Dragon Age - the women of DA in Maxim Magazine - a marketing ploy?

As I saw the headline, my inner alarm bells began to ring.

They haven't stopped since.

This just lessened my interest for that game -

- but I must honestly admit that I'm now really, REALLY interested at how this will work out in terms of sales !

I strongly assume for myself they just took the "sex part" from Mass Effect that was going through the press and someone there just thought : "Well, attack is the best form of defense !"

So now they're "acting pro-actively", so to say, they are trying to let such a "bad press" like with Mass Effect NOT to happen - and even more : They just go for the opposite !

"Sex sells !"

Which means that someone there in the marketing dept. has surely learned from that "Mass Effect Crisis" (exaggerating a bit, of couse), in terms of getting attention.

Now, this person has obviously learned that in a country like the U.S. one can actually shock = getting attention people there, which is in principle what marketing REALLY wants and what it is REALLY about : Getting attention.

From THAT point of view, their marketing is absolutely excellent : They're doing everything to get the most possible amount of attention !


Edit : Just a sidenote : The older people become, the less they can be shocked by sex alone - which means in contrary that the younger a person is, the greater the "shock effect" is, concernig "sex" … Which might say something about their wanted customer base - the age, I mean …

Originally Posted by Dhruin
We didn't. Some of the style commands from The Escapist were accidentally copied along with the text. Aries100 obviously doesn't use the Dark theme (neither do I) and so didn't see it. I'll fix it when I have the chance.

Fixed it on front page but it hasn't changed it in the forum.

What kind of marketing do you expect from game where you can effectively STUN and KICK IN THE BALLS the freaking UNDEAD units like ghosts and skeletions?

the new dragon age DLC adult only… see all the women in the game nude just $15… !! if you want to be able to interact… that's another DLC $15…. welcome to pornoware

Originally Posted by woges
Fixed it on front page but it hasn't changed it in the forum.

The forum posts are copies of the actual newsbits and are created at the time of a new comment. Fixed now.

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
From THAT point of view, their marketing is absolutely excellent : They're doing everything to get the most possible amount of attention !

That's sorta what I was thinking. I mean look at us. We're talking about this mostly and the other Dragon Age newsbits are empty. It's because we have seen and talked about all the features and gameplay. There isn't much we don't already know about the game.So, whatever generates a buzz is good advertising, I guess.

Even that Marlon Manson trailer generated a buzz. Heck, it created a whole new saying "This is the New Shit".

Love it or hate it, people can't deny it does create awareness of the game. To those of us already aware of the game it's annoying, but I don't think this article had pc rpg fans in mind.

Originally Posted by domein
What kind of marketing do you expect from game where you can effectively STUN and KICK IN THE BALLS the freaking UNDEAD units like ghosts and skeletions?

Not mixing this with Venetica ? I remember a certain "skill" in the GamesCom demo …

Originally Posted by GothicGothicness
the new dragon age DLC adult only… see all the women in the game nude just $15… !! if you want to be able to interact… that's another DLC $15…. welcome to pornoware

ROFL !

GothicGoddess, if that happens, I'm pushing for Dragon Age: After Dark.

As for the OP, I kind of love that there's a question mark at the end. Unless Maxim has suddenly become a deep investigative magazine doing hard-hitting articles on the process of game development, then yes, there's a better than average chance that this is in fact a marketing ploy. And a good one, I think, that might draw in some former gamers who haven't played in awhile but find their interest piqued by the article.

None of that marketing has changed what the game is. KotOR had a lesbian relationship. Neverwinter had prostitutes and a halfling chest inspector. Baldur's Gate 2 had drow dominatrices in tight leather. This time, we're using the sex in the game to sell more copies. The sexy models in no way preclude a massive deep hardcore RPG experience. All they do is increase the chances of us selling enough copies to justify further games in the franchise.

If you'd like to root for Dragon Age to fail, that's your choice. If the game does fail, it's extremely unlikely that BioWare will attempt to make another classic-style RPG again any time soon, so, you know, that's a bit of a short-term root on your part.

I'll judge the game based upon the game. This doesn't affect my opinion on the game (which has actually been shaken some recently by game-related issues) even the tiniest bit, since it has little to do with the game. Human sexuality is an age-old marketing technique, as valid as puppies. It's marketing - that's all.

Originally Posted by PatrickWeekes
If you'd like to root for Dragon Age to fail, that's your choice. If the game does fail, it's extremely unlikely that BioWare will attempt to make another classic-style RPG again any time soon, so, you know, that's a bit of a short-term root on your part.

All what some of us are saying is that the marketing from EA has been piss poor.

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
Not mixing this with Venetica ? I remember a certain "skill" in the GamesCom demo …

Nope, not mixing at all. Check this vid out: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/sh…-age/58070?r=1
Notice how pc uses "dirty fighting" on a skeleton, also nice "stunned" skeleton there. Ouch, and never mind those pc's successfully using slasing\piercing weapons on skeletons.

Hmm, I looked at all the images on Maxim and fully appreciate images of scantily clad females. It has zero bearing on whether "I'd" buy the game, but if it garners the Bio-dudes more sales, then I say more power to them. The one thing I personally found ironic, is that neither of the "models" were very pretty. The in-game character Morrigan?, looks like an under-developed teenager. That's not going to rev the engine of this 45 year old. The Jerro chick from NWN2 was much prettier, as was nearly every female in The Witcher. Hell, even Aerie and Viconia were much prettier than these gals.

Hey Patrick, next time see if you can get Jessica Simpson or Kerri Underwood to model for you

Originally Posted by PatrickWeekes
a massive deep hardcore RPG

Whaaa?!
You mean it´s not a next-gen Diablo/Sims hybrid I´ve been sooo looking forward to after seeing some trailers?

Thanks for setting me straight.
Pre-order canceled!!1

Damn ea, knows no bounds to sucking. I wonder if we will ever find out this absurd PR budget cost. I be willing to bet firing the PR dept and actually funding the Q&A dept would actually net them more sales.

Shhhh don't tell ea, let them make bigger idiots out of themselves, so they keep throwing away money on these stupid PR, idiocies.

What, there are 10 new preview trailers release, today? The shock and horror!

It seems like people are blaming marketing for every piece of shit that DA offers…



Is it marketing's fault that DA has lots of violence, oceans of blood, heads flying from bodies? No.

Is it marketing's fault that there's bordels where you can have sex with a variety of prostitutes, free sex in some origins, lots of romances which all come with sex scenes? No.

Is it marketing's fault that weapons and armors in DA are anime-size? No.

Is it their fault that trees don't have shadows in DA while other things do - which looks very weird? No. At least marketing showed those videos where you could clearly see it, but bioware remained silent on the subject (even in their thread about toolset limitations).

Is it their fault that you have uber fast health/mana/stamina regen thus you can forget about battle-to-battle strategic resource management? No.

All creatures scale with your level. Their fault? No.

Sloppy level design with grass often detached from the ground on uneven terrain. Their fault? No.

Very different dialogue options with exactly the same response. Marketing? No.

250 NPCs with the same intro line: "What do we have here?" Gaider, not marketing.

In game NPCs offering DLC. Marketing? No. (At least I don't believe they are *that* idiotic to design the game by directives from marketing.)

Permanent storage ONLY as DLC. Marketing? No.

Toolset without many important and useful features that the NWN2 toolset had and yet bio-devs are talking about it as the most powerful thing evar and comparing it to the NWN1 toolset! Marketing… Nope.

Annoying and dumb fan-boy/girl passive-agressive butt-kissing community with an even worse "community manager" and "QA person". Marketing? No.

I could go on..





So stop focusing on *ucking marketing and take a look at the real problems of DA. /cue MM song.

Did the marketing make bald men grow hair? Yes.


Edit by Gorath:

This is going too far. Don't make it personal.

The marketing outcry is kinda funny.

You guys sound like a bunch of outraged little old ladies. Butch up aleady, shit!

Originally Posted by Dyspaire
I'll be honest… as nonsensical as this may sound, I want Dragon Age to fail a little bit, based solely on how the marketing campaign has been run.

Totally agree with this statement. I don't think the graphics are all that hot myself.

Originally Posted by Tan
It seems like people are blaming marketing for every piece of shit that DA offers…
[snip]
So stop focusing on *ucking marketing and take a look at the real problems of DA. /cue MM song.

No, but people should blame marketing for the marketing. Several of the things you list are pros not cons in my book. Several are insignificant to me. I most certainly have several strong concerns about DA, a couple of which you mention, and I don't blame marketing for those things. I've been quite vocal about them in other threads.

However, marketing has done a few possibly imprudent things, and the subject of this thread is debatably one of them. In my opinion, this one isn't really that bad and I don't see much reason to be making a ruckus about this. And while I respect people's right to be offended about whatever they want, Bioware failing with DA will not be a good thing for the genre we love.

Originally Posted by Guhndahb
No, but people should blame marketing for the marketing.

Sure. It's a valid concern and I'm also one of those not impressed (what a shock!) by the marketing campaign. That said, having SO many threads about bio. marketing tactics I was just trying to derail the attention on things I deem more important, i.e. the root of the problem.

Oh, and just for curiosity's sake - what are the "pros" for you, from the things I listed?