<!--quoteo(post=1715779:date=Jul 5 2009, 03:10 AM:name=Harimau)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Harimau @ Jul 5 2009, 03:10 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1715779"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->@BadMouth In business, the former is a good advertisement while the latter is a bad advertisement.
@Zamma In my mind it wasn't a trailer or teaser or even promotional material. It was just... media. Comparable to a screen shot or concept art or render. Although, it didn't help that it was sort of presented in a promotional way by IGN. So in that sense, I agree. But personally, I've got no problem with it, except that it *was* rather anti-climactic.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
By far the best reply post yet. Congratulations
In this case then I still think it was a massive waste of time really, but atleast the justification gives the movie a reason for it's quality.
Different types of marketing for different stages of a product's life cycle. It's really simple.
Plus you keep saying it was a "waste of time." As you've conveniently ignored my point that counters what you said I'll repost it.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Not to mention they can still have great success with those little 30 second clips or trailers...In fact, I bet the man hours spend producing that 30 second Onos clip were extremely efficient if we were able to measure the amount of people who've been reminded that NS2 exists, or who have been introduced to NS2 for the first time.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It probably took little effort for them to make this, as you've said many times, yet the payoff was probably much larger. NS2 is unique because it can build off of NS1's good reputation. Not every NS player cares enough to follow the mod or post on the forums, but if they visit IGN and see "Natural Selection 2" on the front page, that's going to lead to sales. I mean, that's obvious... you have to see that, right?
You seem really passionate about this for not being a self-proclaimed marketing genius (despite your god-like knowledge of the topic).
I suppose you would have been disappointed anyway from the lack of footage if they didn't dare put that video up. :) It's the game that's important, not a small community teaser.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I have to politely disagree. The video wasnt only aimed at the community, or they wouldnt have bothered to struck an exclusive arrangement with IGN. However I can't behind people wanting a cinematic type of video, this video gave way more info on how the onos looks and walks than the last video where we got a shaky 5 seconds preview of it's facade.
Edit: It would be cool to have the concept art released in a booklet in the collector's edition of the game :P
<!--quoteo(post=1715581:date=Jul 3 2009, 06:57 PM:name=Epidemic)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Epidemic @ Jul 3 2009, 06:57 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1715581"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I must say that looks alot better than what it was alluding to in the first trailer, a rhinosaurus-like clone. The superb concept has been followed closely and the overall quality in alien design is like what we know from NS1. The model does have a few weakpoints. it has a huge level of detail in the front to the tendrils and forearms. After that it drops off and looks like something made in the spore editor. Some interesting "infestation" adornments other than the small patch for one of the tendrils might have helped, but I guess the model is pretty final.
Don't get me wrong, the model is pretty roaring, I just want to come up with alittle abit more variety in my feedback other than wow :)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This is one of the few posts about the actual content shown.. I'm still not sure why people are arguing whether or not it should've been released. It's out, you watched it, what's with all the concern over marketing?
Anyway, not only do I agree with the above comments about the model itself, but the animation seems to be heavily one sided as well. All of the attention seems to be from the front shoulders forwards, including the head and front legs. As the onos runs you can see that the front shoulders move up and down with the weight that the legs bare after each forward step. In the back however, the legs show little sign of added or removed workload. They seem to just rotate together in a lazy animation without any of the little details given to the front legs. The front legs for example, have more seperated footfalls between the left and right legs. They also have the advantage of the two clenching hoof-fingers (whatever..) and the small tendrils from the forearms which add a great sense of motion.
The back legs just don't capture the weight of the creature. They seem quite far appart and significantly projected from the body. While I could see that this was intended to make the silhouette appear larger and more impressive, it makes for a more awkward stance.
The back/spine itself also doesn't seem to move at all. It's totally locked and rigid, but as wieght moves from back to front and even slightly side to side, you have to make at least minor adjustments for it to all look fluid.
If you wanted to get *really* nitpicky, you could change the biceps so that they don't overlap the forearm bone gaurds when the leg bends. By that I mean have the biceps elongate when the arm is stretched and compress when flexing. That's just icing on the cake though.
Epidemic is right though, the model is probably final, but the animation can and should be tweaked in my opinion. It's still pretty sweet though, and it wouldn't be the end of the world if it remained as-is.
I found the onos animation to be unrealistic and unituitive. An animal the size of an onos can not support its weight when running unless its limbs are straight. (Unless the onos is mostly empty inside...) Look at the elephant for example. The best way to contain an elephant is to dig a two foot deep ditch since the bones would snap if it tried to jump. The only way for the onos to move like it does is for it to have bones made of pure diamond, and even then they might break due to the enormous stress applied to the rear legs. Seeing the onos running around like a chimp is like seeing a rine pick up an RT and jumping twenty feet. It looks cool but unrealistic.
And I know that the onos can jump even though it realistically shouldn't be able to, but it's a neccessary game mechanic in NS1. One I would like to see removed in NS2, along with its monkey-run.
Perhaps UWE should consult an expert in the mechanics of animal movement? That way the lerk would flap realistically, the skulk would leap beautifully and the gorge would be even cuter.
This topic is FULL of fanboy-ism. With that note I'm on Zamma's side, since he is actually providing constructive criticism instead of just blindly taking in anything the devs say in and seeing it as gold. To prove that the article was bleh, I showed it to about 10 of my steam community friends (avid RTS and FPS friends) and got feedback from them. Some of them have heard of NS before hand and commented on how the game sounds "cool, i guess", but there is nothing really there to convince them to buy it. They said there was no real description of the game, any backstory, or most of all, any real media to go along with it.
Then I told them their opinions on the [lol] trailer of the onos. Almost all of them had no idea what the trailer was trying to show. "Okay I see a picture of an alien and now he's running. Now he stomped or something? I don't see what the big deal is". Sure they thought it had a neat design but almost all of them thought that just a in game screen shot of him would be fine (or even better than the video).
But enough with that. My brother is into marketing and he said the <a href="http://www.naturalselection2.com/" target="_blank">http://www.naturalselection2.com/</a> has minimal info. It has a nice trailer but nothing to piggy back onto it. He was disappointed they are releasing in the fall, and there is no real media of the game by now. No descriptions of aliens, no descriptions of marines, no backstory, just a trailer and some concept art. They have presales (including a more expensive one) but no marketing to bring in high potential sales. Hell, they don't even have a link to the forums from the NS2 website (which I have been mentioning for awhile, but it goes unchanged) unless you scour the bottom where all the "blah blah blah" info is.
As of now I think the marketing for the game has been pretty bad. The only reason I follow the game is because I poured many hours into the first one (I don't even play that one anymore) and I expect the same from this. If this were not true, I would have probably shrugged this game off a long time ago.
Am I a marketing professional? no. I'm an electrical engineer with a high passion for fps gaming. I just want what is best for the devs.
Now, fanboys, dissect my post and tell me how my <b>opinion</b> is completely wrong and I must be trolling.
I appreciate that people would have liked the new Onos video to be on par with the teaser movie, or show off gameplay etc. But, regardless of the large amount of time something like that would take to create, that is not the intended purpose of these videos anyway. They are merely meant to enhance the Alien Reveal articles that we will be doing for each of the 5 aliens, which includes the writeup talking about their abilities, and gameplay roles, the concept art, some render images, and the little movie to show off a few animations and to rotate around the model so you can see what it looks like from all angles. Then after the articles come out, these can additionally be put up on the various NS2 related websites to flesh out the information section on the Alien team. So, here is a somewhat similar example of this, for Diablo 3:
Yes, we'd love to be able to put out videos for each of the aliens on par with Valves "Meet the" character movies for TF2. Clearly the time it takes to make something like that is entirely out of our scope, with our team size and amount of work to get the actual game done. And, as evidenced by the fact that TF2 has been out for quite some time, and Valve still hasn't completed the movies for all of the characters, since they take so much and effort.
And, while we did try to to conceive these videos in such a way as to not take up a large amount of our time, the amount of work to do something like the Onos video is not negligible. It's not just a matter of loading up the model viewer and rendering out. Backgrounds had to be created( several different looks were tried out, and we settled on one which we thought was the least distracting and worked the best to keep the focus on the Onos itself), the titles had to be created, with multiple versions for text fading in and out, the whole thing had to be edited together with the titles and concept art, getting the timing right, and working with our music composer on multiple versions of music to find something that we felt would work the best. Yes a lot of these things may be easy when you have a marketing department to put them together, but when it's just us in the office taking the extra time to put these together, its a different story.
Finally, while seeing the Onos yet again after the teaser may be a bit disappointing, consider the fact that there are still 4 more aliens left to be revealed, that no one has seen anything on yet, and that's the purpose of these. To show the fans of NS1 how the alien look has evolved as well as help describe the player classes to someone fresh to NS2, in a way that is a bit more polished and interesting then just having a few still renders. We picked the Onos to be first, simply because he was already revealed in the teaser.
From the perspective of these-videos-are-meant-for-NS1-fans...
It was cool to see more of the onos from the rear, I think his small arse is a great visual cue to its vulnerability, also it looks like the infestation is growing in his skin which is creepy, and I can't wait to see all of the other alien changes this way, in the form of a "reveal" video. Also, since the onos is essentially purple, which is a color of supremacy, does this mean the aliens will be color coded like tootsie roll pops?! I like the idea... gorgies would be yellow/pink, skulks yellow-orange, lerks red, fade to black(cue metallica for bladed jeebus)? In any case, this unified art direction thing is going to turn out sweet. Also, I noticed the music, and that it was good and appropriate. I think your composer will do a great job with the game.
I have a feeling that the prominence of the glowiness of the alien eyes will be a common feature of the aliens (and you too, hive), and I like them on the onos. It would be cool to have the decloak effect reveal just the eyes before showing the rest of the model.
<!--quoteo(post=1715835:date=Jul 5 2009, 06:31 PM:name=Squeal_Like_A_Pig)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Squeal_Like_A_Pig @ Jul 5 2009, 06:31 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1715835"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Yes, we'd love to be able to put out videos for each of the aliens on par with Valves "Meet the" character movies for TF2. Clearly the time it takes to make something like that is entirely out of our scope, with our team size and amount of work to get the actual game done. And, as evidenced by the fact that TF2 has been out for quite some time, and Valve still hasn't completed the movies for all of the characters, since they take so much and effort.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> For me the way aliens move and act in NS is a lot more characteristic than any TF2 video. The TF2 videos were cool, but they never matched my idea of the actual nature of the characters in the game. All in all, the videos felt more of just separate manchinima based on some game I haven't played, not any kind of introduction to the game and its characters. Meanwhile seeing the actual in game animations allows me to get a faint idea of how you want the lifeform to act in the game.
locallyunsceneFeeder of TrollsJoin Date: 2002-12-25Member: 11528Members, Constellation
edited July 2009
Hey guys,
I really appreciate the response from Cory on this as it was hard to see the forest for the trees, especially with only one tree. I like the bestiary idea you're building up here and think it's a solid concept. At this moment it isn't something you'd want the E-Team to post around to promote NS2 but when it's near completion it will be a really useful tool for people who want to learn more about the game.
There were a lot of "hidden" gameplay gems in the writeup as the previous posters mentioned. Boneshield, and knockback are ideas I've seen discussed on the forums, and it's cool to see the devs thinking along the same lines as some of the threads here.
I think a lot of the criticism of the release stems from the poor write-up. Those gameplay features are really the highlight of this release, but were definitely not communicated clearly. IGN billed this as "Meet the Onos" when that is not the mold it was meant to fit. As a result the video was seen as the prominent feature while the article seemed an after-thought.
I'm not sure what kind of deal you had to work with IGN to get that page, but if you could include your own write-up instead of relying on them that would drastically improve the perceived quality of the release.
Here's my unsolicited advice: use the E-Team. Post a thread with the gameplay information and have a week long contest to enthusiastically get the point across in one or two paragraphs. Then offer an exclusive animation video similar to the onos' video for whatever site to use along with the write-up.
Agreed with all your points locally, especially with your advice in regards to the E-Team.
People seem to misunderstand the point of the video - it was a supplement to the actual piece of marketing, which was the IGN write up. The only criticism I have about that is:
1) The quality of the write up 2) The fact that it was only released to IGN (assuming no special circumstances)
<!--quoteo(post=1715877:date=Jul 6 2009, 01:56 AM:name=locallyunscene)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (locallyunscene @ Jul 6 2009, 01:56 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1715877"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I'm not sure what kind of deal you had to work with IGN to get that page, but if you could include your own write-up instead of relying on them that would drastically improve the perceived quality of the release.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah, we actually did provide them with an extensive write-up, to cover all the relevant information. IGN, like pretty much all of the online outlets, just use that write-up merely to inform what they themselves decided to write for the article. We really have no control over the final form the article takes, unfortunately.
<!--quoteo(post=1715892:date=Jul 6 2009, 04:34 PM:name=Squeal_Like_A_Pig)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Squeal_Like_A_Pig @ Jul 6 2009, 04:34 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1715892"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Yeah, we actually did provide them with an extensive write-up, to cover all the relevant information. IGN, like pretty much all of the online outlets, just use that write-up merely to inform what they themselves decided to write for the article. We really have no control over the final form the article takes, unfortunately.
--Cory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> How long until you guys put up the blog going into more depth?
<!--quoteo(post=1715900:date=Jul 6 2009, 04:47 PM:name=xposed-)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (xposed- @ Jul 6 2009, 04:47 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1715900"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Surely you have the right to correct any misinformation regarding you product, at least?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> One would hope yes.
KassingerShades of greyJoin Date: 2002-02-20Member: 229Members, Constellation
<!--quoteo(post=1715837:date=Jul 6 2009, 12:48 AM:name=obsid)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (obsid @ Jul 6 2009, 12:48 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1715837"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Thanks Cory. Dont let the few naysayers get you discouraged.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Discussion and alternate opinions should be encouraged. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink" target="_blank">Groupthink</a> leads to so many traps. Freedom of speech in society isn't valued only in a human rights' perspective, it's actually useful as you get to test an idea more properly before implementation.
Model looks amazing but... no devour? that was my fav part of being an onos :( hope the "fly around" thing they can do to marines makes up for it. BRING ON THE OTHER ALIEN VIDS PLOX!
<!--quoteo(post=1715892:date=Jul 6 2009, 07:34 AM:name=Squeal_Like_A_Pig)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Squeal_Like_A_Pig @ Jul 6 2009, 07:34 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1715892"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Yeah, we actually did provide them with an extensive write-up, to cover all the relevant information. IGN, like pretty much all of the online outlets, just use that write-up merely to inform what they themselves decided to write for the article. We really have no control over the final form the article takes, unfortunately.
--Cory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Jim Rossignol at RockPaperShotgun did a much better job with the interview. Use him next time, or someone else capable of reading simple information and re-arranging them into a factual piece.
<!--quoteo(post=1715917:date=Jul 6 2009, 11:05 AM:name=Kassinger)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kassinger @ Jul 6 2009, 11:05 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1715917"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Discussion and alternate opinions should be encouraged. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink" target="_blank">Groupthink</a> leads to so many traps. Freedom of speech in society isn't valued only in a human rights' perspective, it's actually useful as you get to test an idea more properly before implementation.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Well, I would like to think my post wasn't discouraging discussion or coming off that I was feeling discouraged in any way about some of the comments, because I'm really not. It just seemed that there was some confusion or misunderstanding as to what the new Onos video was intended to accomplish, and I felt it warranted a post to elaborate on that. Alternate opinions are wholeheartedly encouraged, it is just more useful to everyone involved when those opinions can be based off of the appropriate level of correct information.
KassingerShades of greyJoin Date: 2002-02-20Member: 229Members, Constellation
edited July 2009
<!--quoteo(post=1716055:date=Jul 7 2009, 04:46 AM:name=Squeal_Like_A_Pig)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Squeal_Like_A_Pig @ Jul 7 2009, 04:46 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1716055"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Well, I would like to think my post wasn't discouraging discussion or coming off that I was feeling discouraged in any way about some of the comments, because I'm really not. It just seemed that there was some confusion or misunderstanding as to what the new Onos video was intended to accomplish, and I felt it warranted a post to elaborate on that. Alternate opinions are wholeheartedly encouraged, it is just more useful to everyone involved when those opinions can be based off of the appropriate level of correct information.
--Cory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I agree, that was how I understood your post.
My post wasn't directed at you at all. You were just explaining your views, you never said it wasn't okay to disagree. However others here seemed to think it was a bad thing that people were expressing their opinions. As long as everyone is polite and to the point, I would think it's great that developers, "fanboys" and "naysayers" express their thoughts and concerns. Seems like we all have to make ourselves clearer sometimes. :)
<!--quoteo(post=1716179:date=Jul 7 2009, 08:58 AM:name=steppin'razor)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (steppin'razor @ Jul 7 2009, 08:58 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1716179"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I understand why you guys release info to different online sources, but I wish everything went to RPS<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Well, RPS could post a link to that article if they wanted to I guess... wouldn't surprise me to see some more ns2 related stuff there when the game gets closer to release.
I find it rather odd that the "Stomp" function's description said nothing about the poor sap that would be caught under MY FOOT!!! A Marine being too close when that is done means he would be squashed so hard he would have to look up to look down!!!
Comments
In business, the former is a good advertisement while the latter is a bad advertisement.
@Zamma
In my mind it wasn't a trailer or teaser or even promotional material. It was just... media. Comparable to a screen shot or concept art or render.
Although, it didn't help that it was sort of presented in a promotional way by IGN. So in that sense, I agree. But personally, I've got no problem with it, except that it *was* rather anti-climactic.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
By far the best reply post yet. Congratulations
In this case then I still think it was a massive waste of time really, but atleast the justification gives the movie a reason for it's quality.
Plus you keep saying it was a "waste of time." As you've conveniently ignored my point that counters what you said I'll repost it.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Not to mention they can still have great success with those little 30 second clips or trailers...In fact, I bet the man hours spend producing that 30 second Onos clip were extremely efficient if we were able to measure the amount of people who've been reminded that NS2 exists, or who have been introduced to NS2 for the first time.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It probably took little effort for them to make this, as you've said many times, yet the payoff was probably much larger. NS2 is unique because it can build off of NS1's good reputation. Not every NS player cares enough to follow the mod or post on the forums, but if they visit IGN and see "Natural Selection 2" on the front page, that's going to lead to sales. I mean, that's obvious... you have to see that, right?
You seem really passionate about this for not being a self-proclaimed marketing genius (despite your god-like knowledge of the topic).
I suppose you would have been disappointed anyway from the lack of footage if they didn't dare put that video up. :) It's the game that's important, not a small community teaser.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I have to politely disagree. The video wasnt only aimed at the community, or they wouldnt have bothered to struck an exclusive arrangement with IGN. However I can't behind people wanting a cinematic type of video, this video gave way more info on how the onos looks and walks than the last video where we got a shaky 5 seconds preview of it's facade.
Edit: It would be cool to have the concept art released in a booklet in the collector's edition of the game :P
Don't get me wrong, the model is pretty roaring, I just want to come up with alittle abit more variety in my feedback other than wow :)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This is one of the few posts about the actual content shown.. I'm still not sure why people are arguing whether or not it should've been released. It's out, you watched it, what's with all the concern over marketing?
Anyway, not only do I agree with the above comments about the model itself, but the animation seems to be heavily one sided as well. All of the attention seems to be from the front shoulders forwards, including the head and front legs. As the onos runs you can see that the front shoulders move up and down with the weight that the legs bare after each forward step. In the back however, the legs show little sign of added or removed workload. They seem to just rotate together in a lazy animation without any of the little details given to the front legs. The front legs for example, have more seperated footfalls between the left and right legs. They also have the advantage of the two clenching hoof-fingers (whatever..) and the small tendrils from the forearms which add a great sense of motion.
The back legs just don't capture the weight of the creature. They seem quite far appart and significantly projected from the body. While I could see that this was intended to make the silhouette appear larger and more impressive, it makes for a more awkward stance.
The back/spine itself also doesn't seem to move at all. It's totally locked and rigid, but as wieght moves from back to front and even slightly side to side, you have to make at least minor adjustments for it to all look fluid.
If you wanted to get *really* nitpicky, you could change the biceps so that they don't overlap the forearm bone gaurds when the leg bends. By that I mean have the biceps elongate when the arm is stretched and compress when flexing. That's just icing on the cake though.
Epidemic is right though, the model is probably final, but the animation can and should be tweaked in my opinion. It's still pretty sweet though, and it wouldn't be the end of the world if it remained as-is.
And I know that the onos can jump even though it realistically shouldn't be able to, but it's a neccessary game mechanic in NS1. One I would like to see removed in NS2, along with its monkey-run.
Perhaps UWE should consult an expert in the mechanics of animal movement? That way the lerk would flap realistically, the skulk would leap beautifully and the gorge would be even cuter.
Then I told them their opinions on the [lol] trailer of the onos. Almost all of them had no idea what the trailer was trying to show. "Okay I see a picture of an alien and now he's running. Now he stomped or something? I don't see what the big deal is". Sure they thought it had a neat design but almost all of them thought that just a in game screen shot of him would be fine (or even better than the video).
But enough with that. My brother is into marketing and he said the <a href="http://www.naturalselection2.com/" target="_blank">http://www.naturalselection2.com/</a> has minimal info. It has a nice trailer but nothing to piggy back onto it. He was disappointed they are releasing in the fall, and there is no real media of the game by now. No descriptions of aliens, no descriptions of marines, no backstory, just a trailer and some concept art. They have presales (including a more expensive one) but no marketing to bring in high potential sales. Hell, they don't even have a link to the forums from the NS2 website (which I have been mentioning for awhile, but it goes unchanged) unless you scour the bottom where all the "blah blah blah" info is.
As of now I think the marketing for the game has been pretty bad. The only reason I follow the game is because I poured many hours into the first one (I don't even play that one anymore) and I expect the same from this. If this were not true, I would have probably shrugged this game off a long time ago.
Am I a marketing professional? no. I'm an electrical engineer with a high passion for fps gaming. I just want what is best for the devs.
Now, fanboys, dissect my post and tell me how my <b>opinion</b> is completely wrong and I must be trolling.
<a href="http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/world/bestiary/thefallen.xml" target="_blank">http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/world/bestiary/thefallen.xml</a>
Yes, we'd love to be able to put out videos for each of the aliens on par with Valves "Meet the" character movies for TF2. Clearly the time it takes to make something like that is entirely out of our scope, with our team size and amount of work to get the actual game done. And, as evidenced by the fact that TF2 has been out for quite some time, and Valve still hasn't completed the movies for all of the characters, since they take so much and effort.
And, while we did try to to conceive these videos in such a way as to not take up a large amount of our time, the amount of work to do something like the Onos video is not negligible. It's not just a matter of loading up the model viewer and rendering out. Backgrounds had to be created( several different looks were tried out, and we settled on one which we thought was the least distracting and worked the best to keep the focus on the Onos itself), the titles had to be created, with multiple versions for text fading in and out, the whole thing had to be edited together with the titles and concept art, getting the timing right, and working with our music composer on multiple versions of music to find something that we felt would work the best. Yes a lot of these things may be easy when you have a marketing department to put them together, but when it's just us in the office taking the extra time to put these together, its a different story.
Finally, while seeing the Onos yet again after the teaser may be a bit disappointing, consider the fact that there are still 4 more aliens left to be revealed, that no one has seen anything on yet, and that's the purpose of these. To show the fans of NS1 how the alien look has evolved as well as help describe the player classes to someone fresh to NS2, in a way that is a bit more polished and interesting then just having a few still renders. We picked the Onos to be first, simply because he was already revealed in the teaser.
Thanks, and stay tuned for the next installment.
--Cory
It was cool to see more of the onos from the rear, I think his small arse is a great visual cue to its vulnerability, also it looks like the infestation is growing in his skin which is creepy, and I can't wait to see all of the other alien changes this way, in the form of a "reveal" video. Also, since the onos is essentially purple, which is a color of supremacy, does this mean the aliens will be color coded like tootsie roll pops?! I like the idea... gorgies would be yellow/pink, skulks yellow-orange, lerks red, fade to black(cue metallica for bladed jeebus)? In any case, this unified art direction thing is going to turn out sweet. Also, I noticed the music, and that it was good and appropriate. I think your composer will do a great job with the game.
I have a feeling that the prominence of the glowiness of the alien eyes will be a common feature of the aliens (and you too, hive), and I like them on the onos. It would be cool to have the decloak effect reveal just the eyes before showing the rest of the model.
For me the way aliens move and act in NS is a lot more characteristic than any TF2 video. The TF2 videos were cool, but they never matched my idea of the actual nature of the characters in the game. All in all, the videos felt more of just separate manchinima based on some game I haven't played, not any kind of introduction to the game and its characters. Meanwhile seeing the actual in game animations allows me to get a faint idea of how you want the lifeform to act in the game.
I really appreciate the response from Cory on this as it was hard to see the forest for the trees, especially with only one tree. I like the bestiary idea you're building up here and think it's a solid concept. At this moment it isn't something you'd want the E-Team to post around to promote NS2 but when it's near completion it will be a really useful tool for people who want to learn more about the game.
There were a lot of "hidden" gameplay gems in the writeup as the previous posters mentioned. Boneshield, and knockback are ideas I've seen discussed on the forums, and it's cool to see the devs thinking along the same lines as some of the threads here.
I think a lot of the criticism of the release stems from the poor write-up. Those gameplay features are really the highlight of this release, but were definitely not communicated clearly. IGN billed this as "Meet the Onos" when that is not the mold it was meant to fit. As a result the video was seen as the prominent feature while the article seemed an after-thought.
I'm not sure what kind of deal you had to work with IGN to get that page, but if you could include your own write-up instead of relying on them that would drastically improve the perceived quality of the release.
Here's my unsolicited advice: use the E-Team. Post a thread with the gameplay information and have a week long contest to enthusiastically get the point across in one or two paragraphs. Then offer an exclusive animation video similar to the onos' video for whatever site to use along with the write-up.
People seem to misunderstand the point of the video - it was a supplement to the actual piece of marketing, which was the IGN write up. The only criticism I have about that is:
1) The quality of the write up
2) The fact that it was only released to IGN (assuming no special circumstances)
Yeah, we actually did provide them with an extensive write-up, to cover all the relevant information. IGN, like pretty much all of the online outlets, just use that write-up merely to inform what they themselves decided to write for the article. We really have no control over the final form the article takes, unfortunately.
--Cory
--Cory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
How long until you guys put up the blog going into more depth?
One would hope yes.
Discussion and alternate opinions should be encouraged. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink" target="_blank">Groupthink</a> leads to so many traps. Freedom of speech in society isn't valued only in a human rights' perspective, it's actually useful as you get to test an idea more properly before implementation.
--Cory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Jim Rossignol at RockPaperShotgun did a much better job with the interview. Use him next time, or someone else capable of reading simple information and re-arranging them into a factual piece.
Well, I would like to think my post wasn't discouraging discussion or coming off that I was feeling discouraged in any way about some of the comments, because I'm really not. It just seemed that there was some confusion or misunderstanding as to what the new Onos video was intended to accomplish, and I felt it warranted a post to elaborate on that. Alternate opinions are wholeheartedly encouraged, it is just more useful to everyone involved when those opinions can be based off of the appropriate level of correct information.
--Cory
--Cory<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I agree, that was how I understood your post.
My post wasn't directed at you at all. You were just explaining your views, you never said it wasn't okay to disagree. However others here seemed to think it was a bad thing that people were expressing their opinions. As long as everyone is polite and to the point, I would think it's great that developers, "fanboys" and "naysayers" express their thoughts and concerns. Seems like we all have to make ourselves clearer sometimes. :)
Well, RPS could post a link to that article if they wanted to I guess... wouldn't surprise me to see some more ns2 related stuff there when the game gets closer to release.