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Game Company Threatening Fans
Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2017 8:48 pm
by Hargan
Yes, a sensationalistic title, but.... unfortunately not an untrue one.
Atlus, creators of the Persona series and Persona 5 released a fun statement, including, and I quote:
"...
If you decide to stream past 7/7 (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND NOT DOING THIS, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED), you do so at the risk of being issued a content ID claim or worse, a channel strike/account suspension."
http:/
/atlus.com/note-persona-5-streaming/
So, just a curious question, and considering how some other games tried to hide their juicy details, what's your opinion on this?
Re: Game Company Threatening Fans
Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2017 9:10 pm
by Rakuen Growlithe
After they sell the game that should be it. They should (generally) not be able to dictate how people engage with the game or if they want to stream and so forth. Automatic content recognition systems and automatic enforcement of blocks or account takedowns is a major problem that people are not addressing or, when it is addressed, it goes in the wrong direction. This is not surprising since the companies are the ones with the money.
You can read here about more of this sort of rubbish.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/04/l ... -takedowns
Re: Game Company Threatening Fans
Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2017 9:21 pm
by Leeward
I don't understand what exactly it is they're telling users not to stream... is it to avoid spoilers or something?
Re: Game Company Threatening Fans
Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2017 9:23 pm
by Rakuen Growlithe
Leeward wrote:I don't understand what exactly it is they're telling users not to stream... is it to avoid spoilers or something?
I think that's what he means, see last sentence. But it's still silly. You don't accidentally watch a person play through a game so the spoiler risk is basically zero. Even if you banned streaming, you can't ban writing about it or talking about it. Maybe it just wasn't meant seriously.
Re: Game Company Threatening Fans
Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2017 7:49 am
by jacojerb
I saw a vid about this on The Know this morning... And I'm actually surprised people are making such a fuss about it.
I don't really know anything about the game in question, but I'm assuming it's very story-based. A lot of effort goes into such things, and that people can legally get the whole story experience for free, by watching a streamer play it, is actually something a lot of people overlook...
Why are gamers just taking it for granted? It's actually a big deal that most games allow people to stream the entirety of it.
Noone would argue that streaming a movie is bad, and obviously illegal. So why is it less bad with story-based game, where half of the reason people play it is for the story?
They still let you stream some of it, just not all of it. In my opinion, it's really fair enough. They don't have to let people essentially give away a major part of their product.
Re: Game Company Threatening Fans
Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2017 8:41 am
by Rakuen Growlithe
The game is not just a story, there is the interactive part as well. People who would get the story but don't want to play are not the people that would buy the game anyway. And the streaming is not all about the game, just like with reaction videos, it's about the person who reacts and shares things with the viewer. It's a totally separate experience.
Streaming a movie is very different because a movie has no interactive aspect. Streaming a movie is the same no matter if it's official or unofficial. However, there is a difference if the movie stream is adding commentary to the movie and that should absolutely be okay. It's also not the case that streaming a movie is inherently bad, there are many good reasons for streaming a movie.
Re: Game Company Threatening Fans
Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2017 9:37 am
by jacojerb
Realise why I said the story is "half the reason people play". Yes, it isn't the only reason, by far, but in many games, it's a big reason why people play the game.
You can argue that people who watch streams aren't people who were likely to buy the game anyway. That's my reasoning for piracy. Doesn't make it right
You can argue that you're watching it for the streamer, not the game... They can play something else anyway. I generally don't watch let's plays of story based games. Mostly of roguelikes and fps's, where every playthrough of the game is different, or otherwise I just watch the first bit to see how the gameplay and such is, looking at weather I want the game
If you're gonna watch the whole game being played, you're seeing the entire works of a game company/developer. Maybe not experiencing it, as someone who plays it does, but still seeing it. And they're not getting a cent for it, apart from the streamers copy of it
There is no reason why they must allow this, no reason to complain when they don't allow this.
Re: Game Company Threatening Fans
Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2017 9:46 am
by Sev
So is this before or after release?
If it's a prerelease review copy, then I can at least see where they are coming from.
Re: Game Company Threatening Fans
Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2017 9:50 am
by Faanvolla
From a person who works on game marketing:
Ok! Time for game marketer hot takes on the Persona 5 streaming policy, and on streaming narrative games in general. Thread will ensue.
P5 has two layers to the narrative emotional rewards for players. 1) linear meta story, and 2) customised, interpersonal protagonist r/ships.
This is very similar to modern Telltale titles. Their policy is to evangelise streaming and LPs, even hosting them as a company & at events.
Even if P5 meta story beats are shown (reward type 1), players who watched a stream will still have reward type 2, their personalised run.
Telltale understands this, and the P5 streamer policy shows the Japanese parent company doesn't get that yet.
If you are worried about streamers spoiling your linear meta narrative, we have seen no data or research to suggest it harms sales.
Games marketing is greatly helped by virality (k factor). Streamers offer great k factor, at very little investment - don't muzzle them.
The fear that there are heaps undecided of players that will actively & carefully consume your game 'for free’ via streaming is not reality.
Streaming is a new version of visiting a friends house, falling in love with what you played together, and you buy a copy for yourself too.
There are many players that won't buy P5 for a lot of reasons. By watching a stream, they may remember to buy it later, or even make fanart.
Find ways to work w content creators that doesn’t come from a place of trying to stifle them. It's ineffective & hurts your brand perception
Don’t prevent players doing something they enjoy - especially when that activity can bring new players to your titles. Streaming won't hurt.
That's all for now. Thank you for reading, I summarised a lot here but you can tweet or email me if you want to discuss this!
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