• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

|OT| topics will now go live on game launch date

C

charlequin

Banned
Here at NeoGAF, we've had |OT| threads for each significant new game to serve as a single landing point for people to talk to each other as they play. |OT|s serve several purposes: to concentrate information about a game (platforms, features, screenshots, press coverage, helpful resources, etc.); to provide a central place for players to express and debate their experience with a game; to help users find co-op partners or opponents; to ask questions about the game to other people who are playing; or just to find jumping-off points for more specialized discussion (spoiler threads, technical analysis threads, etc.)

Since we've solidified the |OT| model, it's worked pretty well. These threads provide a useful resource for users and a good place to find active discussion. Historically we've posted these a week in advance to give people a chance to get started pre-release and talk through anything that comes up with the release.

As the forum has grown, though, that particular timeframe has become less functional. Because we're such a large forum, a week becomes an eternity; for popular games, a week can produce a gigantic thread, making it difficult for people jumping in on release day to find what they're looking for or to follow the already-rapid pace of conversation. In addition, thanks to our "new threads for new news" approach, big games tend to have quite a few active threads immediately pre-release, so having the same types of pre-release discussions happen in the |OT| for a week is somewhat redundant.

As a result, we've decided that from now on, |OT|s will go up on the day of a game's release instead of a week in advance. This way, everyone getting the game can come into a thread on a relatively equal basis and start discussing with the title already in hand.
 
K

Khalifa Jayy

Banned
Solid reasoning. Good move.

Perhaps the title for this topic should be more clear though.

|OT| topics will now go live on game launch date
Or something
 
B

Bronetta

Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
I can fap to this
 
R

RoKKeR

Member
Interesting. What about pre-release threads seperate from OT's (like the Destiny Beta withdrawal or "Come get hyped on Shadow of Mordor with me" type threads)? Do those fall under the same new rule?
 
I

IntelliHeath

As in "Heathcliff"
I totally support that. Look at bright side, it actually give people 6 more days to work on their OT. :)

The Last Wizard said:
I understand but I think the day of is too last minute, I think the day before would be best.
Click to expand...

Well, I didn't think about that. It might be better if it's a day before release date since many people went for midnight release. Also you have to consider about people in Europe and Japan.
 
R

Rich!

Member
One issue - how does this work for international releases? Say if a big game is out in the UK before the US. Do we have to wait for America to get it first? And vice versa. Because that would be staggeringly unfair.
 
S

Steverulez

Member
Seems like a good move. Although wouldn't the day before perhaps be better incase you get a situation of an OT not going up on time and people go and discuss it elsewhere until it happens?

I suppose you could just merge them though
 
N

NotLiquid

Member
I'm okay with this change. I have a question though - How liberal are we allowed to be with the timing? I.e if someone wants to post an OT during the midnight of launch day but does so before other time zones catch up.
 
S

shinobi602

Member
Hmm, I think some of the most fun and 'hype-inducing' convos happen in the week lead up to a game's release, that's too bad.
 
K

Khalifa Jayy

Banned
MrNyarlathotep said:
For games that have staggered releae dates, which region is the 'correct' one? First to launch? NA?
Click to expand...

Probably first to launch. Why would people who officially have the game launched in their territory be relegated to second fiddle status to Americans? (I'm American.)

I can get behind the one day before launch train, though. That sounds better.
 
C

charlequin

Banned
Khalifa Jayy said:
|OT| topics will now go live on game launch date
Click to expand...

I just stole this word-for-word. Thanks for the suggestion.

RoKKeR said:
Interesting. What about pre-release threads seperate from OT's (like the Destiny Beta withdrawal or "Come get hyped on Shadow of Mordor with me" type threads)? Do those fall under the same new rule?
Click to expand...

Generally these should follow the same rules we've had before, i.e we typically don't encourage directionless hype threads.

MrNyarlathotep said:
For games that have staggered releae dates, which region is the 'correct' one? First to launch? NA?
Click to expand...

This can get thorny, but I think the rule of thumb we've come to in the past is that when the release dates are within about a month, we do a single thread at the time of the first launch; otherwise, we can do a new one for later region launches if they take place a few months later. I think we had three Xenoblade Chronicles |OT|s, heh.
 
iNvid02

iNvid02

Member
it was always fun seeing the hype accumulate in OTs over the week, until it exploded magnificently like a giant penis ejaculating on release day

seems like the right move though
 
D

Die Squirrel Die

Member
I echo the 'release day may be too late' sentiments. Maybe 24 hours (max 48 hours) before hand? A week before is definitely too long given this forum's pace.
 
D

darkside31337

Tomodachi wa Mahou
shinobi602 said:
Hmm, I think some of the most fun and 'hype-inducing' convos happen in the week lead up to a game's release, that's too bad.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I think this is a poor decision. Games always break street date and that includes folks on GAF getting their hands on a game before actual release date. There not being a consolidated place to talk about it (aka an OT) is kind of a bummer.
 
I

IntelliHeath

As in "Heathcliff"
charlequin said:
This can get thorny, but I think the rule of thumb we've come to in the past is that when the release dates are within about a month, we do a single thread at the time of the first launch; otherwise, we can do a new one for later region launches if they take place a few months later. I think we had three Xenoblade Chronicles |OT|s, heh.
Click to expand...

Alright, that meant Smash Wii U OT would serve for all regions since the release dates are like two weeks apart, right?
 
F

Fisty

Member
Wonderful idea, its tiring seeing a ton of discussion about games and I cant be a part of it for fear of spoilers. Hopefully this will be a great first step
 
B

baconcow

Member
Can there be |POT| (or |pOT| ) threads for pre-release talk? I find that too many games (i.e. DRIVECLUB) suffer from having half a dozen pre-release threads about it, including the OT. It would be nice if there could still be a thread (that is locked when the |OT| goes live) for those to discuss things so there is not a dozen or so threads about every aspect of the game, pre-OT.
 
A

AdanVC

Member
Yeah I remember the first Destiny OT... it reached OT 2 exactly when the game was released omg. Launching them the day of the game's release is better.

Edit: Beatenn.
 
I

III-V

Member
Could we have some sort of pre-OT where all the 'news' information or possibly just thread links could be disseminated? It can be tough to keep track of 'new news new thread'.
 
V

Volotaire

Member
I think it sounds good, eliminates some of the hype from the threads. It helps expectations.

EDIT: I agree with some for the sentiments of allowing a 1-3 day window between the game's release and the OT.
 
A

Aeana

Member
Die Squirrel Die said:
I echo the 'release day may be too late' sentiments. Maybe 24 hours (max 48 hours) before hand? A week before is definitely too long given this forum's pace.
Click to expand...

Midnight of release day is at least 9-12 hours before most people will get the game, unless it's available at midnight on download services, in which case there will be a small bit of leeway. But a full 24 hours before release is unlikely.
 
R

Ridesh

Banned
You're right, but why not the weekend before release (or 48 hours)? Many people have copies of the games in advance, and usually provide good information.
 
G

Game Guru

Member
Yeah, I do think it would make better sense to start |OT|s the day before launch because of the existence of midnight launches and pre-downloading making it so people can start playing at midnight of launch day.
 
N

Nzyme32

Member
As long as it can be a little bit before the launch but on the same day, this should be perfect as it gets people just in time for preload issues or experiences that might occur with digital content releases and different time zones
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

NeoGAF GOTY 2023 |OT| Voting thread
2 3 4
198
15K
Palliasso replied
  • Locked
Starfield Early Access thread | See That Standard Edition Over There? You Can Upgrade It.
35 36 37 38 39
2K
83K
Games of Today replied
[Insider Gaming] Skull and Bones Release Date is February 2024
Rumor
36
2K
Masterofchapter replied
AI Generated content for gaming |OT| Hasta La Vista Baby
7
912
Kataploom replied
  • Poll
In a move of desperation, which company will be the first to release a game exclusively onto their subscription service without an option to purchase?
Opinion Poll Platform 2 3
121
6K
GHG replied
Top Bottom