Elite Dangerous in the Media thread

[Rog]

I'm sure Michael was fully aware that as soon as this article appeared it would be linked and quoted here.

Moaning and naivety in one post ... well done

Oh dear...

Expecting the devs to give some information to the PAYING customers who are actually asking for some breadcrumbs is moaning/naivety is it?

Good grief. *You* might have very low expectations of Frontier (I rather do too, these days), but perhaps others might expect better than the occasional marketing mailshot.

 

[Atinus]

So why are they talking with PC gamer, and ignoring the backers on the forum? More marketing spin beats looking after your existing paying customers, eh?

Offering media exclusives guarantees better placement of stories. It gives the outlet the opportunity to break the news, generating more clicks on their websites, which is their incentive.

That this makes it more likely that a prospective customer might see the story and think, "Cool! I want in!" and go buy the game is not shameless. And it has nothing to do with turning a back on those of us who are playing the game. Like, "How dare they try to sell the game?!" Um, it's a business, people? If they can't sell the game, then we don't get more updates?

Edit: Oh, and by the way, the way I found out about the PC Gamer article was on Facebook from Frontier: https://www.facebook.com/EliteDangerousOfficial/posts/10155121470435564

 

[CaptainKremmen]

I, for one, am outraged that I read three paragraphs about what's being added to a game in February on www.abc.com instead of www.def.com. I had to actually click a link instead of clicking "New Posts"! No respect for www.def.com at all these days.

 

[Michael Brookes]

Feeding the media keeps them sweet (thus you'll expect to get good publicity) and keeps the game in the spotlight. I suspect that this interview was supposed to go out after the weekly production update on the forum, and PCG have simply jumped the gun.

[edit]And if not, I agree that Frontier should treat its customers and backers to that sort of information first.[/edit]

Some information will be revealed exclusively in my dev updates here on the forums (such as the information like the dates of the upcoming major updates), some will be revealed over social media or in the newsletters and some through the press. We need to make sure that every channel has something new to say.

Michael

 

[Sanderson]

.......We need to make sure that every channel has something new to say.

Michael

Why is that? Seems to me that a central (forum) information center would make more sense than a "shotgun" approach. Let the media get info at the same time we do.

 

[Michael Brookes]

Why is that? Seems to me that a central (forum) information center would make more sense than a "shotgun" approach. Let the media get info at the same time we do.

The press like to have something new, they're more likely to feature an item if it's new.

Michael

 

[Tinman]

So why are they talking with PC gamer, and ignoring the backers on the forum?
More marketing spin beats looking after your existing paying customers, eh?

• The public (that includes us) gets the information.
• ED/FD gets publicity
• The newsorganization gets a reason to actually write the article.

Obviously a terrible idea and completely unheard of...

 

[withnail]

I am really not bothered how I get the information.

It was an interesting read, I enjoyed the piece.

 

[Sanderson]

• The public (that includes us) gets the information.
• ED/FD gets publicity
• The newsorganization gets a reason to actually write the article.

Obviously a terrible idea and completely unheard of...

Ya we all get it Tinman but, what I think is trying to be said, I know you'll correct me if I'm wrong, is that paying customers (that includes us) would like to think we rate as high as media and prospective new customers, especially after spending 3x or more for the game and doing free testing for months. If nothing else, we should get the information at the same time as the media without needing a Google Alert to let us know it's been released.

At the very least a post from someone official saying "look here" or something.

 

[cherbert]

At the very least a post from someone official saying "look here" or something.

I actually found out from Frontier's Facebook page. Their post appeared on my feed. Its a much more efficient way of receiving information than these forums. I can only assume it was posted on Twitter also.

It really isn't difficult to get social notifications pretty much instantly from this company and I have no issues in their ability to get the message out there - the only beef I have is the lack of it! ;-)

Giving articles to the press is the only way to get them to continually provide free advertising for the game. Without a constant influx of new blood then the game will die and everybody will suffer.

 

[Atinus]

At the very least a post from someone official saying "look here" or something.

The minute the article was up they posted it on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EliteDangerousOfficial/posts/10155121470435564

 

[Sanderson]

I actually found out from Frontier's Facebook page. Their post appeared on my feed. Its a much more efficient way of receiving information than these forums.

I used to be angry about this situation too but I understand and appreciate now that its the only way to get the media to continually provide free advertising for the game. Without a constant influx of new blood then the game will die and everybody will suffer.

The minute the article was up they posted it on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EliteDangerousOfficial/posts/10155121470435564

Great! We can all skip the forum and move to Facebook. Yay!

 

[xyphic]

Some information will be revealed exclusively in my dev updates here on the forums (such as the information like the dates of the upcoming major updates), some will be revealed over social media or in the newsletters and some through the press. We need to make sure that every channel has something new to say.

I understand. They (the gaming press) want to feel like they're the centre of attention, and feeding them new information does that. They're more likely to print new or exclusive information (or at least give it prominence) than recycled news. Sometimes I forget that Frontier is a business and certain decisions have to be taken for the sake of driving the business forward, and getting the game publicity benefits us consumers indirectly.

'Tis a hard balance to strike, trying to keep the needy press and needy customers/backers happy.

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

The minute the article was up they posted it on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EliteDangerousOfficial/posts/10155121470435564

My problem with Twitter and Facebook is the same as the forum, posts like that get lost among the thousands of others that flit across my screen. An ED news RSS would be much easier for me to deal with.

 

[Duckfather]

Why does it matter? FD know that anything posted through a 3rd party site will be posted on here in seconds anyways

 

[Atinus]

The press like to have something new, they're more likely to feature an item if it's new.

Michael

Dealing with media outlets on a daily basis, pushing out statements, placing opeds, etc. I can attest that this is absolutely true. Many outlets demand outright exclusivity in order to publish a thing. And doing so definitely helps with placement. This is not made up. That's actually how it works.

Other times, there may be a general announcement, and those might go out in the newsletter, etc. and still find their way into news publications. Or you just issue a statement.

As it is, what will end up happening with this story is other gaming websites will pick up the PC Gamer article, link to it, and say, "As PC Gamer reported..."

Finally, we already get exclusive updates every single time Frontier pops out another newsletter.

There simply is no valid complaint here. You feed stories to media. That's how it's done. Frontier wants you to see the article, so they post it to their existing fan base via social media. Move along.

 

[Sanderson]

I understand. They (the gaming press) want to feel like they're the centre of attention, and feeding them new information does that. They're more likely to print new or exclusive information (or at least give it prominence) than recycled news. Sometimes I forget that Frontier is a business and certain decisions have to be taken for the sake of driving the business forward, and getting the game publicity benefits us consumers indirectly.

'Tis a hard balance to strike, trying to keep the needy press and needy customers/backers happy.

"One hand washes the other" and all that but, it would be just spectacular if we didn't need to track and monitor a plethora of media and social media sites to get new information, especially given the playerbase is us "older" people that could give two toots for the likes of Facebook, Tweety, Twitch, Instagram and the hundreds of gaming sites out there.

We, IMO, shouldn't have to "dig" for information. I suppose I'm the minority but, it is incredibly frustrating to need to go to a couple dozen places to find out what's going on. I understand that gaming sites "exclusives" generate traffic and money for gaming sites and in turn gives FD free advertisement, which produces money, I think it's a win/win for the money makers but, not so good for those of us that want new information but, don't want to make a hobby of finding it.

 

[cherbert]

Great! We can all skip the forum and move to Facebook. Yay!

Delivering news via facebook and twitter can notify hundreds of thousands of people instantly. Its not about moving anywhere - the discussions still take place here but forums aren't a particularly great place to announce something to all your customers. Not everybody uses the forums and those that do don't necessarily spend every minute of every day here.

There are nearly 100,000 people following Frontier on Facebook alone before you even include other outlets like Reddit and Twitter. These forums aren't always the best or most reliable place to be for information. Since launch I have been loosing more and more faith in the quality of posts I find here and personally spend more time away from them. The Elite Dangerous Sub Reddit is a much calmer place!

 

[Sanderson]

Delivering news via facebook and twitter can notify hundreds of thousands of people instantly. Its not about moving anywhere - the discussions still take place here but forums aren't a particularly great place to announce something to all your customers. Not everybody uses the forums and those that do don't necessarily spend every minute of every day here.

There are nearly 100,000 people following Frontier on Facebook alone before you even include other outlets like Reddit and Twitter. These forums aren't always the best or most reliable place to be for information. Since launch I have been loosing more and more faith in the quality of posts I find here and personally spend more time away from them. The Elite Dangerous Sub Reddit is a much calmer place!

That's great and all, we understand that. How about at the same time for non-exclusive demanding gaming site info then so it reaches everyone at the same time?

 

[cherbert]

My problem with Twitter and Facebook is the same as the forum, posts like that get lost among the thousands of others that flit across my screen. An ED news RSS would be much easier for me to deal with.

Do you not have a smartphone? You can get Facebook or Twitter to send you an instant notification when Frontier post something new.

 

[Tinman]

Ya we all get it Tinman but, what I think is trying to be said, I know you'll correct me if I'm wrong, is that paying customers (that includes us) would like to think we rate as high as media and prospective new customers, especially after spending 3x or more for the game and doing free testing for months. If nothing else, we should get the information at the same time as the media without needing a Google Alert to let us know it's been released.

At the very least a post from someone official saying "look here" or something.

Great! We can all skip the forum and move to Facebook. Yay!

The also retweeted PC Gamers tweet about the article the moment the article went live...that is how I saw it personally. Also, as far as I can tell it was also posted here on the forum by other people pretty much instantly. Why does it matter who posted it? Maybe they even planned to do so, but since other people already had brought it up it just felt redundant. The important thing is that people get to know about it...which you obviously do...

This has nothing to do with them "rating the press higher than us customers". That argument is silly and you know it.

My problem with Twitter and Facebook is the same as the forum, posts like that get lost among the thousands of others that flit across my screen. An ED news RSS would be much easier for me to deal with.

Turn on notifications for tweets from FD/ED, that's what I have done. Problem solved!