Thread 718662283

So why did so many recent releases use "return to form" marketing phrase?

>>718662283 (OP)
Name 5

>>718662283 (OP)
Because the funds are drying up and they want to reassure their potential financiers that the next piece of software will meet expectations as previous pieces of software from the same team have done. This is a lie, like anything a salesperson says. Salespeople are not capable of telling the truth and are universally worthless. Hope that clears it up for you buddy, make sure you enjoy the rest of that summer vacation!!

>>718662320
Doom Dark Ages
Battlefield 6
Asscreed Shadows
Borderlands 4
Resident Evil 9

>>718662283 (OP)
>So why did so many recent releases use "return to form" marketing phrase?
It's simple: the target demographic doesn't like new things and innovation is seen as something bad. Instead there's a sort of nostalgia fetishism where anything old and typically played when the individual was young (and less jaded) is seen as unsurpassable perfection.
Thus you get "return to form" as a way to sell games to jaded boomers.

Ironic because Dark Ages is not return to form with the extremely retarded and unfitting comically slow ass projectile deflection horseshit.

Wake me up when they make a doom game that really is return to form without retarded lock down arenas, real exploration, and not forcing you to manage 16 different cooldowns if you want to have something resembling fun on the higher difficulties.

>>718662283 (OP)
>return to form
a buzzword made by educated cocksuckers, goyslop is the same but created by based intellectuals

>>718662495

Summer done been over, unc

>>718662283 (OP)
because shit used to be better

>>718662951
>because shit used to be better

>>718663061
That looks a lot better, yes.

>>718663061
>no streamer or RGB shit
looks good to me!

>>718662283 (OP)
Zoomers don't have money to buy games and millennials noped out of the modern gaming. Now they try to get millennials back.

>>718662659
This makes a lot of sense when you look at this
>>718662501
list. The youngest series on that list is 16 years, oldest is 30. The people still interested in these games are all >30 years old and if they haven't moved onto something else within those genre, then they're desperate for nostalgia.

>>718662283 (OP)
The subtext of "return to form" means "made for retards who were filtered by the best iteration of the game". In this scenario, Doom Eternal

>>718662283 (OP)
market saturation, captured audiences, need nostalgia for reliable sales projections

>>718663061
Guy is right though. VTMB is about to drop after a 20 year hiatus and we're going to find out just how shit things have gotten in those years. Other series have been boiling the frog, releasing new games every few years with a slow drip of lame accumulating in every new installment. The change is slow and hard to detect apart from the general changes to aesthetics and trands in gaming. VTMB though is going to be like walking off of a cliff.

>>718662283 (OP)
Because libs are retarded and can only think in templates so when they start writing articles nobody in their journalist circlejerk notices a problem.

>>718662283 (OP)
>return to form
>doom has never been less doom than this

>>718662320
Dawn of War 4.

>>718662283 (OP)
That's more a cliche line that reviewers use than something you see in trailers for the game and stuff.

Trick you into thinking it will be like the good old days

I will buy a Western game when they give me a reason to buy one.

>>718662283 (OP)
>we burned our core market after nearly two decades of chasing 'wider audiences' that never existed
>Let's keep doing the same thing but make some weak overtures to regain their trust
>they were an unquestioning automatic sale before, surely they will be again if look like we are tossing them a bone

>>718663431
they can get me back if they make the games cheaper, better, and less gay.

>>718663595
They've been boiling the frog in the actual tabletop - and holy shit is that little croaker fucking vaporized by now.

>>718663861
>That's more a cliche line that reviewers use than something you see in trailers for the game and stuff.
It's stupid to use in a trailer as it implies their last releases were shit.

>>718664018
American game companies going through the same life cycle as American auto companies should be a warning that something’s terribly wrong with the way Americans approach business.

>>718664219
It's depressing how lame all of this stuff is now.
How do you take a fantasy about being an immortal monster, doing dark scary things, and soften it to the point that it's just fucking gay?

>>718662283 (OP)
I'm pretty sure I haven't seen that phrase used in marketing since Deadpool 3. I'd love to see evidence proving me wrong tho!

>>718664375
Because the Ship of Theseus has an answer

>>718663595
Honestly a very illuminating piece of insight into the situation--but rather more about why you niggers are so wrong: you're a slave to brands. You don't care enough about whether there's good or better games after 20 years, you only care if the Brand you liked back then is still releasing good new stuff 20 years later, something which is extremely uncommon across all mediums and throughout all of human history. The inherent nature of Brands is to be exploited more and more as time goes on, a phenomena that's completely detached from the actual average quality of the medium as a whole.

It's like how Fallout 1 is leagues better than Fallout 4, but then that's because Fallout 4 is at the end of a long line of lazy exploitation. Meanwhile, Fallout 1 gets absolutely fucking RAPED to death and fed to rabid dogs by how much it gets BTFO by the average quality of modern cRPGs.

Stop caring so much about brands and start caring more about GAMES

>>718664768
What the hell, I wasn’t expecting a quality post at 8:30. Thank you, anon.

>>718664219
I mean, there could be potential there if they limited the IRL parallels to one per character. For the narrative it would be interesting to play with a character that can't move on from his mortal identity, or his mortal concerns for contemporary issues. Kind of like the Brujah in VTMB were a mocking parallel between vampires that championed the working class whilst feeding on them. Like, make Rudi is black and some other character muslim. But that's like putting all your faggot eggs into one nigger basket. Are the other characters like this? Were they just making a containment character to prove They're On Board with the DEI? And how come there's no jewish characters?

>>718665026
>>718664219
I’m not going to say this character isn’t cancerous, but Rudi is one character from a book released at the height of TDS in the late 2010s, he should be treated as a fly caught in amber.

>>718664768
Peace be with you brother, but I wasn't lamenting the Brand(tm) of VTMB(R). Just pointing out basically the same thing you are. You know what's the best VTMB game nowadays? Cyberpunk 2077. Yeah, there's no vampires, nor are there clans per se, but the feeling and aesthetic is spot on and the jank is just the cherry on top.

>>718664768
I'M A SLAVE TO *IPS* YOU FUCKING NIGGER
I don't give a fuck what Disney is up to or what other scfi-fis that haven't been fucked up I can (briefly) take refuge in, they've otherwise been raping my childhood for a decade now and that alone pisses me off.
I knew it was better. And that by association makes the skinwalker imitation releases all the more abhorrent to me.

>>718662283 (OP)
Thee was even a dutch review i saw that used the translated equivalent of Return to Form.
Are we sure using the phrase wasn't a requirement for receiving a review copy or something like that?
We all know vidya reviewers don't have the balls to refuse.

>>718665173
>>718665026
The little faggot is a main questgiver / DMPC in the book's main module IIRC.
He's also the direct self-insert of one of the main editor's buttbuddies.

>>718665318
>Thee was even a dutch review i saw that used the translated equivalent of Return to Form.
This is the amazing stuff. Perfect proof of inauthenticity.

>>718665296
They want you pissed off, they’re demons that feed off your attention. The only thing you can actually do to fight back is do what the Chuddha proclaims; “that’s gay and cringe, I’m not going to look at that.”

Besides, your childhood should not be brands. That’s how they’re getting you. You played a good game of StarCraft one comfortable summer evening, that shouldn’t mean StarCraft (the brand) was responsible.

>>718665318
>Misinformation is a grave threat to our democracy

>>718665620
Starcraft (the universe) was responsible, you dip. I attach no loyalty to the creators. That perfect storm of gameplay and story stood on its own two legs blizzard's actions were as a third-party to me no matter what they did. Likewise Halo being under 343 makes not an iota of difference to me compared to bungie - or even as a spinoff like Halo Wars. Ruining the image of it as per the TV show fucks up all the cool LAN sessions and childhood lore/ARG discussions by association.

>>718662283 (OP)
>"return to form"
Probably because the marketing department required it to be used. When reviewing things if you get a copy in advance you will get a list of things you have to mention. This was probably on it.
Why it was on it is another debate, but most likely the industry knows that the bigger studios have onboarded too much rot, there is no singular vision in the products they produce, so its all a grey slop that appeals to everyone and thus no one. So a return to form is an easy way to invoke memberberries, selling you a memory and not the reality of a product.

>>718665480
Nobody ever said that module was good, or that Rudi was good. It’s well-understood that 2016-2020 was a hellscape for the tabetop community, mostly because of TDS and every liberal convincing themselves they’re part of a revolution.

That said, this little faggy Gangrel meeting is pretty much what they would look like if you were writing them for the modern day. It sucks but modern society sucks, hence why so many people are checking out.

It’s really funny how cliche the meeting dialogue is though, right down to the only (presumably white and male) character being the buttmonkey in the dialogue.

>>718662283 (OP)
Because shareholders/investors barely pay attention to the videogames, they just look at surface level marketing and surface level feedback.
If too many people complain about being alienated, then the publisher will push out a "return to form" message to drown it out and assuage the shareholders.
This does have some sales advantage for normalfags too, since if they see too many people being unhappy with the game, then they will also be unhappy unless they are told that it is OK to be happy by the corporation (A lot of "recycling" initiatives take advantage of this behavior).

The same thing happens with poor sales and other issues, it's all about keeping the retards happy.

Bethesda does this kind of thing a lot, since a non-zero chunk of their profits are made off of things like literal wage theft, so they just need to keep the ball rolling.

>>718664768
HOLY MOLY APOCALYPTIC TRVKE!

>>718664626
How did we even get here though? Why did no one say "wait, this is supposed to be cool, not gay"?

>>718662283 (OP)
To appease the retards who keep whining about modern games

>>718662283 (OP)
Wave of failures in the industry made them indistinguishable.

>>718664768
>Fallout 1 is leagues better than Fallout 4

Only in a direct comparison as a CRPG. In terms of being an actual game FO4 is more generally entertaining simply due to the direct gameplay itself, but that's simply due to age.

>>718667251
People get old, and fat, and tired. New blood comes in and isn’t taught properly by the fat, tired old bloods. The fat tired oldbloods get replaced, and the new bloods have a slightly skewed vision of what the product should be. This happens to every product and every industry, and it can happen whether the new blood genuinely loves the product or sees it as a paycheck.

What causes this is simple; games are the product of those who made them. Games are art. They’re not a recipe, they’re projects undertaken by people that have a vision and the means to achieve that vision. The only way you can really transfer this is through apprenticeships - which doesn’t necessarily mean the classical sense of the word, but more long association with the vision-holder and an honest effort to understand how they view the world. In a word, it’s wisdom rather than intelligence.

>>718667574
The combat in 4 is boring as fuck though. It's not even a good FPS.

>>718667694
I don't even get how that happens. How do people misinterpret the appeal of vampires so badly?
Dude, it's a power fantasy about being a sexy monster, and skulking around in dark seedy environments. It's not hard.

>>718662283 (OP)
the same (((consultation firm))) that performs ""market research"" is hired by every single AAA dev
no seriously that is the answer
the fish rots from the head, as they say

>>718667574
>FO4 is more generally entertaining
Sure
>but that's simply due to age
Mmm I wouldn't say that myself. There's plenty of tactical RPGs and similar games that Fallout failed to stand up to, in terms of more active gameplay and such
>>718667732
Indeed, but FO1 is just that much worse. Hope you like just standing still and doing Aimed Shots at the eyes for 6 hours because there's basically nothing else to the combat.

>>718662283 (OP)
Game devs are slowly learning that doing the opposite of what players want is actually bad for sales. So they're backpedaling some of the crap people don't like, but because they're game devs they have to add retarded shit anyway. To assure players that they've come to their senses, they throw out phrases like "return to form" to keep legacy players. Modern game franchise development is just trying to balance between keeping old players and going just casual enough to attract zoomers

There is a very prolific narrative that the 90s and 2000s were the golden age of gaming.
"Return to form" or "going back to our roots" or any variation of "it's gonna be like the old ones" is an attempt to appeal to that narrative by saying that they understand it and are trying to make a game like those of that era.

This is a lie, of course. The games of that era were that way because of a combination of small teams, clear vision, minimal corporate/committee meddling, technical limitations, and much smaller budgets.
Games being made today share absolutely none of the development circumstances that made those old games the way they were.

>>718667860
“Common sense” comes from shared cultural experiences and traditions passed down through the ages. What is considered “wisdom” to me might not be “wisdom” to you. A good example is Americans love to clap - why the fuck are they clapping? Who knows, but they have a shared reason for doing it.

The people involved in writing VtM aren’t people like you. They don’t have that baseline on what vampires are meant to be. There’s a thousand different ways we can explain this but they don’t really matter because they turn into the same response; “what the fuck are you doing, this isn’t what vampires are supposed to be.” What you’re experiencing is another culture describing vampires and acting like you share the same view.
>But these people grew up in my country, how could they have a different culture?
Think about this and you will have your answer. They don’t share your culture, they’re “globalists” or “urbanites” or whatever other term you want to use.

>>718668839
It's more how could you remotely think the appeal of vampires has something to do with being a social justice warrior, but I probably just shouldn't ask.

>>718670920
>Vampires are predators that hunt humans
>Vampires hunt humans on the fringe of society
>Vampires are in the fringe of society
>Vampires interact with the fringe of society
>Social Justice is the fringe of society
There you go.

>>718671828
>vampires are monsters who kill humans for food
>don't be a racist tho
???

>>718663061
I actually look like this and say this
>t. 25 year old boomer

>>718662283 (OP)
they know that people are angry with the state of modern gaming, which is mostly a result of wokeness and corporate greed, but the devs don't want to openly acknowledge it so that say buzzwords like yours.

>>718662283 (OP)
You can slap that anywhere, doesn't mean shit and people think it's good cause it's the "authentic shit". 99% of them are kids who only play flavor of the month and live service games. They need to believe they are hardcore gamers somehow, like brand loyalty of sorts, that's why it works. Botw, how are perfect examples.

>>718673710
*Gow

>>718664375
That's what the first VTMB already did.
>Live in california
>Bottom of the social totem pole
>Errand boy of anyone who can pull rank on you (i.e. everyone)
>Any attempts at backsass will quickly get you threatened with death, mind-controlled, or worse
>Most of the quests are lame human affairs or low power WoD shit like spooky ghosts throwing lamps and tin cans at your head
As someone who wasn't in on the trend when VTMB released and only got to play it a few years ago I feel like no less than 40% of its worship comes from the "I was a 13 year old boy when I played it" factor.

>>718675593
Maybe, but you're still doing scary vampire things, and not protesting for trans rights.

>>718663993
>This is dangerous to Our Democracy™

>>718675593
>game starts with a rape scene
>immediately followed by an execution
>first major job involves incest and MPD
>first easy blood is to lure an innocent college girl into a dark corner of a club and rape her
>later job is to listen to recordings in an abondoned mansion about human experimentation
>full on anti-asian racism job
>you encounter a vampire with a gay son, and you can choose whether to help the son escape or kill the gay son AND BOTH CHOICES ARE WELL WRITTEN!
>investigation of snuff studio reveals the culprits are thinly-veiled jewish pornographers who are so disgusting that they're loathed even by vampires
This is pure razor blade kino and you will not even get 1% of this in a current year game

>>718678228
>game starts with a rape scene
Looked like your character was hooking up with someone. You have proof of it being rape?

>>718678798
Maybe it's the nonconsensual bodily penetration?? What's the IQ threshold to comprehend an allegory?

>>718662283 (OP)
because say it enough times and idiots will believe it and buy your shitty game

>>718680286
>transgender headcanon and muh symbolysm
Thanks for confirming you're doing the jew thing where you dump a thousand incoherent non-arguments and hope whoever is arguing with you gives up before disproving them all so you get to feel like you won without actually providing anything of substance. Not gonna bother entertaining the rest of your drivel.

>>718662283 (OP)
Whenever it's used, it means the game is fucked

>>718680467
>trannies on the brain
You should stick to Fortnite