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[Neonivek]

Fantastic feedback guys! If I wasn't so smart cheap broke busy, I would put you on the payroll.

Ahhh, one of my dream jobs.

Unfortunately it isn't one I have a talent for.

[Delta Foxtrot]

I really enjoyed the Crusader Kings 2 launch trailer.
A nice mix of light gameplay and some context/narrative to make it easy for the viewer to "get" what is happening on the screen. I'd imagine it's easier to pull off if you have some nice emergent gameplay that practically writes itself.

Trailers that are just cinematics usually get a pass from me. I want the trailer to leave me with a feel of what the game is like.

[nenjin]

Trailers that are just cinematics usually get a pass from me. I want the trailer to leave me with a feel of what the game is like.

Normally I feel this way, especially about AAA games where they're practically movies already.

But on the other hand, a good cinematic trailer can grab me in a way that just slamming screens and incidental music and buzz-words/feature points won't. Do not discount the value of interestingly arranged visuals and a killer soundtrack.

I mean, consider Darkest Dungeon's initial trailer. What was actually a story-like example of gameplay was interpreted purely as a cinematic. Would Darkest Dungeons have grabbed a body's attention the same way, if it had just been screens of action, broken up by black screens with white text shouting WE DO THIS THING.....(gameplay) AND THIS.....(gameplay) CATCHY TAGLINE. I don't think so. Especially if they hadn't had dat narrator.

Sometimes expressing the tone and the vision of the game is more important than expressing the gameplay. I always want to know exactly what a game looks like, but rarely do I make a final decision about gameplay just from a trailer. That's why I always want to read people's impressions, because they'll explain actual gameplay in a way that trailers never will. (Also I don't really do LPs.)

Tone though....tone is something I think you can establish quickly from even bad trailers. And so when someone sets the tone for their game in a way that just grabs my imagination (Hotline Miami), I'm willing to believe that their gameplay has the same level of craft and thoughtfulness.

[hemmingjay]

Here is a sample track to the epic and exclusive soundtrack for Arms Dealer by composer Eoin Forker a.k.a. Elyssius                                       
http://picosong.com/CnTQ/     It's not my favorite, but it was the first or second that he wrote for the game. There are 15 tracks on the soundtrack, all instrumental, about 6 are what I would call epic, only one of them is distracting to me, the rest have made working on the game through the night with headphnes a joy.

[nenjin]

If I close my eyes and imagine the game that'd be on with this music, I'd think an RTS. It's got that syncopation that makes you think of things doing stuff. A little intense maybe for what looks like a menu-based text game, but, it's definitely got flavor and works for the kind of gameplay you'd be doing (rapidly reading information, making choices.)

[hemmingjay]

It's a little intense for normal gameplay, I believe I am going to use it for either the intro credits or maybe the marketing materials. I find that there is one other song that breaks my immersion and causes me to pay attention to the soundtrack rather than be carried by it. I am also one of those people who turns the music off after playing a game for more than 20-40 hours and either replace it with my own or have nothing on.

Most of the music is somewhat soothing, with classical inspiration meeting a slightly futuristic vibe to create the sort of atmosphere a wealthy intellectual but dangerous man of the near future might listen to.

[Anvilfolk]

I might go for mostly gameplay footage with maybe a campaign-related story as a voice-over. If you do a trailer with lots of story and action, people might assume that's the experience they're going to get out of the game, which is not exactly right. Once their expectations aren't met, that'll leave them with a bad aftertaste and a potentially less than stellar reputation. All due to a small misunderstanding?

Just my 2 cents. Which are definitely not worth much, since I'm not well versed in the ways of commerce!

[Fikes]

Definitely game play. I love a good story or cinematic, but when I stumble onto a game with a cool logo or name, I want to see a video of what it is like. This is especially true for a game that is in an under represented genre like yours. Think of a farming game. It could be like Farmville (a Facebook type game) or Farming Simulator (boring) or Harvest Moon (awesome). You wouldn't know for sure if all you got was a story.

My other preferred option would be a mix of both; a good voice over of game play. "Libya contacted me today... they are looking for an assault rifle to equip a militia for around $1000 dollars." (screen shows game play of the request system) "The Kalashnikov would be prefect (screen shows the art you put so much time and money into), but the manufacturer is getting a lot of heat from the UN." (screen shows the criminal justice system).

[Sensei]

Mostly cinematic would be the most eye-catching. However, you should have enough gameplay footage in there that people are clear on what kind of game it is.

[hemmingjay]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Seems like I have a good idea of the best directions.

My opinions on customer relations just got me in trouble. Within minutes of making a post about abusive developer behavior I received 2 notices. One was that I am banned from the Sniper 3 Elite forum and the other is that Valve is reviewing my post and action may be taken, lol.

Sniper Elite 3 is $50 and has $27 of Day 1 DLC. TO be "fair" $9 of it was a pre-order bonus for some people. I wrote:
"Season passes are for ♥♥♥♥♥s. Paying now for unknown content later that may(probably will) suck is a complete absence of common sense. Further, paying for any DLC that is offered the same day that the game is released is masochistic. You are telling these companies that you enjoy the way they are abusing you. This is a clear and concise message from the management of this company that they do not respect you and when you buy the DLC that ABSOLUTELY should have been part of the game itself, you are telling them you don't respect yourself either.

I am a developer. I could very easily have a secondary team create DLC while the primary team finishes my latest game. If I respected my customers I could either include it in the game as part of the already high purchase price, or I could wait and release it in a month. If I did it right away I would be openly sharing my disdain for my audience and implying that they are too stupid to realize what I did. I would never do that. I don't think any of the developers on the team agree with the DLC practice either. It's a sh!t move by an overzealous, short sighted executive in the firm.

When you are done paying for Day 1 DLC take $5 and go down to the park and pay a homeless person to p!ss on you. Its extra content that you shouldn't have to pay for, but since you like to pay for the priveledge of being degraded you might as well do some good."      Admittedly it was a little excessive. I can't live without passion and I won't live without integrity.

[nenjin]

Yeah, unfortunately, going from regular game to dev is like going from regular person to a public figure. Suddenly you can't state your opinion without possible repercussions.

[Anvilfolk]

To be fair, you used fairly strong and offensive language, even if the message is accurate

[hemmingjay]

I agree with the ban wholeheartedly. I certainly had no aspirations to remain a member of any community they preys upon it's fanbase openly. I'm not trying to come off holier than though, I just think that there are a couple of golden rules that you should never break in business and yet in the game industry we seem to through out those expectations of basic decency.

[Neonivek]

While I don't personally agree with the ban, I don't disagree with it.

While I wholeheartedly believe that people have the right to complain about a product EVEN on the forums for said product (after all negative feedback can be important) and even if you just signed up to complain I have no issue, you were very confrontational and constantly insulted them and their methodology. It was really up to them whether to turn the other cheek or ban you for pretty much trying to escalate a complaint to a fight.

Here is just a rewrite for how I would write yours, and I probably wouldn't get banned for it. (though I am not a developer.)

Season Passes are rip-offs. Time and time again they simply are in game content stripped from the game and resold to the consumer who have no knowledge as to whether it is any good. I feel like all this DLC could have either been put inside the game at launch or released earlier in one big pack rather then gated content and I feel like I am being preyed upon, as if I lacked basic intelligence. Heck, you even could have created a secondary team dedicated to making sure this DLC was unique and original content instead of just shifting your assets around.

I am very disappointed.

Mind you I'll laugh if this would likely get me banned too... but I didn't want to entirely eliminate the outrage (because honestly when you are mad you want to do mad writing)

[10ebbor10]

The problem with expletive language is that you give them another argument against you. They can maintain they didn't ban you because of your views, but because of behavior.

If you don't give them such an argument, their repression will be seen for what it is.