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

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?

I think you should really think this one through again. They have official material of the game, which is the latest build on their websites and other social media platforms. As long as those are not misleading, then i dont see how anyone can fault the developers/publishers here.

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. 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

This is what I tried to get across but you explained far better than me.

Yeah it just doesnt make sense to actually go and do that.

I also think its going to be a super rare case where someone watches the E3 2014 video (only!) in 2016 and then immediately goes and buys the game. Naturally that consumer will want to see more videos on the game, they will want to see the latest videos on the game etc. which will give the consumer an accurate representation of the game.

We've seen other cases with games like Watch Dogs, Assassinc Creed etc. where the initial reveal looked better. But even then i dont think i'd categorise that as misleading marketing. And those are the most extreme cases I can think of.

For it to be misleading there would have to be proof that Hello Games intentionally showed a better game than they knew they could deliver.

I heard Monday but got that info second hand.

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.

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.

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.

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 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?

We may start delving into semantics. This could get messy.

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.

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.

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.

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**

"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.

"No Man's Sky Gameplay Trailer | E3 2014 | PS4"

I suppose if read a certain way the name is accurate: this video is a trailer of No Man's Sky, it purports to be footage of gameplay, it was in fact broadcast at E3 2014, and it's a game on the PS4. I must also acknowledge there is a degree of ambiguity in the title as well when taken together with the video associated with it: nothing in it aludes to the fact that gameplay being shown is tentative. Anyone who is familiar with software development, Sony and Hello Games included, knows software during development is subject to change. Not everyone is familiar with software development however. This lack of disclosure, I argue, opens up potential to mislead, intentionally or otherwise.

Finally, I must confess I have a hard time believing the game's gameplay at any point during development ever looked as good as it did in the 2014 E3 trailer.

...I'm having a hard time bringing this up...

With respect to the 2015 E3 demo, I'm starting to question if Sean was playing the actual, procedurally-generated game like a player who buys a copy of the game would play it and not a scripted portion.

http://gearnuke.com/no-mans-sky-data-mining-scripted-e3-2015-demo/

In today's industry, would this be considered "out of the ordinary"?

I don't. I only wish to know if the videos in their current state are misleading.

No, the title of the thread at the time of this post is "Is This Misleading Marketing? (Sony and NMS) *now with two edits*"

The title of this thread is not a statement, it's a question.

I'm just asking if the videos are misleading, intentionally or otherwise.

Hmm i dont know...if you doubting whether or not the gameplay shown at the time was real or faked then we cant really discuss this further, as you are making bold assumptions here and are implying that both Hello Games and Sony were intentionally lying about the game. Which you previously said you are not doing.

As for the OP and thread - you've made several implications here that you are of the opinion that Sony and Hello Games have indeed gone about misleading marketing. I am against your stance. If you intended for something different then you need to stop being ambiguous. Otherwise you just seem intent on arguing for the sake of it, which is something swordfish pointed out and perhaps i should have realised that earlier.

What i would say is that the previous builds of the game should have had a note in the video saying at what stage of development the game is at. "Alpha build" etc. most gamers are familiar with those terms.

I just think its sad to see this kind of criticism directed towards Hello Games in particular, they are genuinely good developers who care about their game. The way they have addressed their support base has been admirable. Its very easy for a developer to actually go about misleading marketing and then just be no where to be found once the game is released.