Is not advertising the online end a smart move?

[tadp0le]

I am at a 50/50 split with this. Part of me thinks it is great. It allows people to explore things and enjoy the online end of the game for themselves. It also doesn't take away from the main story and the key selling point of the game. On the other hand, some people may be more inclined to play the game if they see that they can have fun online with friends after they finish the story. What do you guys think?

[mizTik]

They want the focus to be on the story. That is the selling point. It is a bonus if the online ends up being enjoyable. Most award winning best sellers are solo campaigns with rich story and emotional drive similar to a good movie. 

[Jamesie]

No doubt that the online modes are going to have a strong focus if they intend to replicate anything that GTA V online has been doing but I suspect they might also be scared a little of detracting from GTA V (they must surely be cracking a nice little sum of money from it if they continue pushing new content for it).

Online modes are definitely a draw and a nice cherry on top for any game that already includes a decent single-player campaign so I expect the marketing (when they eventually get around to it) to focus on it a little closer to release just to push those on the fence to jump in sooner rather than later.

[CrabApples]

I never heard of games like this putting much focus on the online end of a game until after the game is out. They want to remind people it is there and encourage people to get on the servers. I don't think it matters that they don't market for it now. It would be silly to do so specially if they stick to keeping it closed for the first 2 weeks like what was rumored. 

[HIGHHorse]

On 4/28/2018 at 7:30 PM, CrabApples said:

I never heard of games like this putting much focus on the online end of a game until after the game is out. They want to remind people it is there and encourage people to get on the servers. I don't think it matters that they don't market for it now. It would be silly to do so specially if they stick to keeping it closed for the first 2 weeks like what was rumored. 

That is what I was thinking. And is that like a legit thing that was mentioned about the online servers being closed for the first 2 weeks? 

[Gh0stRyder]

There is no reason to advertise for the online end of any game before the game is out unless that is a key selling point. While GTA V Online had amazing success, it still wasn't the selling point of the game. They want the story to be appreciated. That is what most devs would be putting their hard work into the game for. For these kinds of games, it hardly makes a difference because the online end is just a feature or a "bonus" to buying the game. 

[Jamesie]

9 hours ago, Gh0stRyder said:

There is no reason to advertise for the online end of any game before the game is out unless that is a key selling point. While GTA V Online had amazing success, it still wasn't the selling point of the game. They want the story to be appreciated. That is what most devs would be putting their hard work into the game for. For these kinds of games, it hardly makes a difference because the online end is just a feature or a "bonus" to buying the game. 

Unfortunately that was the only time they focused on the story/single-player component and while they may have wanted the story to be appreciated I feel they focused far too much on the online component post release and pretty much the only place they've put any work into since then.

I think this is why some of us are a little worried, sure we'll get a kick-ass story and they most likely won't worry too much about marketing the online mode just yet but what about post release?

Anyway none of that is going to get me down at this point especially since today is trailer day!

[liquidfire]

I don't think it matters for people who were fans of RDR. You are going to want to play the storyline of this new one and the online won't make or break the game. I can see it being an issue for new fans. Maybe if they see a strong online game, they may be more inclined to buy but I really don't know. I don't care. I know I will be buying RDR2 and enjoying it. 

[bluntTR4P]

8 hours ago, Jamesie said:

Unfortunately that was the only time they focused on the story/single-player component and while they may have wanted the story to be appreciated I feel they focused far too much on the online component post release and pretty much the only place they've put any work into since then.

Yeah I got this a lot from GTA V. There were issues within the game that they ignored or took forever to fix yet they would fix things online all the time. To me, they kind of over saturated it to the point where it became boring. That was to me at least. I know a lot of people still enjoy the game. I was bored with it after 3 months and had to take a break.

[Skrylaxx]

On 4/27/2018 at 1:04 AM, tadp0le said:

Part of me thinks it is great. It allows people to explore things and enjoy the online end of the game for themselves.

This is the most logical reason not to oversaturate people with online end content in ads. They did do pushes for GTA V online but it wasn't in the beginning when the game first game out. 

[LinXX]

I think this depends on the game. They don't really need to push for it. People who plan on getting the game already know it will be there and for new people to the franchise, it will be a great surprise. This is assuming the online mode is good lol

[Suck3rPunch3d]

There is no need to advertise that at all this year. They can wait till they start dropping DLC to advertise it around. I would imagine that since the game comes out late October, we won't see any DLC till January... maybe a Christmas pack or something in December. 

[GatoNegro]

On 5/5/2018 at 1:09 PM, Suck3rPunch3d said:

There is no need to advertise that at all this year. They can wait till they start dropping DLC to advertise it around. I would imagine that since the game comes out late October, we won't see any DLC till January... maybe a Christmas pack or something in December. 

I think you are right. I mean for me, I won't give two craps about the online end until I have completed the campaign. I am sure they will advertise it though soon as it is active. Maybe a week or so after the release but maybe not. This is a late year release so you never know.

[TheWordIsMarcHD]

We're not close enough to the release to expect online. They did the same tactic with GTAO. And it's possible RDRO could be set a week or two back from the actual single player experience like that of GTA And GTAO which had a two week separation.

[Anc1entC0re]

It isn't something they will focus on because they won't have to. The online end of the game will likely sell itself. 

[liquidfire]

On 5/29/2018 at 7:17 PM, Anc1entC0re said:

It isn't something they will focus on because they won't have to. The online end of the game will likely sell itself. 

Basically what I said. I am sure they will pump out some ads for it in the future but they likely learned their lesson with wasting all that money on ads for the original release season.