TB is almost entirely wrong on both this and Day 1 DLC, because he doesn't look at the alternative to find the reason. Preorders will get DLC started sooner and in some cases is the only reason it happens at all. Guaranteed income comforts investors and loosens their wallets. 6+ month DLC is exceptionally rare, so if something is propose but devs think they can do it properly in 6 months, if 1 month before launch there's already 100k+ preorders, they're going to get green lit. If they have to wait a week after launch to get the numbers to show that it'd be a worthwhile DLC, it's too late. Day 1 DLC is the same way, 90% of the Day 1 DLC would not have existed if it wasn't green lit because of it being a Day 1 DLC. Day 1 DLC comes in 3 forms, but to explain them I've got to give a little insight into game design. When a game is "started", the developers present a huge game document with hundreds of concepts in it. If 2/3 of those concepts make it to the final game those developers were either unambitious or psychic. At least a quarter of the game document is typically cut before the game even leaves the "prototype" stage. Many reasons, whether the feature was deemed unfeasible (if not impossible), too expensive (either in time or money), detrimental to other parts of the game, or quite often simply sounded far more enjoyable on paper. Moving into alpha, features can be scrapped for much of the same reasons, and in beta features that the dev team loved can get scrapped because the players hated them. Now, those dreamers that drafted the original game document don't get fired as soon as they have their game green lit, and they're not the only ones allowed to think about features either. So throughout the development process you're getting new ideas flooding in constantly. But these new ideas weren't already funded, so doing them often comes at the cost of not doing something else. Where this all comes into play is towards the end of the development. Game teams are huge, and different teams work on different things. If game dev xyz is making game abc and they've got multiple teams, if team 2 finishes all their tasks 2-3 months before launch, they can jump in and help another team, but with programming, adding more people can hurt more than it helps since you've got to take days worth of time just to catch them up. So you've got a whole development unit freed up. If your project is under budget they're told to look through the cutting room floor for things to revive. Problem is, 2-3 months before launch, you're not under budget, you're dangerously close to over budget and the finance guys are glaring at you from down the hall. So the team leaders go to the publishers and say "we've got the ability to do X, but doing us will put us over budget". You're going to get a question in return: "Will it increase game sales relative to the increased cost?" If yes, you just got the funding and that content will be included in the game, if no, you'll get a second question: "Is it something people that were going to buy the game anyways will want?" If Yes, you just got the funding and it'll be Day 1 DLC. If no, you get bitchslapped and told to leave. What TB suggests is that the content we get as DLC/preorder was cut from the game to be DLC/preorder. Exceptionally rare in practice, most dlc/preorder bonuses were at one point cut from/not added to the game for reasons the publisher had nothing to do with. Most DLC/preorder were revived because they could be DLC/preorder and wouldn't have been revived otherwise. Now, when it comes to preorders, be a smart consumer. I nearly preordered A:CM, only reason I didn't was I realized how little I knew of the game. Never preorder from a developer that doesn't have a good track record, cancel preorders that don't lift the press embargo before launch, and run far far away if there's no gameplay footage flooding out of the developer's studios in the weeks prior to launch. If a game isn't using itself to generate sales, there's usually a reason. But if a game, not the game's trailers or marketing, has impressed you to where you intend to buy it, absolutely preorder it as it helps the devs who brought that game. It's late, so I might have gone in circles a couple times, but I think I said what I intended.
I don't know exactly what TB said about DLC but games nowdays that have "DLC" on day 1 or a week in have been complete fucking crap. So if they time to sell you an incomplete game for 60 fucking bucks just so they can release "DLC" from someone elses creative idea on the release day then they could've spent time fixing their POS game in the first place. That way they might get less people actually pirating their games. I'll buy any game thats complete and $50 or less. Whenever I see the $60 mark and a chance to get a discount on a "season pass" I won't touch it. That just tells me they are trying to rip you off with an 8 hour game that is boring as all hell because they want you to spend more money on DLC to hopefully make that "This could've been a good game" come true. It wont. As for preordering. Meh. No reason what so ever to pre-order a single player game. It will be cheaper a month in and if it sucks you don't have to worry about it. MMO's, possibly. I have and will preorder mmo's but only if I beta them first.
Aliens to me, is not a TERRIBLE game. But I would never spend 60$ on it. But then again I am a huge fan of the genre and series. To me colonial marines reminds me of a decent playstation 2 game. Not necessairly a bad thing, just seems outdated. But having played the demo I can see why everyone is in such a rage. Because after playing the demo I was pumped, but I seldom preorder anyway as I am poor. I think the only games I have preordered in like the last 5 years has been the Mass Effect series, and Skyrim. So at least I have a good ratio going of good games preordered. But like the guy said in the video, do your research, and I may add those games I had planned on buying no matter WHAT the reviews said. ME3 got the worst review for any ending of a game, but even after reading it all, and having played it I was glad I did.
When you pre-order a game, you are doing it out of fandom or dedication from the series. Not because you believe it to be "worth" its full retail value. Most games are never worth 60 dollars, and the only reason to pay that much is for a MMO to play on launch or because you would like to have a game first. Thought the feeling of pre-order and receiving a game that you didn't enjoy at all is a pretty awful feeling. I looooooking at youuuuu guild wars 2.
Yeah, GW2 is the only game that I can remember preordering and being disappointed with. There was something in beta about the game that made it feel "off" to me, but I preordered thinking the full game would have more depth and PvP would be worked on to feel less gimmicky. Think I made it to 42 before never logging in again.
I sort of have the same feeling about it. I keep meaning to log back in but I just get the feeling it's going to be same ol same ol. I played a ton during beta and played the shit out of it at the start. I still want to finish the story but I need to find time for a 2 hour romp through ARAH and need to kill some mouth guy before that :/ I'd really like to complete the story.
Yeah, I got to 60 before I never logged in again. I only felt like something was very off. I still can't put my finger on it tbh. I had fun in the game. The pve questing was the best I've ever done. I had so much fun. The pvp was a bit bland and bleh but it was still fun as a group. Defending keeps and attacking keeps felt awesome.
Be glad you never reached max and found out what REALLY was wrong with the game. Dat dungeon grind. That's the only PvE content they had for end-game. Ah well, hopefully they'll improve on that over the next year or so, then I might hop back in.
The PvE wasn't really the point of the game. I didn't expect much of it. Although, I do hear that they made them tougher. The PvP was supposed to be awesome but it was just plain mediocre.
So I recently installed the game and I have to agree, it is a decent game. I found myself hooked and couldn't stop playing, mainly because I'm a huge fan of the series like you, but also because it's a half decent shooter on its own. I agree about the graphics not being on par. Though I disagree that it looks like a PS2 game. PS2 games look much worse compared to this. I would say it looks like an Xbox 360 game (which is still far inferior to modern PC graphics). Depending on the environment you're in, the graphics can even look somewhat good.