Are journalists covering BE required to only ask bland/uninteresting questions?

[Westwall]

Why are you surprised?

Because as I already explained, they seemed to know exactly what they were talking about and what questions to ask, right up until they began settling for irrelevant answers or choosing not to ask questions they themselves brought up among themselves prior to actually meeting the devs.

The kind of details we want are really the kind of stuff that you'd read in an in-depth faq or wiki. That's not what would work in an interview. So we're just not going to get what we want out of interviews.

Except we're not even getting the answers in that form. Interviewers are supposed to be asking situational questions that can't be covered in a general information source.

 

[GenEngineer]

Except we're not even getting the answers in that form. Interviewers are supposed to be asking situational questions that can't be covered in a general information source.

That's the point we're trying to make. They never actually do that for a new product before release, even for a specialized outlet, let alone a generic 'Gaming News' one.

 

[Westwall]

Then it's a wasted opportunity all around.

My problem is that they seem to know exactly what questions they should be asking... but just don't for reasons that are never entirely made clear.

 

[Gorbles]

Presumably because they've been told not to. But you don't like assumptions about publishers, so I'll leave it at that.

 

[NASAROG]

Presumably because they've been told not to. But you don't like assumptions about publishers, so I'll leave it at that.

That's a likely scenario. Seasoned journalists "know" what not to ask so as to avoid friction and poor relations. That's my guess.

 

[Gokudo01]

Then it's a wasted opportunity all around.

My problem is that they seem to know exactly what questions they should be asking... but just don't for reasons that are never entirely made clear.

We are thirties but some folks really seem to be born yesterday.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2011/...ns-to-punish-sites-that-run-negative-reviews/

too many went too far with their reviews
we're reviewing who get games next time and who doesn't based on today venom

So here the truth : Journalism needs to get preview in order to survive, not only against other journalists but against "Youtuber" "Let's player" "Dailymotionner"
And this PR said loud what everybody knows : You can't speak your mind during reviews and you can't push too much the devs during interviews.
Else who knows, you will maybe never get your hand on free copies of any 2k games or EA or Activation.
Have you ever wondered why Games like Beyond earth or Dragon Age inquisition have got 80+/100 when they obviously deserve no more than 65 ?

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/sid-meiers-civilization-beyond-earth

Why is the difference so big between users and journalists' reviews ?

Welcome to the real world
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKwq7b2i-vc

 

[Westwall]

That's a likely scenario. Seasoned journalists "know" what not to ask so as to avoid friction and poor relations. That's my guess.

The reason I doubt this theory is because the interviewers aren't asking questions that the developers themselves are basically inviting them to ask.

For example, when the designers said they implemented some new systems to help the player better understand the motivations of the aliens, the interviewer should've simply asked, "Oh really? Like what?"

Instead he seemed satisfied that leashing answered that question, which it absolutely didn't. I don't think publishers had anything to do with that.

Have you ever wondered why Games like Beyond earth or Dragon Age inquisition have got 80+/100 when they obviously deserve no more than 65 ?

While I agree with you there somewhat, I don't think that's the problem in this specific situation.

 

[Gokudo01]

While I agree with you there somewhat, I don't think that's the problem in this specific situation.

It is. Any questions about quests, Virtues, Victory conditions, etc ... would put the devs in an awkward situation and it would make the PR angry.

Everything must be done so the viewer can understand that Rising tide is awesome, fix every flaw of BE(come on, are there any flaws to begin with ? ) , brings new contents and heals the cancer and Death.

 

[Westwall]

Oh believe me, I'm as cynical as the next guy about that sort of thing - just ask anyone.

But in this case, these are questions that the designers are almost begging/daring the interviewers to ask so I really don't think it's something the companies themselves are discouraging.

It's way too specific.

But yeah, I'm not a fan of counting chickens before they're hatched. Especially after what we got with BE vanilla.

 

[DemonMaster]

Most, if not all, of these journalists are actually journalists. A problem that nowadays exists more and more in most media. Since anyone can call themselves journalists, no education, no experience needed, they have made themselves easily replaceable. This means that since there are so few "real" journalists any more and there is really not much difference what a magazine or youtuber does, the competition is much harder. So if a game company gets angry with how a certain person/magazine/whatever have acted, they go to someone else.

The problem with this is that you can have lot of hours of PR online and really say nothing.

With this in mind, I don't think we will see them with those guys that talked about dogs and god knows what anytime soon or at all. Not only did the host of that interview clearly showed that he has zero clues of what the game this is A good journalists would at least done some basic research about that. He was good in making his guests (and me as a viewer) uncomfortable though, I giving him that.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

But in this case, these are questions that the designers are almost begging/daring the interviewers to ask so I really don't think it's something the companies themselves are discouraging.

I think you are assuming that the interviewers are serious 4X strategy gamers and also share the same concerns that you have and will therefore want to grill the devs on these points. Most often, they are not. They are "casual gamers" who are not going to know BE very well and even if they did, may not share the same concerns as you. They ask questions that they are interested in. For example, they may want to know about the leash mechanic because it interests them. They don't ask why the diplo system no longer gives the player the ability to warn the AI about forward settling because that is not something that they care about. It is something that you care to know about and I can see why you might be frustrated that no one seems to be asking the devs about it but it is not something that everyone else necessarily thinks about.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

I would also point that a lot of the reviewers genuinely don't seem to know the game. They ask basic questions like "so what are hybrid affinities?" or "what is fear and respect?". They are either asking these questions just to give the devs an easy intro to talk about a new feature or they genuinely don't know about the game. A lot of times, they talk as if they really don't know anything about the new features in BERT.

 

[Westwall]

Right, but as I've pointed out time and again, these interviewers did seem to know what they were talking about, they just didn't follow through.

For example, the one in the IGN interview did bring up how the aliens were just kind of meh and how they didn't really come into their own the way they were hyped up to be, which is a really good point.

But then he settles for hearing about the leashing ability... which has jack all to do with the aforementioned concern. So what gives?

Ben Moore from GT absolutely understood and loved Civ games, and had really poignant questions to raise in his Fix BE video.

Yet none of those concerns were ever raised even when they started touching on diplomacy. He's the kind of guy that would absolutely care about diplomatic intrigue and promises/warnings/denouncements, etc. and yet said nothing when the opportunity arose.

 

[poom3619]

The reason I doubt this theory is because the interviewers aren't asking questions that the developers themselves are basically inviting them to ask.

For example, when the designers said they implemented some new systems to help the player better understand the motivations of the aliens, the interviewer should've simply asked, "Oh really? Like what?"

What I imagine

Dev : We they implemented some new systems to help the player better understand the motivations of the aliens.
Interviewer : Oh really? Like what?

Dev : Let's me say this again, Mr.Interviewer. We are not ready to reveal that yet. We want to talk about that in next 2 interviews after we revealed that. So let's us go back to where I said we implemented new systems, shall we?



I don't think the journalist alone should take the blame. Let's leave it at that

BTW, I just realize it's about 20 days left before release, not sure if this is all the dev want to say to build hype. IMO, they should start building hype soon, if they can.

 

[SupremacyKing2]

Right, but as I've pointed out time and again, these interviewers did seem to know what they were talking about, they just didn't follow through.

Some maybe but not all. That interview where they spent 10 minute on some silly off-topic contest was an utter joke. Those guys did not care squat about civ.

Yet none of those concerns were ever raised even when they started touching on diplomacy. He's the kind of guy that would absolutely care about diplomatic intrigue and promises/warnings/denouncements, etc. and yet said nothing when the opportunity arose.

As mentioned before, it is very possible that the questions are agreed on before the interview, just like in politics. The publisher wants to keep the interview "on script" for their marketing purposes.

 

[Westwall]

Some maybe but not all. That interview where they spent 10 minute on some silly off-topic contest was an utter joke. Those guys did not care squat about civ.

One of them did, and even at the clueless host's insistence that he grill the devs, he did nothing of the sort. Whatever. I think this is yet another reason why Jake Solomon should've been involved in BE in some capacity. That guy is so obviously not scripted, or at least he looks more natural doing it.

 

[Galgus]

Right, but as I've pointed out time and again, these interviewers did seem to know what they were talking about, they just didn't follow through.

For example, the one in the IGN interview did bring up how the aliens were just kind of meh and how they didn't really come into their own the way they were hyped up to be, which is a really good point.

But then he settles for hearing about the leashing ability... which has jack all to do with the aforementioned concern. So what gives?

Ben Moore from GT absolutely understood and loved Civ games, and had really poignant questions to raise in his Fix BE video.

Yet none of those concerns were ever raised even when they started touching on diplomacy. He's the kind of guy that would absolutely care about diplomatic intrigue and promises/warnings/denouncements, etc. and yet said nothing when the opportunity arose.

I chalk it up to softball questions and answer acceptance so as to not be uninvited next time around.

And I must restate my disappointment in the Devs not realizing that Aliens are too docile and ignorable after it has been a major topic for a long time now.

Though there are some players who think Aliens are aggressive and dangerous when they lose an unguarded worker next to them every third game.

 

[Stringer1313]

Firaxis likely required the journalists to show them a list of questions beforehand before they would agree to do the interview.

If that's not the explanation, it's that the posters on this forum represent .0001% of market share, and only we are the types of people who want to ask the questions you feel aren't being asked. There's simply no economic incentive to cater to us.

 

[Manannan]

I'll assume it's the same reason most journalists don't ask politicians (or anyone else for that matter) hard questions very often either: journalists don't have any power in this relationship. You wanna potentially embarrass someone by asking a trying question you need to be prepared for that person to not play ball next time you want an interview. To my understanding ad revenue (another reason to not ask the powers that be questions they might not like, but I'm not gonna get into that) in general isn't particularly great even when you do have content in your articles, never mind when you can't get anyone to comment for your piece because they're worried you're going to make them look stupid. Meanwhile in the social media era devs and publishers don't especially need independent journalists to get their message out there, and as such can pick and choose which questions they answer and from whom. Bad power dynamic.

 

[ZTZaorish]

I'll assume it's the same reason most journalists don't ask politicians (or anyone else for that matter) hard questions very often either: journalists don't have any power in this relationship. You wanna potentially embarrass someone by asking a trying question you need to be prepared for that person to not play ball next time you want an interview. To my understanding ad revenue (another reason to not ask the powers that be questions they might not like, but I'm not gonna get into that) in general isn't particularly great even when you do have content in your articles, never mind when you can't get anyone to comment for your piece because they're worried you're going to make them look stupid. Meanwhile in the social media era devs and publishers don't especially need independent journalists to get their message out there, and as such can pick and choose which questions they answer and from whom. Bad power dynamic.

The whole issue I have with this is that developers don't seem to have an open conversation with us. It's like they are afraid to admit that they don't know/ or maybe re-evaluate a bad mechanic. Instead we are just left waiting and hoping that they are listening to us. They are to some degree, but it would nice to have a visible 2 way conversation between the devs and ourselves. We buy the game, we are the fans, so..how about some 2 way communication.