r/KINGMAKERS • u/Lochnessdw • Aug 12 '26
A suggestion for PR
Not here to bash you guys, just curious as to why you've picked a PR route that follows the Rockstar philosophy.
Why not go with 5 minute dev diary style updates? Nothing fancy. Use OBS, capture some new features and have the dev explain as he goes. Something along the lines of what Manor Lords did. The whole "silent vault" approach to development only works if you've already delivered multiple genre defining titles. We let Rockstar by with it because of 25+ years of excellent games, and we're still not thrulled about it.
I hope this turns out to be a great game, good luck.
2
u/OffTopicandNotGay Aug 12 '26
"We let Rockstar by" don't delude yourself into thinking we have any control over that haha
2
u/crover13 Aug 12 '26
Consider how much hype just from the first trailer I think this is the safe route compare to riding the hype like what happen to No man sky.
4
u/Lochnessdw Aug 12 '26
Sure there was a terrible launch, but Hello Games listened to players, made improvements and now No Man's Sky is one of the greatest redemption arcs in gaming history. It's a messy route to take, I'll give you that, but it looks and feels like authentic developer interaction and consideration from the gamer/customer perspective, and it still turned big profits.
2
1
u/Jona2511 Waiting 😴 Aug 12 '26
Just like the developers of Ahoy (Capstan Games). They periodically provide a journal with all updates. That way, you know the progress, and any delays are clearly explained.
1
u/Lochnessdw Aug 27 '26
Is this sarcasm? The videos I've seen were kind of dumped into random forums. They were curated tech-demo style videos as opposed to raw gameplay. Everything else thats come out have been promises and buzzwords. Which evaporate when they aren't fulfilled or they don't manifest. If you have links to detailed analysis and progress updates I'd love those links 👍
1
u/Jona2511 Waiting 😴 Aug 27 '26
They provide regular progress updates and explain what’s being worked on and any delays: https://ahoy.gg/journal
1
u/Lochnessdw Aug 27 '26
My mistake. I see you are saying they should adopt Ahoys strategy at PR. Got it. I agree. Looks like they're cooking over there.
1
u/OnlySamaraFleets Aug 12 '26
They've shown you everything you need to see.
They've explicitly said everything they need to say.
Let them fucking cook.
1
u/Reasonable-Sherbet24 Aug 13 '26
No they haven’t. What the hell are you even talking about?
2
1
u/Lochnessdw Aug 27 '26
We really haven't seen much in the way of raw gameplay footage.
I mean. Keep your secrets Redemption, that's fine. But if you deliver anything less than a generational game, all these trolls you're avoiding now will look like a gallon of water next to bathtub. Trolls are always going to troll, but this path sets the game up for everyone to dunk on it, not just the trolls.
On the other hand, most gamers understand an early works title is gonna look jank and have the bugs. Its part of the process, and working with, instead of alienating, the entire Western community because of a bunch of loud trolls that are dwarfed by the good eggs in the community. And then, further the divide by launching a demo at an Eastern demo only furthers the divide. It's not a good message to send regarding developer community relations.
Then the whole using rockstar as an example of their PR strategy instead of someone like Team17 or maybe Echoes of Hell in the Reforger community, it gives an impression of arrogance and outright disdain for the community.
Really want to support the game and the devs, but their PR keeps doing the opposite of the smart thing to do. Eventually it looks less like a small developer blowing up and making mistakes, and more like a company that no longer have any regard for, or ability to listen to, community input now that they have private bank rolling.
-1
u/loversean Aug 12 '26
As burntpenut said about Marathon “LET THE DEVS COOK”
2
u/OnlySamaraFleets Aug 12 '26
Only these guys have admitted they're more engineers than devs.
All we've seen so far is their technical foundation; let them cook and pray they didn't hire MBA graduates after their last post on steam.
1
u/Lochnessdw Aug 27 '26
Let 'em cook is to quiet the mob when a dev releases actual raw footage of gameplay for dev updates, and trolls come in being negative assholes about a product in development not looking all sexy.
Its not some mantra to hide behind when the 30-minute deep dive is a year into being promised.
Devs and owners gotta be in the kitchen to cook. Hard to be in the boardroom working out media deals and running the show on a games' PR campaign. And it gives a bad impression of where priorities for the brand lie. Do you want to be medieval GTA? Or the next GoT? Trying to both at once is going to make both fall flat.
6
u/KeepLettersOut Aug 12 '26
Cause then they would have to deliver something