PSA: Just so we're all clear, by "decorations", Frontier means preset building customization (confirmed on Twitter).

Dino_SPY

D
Whether or not anyone cares, I think it's important everyone knows exactly what Frontier means by "decorations" in JWE2. This post isn't meant to necessarily rain on anyone's parade, but to simply inform everyone of what is coming and what isn't.

Here's the relevant quote by Frontier regarding decorations in their latest Feature Focus

We've seen many of you asking if there are decorations coming in Jurassic World Evolution 2. Short answer: Yes! Tables and chairs, lights, banners and planters can all be added to your parks.
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Notice how this quote has been tacked on the end of the Park Customization section detailing the same old landscaping tools we currently have (although brush sizes look like they might've been tweaked slightly) rather than the section elaborating on how attraction/amenity customization works.

Pay particular attention to the items listed: Tables and chairs, lights, banners and planters. Sound familiar? That's because these are all objects that are part of the preset/pre-placed building customization that you can cycle through for amenities/attractions.

There will NOT be any "decorations" outside of what you can select as options for building exteriors.

Don't believe me? Go through and look at all the media released so far of the game. Here's a link Frontier put together showing off everything that's been shown so far. You can also scan through the Game Informer and Games Radar articles on the game. Andrew Reiner from Game Informer only saw decorations on the outside of buildings.

Still don't believe me? Well here's Frontier confirming it themselves on Twitter.

Again, placeable benches, trash cans, etc. on paths or wherever else will NOT be a thing in JWE2.

First impressions are a big deal. Wouldn't it make sense for Frontier to showcase these things when announcing the game? Park customization/decorations were arguably one of the most requested feature from JWE. It would make zero sense for Frontier to NOT show them off in some aspect, least of all in their Feature Focus specifically about decorations and park customization.

I'm not saying this to be a pessimist or to rain on anyone's parade but to simply inform. I've been around game development for around 3 decades now so I know how PR marketing speak goes. And that's exactly what this is.

The words and phrases in these articles are phrased exactly the way they are to build up hype without technically "lying". Anyone whose been around Frontier's game development cycles long enough knows this is what they do; they've done it with all their games: Planet Coaster, Elite Dangerous, JWE, Planet Zoo, and now JWE2. Just look at the JWE trailer for a more visual realization.

Whether you believe this practice is ethical or not is irrelevant, almost all game companies do it to sell their products nowadays.

JWE2 is targeted towards a younger demographic, who on average tend to be more naive and gullible, just like a good portion of this community at times. I just want everyone to be aware exactly what Frontier means by "decorations" so no one gets their hopes up and is disappointed on release.

If you're happy with what Frontier means by decorations, then more power to you. I'll be the first to admit if I'm wrong, but I suppose we'll see on release. Can guarantee I won't be though.
 

Aramus418

Aramus418
I think it’s premature to say with any certainty “I haven’t seen it yet, therefore it won’t be in the final product.” And I hardly think the line about tables, chairs, etc. is “tacked on” at the end; rather it comes directly following mention of placing trees and rocks- other placeable decorations. And their tweet “confirming” your thesis does no such thing: they point to the feature focus, which brings us around full circle.
 
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Dino_SPY

D
Frontier are the ones setting an idea and framing it to look how they want it to look and a lot of you are falling victim to it, either as misplaced trust in a developer that's done so on multiple occasions, including most egregiously in JWE, or simply because most of this community is too young and naive to realize these business practices.

Do you know why their posts are worded how they are and why their responses to questions, such as the linked tweet, don't clarify? Because they don't want them to; because the answer is bound to disappoint a lot of fans who have been begging for decorations since JWE's release.

How hard is it for Frontier to answer a simple question without side-stepping around the truth? If there were actual decorations most people expect, wouldn't Frontier want the community to absolutely know about it? First impressions are important for a reason, they are the basis on which hype is built, and hype drives sales, and sales = profit.

More decorations/customization was one of if not the most requested feature missing from JWE. If you were Frontier and wanted to hype the community up for your next game, wouldn't that be a feature you wanted to showcase front and center? Especially so in the Feature Focus solely about park decorations and customization? It's Marketing 101.

Instead, Frontier tiptoes around the subject with carefully planned wording and avoids directly answering the question and instead refers to a quote from the Feature Focus, something I've already covered in my original post.

I'm not saying Frontier = bad, only that you can't trust purposely placed words/media alone. They're there for a purpose and it's to try and sell more copies of the game by building hype based on assumptions rather than the truth.

Maybe I'll go about rounding up some images to show everyone exactly what Frontier is referring to by "decorations", but I'd like to think people are observant enough on their own to figure it out based on the links I provided.
 
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Thylaco

Thylaco
I do agree that terminology is very weird and specific for this pre-launch period, first with the "attraction" buildings.

"With the click of a button you can cycle through different looks for the building facade, the roof and potential roof decorations, entrance style and location, and different types of outside signage and decorations."

"We've seen many of you asking if there are decorations coming in Jurassic World Evolution 2. Short answer: Yes! Tables and chairs, lights, banners and planters can all be added to your parks. You won't be able to build elaborate blueprints and designs like in Planet Zoo or Planet Coaster, but we know decorations are important to the community and you will be able to add a little extra flair to your parks."

Are these decorations the same thing or different? Based on the image, there's a chair, distinctly on the concrete base of a building, so I'd say they're probably the same thing. The name of the Feature Focus is also "Guest Buildings & Dinosaur customisation", so random placeable scenery isn't something I'd expect to be covered.

As to freely placeable unnatural scenery, it's something in the first game, so it seems unlikely to be completely absent, despite "decorations" seeming not to be that thing.

It also looks like they're doing a Feature Focus a week, so extrapolation would indicate we've seen about 10% of what they intend to show/tell before release, quite early days for most assumptions.
 

Dark_Ansem

Dark_Ansem
Decorations and functionalities can always be added at a later date, as long as the framework is there, unlike in JWE1. At this point I'm more worried about dinosaur depth and JP style and skins.
 

MCpl. Pearl

MCpl. Pearl
This is why you really should wait to post stuff like this, I mean we are still months away from release and still have many more dev diaries and feature focuses to go
 

Thylaco

Thylaco
MCpl. Pearl said:
Aaand you were wrong,
Source: https://youtu.be/oT84gvaHaS0?t=261
at 4:21 you can clearly see separate decorations such as lights, flags, tables with chairs, and even planters on the path
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That's the thing, the idea is to maintain minimalist assumptions until they're disproven.

The tables and chairs in particular really sounded like something that would be path/concrete restricted, assuming any functionality.
 

satch

S
this is nothing surprising to me, JWE nor JPOG is a deep management and customization game its fan service and about the dinosaurs.

the disappointment could only come in what is being limited with the dinosaurs and that type of gameplay, so I've tried to stay conservative, so far though I've seen increasingly good things that's gotten me pretty hyped about this game.
 

Thylaco

Thylaco
satch said:
this is nothing surprising to me, JWE nor JPOG is a deep management and customization game its fan service and about the dinosaurs.

the disappointment could only come in what is being limited with the dinosaurs and that type of gameplay, so I've tried to stay conservative, so far though I've seen increasingly good things that's gotten me pretty hyped about this game.
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The title of this thread was an early interpretation, it has comfortably been disproven with Dev Diary #1, showing decorations mentioned from that feature focus that clearly aren't part of a building.
 
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