Have you guys tried Kotaku.com? I would be surprised if they would turn you guys down, they seem to cover just about anything and it's a extremely popular site, if you could get any sort of coverage or advertisement on Kotaku it should help immensely.
<!--quoteo(post=1799943:date=Sep 27 2010, 12:57 AM:name=TheGivingTree)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (TheGivingTree @ Sep 27 2010, 12:57 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1799943"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Have you guys tried Kotaku.com? I would be surprised if they would turn you guys down, they seem to cover just about anything and it's a extremely popular site, if you could get any sort of coverage or advertisement on Kotaku it should help immensely.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> If I recall correctly the very first NS2 teaser trailer came out on Kotaku (over a year ago).
Its frustrating comparing the speed and quantity of tantalizing features that are being implemented and accepted, e.g. flamethrowers and onos gore, with the slow paced bug crunching technical team. However, I'm glad they removed the patch - felt like a horse being tricked by the carrot dangling in front of its eyes.
this train took a 500 mile trip down the hijack railroad when it should have stopped at the above station.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Yah, but if it goes below 300Kph it will explode
Its frustrating comparing the speed and quantity of tantalizing features that are being implemented and accepted, e.g. flamethrowers and onos gore, with the slow paced bug crunching technical team. However, I'm glad they removed the patch - felt like a horse being tricked by the carrot dangling in front of its eyes.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> I think its gone because its a new week, the tracker software is a sliding window of a week that changes each week (and so perhaps its just dropped off our radar).
I could be wrong but thats how I understood it; so while you see things drop off the tracker they have probably been completed.
Any good game will advertise itself. Just look at Starcraft II. Even I was trying to get my friends to play because its so awesome.
But meb has a good point. When the game is in playable state, you really should sell it a even with lower profit margins because IF the game is very good, the internet will come. If you attract 5 times more people even with lower profits, those people are going to ask their friends to play and pay the diference. The guest passes that came with Starcraft II were an awesome idea, I've already used mine. Free weekends are another, popularized by Steam. I think you really should sell NS2 beta only access with like 5 dollars each (and then give discount to those who upgrade to full-access). If game is good, it'll advertize itself. A lot of people had free access to SC2 Beta and so many of them bought themselves SC2 when it became final. But all this assumes the gameplay is as good as you hope it to be.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Its frustrating comparing the speed and quantity of tantalizing features that are being implemented and accepted, e.g. flamethrowers and onos gore, with the slow paced bug crunching technical team. However, I'm glad they removed the patch - felt like a horse being tricked by the carrot dangling in front of its eyes.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Writing gameplay stuff is easy in LUA compared to writing C++ game engine code, not to mention debugging all that code. And supposedly Max has been stuck in the warping/lag issue for some time now.
<!--quoteo(post=1799985:date=Sep 27 2010, 05:29 PM:name=Jiriki)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jiriki @ Sep 27 2010, 05:29 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1799985"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Meb you old troll, and you all just fell for him!
Any good game will advertise itself. Just look at Starcraft II. Even I was trying to get my friends to play because its so awesome.
But meb has a good point. When the game is in playable state, you really should sell it a even with lower profit margins because IF the game is very good, the internet will come. If you attract 5 times more people even with lower profits, those people are going to ask their friends to play and pay the diference. The guest passes that came with Starcraft II were an awesome idea, I've already used mine. Free weekends are another, popularized by Steam. I think you really should sell NS2 beta only access with like 5 dollars each (and then give discount to those who upgrade to full-access). If game is good, it'll advertize itself. A lot of people had free access to SC2 Beta and so many of them bought themselves SC2 when it became final. But all this assumes the gameplay is as good as you hope it to be.
Writing gameplay stuff is easy in LUA compared to writing C++ game engine code, not to mention debugging all that code. And supposedly Max has been stuck in the warping/lag issue for some time now.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I think the titanic advertisement campaign and brand power <i>may</i> have had something to do with the success of starcraft 2 perhaps?
<!--quoteo(post=1799988:date=Sep 27 2010, 07:49 PM:name=Chris0132)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Chris0132 @ Sep 27 2010, 07:49 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1799988"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I think the titanic advertisement campaign and brand power <i>may</i> have had something to do with the success of starcraft 2 perhaps?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Absolutely, however would the community flow with ever growing tournaments and events without the gameplay? Infact I think effort and time they used balancing the gameplay made this possible.
<!--quoteo(post=1799985:date=Sep 27 2010, 11:29 AM:name=Jiriki)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jiriki @ Sep 27 2010, 11:29 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1799985"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Meb you old troll, and you all just fell for him!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> wow way to ruin my fun
also
SC2 beta had leagues using the game for tournaments with cash purses, which is pretty impressive for a beta and SO appealing to the competitive RTS masses. Not to mention the huge competitive coverage of the game by Youtube channels such as HDStarcraft which has an 'upload views' count of 71,647,395 at the moment
this is why that NaturalSelection2HD guy exists and keeps cranking out good stuff
There perhaps is another weird oddity that news likes... oddities.
The success of Minecraft can perhaps be attributed to the fact that at first glance it doesn't look fun at all. And yet, people really like it, so they have to sell it to their buddies who think they're insane, then they play it, and like it, and have to defend it to another set of friends... you get the picture. It garners word-of-mouth by being so fun when all original signs point to it being a random shot-in-the-dark.
Contrast to many other wonderful indie games that looks solid at first glance and ARE solid once you get into them. Then don't get nearly as much "whoa! This turned out awesome" press.
SC2 got a lot of momentum due to nostalgia, Blizzard fanboyism, and then as giant leagues and money flowed out people got hooked into the subtle mechanics as well. Meb is right on that front, imo. An awesome competitive spectacle that people can watch and get excited about is a natural PR machine. See the early days of HoN versus LoL. While some complained about mechanics, MOST players only cared that HoN had tournaments with money and casting and LoL didn't. Weirdly, LoL now is skyrocketing in terms of active players online at any one time, while HoN has had admirable, but much slower growth. The business model also probably factors into this, but no one can deny the power of awesome tournaments showcasing awesome games between amazing players pumping the average player to go play more and try to be just as awesome.
<!--quoteo(post=1799992:date=Sep 27 2010, 06:08 PM:name=TrC)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (TrC @ Sep 27 2010, 06:08 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1799992"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Absolutely, however would the community flow with ever growing tournaments and events without the gameplay? Infact I think effort and time they used balancing the gameplay made this possible.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
They remade starcraft, starcraft is already popular, it isn't an incredible achievement for a dev team to remake the same game they made years ago which is still extremely popular only with new graphics and have it be successful.
Same reason it isn't exactly amazing for CSS to make money, or DoDs, or TF2, or half life 2, or halo whatever, or call of duty whatever, or world of warcraft expansions.
Massive amounts of ad money + copying your established formula + massive brand power = reliable and not-particularly-diifficult profit.
<!--quoteo(post=1800040:date=Sep 28 2010, 03:09 AM:name=Hoodedsniper)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Hoodedsniper @ Sep 28 2010, 03:09 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1800040"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->HL2 and the source engine was a huge leap from anything before it.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Technologically it was impressive, but gameplay wise it is not really much different from HL1, it uses all the same guns and similar combat against a similar lineup of enemies, the storytelling methods are the same as in HL1 only more developed, the puzzles and combat mix are the same, the mix of soldiers and weird alien things is clearly visible in the first as in the second, and the use of a vehicle section to break up the gameplay is also present in the first.
Like I said, it's HL1 with better graphics, that doesn't make it a bad game, it just means it's not particularly difficult to make money off it because you have the advertisement and the brand and the experience and the desired result already in place, UWE doesn't really have any of the above, although I imagine NS1 is a helpful guide, they're a somewhat new team doing their first from-scratch project together with no real prior products to give them a name or the cash required to fund an ad campaign. They are at a big disadvantage when it comes to making a game that's popular and profitable in a heavily populated genre, regardless of the obvious skill of the team members.
Most big games, especially in the FPS genre, sell on the money you put into the advertising and the brand power of the company and/or franchise, as the examples are supposed to illustrate.
The above is true, and it is not necessarily a bad thing. The problem with business now as is present in the films industry as it is the games industry is that developing a fresh concept and title is risky. There is nothing really that intelligent in the cinemas at the moment or in online gaming. Same old rehash of realistic shooters and tried and tested formulas that business knows will sell.
This should be of an advantage to indie developers (like UWE) in the current economic climate, because if developed to its full creative potential it could be seen as a fresh alternative to a lot of the ###### out there.
I'm all for playing a bit of counter-strike, but why are they still making clones 10 years later? It sells yeah, but I am bored of it.
Comments
If I recall correctly the very first NS2 teaser trailer came out on Kotaku (over a year ago).
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/progress" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/progress</a><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
hmmmm?
this train took a 500 mile trip down the hijack railroad when it should have stopped at the above station.
That explains your posts...
Its frustrating comparing the speed and quantity of tantalizing features that are being implemented and accepted, e.g. flamethrowers and onos gore, with the slow paced bug crunching technical team. However, I'm glad they removed the patch - felt like a horse being tricked by the carrot dangling in front of its eyes.
this train took a 500 mile trip down the hijack railroad when it should have stopped at the above station.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yah, but if it goes below 300Kph it will explode
Its frustrating comparing the speed and quantity of tantalizing features that are being implemented and accepted, e.g. flamethrowers and onos gore, with the slow paced bug crunching technical team. However, I'm glad they removed the patch - felt like a horse being tricked by the carrot dangling in front of its eyes.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I think its gone because its a new week, the tracker software is a sliding window of a week that changes each week (and so perhaps its just dropped off our radar).
I could be wrong but thats how I understood it; so while you see things drop off the tracker they have probably been completed.
Any good game will advertise itself. Just look at Starcraft II. Even I was trying to get my friends to play because its so awesome.
But meb has a good point. When the game is in playable state, you really should sell it a even with lower profit margins because IF the game is very good, the internet will come. If you attract 5 times more people even with lower profits, those people are going to ask their friends to play and pay the diference. The guest passes that came with Starcraft II were an awesome idea, I've already used mine. Free weekends are another, popularized by Steam. I think you really should sell NS2 beta only access with like 5 dollars each (and then give discount to those who upgrade to full-access). If game is good, it'll advertize itself. A lot of people had free access to SC2 Beta and so many of them bought themselves SC2 when it became final. But all this assumes the gameplay is as good as you hope it to be.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Its frustrating comparing the speed and quantity of tantalizing features that are being implemented and accepted, e.g. flamethrowers and onos gore, with the slow paced bug crunching technical team. However, I'm glad they removed the patch - felt like a horse being tricked by the carrot dangling in front of its eyes.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Writing gameplay stuff is easy in LUA compared to writing C++ game engine code, not to mention debugging all that code. And supposedly Max has been stuck in the warping/lag issue for some time now.
Any good game will advertise itself. Just look at Starcraft II. Even I was trying to get my friends to play because its so awesome.
But meb has a good point. When the game is in playable state, you really should sell it a even with lower profit margins because IF the game is very good, the internet will come. If you attract 5 times more people even with lower profits, those people are going to ask their friends to play and pay the diference. The guest passes that came with Starcraft II were an awesome idea, I've already used mine. Free weekends are another, popularized by Steam. I think you really should sell NS2 beta only access with like 5 dollars each (and then give discount to those who upgrade to full-access). If game is good, it'll advertize itself. A lot of people had free access to SC2 Beta and so many of them bought themselves SC2 when it became final. But all this assumes the gameplay is as good as you hope it to be.
Writing gameplay stuff is easy in LUA compared to writing C++ game engine code, not to mention debugging all that code. And supposedly Max has been stuck in the warping/lag issue for some time now.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I think the titanic advertisement campaign and brand power <i>may</i> have had something to do with the success of starcraft 2 perhaps?
Absolutely, however would the community flow with ever growing tournaments and events without the gameplay? Infact I think effort and time they used balancing the gameplay made this possible.
wow way to ruin my fun
also
SC2 beta had leagues using the game for tournaments with cash purses, which is pretty impressive for a beta and SO appealing to the competitive RTS masses. Not to mention the huge competitive coverage of the game by Youtube channels such as HDStarcraft which has an 'upload views' count of 71,647,395 at the moment
this is why that NaturalSelection2HD guy exists and keeps cranking out good stuff
The success of Minecraft can perhaps be attributed to the fact that at first glance it doesn't look fun at all. And yet, people really like it, so they have to sell it to their buddies who think they're insane, then they play it, and like it, and have to defend it to another set of friends... you get the picture. It garners word-of-mouth by being so fun when all original signs point to it being a random shot-in-the-dark.
Contrast to many other wonderful indie games that looks solid at first glance and ARE solid once you get into them. Then don't get nearly as much "whoa! This turned out awesome" press.
SC2 got a lot of momentum due to nostalgia, Blizzard fanboyism, and then as giant leagues and money flowed out people got hooked into the subtle mechanics as well. Meb is right on that front, imo. An awesome competitive spectacle that people can watch and get excited about is a natural PR machine. See the early days of HoN versus LoL. While some complained about mechanics, MOST players only cared that HoN had tournaments with money and casting and LoL didn't. Weirdly, LoL now is skyrocketing in terms of active players online at any one time, while HoN has had admirable, but much slower growth. The business model also probably factors into this, but no one can deny the power of awesome tournaments showcasing awesome games between amazing players pumping the average player to go play more and try to be just as awesome.
RAAAGEEE!
They remade starcraft, starcraft is already popular, it isn't an incredible achievement for a dev team to remake the same game they made years ago which is still extremely popular only with new graphics and have it be successful.
Same reason it isn't exactly amazing for CSS to make money, or DoDs, or TF2, or half life 2, or halo whatever, or call of duty whatever, or world of warcraft expansions.
Massive amounts of ad money + copying your established formula + massive brand power = reliable and not-particularly-diifficult profit.
Technologically it was impressive, but gameplay wise it is not really much different from HL1, it uses all the same guns and similar combat against a similar lineup of enemies, the storytelling methods are the same as in HL1 only more developed, the puzzles and combat mix are the same, the mix of soldiers and weird alien things is clearly visible in the first as in the second, and the use of a vehicle section to break up the gameplay is also present in the first.
Like I said, it's HL1 with better graphics, that doesn't make it a bad game, it just means it's not particularly difficult to make money off it because you have the advertisement and the brand and the experience and the desired result already in place, UWE doesn't really have any of the above, although I imagine NS1 is a helpful guide, they're a somewhat new team doing their first from-scratch project together with no real prior products to give them a name or the cash required to fund an ad campaign. They are at a big disadvantage when it comes to making a game that's popular and profitable in a heavily populated genre, regardless of the obvious skill of the team members.
Most big games, especially in the FPS genre, sell on the money you put into the advertising and the brand power of the company and/or franchise, as the examples are supposed to illustrate.
This should be of an advantage to indie developers (like UWE) in the current economic climate, because if developed to its full creative potential it could be seen as a fresh alternative to a lot of the ###### out there.
I'm all for playing a bit of counter-strike, but why are they still making clones 10 years later? It sells yeah, but I am bored of it.