Is This Misleading Marketing? (Sony and NMS)

[Shinobi-san]

KLAMarine said:

Shinobi-san said:

At the time the video was published that was gameplay. There is no reason to remove it or rename it.

The name is accurate - "No Mans Sky Gameplay Trailer | E3 2014"

The name WAS accurate IF gameplay looked like that back in 2014. Current gameplay I've been watching and gameplay from the E3 2014 trailer don't look alike.

I dont dispute your opinion on the discrepency between older and newer builds, neither do I support it.

My point here was to say that the name of the video remains accurate. That video was posted at a point in time and the title highlightes the date and provides enough context for this not to be misleading.

KLAMarine said:

Shinobi-san said:

likewise with the 2015 video, and im sure there was a 2016 video as well, which you have not included in the OP.

My interest revolved around the E3 2014 and E3 2015 trailers. My original intent was not for the discussion of any other pieces of marketing. If you would like to bring some other piece of marketing and compare it to the game's current build, feel free.

 

I know. The reason why i brought up the 2016 E3 trailer is because i wanted to demonstrate that its not as if the dev or publisher are hiding the latest build of the game. In other words, nothing out of the ordinary was done in any of the years (14, 15, 16) when posting those videos.

KLAMarine said:

Shinobi-san said:

What you are now saying is that Sony needs to re-evaluate every gameplay clip they showcased in all their conferences in the past and rename/remove it if necessary? Again that makes no sense. I dont expect any developer or publisher to do that. Theres also no tangible way to determine if the game lives up to what was previously shown. Does Sony or Hello Games need to count pixels? Cross check gameplay features? All for a video?

Sony is free to do with their media channels as they see fit. Just the same, I can compare and contrast E3 media and final game builds as I see fit.

Yes both you and Sony can do as you please...so? Your response here doesnt address mine. And this was my main point of criticism on your stance. That it is not logical or reasonable to expect the dev/or publisher to re-evaluate every video of every game posted from every conference. And further to that there is no tangible criteria by which to do that evaluation.

KLAMarine said:

Shinobi-san said:

Also think about how that will kill the buzz of E3 and other similar press conferences. Those conferences are their to showcase whats possibly coming in the future. By design its held to build hype and the devs strive to achieve their vision.

You can build hype without establishing unrealistic expectations. Hello Games has 15 employees which is tiny and I do feel the hype has set them up for the backlash they have experienced. I was skeptical when I first learned about NMS since I have a background in software development but most consumers do not. I feel bad for HG because this game isn't all that bad as I first perceived but someone going into this game expecting the world might end up upset and who will be their target? Sean Murray and Hello Games.

I'm still not sure what you expected Hello Games to do here (back in 2014 & 2015). They have a game, its in alpha or at some stage in development...they show it to people. That is all they can do. The game they showed us back then was gameplay. It wasnt a video or mock up etc. So again i dont see how its reasonable to expect a developer to self reflect on what they've built and say "Hey guys! we cant show this because in 2-3 years time its not going be exactly the same". Why would they predict that they cant do it? And Sony has absolutely no say in this because its not their game. Can you imagine the discussion between Sony and Sean?

Sony: "Sorry Sean please cut the foliage and lighting! I highly doubt thats what your game will look like in 2 years."

Sean: "Why would you say that Sony?"

Sony: **shrugs**

KLAMarine said:

Shinobi-san said:

But misleading mareting implies that this is something done purposefully to trcik consumers into buying. Its a really harsh stance. I think its particularly harsh on an indie developer.

Perhaps if this was done at this years E3 where they showed a vastly different level of quality and had massive features missing then yeah I would agree. But Hello Games have actually gone out their way to make it clear what No Man's Sky is.

I disagree that the word "misleading" automatically implies intent but if you would prefer it, what word should I use to describe the potential discrepancies between E3 footage and final build?

"Misleading Marketing (Sony and NMS)" thats the title of the thread, it implies that Sony and Hello Games are using marketing material (in this case videos) to mislead consumers. Considering that posting a video and titling it is done purposefully.

I have no issue with you highlighting the discrepancies and you can call it whatever you want. My issue is with you singling out Sony and Hello Games, and implying that they are using misleading marketing. Your OP and title didnt need to have that part if it was strictly about the discrepancies between older and newer builds of NMS.

If you are saying that this is unintentional misleading marketing, then its a different discussion. Regardless though I dont think its reasonable for either dev or publisher to remove or rename older gameplay builds of their games. Provided that the context of the video is provided ie. "E3 2014", "Pre-Alpha" etc.