, actually.Di said:
I am not a blind "BioWare fanboy", as much as you wish that my opinion was that biased. I will slander their work like anyone else, as long as I feel it is deserved. So in short, I have proven nothing of your point. In reality though you will proceed to think I have, without knowing my history of posts about Dragon Age or any other hyped game which included BOTH criticism and praise. Unlike other folks I like to show both ends of the stick instead of riding the bum-end of it like the naysayers.
What you are saying is that people are bought because they like they game. I could just as well say that anyone booing and hissing in public over a game (whether that is DA or not does not matter) has been bought by the competition.
It would make just as much fucking sense.
I got DA2 for my birthday which was a little over 2 weeks after release and I watched reviews ( have to say that I watch reviews mostly for fun and not to judge or if I like a game except for some reviews which turn me around like "Enslaved: Odysee to the West")
and I wondered if it is as horrible as so many people said it would be ( my friend and neighbor included ) that said most liked the game but thought of it like the worst "would be" AAA or Bioware game in a long time...
but I loved it interestingly I especially loved things the others seemed to hate such as the Story or the Fighting part of the Gameplay
the game got big minus points in my book for the absolutely shitty PC port (console controls have to get better before I play games like Dragon Age Mass Effect or Mirror's Edge on anything other than PC) but not more than Fallout3 which was really bad or Gothic3 which was even WORSE!!!
also no crashes the whole 35 hours of gaming and no other major bugs that deminished my gaming expirience. BUT I could not use DX11 since it crashed everytime after 10 sec to 5 min -.- (DX9 worked like a charm)
EDIT: Fallout was fun AFTER a ton of mods... bethesda has no idea of good graphics... (the game still wasn't nearly as good as Fallout 2 but that's just my opinion)
Gothic 3 was not fun -.- that game was boring and bad Risen was muuuuch better
and I wondered if it is as horrible as so many people said it would be ( my friend and neighbor included ) that said most liked the game but thought of it like the worst "would be" AAA or Bioware game in a long time...
but I loved it interestingly I especially loved things the others seemed to hate such as the Story or the Fighting part of the Gameplay
the game got big minus points in my book for the absolutely shitty PC port (console controls have to get better before I play games like Dragon Age Mass Effect or Mirror's Edge on anything other than PC) but not more than Fallout3 which was really bad or Gothic3 which was even WORSE!!!
also no crashes the whole 35 hours of gaming and no other major bugs that deminished my gaming expirience. BUT I could not use DX11 since it crashed everytime after 10 sec to 5 min -.- (DX9 worked like a charm)
EDIT: Fallout was fun AFTER a ton of mods... bethesda has no idea of good graphics... (the game still wasn't nearly as good as Fallout 2 but that's just my opinion)
Gothic 3 was not fun -.- that game was boring and bad Risen was muuuuch better
When your user-based reviews number several hundred you're starting to get a good idea of what the game is like. When they're in the thousands you're pretty much given a good review.
CoD Black Ops IS fun to a lot of people. Sure the story is mediocre and the game is samey, but the gameplay is perfect for its target audience. It gets average scores but sells well because its userbase got what they wanted from the game.
DA2's 'pub' reviews are a far better reflection of the game, especially when combined with sales.
Anyone saying the game was great is clearly the minority. If the game was great, if it was an improvement on Origins, then the sales should have been comparitive. Instead what we find is that not only does it recieve average scores, word of mouth has affected sales and even the Dragon Age name wasn't enough to save it.
CoD Black Ops IS fun to a lot of people. Sure the story is mediocre and the game is samey, but the gameplay is perfect for its target audience. It gets average scores but sells well because its userbase got what they wanted from the game.
DA2's 'pub' reviews are a far better reflection of the game, especially when combined with sales.
Anyone saying the game was great is clearly the minority. If the game was great, if it was an improvement on Origins, then the sales should have been comparitive. Instead what we find is that not only does it recieve average scores, word of mouth has affected sales and even the Dragon Age name wasn't enough to save it.
Let's see what Commander Shepard thinks of this!
Oh...
I'm honestly not surprised, though. Those game companies have families to feed, regardless of if experimenting with things results in a less fun experience.
Oh...
I'm honestly not surprised, though. Those game companies have families to feed, regardless of if experimenting with things results in a less fun experience.
Just so you know, making other people "see reason" doesn't work when it's ultimately an opinion we're talking about here. When someone needs to "see reason", that genuinely means he's being completely irrational. Someone doesn't need to be made to see reason if they like something you don't like. All he's done is give his opinion of the game, and, in regards to the Escapist's review, you've both given your opinions on the credibility of the review.Di said:
So far, you've immediately gone to the "fanboy" argument as if to say you have nothing else to say regarding his post. He could just as easily throw a "hater" response to you, although he probably won't.
I did actually like DA2, but I think that this statement is wrong; only for a different reason. It's by far Bioware's worst game, and there's no point in dancing around that. Every other game developed by them so far has either been a masterpiece or close to it. DA2 was good, but there was an inexcusable lack of effort and work behind it, and it was neither setting, nor story-wise anywhere near par with any of Bioware's other games. That its sales are shit reflect that, and hopefully we see a lot more effort put into the next game out of that particular Bioware branch. That one studio let down the entirety of Bioware, by presenting such a game.Arno Vercammen said:
As for the biased reviews, that sounds about right. I think you'd be hard pressed to find an unbiased journalist anywhere these days, although what the publishers are doing in this case is pretty despicable.
DA 2. Not DA:O 2.demotion1 said:
I would like some sort of deeper look at the game's development, because anybody with any sense of story and characterisation can see how much has been gimped out, even if you didn't find anything wrong with the gameplay (which, by the way, actually was fine. It was the story that was the shittest part.)
This is disappointing if fact. People suspect this sort of activity and are no doubt right in some cases...but professional reviews go a long way towards deciding if I buy a game.
You can't go by gamer reviews because the results are either 10's, or 1's with little inbetween and they are often published within a day or two of the games release making them 'knee-jerk' reviews.
On the bright-side...the truth comes out about any game over time...so this really only discourages the purchase of a game at full price on release day.
As for Dragon Age 2...I wouldn't call it the best RPG of the decade...but I would consider it a great game deserving of high scores based on the fun factor and interesting characters/stores expected in Bioware games despite glaring flaws like heavily recycled maps.
You can't go by gamer reviews because the results are either 10's, or 1's with little inbetween and they are often published within a day or two of the games release making them 'knee-jerk' reviews.
On the bright-side...the truth comes out about any game over time...so this really only discourages the purchase of a game at full price on release day.
As for Dragon Age 2...I wouldn't call it the best RPG of the decade...but I would consider it a great game deserving of high scores based on the fun factor and interesting characters/stores expected in Bioware games despite glaring flaws like heavily recycled maps.
And hardly surprisingly enough, you think that me having a differing opinion regarding the games quality is why I think the review has been bought. I've already pointed it out two times now, but I'll do it a third time. The reason why the review has been so accused of being bought is because it's full of inconsistensies. The most obvious one being that the reviewer mentioned using a feature that wasn't even implented until a patch after the games release. But you guys seem to be able to keep ignoring this fact somehow. But this is useless, you've already got your corrupted version of how it is that you're holding onto.Anah said:
Are you talking about the Auto-Attack feature?Di said:
Something BioWare itself admitted to blundering? And something I personally did not experience because I do not own it on a console? Does anyone know what the reviewer version of the game was run on or what release it was? The pre-blunder release that still had the auto-attack feature implemented maybe?
"I of the guys" (as you said "you guys") have no corrupted version of anything in my head. I just fear I am a bit too old fashioned to get along with the mentality that's dominating communities I used to enjoy going to. And I be damned if I sink low enough to add bile to the cesspool that's the internet, instead I'd rather waste (yes, waste, because that is all I am doing here) my time arguing with people who have nothing but negativity to spit.
