UK Advertising Standards Authority Investigating NMS

holdenhamlet

Weird that those listed complaints don't include the lack of multiplayer, even though they clearly advertised the game would be multiplayer in some capacity ("you only would know what you look like if another player sees you" etc). It probably will be addressed though in the actual investigation.

Kind of a shame that a watchdog group has to step in. Gamers are too busy justifying purchases and calling eachtoher crybabies to help eachother make educated decisions when buying games.

Hopefully they get nailed hard, though. Maybe make Devs think twice before advertising their products as more than they are.

Vrika

holdenhamlet said:

Weird that those listed complaints don't include the lack of multiplayer, even though they clearly advertised the game would be multiplayer in some capacity ("you only would know what you look like if another player sees you" etc). It probably will be addressed though in the actual investigation.

If the officials go only after what's displayed on Steam's store page, and can get a ruling on that, they might be able to change how Steam works, and Steam is so big actor any change in how they work could change standards for the whole industry.

I think they'd prefer to go just after Steam if they think they have a good case.

EDIT: I could be wrong. This is just guess /EDIT

DarkEvilHatred

Phaserlight said:

SEANMCAD said:

while in the US you can basically just say whatever the F you want.

Uh, no, you can't. Not if you're taking people's money.



Source: Business Ethics (MBA 610), Lynn University, 2014.

When is the last time any of this has actually been enforced though? The USA really does need to step up and start doing something about all the false advertising going on in our country. Consumers just don't seem to have any rights or protections from fraud or misrepresentation anymore.

Gobstopper3D

I have no sympathy for anyone who buys into a game before it's ever officially released.  That means no pre-orders either.  People should know by now that most games are released before they are ready and many times don't have all the features that the devs said it would have at launch.  Publishers like EA, do this all the times with their games, but they typically don't show things that won't be in the game at launch and if things change, they will usually say something before hand.  They also put a ton of disclaimers in the TOS and that you have to agree to.

I'm very rarely disappointed since i don't pre-order games or buy into any kick starters or the like.  I always wait until a game releases and I see actual game play footage from someone who doesn't have anything to gain from a good review.

Companies play to the fact that many of today's gamers have little to no patients and will jump on anything that is shinny, new, and promises everything you want to hear without there being any actual game footage yet.  Until people stop giving money to studios before they have a game that is actually finished and contains everything they say it will contain, this will only continue and most likely get worse and time goes on.

Phaserlight

DarkEvilHatred said:

Phaserlight said:

SEANMCAD said:

while in the US you can basically just say whatever the F you want.

Uh, no, you can't. Not if you're taking people's money.



Source: Business Ethics (MBA 610), Lynn University, 2014.

When is the last time any of this has actually been enforced though? The USA really does need to step up and start doing something about all the false advertising going on in our country. Consumers just don't seem to have any rights or protections from fraud or misrepresentation anymore.

"Seem" being the operative word. Some less scrupulous companies may rely on customers' laziness or learned helplessness, but that doesn't make it right. If there really is fraud or false advertising, usually if you explain why in an assertive manner to the responsible company you will at least get your money back. 

Burntvet

Iselin said:

Burntvet said:

Any scrutiny of overblown promises/marketing made by devs/publishers of games by the authorities, can only be good for gamers.

The endless list of missing promised features and paid for, hyped-up BS, even from "AAA" games, is only bad for gamers.

Over-promising and under-delivering is also the norm in gaming. No token slap on the wrist is ever going to change that. Buying after delivery of the finished game and the professional and user reviews are in is really all you can do. Getting caught-up in the pre-release hype just encourages them to lay it on thicker the next time.

And regulatory bodies really don't care a whole lot about policing shenanigans in an industry that caters to the abundant leisure time of the well-to-do - they've got bigger fish to fry... those countries that even bother to use their frying-pans that is. This is just one of those agencies throwing gamers a bone and probably only because someone in their family is PO'd about NMS.

That may be true, but if the regulating authorities determine that misleading promises were made, it can result in some nice fines or even refunds for unsatisfied customers (of which there are many in this case) based on those false of misleading promises.

And even if it doesn't happen, it should do something to beat back the over the top BS/marketing, and the commonly seen trailers that have nothing to do with actual gameplay.

Phaserlight

Ars Technica duly picks up the story:

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/09/uk-advertising-board-investigating-no-mans-sky-marketing/