Is it possible for any game to fail as hard as moo3 did ? ( I don't think it is )

[pguyton]

there was a post a few days ago in the pdx forums asking "what if stellaris flops" and it got me thinking is it possible for a game to flop as hard anymore ? there is so much communication between forums / twitter/ youtube/ so much quick online press - even steam's 2 hour refund policy all making it hard to fail as hard as in the old days.

Don't get me wrong I've been disappointed recently (rome2, Grand Ages Medieval in particular) but not to the level that I was for MOO3.

Particularly for Paradox games - we know in quite some detail exactly what we are going to get hours of gameplay (warts/bugs and all ) and very active devs make for good releases .


so what do you guys think?
I for one I only worry if I don't see gameplay and the team members seem to live in a Ivory tower - the exact opposite of pdx's approach.

what were the worst games with the most hype in recent years?

 

[SobakenKusaken]

MoO 3 wasn't a fail, it was just misunderstood.
People expected something like the previous two games (a simple Civilization-like 4X strategy), but got something else entirely.
It was just too complicated for most players, and that's why it was such a disappointment for many.
Nevertheless, it's a decent game if you have the patience to figure everything out. Some people actually like overly complex mechanics, games like Aurora and Distant Worlds have their fans too.
Stellaris isn't a continuation of a series, so there's no such problem. We'll get what we expected.

 

[Dessic]

The release of Sim City a couple of years ago was fraught with problems, and the game lost its luster for me pretty quickly.

 

[patrikn]

MoO 3 wasn't a fail, it was just misunderstood.
People expected something like the previous two games (a simple Civilization-like 4X strategy), but got something else entirely.
It was just too complicated for most players, and that's why it was such a disappointment for many.
Nevertheless, it's a decent game if you have the patience to figure everything out. Some people actually like overly complex mechanics, games like Aurora and Distant Worlds have their fans too.
Stellaris isn't a continuation of a series, so there's no such problem. We'll get what we expected.

Except that MOO3 was completely broken and was not "fixed" until mods came along. For example (if I recall correctly) the AI was not able to invade planets, basically it always disbanded troop transports the turn after they were deployed and this was never fixed! The game had interesting ideas but it was not decent.

 

[Darustet]

The new MoO remake seems to be trying to broke the record. It could be fun for a few hours but it feels more like an average mobile game, than a successor to MoO series.

 

[Jarac Rassen]

Spore. It was my first true gaming disappointment. So much hype, so many lies. I even bought the Galactic Edition; my first gaming purchase with my own money without relying on the parents. I've since had many disappointments from EA, but that betrayal will always hold a special place. Never before nor ever since, has so much potential been so squandered.

 

[LastLeviathan]

Although not a 4x, SWTOR was a massive disappointment at release, which broke my SW heart, of which lessons can be learned. Transparency and not rushing a game for the sake of sales is key to avoid a pot of these AAA failures and pdx does fantastically.

 

[Number 7]

is it possible? yeah, there's an incredibly small chance

but i honestly don't think it will. we're getting so much honest gameplay footage from the developers its really easy to see what we're getting. Well, we're actually getting a better version than the one on the blorg stream because they are transferring a save across multiple nightly builds which causes all sorts of weirdness which is not indicative of the final product. (i believe the AI borked up its building priorities and flattened their empires to rebuild all the tiles at one point? i might be wrong on that though)

in general if theres a lot of honest gameplay footage its really easy to judge on success a bit better. if all you have is cinematic trailers with no meat to back it up thats when i get a lot more apprehensive.

also paradox has a lot of trust built up with me, so i can feel pretty confident it wont flop. a sentiment that doesn't extend to any other developers

 

[hsuzy1987]

The release of Sim City a couple of years ago was fraught with problems, and the game lost its luster for me pretty quickly.

One of the most memorable game failures in recent memory. I loved the amount of well-deserved abuse that EA copped for, well, everything.

Pity they won't learn. They still have a few beloved IPs being held hostage.

 

[barny]

Does anyone remember Black & White?

 

[Susarian]

I believe that MOO3 is still failing. It failed that hard.

 

[milamber81]

The worst hyped games in recent years? For me those were clearly Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 3 (that ending). Others were weak in some aspects, but not totally disappointing. For example SW-ToR or Dragon Age 3. Even MoO 3. Played quite a few hours and although I never managed to really finish a game, I spent clearly to many hours in it to claim that it completely and utterly failed my taste. Either that or I'm masochistic without knowing it.
Although I don't think that you could call a 13 year old game "recent". MoO 3 was released 2003. But the new MoO will most likely join my personal list, as soon as it is released, but up to now there's still some hope left. Not much and mostly because hope dies last, but still. It simply lacks depth. And in my opinion many buyers will only recognize that when it's to late. Two hours in a strategic game aren't that much, if you ask me. So perhaps the game will sell well enough, but that wouldn't stop me from adding it to my personal flop-list.
Stellaris itself? Don't think, that it will get on my Flop-list. They showed enough in the Blorg-streams and in the forum that I'm quite sure that I'll like the game. Not sure, if it will become my new all time favourite, but the chance is there. And what I've seen up to now, the chance is surprisingly big...

 

[Cethlopodric]

I loved MOO2 so much and played so many multiplayer games by LAN(though it crashed a lot). Incredible game.
I was in my mid 20's when MOO3 arrived and it broke something in me. Until Stellaris I've never been as excited about the release of a game as MOO3. Years later I thought GalCiv2 quite good. Had some pretty good games on it but.........
GalCiv3 bored the hell out of me. Not as badly as MOO2 probably because GalCiv2 wasn't as good as MOO2 and so I didn't expect GalCiv3 to be perfect.
I'm as excited about the release of Stellaris as I was for MOO3. I could feel happiness again.

 

[Bragi]

Does anyone remember Black & White?

Yeah, I had mixed feelings about that.. at start it was fun, but.. it became like Tamagotchi 3D at some point

 

[hjarg]

Black & White, Movies, Fable. Well, Molyneyx...
Vampire- the Masquerade.
Mass Effect 3
SimCity

 

[Alucardex]

Spore. It was my first true gaming disappointment. So much hype, so many lies. I even bought the Galactic Edition; my first gaming purchase with my own money without relying on the parents. I've since had many disappointments from EA, but that betrayal will always hold a special place. Never before nor ever since, has so much potential been so squandered.

Ahh yes Spore. One of the best editors I ever toyed around with attached to one of the shittiest collection of minigames I've ever played.

Not a 4X but to me my biggest gaming dissappointment was probably Black and White 2.
Black and White was a mixed bag of great ideas and terrible execution, but I loved the game a lot.
Black and White 2 on the other hand was just a terrible citybuilder game with some features from Black and White hastily tacked on.

 

[Jarac Rassen]

Don't even get me started on Mass Effect 3...

 

[hsuzy1987]

The worst hyped games in recent years? For me those were clearly Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 3 (that ending).

DA2 definitely. ME3, well. The ending was atrocious, but I felt it was a pretty good game till that point. Problem was it was still pretending it was an RPG when it was far more of an Action-RPG with an emphasis on the former. Once I removed my Baldur's Gate = RPG goggles and just took it as it was it felt ok. It just always felt like I was playing someone else's story, not my own. Would have been a cardinal sin if it actually was an RPG in the proper sense of the term, but it wasn't.

 

[Alucardex]

Black & White, Movies, Fable. Well, Molyneyx...
Vampire- the Masquerade.
Mass Effect 3
SimCity

Ohh yeah forgot about Mass Effect 3. I mean it was a pretty good game (I you liked part 2 that is) but the ending.....UGHHHH I just can't get invested in that universe anymore when I remember that silly conclusion....

 

[barny]

ME3, well. The ending was atrocious, but I felt it was a pretty good game till that point.

Yeah, the missions on Rannoch and Tuchanka were awesome, but the ending...oh dear, that almost ruined the whole trilogy for me.