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[Metroidvania]

The NDA here (as well as the MS thread) changes things from dubious but legally kosher (afaik) to outright shady.

EA def goin for that golden poo three-peat.

 

[Dennis]

Disgusting.

So little money. That is pennies. I need a lot more before I promote games on NeoGAF.

Do try to have a little self-respect.

 

[entremet]

This is getting sickening.

Why? Companies have been milking the PR and Ad game for ages. This isn't new nor unique to videogames.

Read about how cigarettes were marketed to women back in the day. Advertising uses techniques that were used by the best propagandists.

 

[Steel]

Fortunately I don't actually look for the opinions of youtubers and otherwise to justify the purchase of a game. But this is shitty business ethics, so it's just business as usual at EA.

 

[GameAddict411]

So this is a trend now? The industry is certainly turning for the worse.

 

[Nirolak]

20 000 000 views / 1000 = 20 000
20 000 * 10 $ = 200 000 $

Am I calculing this correctly ? or Am I way off base/missing something ?

No, you are correct.

A 20 million view YouTube video is incredibly valuable marketing, so I'm not surprised they'd pay that.

The vast, vast majority of major game trailers can't even hit 1/4th that.

 

[Metalingus5150]

Why? Companies have been milking the PR and Ad game for ages. This isn't new nor unique to videogames.

Read about how cigarettes were marketed to women back in the day. Advertising uses techniques that were used by the best propagandists.

So that wasn't sickening?

 

[ShogunDarius]

because of this thread, and the MS one (and its media presence), i've noticed people question the positivity regarding Titanfall.

 

[AngryMoth]

This is probably in preparation for Titanfall. MS and EA are banking on this

Lol yeah, was just about post that youtubers are going to be going gaga for titanfall when it launches

 

[Recall]

Why? Companies have been milking the PR and Ad game for ages. This isn't new nor unique to videogames.

Read about how cigarettes were marketed to women back in the day. Advertising uses techniques that were used by the best propagandists.

We are on a forum. If someone has an opinion about a game, would you care less about it if you knew that opinion was only formed due to there being money involved?

 

[ramuh]

Oh EA, what happened? You used to be coo... nevermind.

They weren't too bad in the 3D0 days. Back on point, I wonder/if we will get more information of this stuff in the future.

 

[spirity]

Great. Just great.

 

[JABEE]

It appears everything is going to be bought at this point. Google doesn't give a shit about the integrity of YouTube. I just hope regulatory agencies like the FTC do something about these practices.

EA, Microsoft, and other companies will exploit these practices as long as they can before agencies and regulators start giving a damn about YouTube and its power to influence purchasing decisions.

 

[xxracerxx]

because of this thread, and the MS one (and its media presence), i've noticed people question the positivity regarding Titanfall.

Eh, I have always read personal impressions on here, from the good and the bad to the neutral and will form my own opinion if the game is for me.

 

[rrs]

Why? Companies have been milking the PR and Ad game for ages. This isn't new nor unique to videogames.

Read about how cigarettes were marketed to women back in the day. Advertising uses techniques that were used by the best propagandists.

Those were ads that said they were ads, this is straight up positive payola and is illegal.

 

[jayu26]

It was edited in later.

What is the excuse for the Xbone thread?

Why? Companies have been milking the PR and Ad game for ages. This isn't new nor unique to videogames.

Read about how cigarettes were marketed to women back in the day. Advertising uses techniques that were used by the best propagandists.

What is this guy's excuse?

 

[NullPointer]

Is the dam breaking?

How much more of this shady stuff is out there?

I welcome any and all transparency on this stuff, and the sooner the better.

 

[beast786]

before I rage. Did EA also said not to disclose like MS?

 

[Recall]

before I rage. Did EA also said not to disclose like MS?

Yes.

 

[Tsundere]

before I rage. Did EA also said not to disclose like MS?

Yep.

 

[Super Nothing]

Why? Companies have been milking the PR and Ad game for ages. This isn't new nor unique to videogames.

Read about how cigarettes were marketed to women back in the day. Advertising uses techniques that were used by the best propagandists.

Well, what you just described is sickening. Apparently the only thing wrong with what he said is the tense. It's not getting there, it is and has been sickening for a long time. And just because it's been that way for a long time doesn't mean that it's something that we should accept.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

before I rage. Did EA also said not to disclose like MS?

Post #110, Post #125

yes

 

[jaundicejuice]

Next level astroturfing. Disappointing but unsurprising that they would disingenuously manipulate social media to their benefit.

 

[PetriP-TNT]

before I rage. Did EA also said not to disclose like MS?

Yes, it says so in the topic.

 

[beast786]

Yes.

Yep.

Shame, I am actually shocked for big companies like that to make this mistake. It's not worth it. Put a tiny font for a second with a disclaimer . Seriously wtf

 

[Ricky_R]

So this is going to become the new Titanfall line for any positive opinions or reviews for the game in the run up to launch.

Unfortunately, that will probably be the case.

Although user impressions here should be sufficient.

 

[R_thanatos]

This is getting sickening.

And to think that this might just be just one part of the giant iceberg floating on the ocean.

 

[Mononoke]

because of this thread, and the MS one (and its media presence), i've noticed people question the positivity regarding Titanfall.

Edit: you were talking about all the press coverage. My bad.

This saddens me, as I really ended up loving the game in the Alpha Test. I never expected to, because I was really skeptical of the game (and the hype it was getting in the press). So I would hate for people to doubt all the impressions in the threads on here.

But what can you do about it. *shrugs*

 

[shinobi602]

This shows exact view counts... Won't this give away your informant?

The views are for total across all Youtubers, not just one.

 

[AuthenticM]

This just keeps getting better and better !

 

[hesido]

Dat madden CPM.

 

[Kyzer]

I hope they start doing this for message boards. I could use the money.

Maybe they already did.

 

[entremet]

We are on a forum. If someone has an opinion about a game, would you care less about it if you knew that opinion was only formed due to there being money involved?

Well, what you just described is sickening. Apparently the only thing wrong with what he said is the tense. It's not getting there, it is and has been sickening for a long time. And just because it's been that way for a long time doesn't mean that it's something that we should accept.

Who said I'm accepting it.

Being aware of the bad doesn't mean you accept it. I'm just shocked people are surprised. This has been happening for ages, yes even on the internet.

Moreover, it is not my duty to enforce these infractions. I'm just a commentator. I'm not a prosecutor or law enforcement agent.

Being realistic doesn't mean accepting.

And no, I don't take what most random people recommend online seriously, Nor do I trust Amazon reviews, Yelp reviews or any review system that can be gamed, including Metacritic. Quick looks are enough for me.

Although I do think the FTC should enforce what it puts out as law. It doesn't look like and it seems corporate lawyers know how to skirt these laws.

 

[spirity]

Man, am I ever apprehensive about this generation of gaming.

 

[ramuh]

Maybe they already did.

If they did, it would be more difficult. You would have to extrapolate all the positive stuff said from the many threads. With video uploads, all the users go to one particular site, making it easier to quantify.

 

[3rdamention]

Man, the gaming media is going to be so busy! At least they have NeoGaf to do all the leg work for them, all they have to do is read NeoGaf, then post the story.


The news is just falling in their lap, now they have to decide whether to report it or not.

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

Man, am I ever apprehensive about this generation of gaming.

lol, this isn't new

 

[Kazuma Kiryu]

Then Nintendo must have spent their entire astroturfing budget on Mario 3D World and A Link Between Worlds.

Nintendo's getting robbed, that's what it is.

 

[meppi]

It actually makes a lot of sense thinking about this, especially considering the amount of BF4 defenders even though the game is a complete piece of shit.
"Sure the game has a couple of bugs, but it's just so damn fun to play! And the bugs will be fixed soon anyway"

Not to mention how lots of them jump out to claim how the game is absolutely perfect the second a new patch note is released, with or without downloading the actual patch and testing it out.
Then afterwards others start to post pictures and instances of the same old shit happening in game that were supposed to be fully fixed.

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

Maybe they already did.

They already are with the astroturfing.

 

[Ardenyal]

because of this thread, and the MS one (and its media presence), i've noticed people question the positivity regarding Titanfall.

That positivity was already questioned during E3. People got sick of Titanfall being touted as the only game worth a look at the show.

 

[NoPiece]

Post #110, Post #125

yes

What Shinobi posted doesn't fully support the claim. It is fine to say don't disclose details of the program, as long as you disclose the post is sponsored by EA. Need more evidence to be sure.

On the other hand, I have just looked at least a dozen "Battlefield 4 Launch" vids YouTube, and none have a disclosure, so it looks bad for EA.

 

[gogosox8]

Yes.

Well then I take back everything I said. EA is just as bad as MS in this regard. Really makes you wonder how long stuff like this has gone on and how far reaching it is. Does this extend to twitch as well for instance? I'm hoping the FTC does something about this but I'm not holding my breathe.

 

[ShogunDarius]

This saddens me, as I really ended up loving the game in the Alpha Test. I never expected to, because I was really skeptical of the game (and the hype it was getting in the press). So I would hate for people to doubt all the impressions in the threads on here.

But what can you do about it. *shrugs*

personally I can't say that I blame anyone who is now skeptical regarding all the good press Titanfall got/gets in regards to this. Maybe it's an over reaction, maybe it's perfectly valid skepticism. Either way I can't blame them for having some doubts.

 

[SeventhSon]

I'm sure it does. They are doing the same thing they did to the Games media to YouTube.

They are integrating them into the PR system. They are making them dependent and controlling specific networks or an example today would be magazines like GameInformer, and shutting everyone else out.

They are smothering the profitability and economic validity of independent channels that do not accept bribes. These schemes should be faced with scorn and derision. It's absolutely ridiculous what has been happening now and what is planned for the future.

This is their ad-buy, except there is no wall between the streamer and the person buying the ad, there isn't even a culture or title with a history of careful consideration of ethics. These are straight-up power plays and bribes.

This makes perfect sense. Generally, I had placed some "trust" in Youtube, because even if the creator received an advance copy for review or LP, the viewer was at least actually seeing the game being played, and could form his own opinion. Now, it's clear that publishers are completely undermining any semblance of genuine portrayal by requiring active promotion to receive permission for game video and squashing any real critique or negative portrayal through the youtube machinery of ContentID, etc. The message is, 'play ball if you want to monetize, if you don't, we shut down your channel.'

 

[PBY]

What Shinobi posted doesn't fully support the claim. It is fine to say don't disclose details of the program, as long as you disclose the post is sponsored by EA. Need more evidence to be sure.

On the other hand, I have just looked at least a dozen "Battlefield 4 Launch" vids YouTube, and none have a disclosure, so it looks bad for EA.

The bolded is the reasoning given by Machinima for the MS stuff; it also looks simiilarly bad.

 

[joesiv]

M = Roman numeral for 1000.

Mille is Latin for 1000.

Roman Numeral.

Roman numerals.

Thanks guys, never would have expected a roman numeral to work into an english acronym... lol

The EA campaign doesn't have any sort of distinguishing tags, though. It only requires name of the game and a game mode with proper spelling and capitalization, which plenty of people would do anyway.

No hashtag, but all the ones posted in the OP had a condition on the bottom that the link to the games website was added.

For example, for the two games posted in the OP:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=16qlvai&filters=year&lclk=year
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=1au51m4&filters=year&lclk=year

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

Is it possible- that we're jumping to conclusions and misreading these NDAs? I'm inclined to believe an interpretation that's something along the lines of Machinimas statement eaier today.

Still scummy.

Peterboy, stop. This is exactly what it looks like.

 

[anexanhume]

The views are for total across all Youtubers, not just one.

That changes things. A lot less money paid out and per user. Still, incentivizes to publish early and get as many viewers as possible.

 

[crazyrabbits]

Something about the "Don't make a video about glitches" pretty much shows that they knew how fucked BF4 was.

This could be huge ammunition in the class-action lawsuits regarding the game, filed on behalf of the shareholders. The whole crux of the lawsuit is that EA knew how screwed the game was and deliberately lied to the investors and public about its condition.