Arbit wrote:Can you cite some instances where this has happened in the past i.e. a sequel goes in a direction the fans don't like, it doesn't sell well, and the developer makes an additional sequel after that that is well loved by the fans? In most instances that I can recall, the franchise gets shitcanned after the poor selling one unless it is part of a series with an extremely long history (like Final Fantasy I think, I'm not a fan but it's my understanding that the games are pretty uneven in quality). Genuinely curious here.
Off the top of my head no - I have played many game series but I never took much of an interest in the economics/politics of the gaming industry until a couple years back.
Also, I don't think anyone was suggesting that you should buy a game you don't like in the hopes that the make a better sequel one day, just that cheering the game's death is stupid because it likely means the franchise is dead.
Sure, but as someone who has been with DOW since the start, I would argue that the series is effectively dead with DOW3 anyway, so you're presenting a false choice. In it's current state, the spirit of DOW is basically dead, even if a new game bearing its name is put out. A low effort attempt to squeeze some bucks out of a franchise name doesn't count as video game "life" for me.
And finally, why would there be "be a 100% chance of Relic continuing to move the series in the bad direction that DOW3 took it"? Relic has built the game from the ground up with each iteration. Why would they suddenly become all conservative and rehash DoW 3 for DoW 4?
....DoW 2 already sent the precedent for big reworks, somewhat different campaigns with each expansion, and weird gameplay-adjacent add-ons like TLS. That all had the potential of happening with DoW 3, so again: crowing about its death is dumb.
I would not compare the transition from DOW1 to DOW2 to the 2-3 transition - not all differences are the same. The COH style of RTS game mechanics had already proven it's value with COH itself. Making a 40K themed version of that game seemed great to me, even before release. In the case of DOW3, I don't view the change in design as being one driven by artistic vision or an understanding of what the DOW core audience wanted. I view it as a cheap attempt to appeal to the audiences of other games and genres, all the while using the DOW name to drag in unsuspecting DOW veterans. I cannot believe that DOW3 was made by someone who understood why the original DOW player base liked the dow games.