Fallout 3 - Preview @ GamePro

Trailing that glut of recent Fallout 3 previews, GamePro has posted their view. The article is standard fare with the requisite hype:

We can't help but notice that Fallout 3 looks better and better each time we see it. The latest version boasts improved graphics, which were so detailed you could practically smell the ash in the air as you walked through the decaying streets of D.C. The attention to detail is superb: while prowling through mutant-infested ruins, we trotted past lookalikes of famous structures such as the Washington Monument and the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. The meat-and-potatoes combat looks impressive, too, with miniguns and rocket launchers that will make shooter veterans sit up and take notice. Yet despite the slick first-person combat, Fallout 3 is first and foremost a role-playing game. Upgrading your equipment and choosing the best skills are as important as having a speedy trigger finger. Judging by the success of Oblivion, we wouldn't have it any other way.

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More information.

The article is standard fare with the requisite hype:

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Hype?!

IT'S PURE UNFILTERED TRUTH

Brother None said:

Hype?!

IT'S PURE UNFILTERED TRUTH

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Yeah, I’ve noticed the pessimistic gamer attitude is standard around here. It’s like a prude dinner party where-in everyone tries to sound smart by disagreeing with everything. Then they laugh with their Swisher Sweets, knock off the ashes kick back and feel proud of themselves.

What I find a bit odd is that the latest Bethesda titles (Obl. and Fal.) both got a lot of attention long before release. Is this a marketing strategy or just the media focusing on Bethesda? A little bit of both?

Example: Wrath of the Lich King, the next add-on to WoW, is not only a lot bigger than any Bethesda title, it's also going to be released sooner than Fallout 3, yet we hear very little about it.

Embolus said:

Yeah, I’ve noticed the pessimistic gamer attitude is standard around here. It’s like a prude dinner party where-in everyone tries to sound smart by disagreeing with everything. Then they laugh with their Swisher Sweets, knock off the ashes kick back and feel proud of themselves.

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Bah! That is simply not true.

Ha Ha Ha ... (remembers that I quit smoking 5 years ago, so feeling proud will have to do)

Maylander said:

What I find a bit odd is that the latest Bethesda titles (Obl. and Fal.) both got a lot of attention long before release. Is this a marketing strategy or just the media focusing on Bethesda? A little bit of both?

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Bethesda's marketing is very good at working with magazines and gaming sites.

And it's just that. Oblivion and Morrowind were both critical successes so that helps, as does the fact that their games tend to be some years apart (so no Bethesda over-exposure), but it's mostly very apt handling of journalists by Pete Hines & co

Community management? Less so. Journalist management? Easy-peasy.

Community management is a losing battle. I've yet to see any "official" community boards that aren't overrun with petulant, hostile gamers who are not satisfied with anything.

No matter how much information is shared with the community, it's not enough. No matter how often game team members participate in the community forums, it's not enough. And then after the game comes out, the fans go on about how the company didn't deliver on its promises and shouldn't have talked about things that wouldn't make it into (or would be radically altered in) the final game.

They're damned no matter what they do, so it seems that the best that "community management" can hope for is to try to keep the hostility and whining to a dull roar.

That's definitely a pessimistic view, but I generally view upcoming games with optimism (or at least an open mind). I've learned to assume the worst when it comes to the "dedicated fanbase" though. I do realize that it's a (very) vocal minority that behaves like that, but it's so toxic that it just poisons the whole community experience for me.

Embolus said:

Yeah, I’ve noticed the pessimistic gamer attitude is standard around here. It’s like a prude dinner party where-in everyone tries to sound smart by disagreeing with everything. Then they laugh with their Swisher Sweets, knock off the ashes kick back and feel proud of themselves.

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You must surely be speaking about the Codex.

There is an actual truth in criticizing the mainstream gaming media for their tendency to be very one-sided and hyping. The credibility of the gaming media has reached a level where the journalists rather have become fanboys instead of taking an objective stance.
The coverage of Oblivion and Fallout 3 are clear examples of this.

If you think some here are chronically pessimistic then you must also label the mainstream gaming media as chronically optimistic.
And as far as I know the majority here tend to give most games the benefit of the doubt until having played it or read an opinion on it by someone they trust.
But then again, when having experienced how the gaming industry in general behaves it can be a bit difficult to keep an optimistic view.

Embolus said:

Yeah, I’ve noticed the pessimistic gamer attitude is standard around here. It’s like a prude dinner party where-in everyone tries to sound smart by disagreeing with everything. Then they laugh with their Swisher Sweets, knock off the ashes kick back and feel proud of themselves.

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I don't mean to pile-on but I think you've mistaken mild criticism of the article for a pessimistic attitude.

Did you read the article? Did it give you any new insight into Fallout 3 or did you feel it provided a balanced, thoughtful, personal perspective? I try to maintain a relatively neutral tone (relatively) but when there are so many new PO3 previews on offer, I don't mind saying to readers "this one came straight from the marketing blurbs just to fill some content".