Fable 3 - Molyneux on moving away from an RPG

Well, to sell more. Duh. Anyway, here's Molyneux on how numbers are confusing and so on:

Action-adventure franchises like Grand Theft Auto and Assassin’s Creed include RPG elements, but don’t burden users with numbers and statistics. The action-adventure genre is a more natural home for “emotion and drama” – qualities that are core to the Fable franchise. Molyneux also noted that the market share for RPGs is a niche, while action-adventures sell more broadly and are easier to market. Molyneux said the goal for Fable 3 is sales of over 5 million – more than 25% growth over Fable 2.

More information.

I understand it's a company, but still… reading "the goal for Fable 3 is sales of over 5 million" makes me sad. Why can't the goal be to make a fantastic piece of art and enough sales to make a decent profit?

Originally Posted by SveNitoR
I understand it's a company, but still… reading "the goal for Fable 3 is sales of over 5 million" makes me sad. Why can't the goal be to make a fantastic piece of art and enough sales to make a decent profit?

I suppose if the person making the statement were an artist, that might be a reasonable expectation. I salute Businessman Peter Molyneux's integrity in spelling out his reasoning and motivation in straightforward terms. And I'm sure Fable 3 will absolutely be a profitable venture.

Question:- How can you move away from something you're NOT!!

Originally Posted by screeg
I suppose if the person making the statement were an artist, that might be a reasonable expectation. I salute Businessman Peter Molyneux's integrity in spelling out his reasoning and motivation in straightforward terms. And I'm sure Fable 3 will absolutely be a profitable venture.

And then when the game flops, expect the Fable 4 interview to say something like "With Fable 3 we made a mistake, we started developing around what 'sells' and not what makes the game better. With Fable 4, we're going back to the basics. This is a game from gamers to gamers blah blah blah"

Reading molyneux's interviews over the years it sounds like he's completely oblivious to criticism about "his" games, delusional even. I think fable was always an action adventure game and that's how it came across in the press, no matter how much rpg he kept spouting. Poor man's zelda.

I haven't managed to stomach any of them but is he talking about "emotion and drama" in regards to a game whose means of communication is smilies and farts?

I also find that "the market share for RPGs is a niche" is BS given rpgs often rake the GOTY awards. GTA4 , AC2, zeldas, sims, oblivion, dragon age, call of duty etc are huge-selling hits because of their quality/popularity, not the genre they belong to.

By that line of reasoning he might as well turn it into an mmo, because hey, he only needs to tack on multiplayer to overlap the rpg niche with the mmorpg market!

Originally Posted by screeg
I salute Businessman Peter Molyneux's integrity in spelling out his reasoning and motivation in straightforward terms. And I'm sure Fable 3 will absolutely be a profitable venture.

Agreed. What I don't get, but that's not on Molyneux, is why he's still hailed as a visionary even when he spells it out this clearly that he's just a businessman.

Every time another one of these Fable hype-cycles start I am kind of shocked the dude isn't just laughed out of the room, really.

Originally Posted by KapitanUnterhosen
I also find that "the market share for RPGs is a niche" is BS given rpgs often rake the GOTY awards.

GotY awards aren't representative of sales. BioWare games pre-EA average what, 2-3 million sales? Bethesda games are higher, but I don't know by how much.

By comparison, Halo 3 sold 8 million copies, GTA IV 15 million, Modern Warfare 2 5 million in just 24 hours.

To pretend that has nothing to do with genre is just ignoring facts. How appropriate the term "niche" is, is another matter, and economics students know diversity is important in entertainment industries so everyone producing shooters would not be healthy, but facts are still facts.

I actually respect the man. Out of all the hype machines out there, he's probably the most honest one. Ask a representative from EA or Bethesda about some RPG they're making, and they'll go on and on about how the developers are slaving away in the mines to make the most incredible piece art known to man.

Doesn't mean the games are any better, but at least Molyneux is honest (compared to others working in marketing).

Just look at the DA: O marketing..

This slide's a hard one to swallow

Seriously, Molyneux?

I think it's safe to say that Molyneux is not a gamer himself….

Out of all the hype machines out there, he's probably the most honest one.

I'd actually say he's more full of poo-poo than most other developers/marketing people.

It's always as if he's trying too hard to convince you that HE invented the wheel and how it is the most revolutionary new thing on the planet that will rewrite gaming history. That and you need it to complete your life.

Atleast, that's what I got out of his Fable2 and 3 interviews.

Yeah, if I were speaking personally to him I'm pretty sure the one thing running through my head would be "Slimeball! I'm getting a slimy sales pitch and he's wasting my time!"

Seriously, the guy is oily.

"If a franchise does not grow, it dies."
Pure B.S..

Over 60% of the Fable "audience" understood less than half of Fable 2's features?

OK, what the Hades is audience? Are they including mommy who's keeping an eye on junior as he plays the game? If he's just talking about the people playing, why not say "players"?? Is he including people that play the game for an hour, don't like it, and throw it away and thus have never seen half the features? Because Fable II was a VERY simple game. I wouldn't expect an eight year old to have trouble understanding most of the features.

Originally Posted by Corwin
Question:- How can you move away from something you're NOT!!

Lol I agree with this. I am glad that they apparently won't be calling it an RPG, the Fable games are not my cup of tea anyway.

Originally Posted by Corwin
Question:- How can you move away from something you're NOT!!

Exactly my thought. It's like the makers of Oreo Cookies saying their moving away from making oreo cookies a healthy food snack.

Again, if you're spending so much money on making a game, you have to make it appealing to more people.

Originally Posted by Thaurin
Again, if you're spending so much money on making a game, you have to make it appealing to more people.

Nothing wrong with that… as long as you don't try to claim it's more than what it actually is.

Originally Posted by Zloth
"If a franchise does not grow, it dies."
Pure B.S..

Actually, this is pretty much the design of the capitalistic world. If you don't expand, your competitors will, and you'll lose territory in the end. Hence, if you're not growing, you're slowly dying. You can't remain status quo for too long in an intense market.

Originally Posted by Zloth
Over 60% of the Fable "audience" understood less than half of Fable 2's features?

OK, what the Hades is audience? Are they including mommy who's keeping an eye on junior as he plays the game? If he's just talking about the people playing, why not say "players"?? Is he including people that play the game for an hour, don't like it, and throw it away and thus have never seen half the features? Because Fable II was a VERY simple game. I wouldn't expect an eight year old to have trouble understanding most of the features.

Remember, Fable 2 sold millions, and I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of them (60%) have never played anything even remotely serious before, meaning more or less everything they encounter in Fable 2 is new to them.

I certainly didn't use all the options myself, such as everything you could do with shops, houses and what not.

Of course, there's a difference between "not using" and "not understanding". I very much doubt a lot of people would have trouble understanding it if they actually tried.

Well, to his defense it is probably MS that told him all of this, and they probably added if you don't want us to treat your stuido as that studio who made MS flight simulator or age of empires…. they were great games for their genres… but these genres was not profitable enough… so now you have a choice and it will have some consequence… which one do you choose ?

How dare you insinuate molyneux is dancing a jig on someone else's pole…..shaft….chains….errr strings!

He's his own man!

Leaveeeeeee molyneux, aloneeeeeeeeeee