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Pre Purchase creating unrealistic reviews?
Naral
Member UncommonPosts: 748
First of all, let me say I am a fan of this game. I am looking forward to it, and excited to play it.
For a combination of reasons, I will not be pre-ordering it. I will be gone basically every weekend for the next three months for work, weddings and family gatherings. I will essentially no play time during the weekdays either, so I am just going to wait and see when GW2 comes out and get it then.
So, with all that in mind, I am going to ask a question (puts on his tinfoil hat). Does required pre purchase--not a $5 pre-order, but a full retail pre purchase--create a self fulfilling prophecy of less critical review of the early stage of the game?
Obviously, anyone willing to plunk down full retail price for a game that does not even have a release date yet is going to want that game to be good. Are they going to be willing (as a whole) to acknowledge any shortcomings the game has, or is this gearing up for a SWTOR-esque sticking of collective heads in the sand and stoning to death anyone who says anything negative about the game?
I am asking this as a legitimate question, not a troll. I want to see the game shine, and to shine, you have to sometimes acknowledge there are rough spots. It is the only way they are adressed.
Comments
RIP Orc Choppa
I see no difference between pre order and pre purchase, I have never pre ordered a game I didn't intend on playing long enough to pay for the purchase price in fun or newness. That might only be 1-2 months as it was for Aion for me but I went in not expecting it to be the holy grail I simply canceled my sub and went back to WoW full time. With GW2 its even better.. you get an MMO for the price of a single player game. Even if it flops and I think it has little chance of that happening.. it might end up being boring after a time but it wont flop. The game will be worth the 60-80 bucks no matter how you look at it.
I've been bemused to see this odd re-writing of ToR history around here. ToR was nothing whatsoever like GW2 has been, it was being routinely savaged by the nothing-but-SWGII-is-acceptable crowd for months before release. To be sure it had more than a few defenders, but there was none of the mindless lockstep that people's fantasy ideas of what GW2 will be have created. ToR pre- and post-release was all out war, GW2 at best has to face the occasional skirmish with a troll.
That having been said, in the end it won't matter. As much as people around here love to build up an upcoming game to unrealistic levels of nerdvana, they love tearing one down even more. For a time there will be a stoning of anyone who blasphemes against the church of Anet, but it won't last. Pretty quickly you'll start seeing some of the most fervent turning into jilted lovers.
Interesting times, indeed.
Don't think so.
It'll be about the same, tbh. We may get more info in regards to the beta, but it will still be beta (a work in progress). It'll be no different then when a game launches and people tell everyone if it is good, bad, or just okay.
It's more likely to make people more critical if anything. Think about the risk involved here. £50 for a game with no release date and beta access, if for any reason the game is lacklustre there's going to be some people who will be very pissed off. I mean look at the CS news and how people reacted to that. If you believe this much in a company and forget their actually after your money, then if that belief is somehow tarnished, you'll be more inclined to react angrily.
As for review sites? Personally I think they've already made there minds up and that's fine. I personally don't believe in the conspiracy theories on here about reviewers being paid off directly, (ala SWTOR), but most reviewers are already onboard with GW2 so it's bound to do well with them.
This looks like a job for....The Riviera Kid!
I think those who are going to pre-order (prepay) decided to a long time ago, more or less. If folks are going to be critical, it will be while looking for 'holes' in the bottom of the boat they just locked themselves into (onto) and less about defending their choice.
With GW2, I will be pre-ordering and if it isn't that great at any point (not that I would give up if some mid-stream stuff was a bit tiresome), I'll just put it down. On the good side, I don't have to cancel a sub. If I decide to log back in in a month or two as long as I have my password, I'm gtg.
I am looking forward to this game but if there are 'holes', I certainly won't defend the game to justify MY purchase of it. Nor will I tear it apart because I feel short-changed (well I suppose if it was truly horrifically bad I might go looking for my dictionary of negative adjectives for more blasting power) if it isn't what i was hoping for.
*shrug*
It is a matter of perspective, I think. To be honest, I still play SWTOR, and don't hate it. But I think the overall defenders of SWTOR were very staunch in their beliefs and very vocal about the "success" of their game.
I think if you ignore the clamor of the SWG fans who were both angry at the closing of their game, and the lack of similarity of their game to SWTOR, then the overally take on SWTOR, was, imho, quite favorable around here until after launch. Maybe that is just my take /shrug.
So you're asking what will be going on in the heads of thousands of different individuals that we have never met? What sort of answer are you expecting from this?
Truthfully i think it will lead to even more critical responses cause now money is invested. 'Most people give a game time to get better throughout the beta caue they know they DONT have anything really invested. Now u will find that players who did pre-purchase will more then likely be very critical and more then likely enter a state of panic if the game isnt what they expected.
No, this is not a legit question. This is a sad grab for more drama.
This thread will go nowhere, lock it up.
DAMNIT! I left my locking device at home. A mod please use theirs?
Why would GW2 be different in this then pratically every other game out there?
What deathangell says:
I know what to expect because i have had hands on but lets say just for arguments sake that anet alters things drastically after accepting a ton of pre-purchases, that would most certainly not be in their best interest for short or long term fan relationships but keep in mind i and many others that have got to sample it do not see this game as overhyped at all to begin with..
But as far as i am concerned pre-purchase will not muffle or delute how i judge the game and like deathangell says if anything should make most folks that pre-purchase even more critical, i love what anet is doing with GW2 and yearn desperately to taste it again one beta weekend at a time and into the release..
Playing GW2..
So basically if you ignore all the SWG lovers, EA-is-the devil, and SWTOR will be a WOW clone, people your perception is correct?
That's a lot of people to ignore there :P In all seriousness Myria is correct there was a lot of vitrol over this game, especially when details came out what style of game Bioware were going for. You perceived the defenders and they were here, but there were and are a lot of haters on here for TOR, thats a fact.
Myria is also correct that GW2 hasn't had nearly the same amount of detracters. Should they be compared though? Probably not, there's a lot of people who are fans of the first GW which helps, as does there catchy marketing. ANET had a lot of fans for delievering something different in this genre, what do people really want now on these forums? A different experience, so people are going to be pumped for someone who is offering that with the reputation they have.
This looks like a job for....The Riviera Kid!
I believe you will get critical thinking people since they already invested money. I think you will also get the can't do anything wrong people who think everything is awesome, since we won't get extended playing time until release.
However, there is a certain segment of people who would prepurchase plopping down $5 (and in some cases no cash) to play the beta just to bash the game. I have seen this in many games people who get in to beta for no reason but to try to tear the game apart (or so it seems from their posts), and I believe there was an element of this in the beta last month. I believe this element will be greatly reduced due to the entrance cost.
So, because of that I think the reviews on average will be higher due to how they are doing things. I think this is smart marketing as well. Reviews don't matter to me, I am along the lines of thinking that others have expressed, where I really want a trial or to get my hands on the game first hand before I purchase. That already has been a reality for many with the number of conventions/demos available.
[mod edit]it is a legit question and it can be answered as already a few have done in this thread.
ArenaNet defently doesn't pay to get unrealistic good review this way, Yes the let there hardcore supporting fans pay to play in beta, but thats a chance to take and a big one. And shows that they have great faith in the game (and it maybe also shows that they actual wants beta testers helping out creating a better game)
ArenaNet already recived alot of heat for this decission, where people question if its a vice thing to do , as a prepurchase (without a release day) is apparantly not even legal in some countrys ,and for many it look dodgy to ask mony upfront that way.
Those on the fence but pre-purchacing anyway, is going to ensure some very vocal negative reviews if they find any reasons for that. I am a fan , and i think i know what to expect, but if i find the game to be a hoax, well then it would save my friends to make the same mistake, and it would turn me into a very vocal hater here, and in other places.
ArenaNet have confidence that this will not be the case. I belive them. If they get good reviews from the prepurchace model - then they deserve them.
And getting rid of alot of he uninformed misunderstood reviews from people that just can't get out of the boring conditioned Oldschool MMOmindset, that we would be floated with, if it has been a truly open beta, is not a loss at all at this stage in the development.
Everything you just said = drama
We dont need it
That is already happening...
That Guild Wars 2 login screen knocked up my wife. Must be the second coming!
Your right, it is already happening. All those press betas and other betas, have turned out tons of good reviews, along with the videos and commentary to back it up.
Cant argue with that. I know you are trying, and I can respect that, sort of....lol
This. The merest perception that they have been ripped off will make fans (or former fans) orders of magnitude more vocal than any escalation of commitment could make a fan who has doubled down due to their investment.
No, actually I meant it as a legitimate question. Sorry if you percieved drama.
The question was, in a nutshell, do you think pre purchasing a game will influence the reviews people give it? How is that not a legitimate question.
Many people have given excellent, well thought out responses in the form of opinions. If you call this drama, so be it, that is your opinion. The easiest way to avoid it is quit reading the thread. /shrug
To the rest of the replies, an interesting take. Quick question, if you pre purchase the game, can you cancel the pre purchase if after a beta weekend or two you decide the game is not for you? I read what I could find about the pre-purchase on the GW2 site, but could find no reference to returns anywhere.
I gotta agree with most of the posts here.
Was thinking seriously to pre purchase but... as many brahs already stated... a game without a release date that has been developed for more than two years... and that DO NOT grant access to close beta...
Like this...
Arenanet grants close beta access and publish the release date before the pre purchase option : Win for them, 90% of the interested people will get it.
As it is right now... Im not that sure...
Rgds,
Eth.
I'll be pre-purchasing two copies tomorrow; for my wife and I. I don't think the Pre Purchase has created unrealistic reviews nor do I believe it gives cause to think Anet might be desperate for funds or insecure in their product. I think the best explanation for the Pre Purchase is that it is somewhat of a stress test (probably among other reasons) for the game before actual release.
I do like the fact that Anet has not commited (bound/limited) itself to a specific date for release. Release a game whe it is truly ready, not depending on the fiscal calendar (though I'm sure that comes into play in the decision process). Both Rift and TOR feel as if they were rushed( not sure how with TOR, with so much money and at least 3 years of hard dev time).
As to the reviews, there are so many different people analyzing, reviewing and criticizing the game with so much free/open access in the betas, that I find it hard to believe that the the pre purchase has anything to do with unrealistic reviews. I see them as two separate elements. Again, pre purchase is probably for a type of a stress test prior to actual release and the reviews (depending on whom you read) are good or bad based on their experience with the game. I think there is sufficient access to the game now (more to come in the coming betas) that the reviews can stand on their own without interjecting the pre purchase.
Sorry, gtg, my cat just vomited on the carpet again.
For sure i smart reply, but instead of scoring cheap points with a one liner why not think about what you are doing here?
If thats what you feel , then what are you doing in this thread, and this forum and on this site? I am just asking what do you expect?
I beg to difer.
As I dont know your background or work activity i just want to clarify that this is not a critic to your knowledge/experience or even a flame, but every-single-company that offer pre purchase for a product is because they need a capital injection, no doubt about that.
You might like the fact that they do not give a major milestone for the launch, but in all honesty i think you are in minority. If any company expect the customer to release money, it is absolutely logic that there should be a date in which we expect to be able to play and enjoy the finished product.
Regarding the stress test (and ive been a beta player on ALL the major titles of the market since UO, unfortunately not in GW2 case), thats what the open betas exist.
And sorry about the cat puking around, one of my dogs have that hobby too sometimes :S
Rgds,
Eth.