NBA Live 14 EA's Different Approach

[joec63]

In all the threads speculation is rampant that EA doesn't have confidence in their game...maybe it's a different approach .




"I think from a promotional aspect and [...] messaging, what you see from us — we really wanted to not, kind of, be full of ****. And we wanted to be humble, contrite. We came out and just said, 'Hey, we know we've screwed up the last three years; we're going to do the best we can to earn back your trust,'" said Ferwerda.
Gameplay designer Scott O'Gallagher agreed, telling us, "More of the controlled messaging has been really good for us, and good for the community. I think us saying anything other than that is really disrespectful to 2K. They've done a good job for so long [...] and just saying that we're going to do this and do that and stomp... it just doesn't make any sense."
That's encouraging to hear from the makers of a franchise whose previous, canceled incarnations were promoted with obnoxious bravado along the lines of "profoundly [evolving] the basketball experience." To be sure, EA Tiburon is confident in the game it's delivering next week, but the studio believes it's a first step — "while we're proud of what we [are releasing], we're not satisfied," said Ferwerda, "and where we're moving toward is kind of what motivates us and keeps us going."


http://www.polygon.com/2013/11/13/50...ers-philosophy

[King_B_Mack]

Ehh they can do that without going to the opposite extreme. There's the extreme that they want to avoid of coming out puffy chested and saying "we're doing this and that" and "we're back" yadda yadda yadda and then there's the extreme of completely hiding the game until the last possible second. They could do a live stream of gameplay without all the bravado they want to avoid.

[bigeastbumrush]

Name one company worth their salt that doesn't care about day one sales or first week sales and says, "Oh, just pick us up sometime down the road".

That's been their mantra.

There's no different approach going on. You're giving them too much credit.

I liken it to an abused person. They saw what happened when the Elite 13 footage dropped and they are doing everything under the sun to avoid that.

EA had shown gameplay for FIFA 14 for a long time now. They held press events. They didn't have NDAs on reviewers. They showed the game off.

Madden and Live gave you MySpace angles. They gave you replay cutscenes. Remember RGIII in the pocket? How about Kyrie dribbling by himself? Looked really good.

This is what happens when you close yourself off to the community. They avoided any sort of public feedback and help from the community who would be more than willing to help them out to spur competition.

So this is what they'll get. The floodgates will open next week. They won't be able to avoid it.

It's a shame because I'm sure the devs worked hard on it. But they were playing with fire too. Can't have it both ways.

[joec63]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigeastbumrush

Name one company worth their salt that doesn't care about day one sales or first week sales and says, "Oh, just pick us up sometime down the road". That's been their mantra. There's no different approach going on. You're giving them too much credit. I liken it to an abused person. They saw what happened when the Elite 13 footage dropped and they are doing everything under the sun to avoid that. EA had shown gameplay for FIFA 14 for a long time now. They held press events. They didn't have NDAs on reviewers. They showed the game off. Madden and Live gave you MySpace angles. They gave you replay cutscenes. Remember RGIII in the pocket? How about Kyrie dribbling by himself? Looked really good. This is what happens when you close yourself off to the community. They avoided any sort of public feedback and help from the community who would be more than willing to help them out to spur competition. So this is what they'll get. The floodgates will open next week. They won't be able to avoid it. It's a shame because I'm sure the devs worked hard on it. But they were playing with fire too. Can't have it both ways.

You're comparing a game that has an established track record and being the leader in their segment, ala FIFA to a game that's getting back on the horse competing with a real strong leader in 2K with a strong fan base.


Not giving them too much credit at all. obviously they know the uphill battle their up against. They know the hardcore fan base will wait for professional and player reviews to see where the game is at before giving it a chance.


As far as the community help all I've seen is hostility so reaching out at to the "public" in the early stages was probably counter productive. Now if they stick around after this release I would expect them to solicit feedback on how to move forward.

[ghettogeeksta]

Its a smart move I think, instead of over hyping and under delivering like Madden, they are choosing the humble approach for a humble game.

[Boilerbuzz]

Quote: Originally Posted by joec63

In all the threads speculation is rampant that EA doesn't have confidence in their game...maybe it's a different approach . "I think from a promotional aspect and [...] messaging, what you see from us — we really wanted to not, kind of, be full of ****. And we wanted to be humble, contrite. We came out and just said, 'Hey, we know we've screwed up the last three years; we're going to do the best we can to earn back your trust,'" said Ferwerda. Gameplay designer Scott O'Gallagher agreed, telling us, "More of the controlled messaging has been really good for us, and good for the community. I think us saying anything other than that is really disrespectful to 2K. They've done a good job for so long [...] and just saying that we're going to do this and do that and stomp... it just doesn't make any sense." That's encouraging to hear from the makers of a franchise whose previous, canceled incarnations were promoted with obnoxious bravado along the lines of "profoundly [evolving] the basketball experience." To be sure, EA Tiburon is confident in the game it's delivering next week, but the studio believes it's a first step — "while we're proud of what we [are releasing], we're not satisfied," said Ferwerda, "and where we're moving toward is kind of what motivates us and keeps us going." http://www.polygon.com/2013/11/13/50...ers-philosophy

This certainly flies in the face of comments SOG made on his Twitter interview. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Then there's the whole "never seen before" type of marketing that was done. Certainly takes shots at what the others have and have not done.

No offense, but I don't buy that this is some "being humble" marketing strategy. That's not marketing. That's, frankly, hiding. It's that or they've cut the marketing budget by a GRIP!

[Boilerbuzz]

Quote: Originally Posted by joec63

You're comparing a game that has an established track record and being the leader in their segment, ala FIFA to a game that's getting back on the horse competing with a real strong leader in 2K with a strong fan base.

If this was ONLY about Live, I would hear that argument. But we're not. So what's Madden's excuse? The only common thread here is that the initial buzz on both titles has been lukewarm to tepid cold.

But I agree - once bitten, twice shy. The pre-release marketing has HURT their bottomline. I think they don't want to do that again. And that is a smart move. I've already said: if I were in their position, I'd think twice about feeding small pieces of meat to the hungry wolves.

[lnin0]

Hiding you work from prospective customers and expecting them to buy based on box art alone is not humility, its being dishonest and sly.

If they wanted to be humbles they could have just acknowledge they have been away for three years and are not the sales leader. Make a price concession to show humility and grow your fanbase.