Are Developer Diaries hurting the Gaming Industry?

[falcon]

Over at GamingNexus they are wondering (http://www.gamingnexus.com/Default.aspx?Section=Article&&I=1114) if developer diaries are hurting the industry. Is the constant barrage of developrer diaries and Q&A's are taking all of the mystery out of the industry.

When employed properly, secrecy creates a bigger buzz than full-spread coverage. Consider how tight Valve kept the lid on Half Life 2's technological advances (despite the leakage). Or consider how surprised you were when you found yourself in the Covenant's shoes in Halo 2.
Personally I like the developer diaries as they help keep you abrest of what's going on with a particular game and where it is in the development lifecycle but he does make a lot of valid points.

[jeffbax]

I find it ironic how they say developer diaries are killing things, and then list Halo - considering Bungie has one of the best weekly diaries out there.

[Savok]

Yeah, Bungie have huge weekly updates about all sorts of shit. Personally I don't read any of them, I like to discover even the mechanics and features of games myself. That's the great thing about the diaries, they're there, but you don't have to read them.

[Varsity]

You've just got to handle them right. I wouldn't call Bungie's updates developer diaries so much as community updates like Valve's. If you actually start doing them on development you need to be extremely careful - a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and the fans will be bitching about their misinterpreted conclusions before long if you aren't.

[Spigot]

I agree with the author of the article. I haven't really read a developer diary in years. Not knowing every little bit of information about a game is nice as the game feels springtime fresh when you get your mitts on it.

The occasional blurb about where they are in the development of a game isn't bad, but the incessant previews, etc. just don't interest me anymore. How many games have we been super excited about based on previews and then been let down once the final product is released missing all of the features promised in the dev diaries and previews? In fact, that's one of the biggest problems that I have with reviews. I absolutely hate it when I read complaints about how the feature set in a given game doesn't match up to what was hyped in the preview/dev diaries. Review the game based on what is in the game, not what they said MIGHT be in a game at the beginning of a dev cycle. Now, if they leave out features that are listed on the box, that's another story :P

Now a post-mortem on a game, THAT is interesting. You can see what went right, what went wrong and where some of the decisions were made.

[Mdot23]

I agree with the first 3 posters, in regards to Bungie. Frankie leaves their's vague enough to not reveal anything important or spoilerish, but does keep the community abreast of advancements and milestones. I find it to be the perfect balance, while something like Forza's dev-page is almost devoid of any game info (as last I checked).

[Barrapa]

Diaries, QAs are just tactical elements of a particular titles marketing strategy. You can't judge a tactic with out understanding how it is supposed to impact the overall goals. EX Half Life is really a showcase for the Source Engine. Valve were as interested in selling units as licensing their technology, so fully emphasizing the technical merits of the engine for years in advance meets their needs.

[JazGalaxy]

Developer diaries hurting individual gameplay experiance? Sure.

Hurting "The Industry"? Of course not. What a silly headline.

[timmyd]

It's like movies. Nothing ruins the experience better than having some gesculating bearded fat fuck in front of a monitor explaining his stupid visions that nobody cares about while informing you that the people making the movie/game have no plot but rather are trying to make a story to fit all of their artwork together.

[ParrapaEast]

As long as developers know how to hold off the important stuff in terms of story adn mechanics from the consumer(see: Jaffe's Blog), they're is nothing wrong. It's a great way to stay in contact with the community and get feedback. THe mystery can be maintained as long as the developer wants to?

[SymetriX]

Or consider how surprised you were when you found yourself in the Covenant's shoes in Halo 2.

Spoiler alerts please! I know it might be hard to believe but not everyone has played this game yet! :(

[Savok]

Spoiler alerts please! I know it might be hard to believe but not everyone has played this game yet! :(
Normally I'd agree but it's Halo 2, if you haven't played it yet then it's your own fault. I knew the plot to FF7 before I played it, played years after release of course.

[Deathbane27]

Bungie is the prime example of having dev diaries without really saying anything. 90% of what I knew about Halo 2 came from their E3 presentations.

[lockwoodx]

I prefer developer blogs to keep me up to date on where good people int he industry are headed after a big corp buys thier delevopment studio out and fires everyone.

[Heretic Machine]

Are digital watches destroying Switzerland's economy? News at 11.

[archon]

When games take 2+ years to create and I'm anticipating them from day 1 that they're announced (sometimes even before if it's obvious they're making a sequel), the updates mean a lot to me. Valve and Bungie's and to an extent Humanhead's for Prey are a lot of fun for me to read every Friday and help to keep me interested in the waiting period.

Humanhead's updates went too far in my opinion (note, only my opinion since apparently some people liked this) in that they had literal changelogs from what they changed or fixed in the game before even the demo was released. That's too far, I'd rather just read some minor or relatively vague topics related to the game design process, or for example know that this week they brought in the voice actors to act out their roles for the game and that's it.

[JazGalaxy]

Spoiler alerts please! I know it might be hard to believe but not everyone has played this game yet! :(

Trust me, you'd rather know then not know.

It wasn't a "whee! What a great surprise!" kind of surprise... it was a "what the heck are they thinking? This is ridiculous" kind of surprise.

[Major Dan]

No, you don't HAVE to read 'em if you don't want to.

There, I feel better!

[Freak705]

Trust me, you'd rather know then not know.

It wasn't a "whee! What a great surprise!" kind of surprise... it was a "what the heck are they thinking? This is ridiculous" kind of surprise.Eh? I kind if liked it. I'll admit they could have done the story a little better. Everything you do as the Arbiter mimmicks what Master Chief did in Halo CE: Finding the Flood, trying to find the Index, learning what the Halos really are. The whole civil war aspect of it I definitely wasn't expecting though.

Bungie does great with their weekly updates. As many people have said before me, they're vague enough to keep you interested without ruining. What I actually think is a bigger problem is a lack of information. For instance, I'm an avid Splinter Cell fan. As some of you may know, Double Agent will be coming out in about 2 months time. This time, Ubisoft has been strangely tightlipped regarding their multiplayer (Spies vs Mercenaries). There have been several times where one tidbit has slipped from some online source, or some magazine, without Ubisoft even acknowledging it. For a multiplayer that has been regarded as very good critically, and well-loved by the hardcore, many of the changes are putting off the game's fans. Many of these tidbits are probably being misinterpreted, but when Ubisoft fails to comment on them, the worrying only grows larger, and many other hardcore fans are downright saying they won't even play or buy the game because of it.

[Spigot]

Many of these tidbits are probably being misinterpreted, but when Ubisoft fails to comment on them, the worrying only grows larger, and many other hardcore fans are downright saying they won't even play or buy the game because of it.
Which just goes to show that these guys are stupid. While some companies do talk to their community, it's not a god-given right that the devs will care, let alone act upon your concerns.

Heck, if you are that hardcore of a fan and are that worried, rent the game when it comes out and see if it's as horrible as you suspect it to be. Too many 'hardcore' fans freak out when there is the slightest hint of change. I'm sure that as the release date draws even nearer and the previews really ramp up, the multiplayer will probably be delved into in greater detail.

If it isn't, well, SURPRISE! You'll just have to go buy/rent the game to find out if the horrors are true.

{If I sound grumpier than usual, I'm at the tail end of a 12-hour shift and probably AM grumpier than usual!}

[Freak705]

Personally, I'm not too worried about it. But for a game that's so loved by its audience, to see them simplify/n00bify/Halo 2-ify (waits for flames), it'd be sad.

Add a potential bad change (potential, I'm not throwing hope out the window at all, I'll be buying the game), and Ubisofts track record for support with the Splinter Cell games online (it's a near catastrophe), and I can definitely understand where some of them are coming from.

[Heretic Machine]

I don't know why people didn't like the Arbiter... I was excited the whole time.