Why are you guys going to E3?

[Halsy]

Seems to me that's a massive waste of time and money better served by going into the game itself. Wasn't one of the main points of this crowd-funded work to precisely avoid the big publisher driven circuses  and bull****? Most of the attendees at those things are into the shiny and vacuous crap like CoD, they couldn't give a rats ass about games like these. I'm all for you guys publicizing this and selling as many copies as possible to show its viable and that we can get more good, old school CRPGs made, but this sounds more like a paid vacation on our dime. Am I wrong? Say it ain't so, Joe. Say it ain't so!

 

[Lephys]

How do you know it's on our dime?

 

And what better way to reinforce the whole crowdfunding thing than by going to THE expo of the year and pulling a Tom Hanks from Castaway -- "LOOK WHAT I HAVE CRE-A-TEDDDDD!!!!"

 

Also, a vacation? You think they just mozy around from booth to booth during E3, like some random person who just decided to go for fun? They've got a lot of work to do there. Busy schedules and all that.

[Amentep]

Am I wrong?

Yes?

[ManifestedISO]

Tilting at windmills all over the place, today.

[illathid]

Well since PoE isn't the only project Obsidian is working on right now, they'd probably attend regardless. And by showing off PoE they can maybe get some major media attention and build hype for the games release. This is very good for us as the possibility of a sequel will be based on how well PoE sells at release. So if you want a sequel, you better damn well hope there's people wanting to pick up the game at retail.

Edited May 28, 2014 by illathid

[Bryy]

Seems to me that's a massive waste of time and money better served by going into the game itself. Wasn't one of the main points of this crowd-funded work to precisely avoid the big publisher driven circuses  and bull****? Most of the attendees at those things are into the shiny and vacuous crap like CoD, they couldn't give a rats ass about games like these. I'm all for you guys publicizing this and selling as many copies as possible to show its viable and that we can get more good, old school CRPGs made, but this sounds more like a paid vacation on our dime. Am I wrong? Say it ain't so, Joe. Say it ain't so!

1) Obsidian is sort of a game studio. This is their job. They also have more projects than Eternity.

2) Publicity for Eternity. And closed door demos (especially of highly PR'd games like Eternity) build hype and awareness.

3) "Most of the attendees" = E3 is a TRADE SHOW. Every single attendee is in the industry. It is not San Diego Comic-Con for video games.

[Elerond]

Obsidian will show PoE in Paradox's booth behind closed doors for press as part of Paradox's marketing campaign for the game. So it's not like Obsidian pays to be in E3, but opportunity that is available because as Paradox goes in E3 anyway, to show their other games, so it would be waste money not to use this opportunity to market PoE as us backers aren't only ones whom they want to sell this game, which is why they need to start show game for gaming journalists and Paradox's retail partners so that they can get them start to writing articles and add game on their Holiday catalogs.

[Hiro Protagonist II]

Obsidian could also meet up with various publishers in one location and try and sell their ideas for a new rpg. I'm guessing it's not just about showing off your latest game but also connecting with other industry people, media, developers, publishers, etc.

[Hormalakh]

you'd rather obsidian not try to sell their game?

 

what world am i living in?

[Bryy]

you'd rather obsidian not try to sell their game?

 

what world am i living in?

The vast majority of gamers think E3 is a convention like SDCC or Emerald City. They watch IGN coverage from their computers, where so little of the show is actually shown, that they get the impression the place is far more exciting than it actually is. They watch the press conferences streaming and think that those games are actually playable on the floor. And the ones that are actually playable are completely on rails. The pressers are incredibly boring, stiff, and snooze inducing. I got in as a guest of EA/BioWare last year, and for the previous two years before that as a journalist, and the pressers are ridiculous. 

 

Even this year, E3 has set up new measures to keep those out that are not allowed in. NeoGAF got denied. My friends geek site got denied. If you don't have the number of visitors they want, you don't get in. And if you really want to get in? The tickets for the public start at $599.

 

And honestly? People shouldn't want to go to E3. It's boring. The average gamer would balk at how much a business event it actually is. Every year, the outer lunch hall is packed with people in three piece suits and briefcases filled with graphs. 

[Lord Gorchnik]

 

you'd rather obsidian not try to sell their game?

 

what world am i living in?

The vast majority of gamers think E3 is a convention like SDCC or Emerald City. They watch IGN coverage from their computers, where so little of the show is actually shown, that they get the impression the place is far more exciting than it actually is. They watch the press conferences streaming and think that those games are actually playable on the floor. And the ones that are actually playable are completely on rails. The pressers are incredibly boring, stiff, and snooze inducing. I got in as a guest of EA/BioWare last year, and for the previous two years before that as a journalist, and the pressers are ridiculous. 

 

Even this year, E3 has set up new measures to keep those out that are not allowed in. NeoGAF got denied. My friends geek site got denied. If you don't have the number of visitors they want, you don't get in. And if you really want to get in? The tickets for the public start at $599.

 

And honestly? People shouldn't want to go to E3. It's boring. The average gamer would balk at how much a business event it actually is. Every year, the outer lunch hall is packed with people in three piece suits and briefcases filled with graphs. 

 

I cannot upvote this more so I will just leave it as it is.

 

E3 is beyond boring and anyone who wants to work in, at, or have anything to do with the gaming industry should be going to GDC instead.

[Bryy]

There's a reason why E4All, the public E3, was lame.

 

E3 is beyond boring and anyone who wants to work in, at, or have anything to do with the gaming industry should be going to GDC instead.

 

E3 is like SDCC at this point for anyone in the industry: a necessary evil. 

 

But you're right, GDC is the place for anyone, especially newbies, to be. For one, there are actual panels. For two, the panels are extremely, extremely interesting. Even new indie companies can apply for a post-mordem panel and get it. For three, exhibitors get ten free passes to the show floor that are upgradable. For four, it's open to the public.

 

Now, GDC is far more expensive than E3, with the least expensive pass being $600-$900, and the most expensive being $1900+. 

[Lord Gorchnik]

There's a reason why E4All, the public E3, was lame.

 

E3 is beyond boring and anyone who wants to work in, at, or have anything to do with the gaming industry should be going to GDC instead.

 

E3 is like SDCC at this point for anyone in the industry: a necessary evil. 

 

But you're right, GDC is the place for anyone, especially newbies, to be. For one, there are actual panels. For two, the panels are extremely, extremely interesting. Even new indie companies can apply for a post-mordem panel and get it. For three, exhibitors get ten free passes to the show floor that are upgradable. For four, it's open to the public.

 

Now, GDC is far more expensive than E3, with the least expensive pass being $600-$900, and the most expensive being $1900+. 

 

All too true.  However, I will state that 8-9 years ago when I was in my final years of college and before starting my studio I went on a "student" pass and I was still given access to almost everything except the exclusive developer round-table discussions.  This means I still got to go behind the scenes on the show-floor, go watch "closed door" presentations, etc because at the end of the day, it is the developers themselves who choose who they want to show their product/services too.  In short, don't be a jerk, network well, reap rewards.

 

You can't put a price on anything if it helps you acheive/land that job you always wanted to do and I don't regret any of the money I've spent on my 6 times going to that Conference.  E3 on the other hand.....

Edited May 29, 2014 by Lord Gorchnik

[Sensuki]

Yeah E3 used to be a lot different in the early 2000s from memory (at least on the outside). I remember when PurePwnage went there.

 

Some Codexers went to Gamescom last year and wrote a good editorial about what games conventions are like: http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=9132

 

(and how the press reacts to them)

Edited May 29, 2014 by Sensuki

[Bryy]

But by all means, lets get pissed off at Obsidian for doing their jobs.

[Sensuki]

The response to this has actually been pretty good. I've only seen a handful of people complain so far. More on Something Awful than here.

 

I don't care about not seeing the footage as I think the decision not to spoil any of the plot or story is a good one.

 

But Obsidian needs to go to press events like this to sell the game, getting BIG exposure like this and having all the big (but lame) games sites write about how cool the game is going to bring in a lot of revenue in the future. That means new (and improved) PEs and other isometric RPGs down the line.

 

The only thing is Chris Avellone said we would get a gameplay movie at some point, so hopefully leading up to the beta, that happens.

Edited May 29, 2014 by Sensuki

[Urthor]

Yeah generally I find the people who've had two decade careers in the game industry not to mention marketing degrees plus years of experience in the area are have a better idea about this than the OP.

[Urthor]

Sorry to double post, I'd edit this onto the end of my previous post and delete this if I could

 

There's some things about game development we, as the peanut gallery, can provide useful input for.  There are some things that we're not really able to provide useful input for.  If Obsidian say sending two guys to E3 is cost efficient marketing, then it's a good idea.

 

Not to mention E3 is in Santa Anna and Obsidian is in Santa Monica, it's not even a big deal in terms of travel, you just have to make the trailers which is a few man hours in the Gantt chart.

[Messier-31]

Sheesh.

 

E3 is serious business; if you seriously want to stay in it, you need to attend events like this.

 

Gawd.

[aluminiumtrioxid]

Still, things I've heard about E3 is that whipping a game into a presentable shape poses a significant amount of work which is usually not directly useful to the finished product itself. OP's concerns are not totally misplaced (even if his insinuations of paid vacations and stuff are).

[Sensuki]

They had 3 press demos PLANNED in the production spreadsheet.

 

That said I'm not sure if this was one of them, as the slated ones were Production 3, Production 6, Beta. So this may throw the scheduling out a little bit.

 

No big deal though, Steam Early Access awaits.

[Elerond]

Still, things I've heard about E3 is that whipping a game into a presentable shape poses a significant amount of work which is usually not directly useful to the finished product itself. OP's concerns are not totally misplaced (even if his insinuations of paid vacations and stuff are).

 

That is true, but mostly for games that are presented publicly. Closed door presentations are for those games that aren't polished in state that they could be presented for public. And as Obsidian has already presented PoE for members of press in their offices, which means that they already have version of PoE that they feel is good enough to be used as part of their explanation how game will work when it's released even if it don't have stability and look of final version yet.

[Labadal]

I'm actually happy that they are going. Paradox will be there either way. Use that to your advantage and get your game covered by the media. The more articles, the better. We already know about the game. We are excited and can't wait to play it. Give the media a shot at the game and hopefully the articles they write will be positive and create more buzz around the game.

 

That's my take on the situation.

[Bryy]

Still, things I've heard about E3 is that whipping a game into a presentable shape poses a significant amount of work which is usually not directly useful to the finished product itself. OP's concerns are not totally misplaced (even if his insinuations of paid vacations and stuff are).

This isn't Bethesda where they are making a huge trailer for Skyrim.

 

The OP's fears are completely unfounded.

[sesobebo]

who's Joe?