A question for the industry savvy about T3

[Jack]

This is for anyone "in the know" about such practices. A couple weeks ago, a discussion board went up at Ion Storm about the upcoming Thief 3 game. The moderator stated that there was a "media blackout" and no questions would be answered. The board was up for a week and then suddenly taken down, replaced with a message reiterating the "media blackout."

For those who understand these things, why the media blackout? Are there contracted specifications about such a thing from the publishers? And why not leave the board up for fan-chatter? We weren't expecting responses from the team, anyway. Maybe a game dev could shed some light on this strangeness. Thanks.

[Mark Asher]

Sounds crazy to take down a message board. I wonder why they even put it up given their position?

3DRealms has stopped talking about DNF. Some companies want more control over the flow of information about their games, even if it results in reduced coverage.

Ion could also be angling for a cover story on a magazine, and what these companies barter with is exclusive information and access, so the more info you leak, the less you have to bargain with.

[Ben Sones]

Personally, I think it's a smart move, though few companies do it. Thief III is a long ways off--Eidos has said that they are releasing Deus Ex 2 first--so starting the hype now serves little purpose aside from distracting attention away from the closer release and building up expectations to near insurmountable heights. That's really the biggest danger inherent in starting the hype machine too early. Fans build themselves up to such a fever pitch of anticipation that no game, however skillfully made, is likely to satisfy them.

Another reason devs often do media blackouts is when the actual design is in a state of flux. If they aren't certain which route they will take in the design, then opening a forum to allow fans to ask questions that can't be answered will only result in a forum full of pissed-off fans. Some companies do it anyway, but in my opinion it's always a mistake to do so.

Finally, some companies employ media blackouts to hide the fact that they will never, ever finish or release the game in question. Case in point: Duke Nukem Forever.

[Ben Sones]

3DRealms has stopped talking about DNF. Some companies want more control over the flow of information about their games, even if it results in reduced coverage.

I must have missed when they started talking about it. They have been under media blackout for so long, I can't even remember when it began.

[Jack]

Good point about the board, Ben. I'm sure if the board were left up too long without any dev input, eventually "fans" would soon trash the board with statements about "devs who don't care enough to respond," in spite of the media blackout statement. I would never post such a thing, so I tend not to think often about the dark underbelly of the posting community.

I've just been wondering about the game because Ion released some preliminary build screenshots with the new Unreal engine -- but that was about a year ago and they've been rather silent since then. I was just a hungry dog jumping for the Milkbone, only to have it taken away. :)

[Ben Sones]

Those were really little more than mock-ups. According to Warren Spector, the real deal looks a lot better, but it's not nearly ready to be shown to the public. I did get a chance to get a personal demo of Deus Ex 2 at E3, which is using the same engine and has much of the new code for dynamic lighting and shadows (key elements for Thief III) already in place, and all I can say is: wow. A Thief game in that engine is going to be tres cool.

[Jason Cross]

Unfortunately, hardcore game fans, like the kind who read message boards and game websites a few times a week, have little tolerance for game design.

Sometimes features just don't make it into a game. Sometimes something that sounds so fun and cool is yanked out because it turns out not to be much fun at all. And even if a developer said this, nobody would believe it, and gamers would say "just leave it in as an option!"

Features and content are regularly trimmed and changed for a variety of reasons from technology limitations, time limitations, money limitations, and just plain old "is it fun?" factor, that it makes little sense to start talking about a game too early.

I mean, a developer isn't making promises when they talk about their plans for a game, but try telling that to Mr. I-have-nothing-better-to-do-than-write-on-this-message-board-fifty-times-a-day.

I'm of the opinion that Monolith/Sierra are doing it the smart way with NOLF2. They announced that it was in developement awhile ago just to lock in trademarks or whatever, but didn't say much other than "it'll be even better!" Then there were very few details over time, with more and more released rolling-thunder style in the weeks leading up to release.

Now with only about 6-8 weeks left until release, they're doing the whole weekly screenshots and gameplay movies thing, telling people about a few more specific gadgets, and they're going to reveal how multiplayer works. They kept everything vague for awhile, and now that the specifics are locked in and they know they'll all be in the actual release, they're going to start talking about them.