It's rather funny to me the writer couldn't figure out what was going to happen after agreeing to be quoted.
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The Division's new brazenly deceitful ad campaign
- Thread starter RexNovis
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It's rather funny to me the writer couldn't figure out what was going to happen after agreeing to be quoted.
AusRoachman
Member
Almost as deceitful as the entire destiny hype train claiming an epic story .
Similarly I remember one of the drive club trailers using a pretty obscure quote.
Likewise evolve using game of the show stickers everywhere like its the biggest new thing ever , and we all know how that turned out.
So is the division quotes just as bad . Yes , but why single out this game when there tons more that do it .
Journalist get paid events , publishers use hand plucked quotes , it's why it's very hard to trust any review properly .
Thankfully there where multiple betas to get your impressions of the game so you don't have to rely on these hype trailers.
Similarly I remember one of the drive club trailers using a pretty obscure quote.
Likewise evolve using game of the show stickers everywhere like its the biggest new thing ever , and we all know how that turned out.
So is the division quotes just as bad . Yes , but why single out this game when there tons more that do it .
Journalist get paid events , publishers use hand plucked quotes , it's why it's very hard to trust any review properly .
Thankfully there where multiple betas to get your impressions of the game so you don't have to rely on these hype trailers.
dragonfart28
Banned
I don't see anything wrong with these two generic slogans. The first one is about quality and the size of The Division's community is supposed to represent its quality. The second was from E3 and there is no reason why that still can't hold true today.
I think misrepresentation should definitely be frowned upon, but these examples are a mild case at best.
Cabbagehead
Member
Red flag?
Cabbagehead
Member
That to though, do they not know how this works by now? Publisher marketing teams will cut and pick quotes to suit themselves.
That's why I say "journalist".
Though gamezone could be new.
Zomba13
Member
Yeah, but in the ad it's just saying "blows Destiny out of the water" with no mention of population or player base. It's obviously meant to make you think the game quality is better than Destiny, that the game is better or more fun.
There is absolutely nothing wrong using a quote praising the beta population or player base as a way to say "we're better than ____", but when you use a quote that is basically "a lot of people are playing this free open beta" as "this game is much better than that other game that is similar to this" then it becomes a problem.
The Entire Destiny Game is an Epic Story - AusRoachman
iamBlkpleAsedoNt
Banned
Advertising has been doing this since the dawn of time.
Askherserenity
Member
Ayy <3
dragonfart28
Banned
For sure.
And the size of the community for these types of games, the social aspect, is a significant qualifier of fun. While it is hyperbole, it's not gross misrepresentation.
And to be fair, the reception has been quite good after the beta so I would not be surprised if the game did in fact 'blow Destiny out of the water'.
Bony Manifesto
Member
Considering the generally quite positive press The Division has received, I definitely think this is more a case of the guy whose job it was to find some hot quotes looking to take a short cut, rather than a deliberate strategy from Ubisoft to mislead. But they still got caught with their hand in the cookie jar, so they should be made to feel some embarrassment here, I just don't feel it warrants the vitriol of the OP.
I think this thread is a prime example of so much of the Internet being 0 or 100 with little room for middle ground. I believe you would have gotten much better responses if there wasn't the seemingly unwarranted level of outrage, OP.
Also, I'm really not a fan of people making threads but not responding to those who challenge their call out. I'm interested in your take on the matter now, since Destiny and TEW have been added to Evolve as games whose marketing departments have uses similar tactics.
Also, I don't think that people are having a hard time coming up with exact quotes is indicative of their never being any, but because it's so common that it doesn't trigger any alarms at all when seen, more just an eye roll. That's my point of view anyway. I'll try to search out some more for you though.
Also, I'm really not a fan of people making threads but not responding to those who challenge their call out. I'm interested in your take on the matter now, since Destiny and TEW have been added to Evolve as games whose marketing departments have uses similar tactics.
Also, I don't think that people are having a hard time coming up with exact quotes is indicative of their never being any, but because it's so common that it doesn't trigger any alarms at all when seen, more just an eye roll. That's my point of view anyway. I'll try to search out some more for you though.
Burger
Member
Apparently no early reviews of an online MMORPG is a red flag and you should not buy The Division on launch.
I think it's at least a little suspect. I'm sure outlets could manage to organize times to play together to get the co-op aspect of the review. Having no one to provide thoughts about the entire campaign or length etc before buying shouldn't sit well with anyone. As most of us have spent hours in the dark zone and fully understand what it's like, the campaign is the big question mark in The Division in terms of length, pacing, and whether or not it becomes repetitive. Pace of leveling as well.
That's so clever I can't even hate
The Guardian gave it a two star rating..
SomedayTheFire
Member
There's an amazing disconnect between OP, and others with his point of view and everyone else. One can find this marketing deceitful and not think it's the end of the world or worth getting bent out of shape about and not be a sheep or blind. OP seems hurt that everyone else isn't hopping on his bandwagon of this being the worst thing ever.
Beaten by oSoLucky
Beaten by oSoLucky
Cabbagehead
Member
Oh no, i'm saying that the OP is a giant red flag himself.
All he is doing is using hot topic underlying narratives's as a platform (Thread), to get a reaction. With things like early reviews, ads, quotes and journalist, destiny, endgame, DLC and if there's a negative context or angle in regards to the game, that can be used it will be used.
Regardless if it's true or not, doesn't matter if it's standard and people are numb to it but still dislike it. To him it's super bad because his eyes are set on crusading and the target is The Division.
Because many of these issues could be applied to other games and especially this topic. An those games might have done or did it worse, but if The Division is doing it he over blows it, f the other instants really. Because other wise this could have been a great discussion about the other instances where this happens, instead of him painting this as a exclusive thing or "new".
I don't really think the original post was particularly outrageous at all. There's one sentence wherein I call it a red flag but outside of that its all about the quotes in question and how out of context they are. Now when people started attacking me I reacted with more hostility than I probably should have that is true.
Well I already responded to one example that was given. It was the first recent one I saw.
Shortly after that post I decided to step away for a bit since the personal attacks were starting to incense me so I didn't see the other two posts. But I think what I said above was pretty reasonable and applicable. Again I wasn't aware this was a regular practice in game advertising. This is the first I've seen it since the dumb magazine ads in EGM back in the day. So, to me, it did seem pretty brazen.
Even knowing now that it isn't as rare as I thought it was the "blows Destiny out of the water" quite seems pretty heinous to me. I mean yea out of context quotes in general are awful but to cure a quite that's specifically about beta figures and twist it to imply it's about the quality of the game seems pretty bold to me.
If that's the case that scares me as I consider myself a pretty informed gamer and up until today I was pretty much completely unaware of this tactic in contemporary game advertising. Even still I don't think this is something we should just accept. I think we can all agree it's a slimy tactic and it's one we should call out when we see it. That's the only way this will ever change. If we draw attention to the misinformation and instead properly inform like Kotaku has done with this article then it will cease to be an effective marketing tool. But if its as widespread as you seem to indicate that would require a a level of vigilance that would be almost unreasonable to expect.
Why would you call the topic: "The Division's new brazenly deceitful ad campaign"
When if you really wanted a civil discussion on the problem at hand, would be to name it: "Deceitful ad campaigns (in video games)" or something along those lines?
You are simply using the topic to drive some agenda you have. I don't know why, but singeing out a game you clearly don't like with a very common issue in both games and video industry is brazenly deceitful in itself.
I have a question. Op...why does it bother you so much that there are people who like to spend their money blindly or based off ad quotes?
Like...wouldn't you think that kind of person spends their money the same way in other parts of their life?
I mean...there's too much information at our fingertips to really be deceived without there being some wilful ignorance in there. Hold the buyer accountable for what they choose to buy because these ads don't make them drop that money.
Also, are you gonna make another thread when the next game does this?
Like...wouldn't you think that kind of person spends their money the same way in other parts of their life?
I mean...there's too much information at our fingertips to really be deceived without there being some wilful ignorance in there. Hold the buyer accountable for what they choose to buy because these ads don't make them drop that money.
Also, are you gonna make another thread when the next game does this?
SomedayTheFire
Member
No one was attacking you op lmao. The fact you were "incensed" by the reaction to this thread is a red flag.
LOLOL
The Guardian gave it a two star rating..
I know that marketing can completely make or break a product, but I wonder just how much cherry-picked one-lines actually improve potential sales. It must be an effective tactic, since so many products use them. There is a 0% chance that I will buy a product based on material stated/quoted by the manufacturer or its advertising affiliates, but maybe I'm in the minority, not sure. I guess I'm so jaded on advertising that I don't always check things from other perspectives, and looking at it from your side, I might be a little more put off by the whole thing. Calling it out is fine, and I can understand why you made this thread based solely on The Division.
Getting down to the point of the thread; most of my friends are somewhat informed as is, but I won't really reach those who don't frequent gaming forums to "spread the word". Is there some medium that you propose to use? I don't talk about gaming on social media at all. I would also assume the large majority of GAFfers are more informed than to be swayed by these tactics.
Well, the OP says that he believed this to be an isolated incident prior to this thread, so that's why he singled it out. It may not have been possible for him to say anything negative about The Division based on his history with the game, without some level of suspicion though, and I probably would have tried to make it more general myself.
Since when is just liking a game a crime? As long as what I'm not lying or sores ding misinformation about the game I have done nothing wrong. Just because you think being lied to and misled is "standard" doesn't make it ok. Whether or not you agree that preventing day 1 reviews by refusing early copies to reviewers is suspicious or not it still happened and it is still a noteworthy for its possible implications.
This is the second thread concerning the division where you have resorted to attacking me and dismissing the topic as nothing to worry about. Why? Because whether or not you want to it admit it these things factually happened and you can't bear to admit that because it reflects poorly on a game you like. So tell me who exactly is the person worthy of derision here the one who is questioning the intent, methods and or idiocy of a corporation or the one who relentlessly attacks anyone who dares to do so?
Cabbagehead
Member
No he's not guaranteed he's not. Because he was here for Destiny and Evolve but missed it...somehow, someway. He wrote a very long beta post about the game in question and was full of virtol, for those that liked it for some reason.
maquiladora
Member
The title of the Kotaku article is The Division's New Anti-Destiny Advertisement Is Incredibly Misleading. Perhaps we could just change "brazenly deceitful" to "incredibly misleading" and then stop attacking the OP for his choice of words rather than actually discussing the shitty practice of using misleading quotes to promote games.
Coreda
Member
Cabbagehead
Member
It would be cool if he wanted to talk about that. But that is not what this about its only a part of it. Because if he wanted to talk about that, then The Division wouldn't be the only game in question and The Division would be another part of a bigger issue.
You should actually read the thread. There were plenty of ad hominems.
I mentioned The Division in the title because it's The Division's advertising campaign that is in question. You can disagree as to whether brazen was called for (as I said before I wasn't aware this was a regular tactic in games marketing so to me it was a brazen move) but implying that putting the name of the game for whom the deceitful advertising was made in the title is somehow unreasonable... Yea I'm not seeing it.
To promote everything ever, you mean? I'm sorry, but at this point in our society's development, people should understand what advertising in and have knowledge of how to interpret it. Nothing about those quotes refers to the content of the game, which means they're perfectly acceptable puffery. It's like basing your expectations for a movie on the quotes on an ad, or a restaurant, or a car, or anything sold ever. This is literally like yelling at the wind,
SomedayTheFire
Member
I read the whole thread thank you very much. No one was attacking you.
Guys, i honestly think it's kinda silly in here right now.
I do not believe this is some crusade against the division by OP.
I don't like how people are treating him like that right now.
the way this kind of advertising works is objectively bad. No one can see anything good in misquoting people. and I think we can talk about that in a general matter, no matter if it's the current Division ad as an example or something else.
I do not believe this is some crusade against the division by OP.
I don't like how people are treating him like that right now.
the way this kind of advertising works is objectively bad. No one can see anything good in misquoting people. and I think we can talk about that in a general matter, no matter if it's the current Division ad as an example or something else.
So, Rex. At this point, would you be willing to ask a mod to lock this thread and make a new one based around all shitty marketing in the industry? I believe that would be the best path forward to call out some scummy marketing if you so wish. I'd be willing to make the thread if you don't want people to refer back to this one.
Really? I should get off my roof now
The more interesting aspect of this is to consider whether box quotes actually make any meaningful difference in sales in 2016. Are normal, non-internet-savvy consumers actually going to gamestop, picking up an empty box, and reading it in detail before making a purchase? I would have assumed that people fall into two categories: those who care about quality and those who don't. You'd think that the ones who care about quality would be doing much more in-depth analysis of a game before purchasing it, and that those who don't wouldn't have their opinion changed by box quotes. The whole argument about scummy box quotes seems completely irrelevant to me.
Edit: I realize now that this is also referring to other types of marketing, where I guess it could make a more significant difference.
Edit: I realize now that this is also referring to other types of marketing, where I guess it could make a more significant difference.
I don't think my question is going to be answered either.
Cabbagehead
Member
I'd be down be for this, want to see if there's more of this throughout gaming in better context. An not just one instant or because sites are now all of a sudden pointing it out.
This practice is shit and i roll my eyes at it but where does the party line go.
This would be good.
You know I'm getting really sick of your bullshit. You don't speak for me. Last I checked you are not privy to my thoughts. How about you stick to speaking for yourself instead of relentlessly denigrating other people. If all you have to contribute to a conversation is personal attacks in other people rthen you really have nothing to contribute at all.
Sorry I must've missed it in still catching up.
So your argument is that because we have lots of information available to us we shouldn't call out deceitful advertising? The problem here is that there are people firbwgikngajingbis not a focus. These people are less likely to consume infuriating relating to the medium it is exactly these people, the less informed, that these ads are targeting. Personally I think we, as informed consumers in this market, should seek to combat such misinformation because in doing so we hopefully ensure a more successful and fruitful gaming industry. Bit I can understand why some wouldn't agree with that.
Thats indeed an interesting topic of discussion but I'm afraid it doesn't have much bearing in this particular ad campaign as its not related to box quotes. I do think a discussion could be had in the effectiveness of quotes in advertising though but I'm not really equipped with the advertising/sales information to start such a conversation.
Sure if you want to create that thread that'd be fine. Hopefully then we can avoid the pointless personal attacks.
Exploratory
Banned
Lol your kidding? When you you see those screens with like 1000 quotes many of them are completely out of context.
Cabbagehead
Member
Yep but he understands that now.
I really hate those, its like are those things supposed to help me or blind me with shit all over the screen. Can't even make out more then a hand full and they are usually single words like "Amazing" or "An FPS for the ages" when you know for a fact there has to be more.
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