Rate the CM:BN pre-release PR campaign

How well did BFC handle the CM:BN pre-release PR campaign?


  • Total voters
    24

Patrocles

Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2004
Messages
1,794
Reaction score
6
Location
Chicago, IL
I believe the rollout is going well for CM:B4N. At least no major gaffs on their part - as you mentioned in our initial posts.

I think they could do better advertising of CM:B4N if they would hire a beta-tester temporarily as the release date nears to provide game info, screenshots, movies, etc. to various forums.
:bandit:
 

[hirr]Leto

Varmint Croonie
Joined
Jan 29, 2008
Messages
1,124
Reaction score
13
Location
Saskatoon
Country
llCanada
I voted exceptionally well.

Last night I was visited by three men in black ski masks that beat the crap out of me, threw me in the back of the van and took me to a secret laboratory where I was spoonfed images of CMBN, Clockwork Orange style, until I was reduced to tears. I then ran out and pre-ordered 100 steel box versions of the game.

Bravo, BFC, you've literally perfected guerilla marketing and gotten the "be all that you can be" spirit out of the (masked) Beta testers who are now running around the country side giving everyone sack beatings and mind control.

BTW, one of the Beta Boys smelled like fresh apple pie... Elvis... where were you last night between 1 and 3 am???

Cheers!

Leto
 

KG_Jag

KG Vice Kommandir
Joined
Aug 5, 2002
Messages
1,782
Reaction score
180
Location
New Braunfels, TX/Reno, NV
Country
llUnited States
[hirr]Leto;1391916 said:
I voted exceptionally well.

Last night I was visited by three men in black ski masks that beat the crap out of me, threw me in the back of the van and took me to a secret laboratory where I was spoonfed images of CMBN, Clockwork Orange style, until I was reduced to tears. I then ran out and pre-ordered 100 steel box versions of the game.

Bravo, BFC, you've literally perfected guerilla marketing and gotten the "be all that you can be" spirit out of the (masked) Beta testers who are now running around the country side giving everyone sack beatings and mind control.

BTW, one of the Beta Boys smelled like fresh apple pie... Elvis... where were you last night between 1 and 3 am???

Cheers!

Leto
Leto--where were you and what exactly were you doing in the three hours before 1 a.m.?!
 

Rule_303

Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2009
Messages
385
Reaction score
23
Location
San Francisco Area
I voted "Good" -- would have been "Very Good" except for the many schedule slips.

I hope they do very well. Steve is clearly nervous. IMHO they've worked very hard on their product and made a good faith effort to learn from many of their past mistakes
 

junk2drive

Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
897
Reaction score
7
Location
Arizona West Coast
No doubt but the percentage could be the same. Just working off a much smaller number. Plus the point had nothing to to with the quality of posts. It was about the volume... I have read so little that I don't know if what is being posted is brilliant or ********. Hardly matters when talking about impact. Do you want 1 million buyers or 10,000 that know and post insightful information? (numbers exaggerated to make a point)
There are now 300 posts in the Message from your Sponsor thread. I haven't found any that are meaningful.

We did however have someone post about modding lasers and stuff finally.
 

Michael Dorosh

der Spieß des Forums
Joined
Feb 6, 2004
Messages
15,733
Reaction score
2,765
Location
Calgary, AB
First name
Michael
Country
llCanada
There are now 300 posts in the Message from your Sponsor thread. I haven't found any that are meaningful.

We did however have someone post about modding lasers and stuff finally.
I didn't know what you were talking about until I went to BFC and found Steve had posted just what you said. This was what he said:

Before you, our favorite Refresh Monkeys™, get your little paws on the Demo, I wanted to say a few words about the pending release of the Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy.

What we're about to release is a GAME. It is something to be played with and enjoyed, hopefully for longer than the time to download/install Yes, it's also a serious simulation, but that's merely a means of providing a more enjoyable gaming environment. After all, if this wasn't about having fun then how many of us would be interested in it?

It is also important to remember that we're not releasing "the perfect wargame", or even "the perfect game". There are no such things, therefore by definition there will be issues to raise here on this Forum. It's important to keep this in mind as we start in with the discussions that dissect and reduce a massive game down to a few bits and pieces for a particular topic of discussion. It's all too easy to get so wrapped up with the minutia and have that detract from enjoying the fullness of what the game has to offer. In all cases let's remember to keep criticism constructive, respectful, and within reason. It's important because that sort of feedback opens the door to improvements, while the opposite is harmful.

As you play CM:BN you should keep in mind that Battlefront's full time staff, contractors, and dedicated volunteer testers have put in (literally) many hundreds of thousands of hours into Battle for Normandy over the past three years. Add to this the previous 9 years of work that went into CM: Afghanistan, CM: Shock Force, and the previous three CMx1 games. All of this made possible with the support of you, our customers. With your continued support we'll still be here in 12 more years continuing to push wargaming forward with each release.

We look forward to putting this in your hands very, very, very soon.

Steve (and the rest of the Battlefront rabble)
I don't know what to make of that.

It sounds to me like he is apologizing for the project before it is released.

Should I be worried???

Rule_303 mentions that Steve is "worried." Perhaps it is indeed just jitters. We have talked for 3 years or so about how much we feel is riding on this release, as far as Battlefront's continued reputation, perhaps even existence. I was never sure if it was true or not. I think that post just confirmed it.
 

Michael Dorosh

der Spieß des Forums
Joined
Feb 6, 2004
Messages
15,733
Reaction score
2,765
Location
Calgary, AB
First name
Michael
Country
llCanada
He added this:

P.S. The Demo will have the Editor enabled. This will allow you to see most of the features of the Editor for those who only know the CMx1 Editor. Of course you won't be able to save anything you make in the Editor, not to mention play it. this is, after all, just a Demo
By the way, I don't want to suggest Steve is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. It is nice to see some humility; there was much criticism of his "best wargame ever made" approach. I'm just registering some surprise at the announcement of an apology pre-release. He does seem nervous.

The P.S. is only noteworthy because it speaks to their anticipated audience - I think they do anticipate many of the core CM:BO veterans that gave CM:SF a miss will be returning. A reasonable assumption, for what it is worth, by my guess.
 

Spicoli

Recruit
Joined
Jun 6, 2010
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Location
Los Angeles
I didn't know what you were talking about until I went to BFC and found Steve had posted just what you said. This was what he said:



I don't know what to make of that.

It sounds to me like he is apologizing for the project before it is released.

Should I be worried???

Rule_303 mentions that Steve is "worried." Perhaps it is indeed just jitters. We have talked for 3 years or so about how much we feel is riding on this release, as far as Battlefront's continued reputation, perhaps even existence. I was never sure if it was true or not. I think that post just confirmed it.
He is not apologizing for the game. He is apologizing for the inevitable whining from posters who don't feel the game lived up to their possibly unrealistic expectations.
 

Michael Dorosh

der Spieß des Forums
Joined
Feb 6, 2004
Messages
15,733
Reaction score
2,765
Location
Calgary, AB
First name
Michael
Country
llCanada
He is not apologizing for the game. He is apologizing for the inevitable whining from posters who don't feel the game lived up to their possibly unrealistic expectations.
Before the game is even released? Nothing like giving your fanbase credit.

Tonight my reserve unit was marched off, to a man, to the officer's mess dining hall today and sat down for a lecture on procurement and contracting. Very few of us - it's an infantry regiment - deal with procuring things. As it turns out, I am employed in a supporting role and it was relevant to me, but even so, I couldn't help but feel insulted at the fact that we were lectured for 45 minutes on ethical considerations of such things as "what is a contract", "don't spend money you don't have", "don't do things you weren't authorized to do", "don't make promises you can't keep", etc. etc. I was led to believe the subject came up because of some malfeasance at a level above our battalion. The army, being the army, decided the easiest way to handle it was to simply treat everyone below that level in the chain of command like children.

I am struck by some similarities in the two situations.
 

Elvis

Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2009
Messages
2,918
Reaction score
14
Location
Pennsylvania
Country
llUnited States
There are now 300 posts in the Message from your Sponsor thread. I haven't found any that are meaningful.

We did however have someone post about modding lasers and stuff finally.
How many, would you guess, are going to pay money for the game?



He is not apologizing for the game. He is apologizing for the inevitable whining from posters who don't feel the game lived up to their possibly unrealistic expectations.
That was my impression as well. And maybe not even apologizing but preparing people who haven't seen the way war game people react to something before.... Even something they like...
 

Mad Russian

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2005
Messages
1,372
Reaction score
188
Location
texas
Country
llUnited States
Well they'll see something they don't like twice as fast as they'll see something they do like.

Good Hunting.

MR
 

dalem

Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2009
Messages
2,298
Reaction score
62
Location
Columbia Heights, MN
Country
llUnited States
I didn't know what you were talking about until I went to BFC and found Steve had posted just what you said. This was what he said:

I don't know what to make of that.

It sounds to me like he is apologizing for the project before it is released.

Should I be worried???

Rule_303 mentions that Steve is "worried." Perhaps it is indeed just jitters. We have talked for 3 years or so about how much we feel is riding on this release, as far as Battlefront's continued reputation, perhaps even existence. I was never sure if it was true or not. I think that post just confirmed it.
I know exactly what to make of it:

It's broken. And BFC's effed. And Steve-o knows it.

That is a concession speech, pure and simple.

-dale
 

dalem

Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2009
Messages
2,298
Reaction score
62
Location
Columbia Heights, MN
Country
llUnited States
Before the game is even released? Nothing like giving your fanbase credit.

Tonight my reserve unit was marched off, to a man, to the officer's mess dining hall today and sat down for a lecture on procurement and contracting. Very few of us - it's an infantry regiment - deal with procuring things. As it turns out, I am employed in a supporting role and it was relevant to me, but even so, I couldn't help but feel insulted at the fact that we were lectured for 45 minutes on ethical considerations of such things as "what is a contract", "don't spend money you don't have", "don't do things you weren't authorized to do", "don't make promises you can't keep", etc. etc. I was led to believe the subject came up because of some malfeasance at a level above our battalion. The army, being the army, decided the easiest way to handle it was to simply treat everyone below that level in the chain of command like children.

I am struck by some similarities in the two situations.
When Bernie Ebbers got caught cooking the Worldcom books and bankrupted us, all the rest of us in the company who had helped him pull in the billions he pissed away had to take a 30 minute ethics test.

-dale
 

Zonso

Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2009
Messages
300
Reaction score
2
Location
A station near you
Country
llCanada
I know exactly what to make of it:

It's broken. And BFC's effed. And Steve-o knows it.

That is a concession speech, pure and simple.

-dale
In your warped, little world perhaps, but out here in the real world there is a slightly different interpretation.
 

Michael Dorosh

der Spieß des Forums
Joined
Feb 6, 2004
Messages
15,733
Reaction score
2,765
Location
Calgary, AB
First name
Michael
Country
llCanada
When Bernie Ebbers got caught cooking the Worldcom books and bankrupted us, all the rest of us in the company who had helped him pull in the billions he pissed away had to take a 30 minute ethics test.

-dale
In other words, you got punished, because he was a crook.
 

dalem

Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2009
Messages
2,298
Reaction score
62
Location
Columbia Heights, MN
Country
llUnited States
In your warped, little world perhaps, but out here in the real world there is a slightly different interpretation.
I'm sure in your world of backslapping BFC boosters you think it's acceptable for a long-delayed flagship product demo to be released in a less-than-perfect state, and that none of its flaws are either worrisome or BFC's fault.

And I'm also sure that upon release of that same long-delayed flagship product, the same guy who's been trumpeting about how perfect the game is going to be and how unequalled and unmatched it's going to be in playability and accuracy for the last 4 years, shouting down anyone who disagrees with him the entire time, can release a mush-mouthed "c'mon guys, remember it's only a game, it can't be perfect and it's not perfect and gee-whillickers, it was hard to make so don't get mad" statement and NOT have that interpreted as a warning by you.

But trust me, it's being interpreted as a warning by many people who read it. Remember, Steve gave the same whiny "but it's hard!" retort after a few months of CMSF getting less than stellar response, so it's not 100% uncharacteristic for him to go a little defensive. You would just think that, if he had the same level of confidence he had 3 years ago, he'd wait until after he got some bad responses to trot it out.

-dale
 

KG_Jag

KG Vice Kommandir
Joined
Aug 5, 2002
Messages
1,782
Reaction score
180
Location
New Braunfels, TX/Reno, NV
Country
llUnited States
Not a good first impression for me when the demo would not run on my main desk top computer running XP 32, that had no problem running CMSF and the CMA demo. The experience flashed me back to the early days of CMSF when so many people had trouble getting that game to run properly. Lesson reinforced: don't spend $60 +/- before you try the demo.

Hopefully experiences like mine are relatively rare, despite the currently 5 page thread at BF "Demo won't start". There are also at least a couple more "trouble with the demo threads" as well. I have a feeling that a second version of the demo will be released as soon as it can be jammed into the currently very heavy workload.
 
Top