RO:HOS in Belgian newspaper

[D3terioNation]

Well we know the content isnt actually offensive. Its just that for the first time you get to play as a german soldier in a single player game.

Being one in MP has been around for years and no-one complains... Anyways just think of the publicity!

 

[Rak]

Well we have a saying in Turkey, "There is not a bad kind of marketing.". These discussions will only benefit Tripwire, if they put their case straight meanwhile.

 

[D3terioNation]

Hey Rak Kryukovo is one of my fav maps ever! You porting to ue3?

 

[Rak]

Hey Rak ]Kryukovo is one of my fav maps ever! You porting to ue3?

I'll see what I can do if I can find the time. Hopefully it'll be back the way it's meant to be played

 

[BlackLabel]

eh as long as you fix the " forest vortex "

Also, i can tell you made that map with a german MG player in mind...

 

[DraKon2k]

Anyway, negative press coverage is still press coverage I guess

Exactly

 

[Sidus Preclarum]

eh as long as you fix the " forest vortex "

Hahaha... Fell into this one a few times

 

[Rak]

Well it could have been worse, in early betas those vortexes could eat up a tank Was fun driving under the map with tank though. Anyway, the idea behind the map was good but the production was really rushed on my part, I accept that

Ok now, on to the topic before we get a warning from mods.

 

[Plattfuss]

So stupid! In germany we have this discussion round the clock!

 

[EddyzAquila]

well though it would throw the game under some bad light, its not exactly like other controversial games haven't done well from it. Think GTA4 or even manhunt which by most reviews is an average game at best but sold lots of copies just because it raised some eyebrows. National tv coverage will only increase sales, unless steam get cold feet but i doubt it somehow.

Yeah but GT4 was known from the past, it had a huge reputation, it sold millions of copies. Manhunt as well - it was so controversial the first edition was sold in countless copies...

If only RO would have that much success...
Come to think of it, I wouldn't want it to be that much of a success. It keeps the small community feel and only veterans play it, no noobs around.

 

[Nestor Makhno]

Come to think of it, I wouldn't want it to be that much of a success. It keeps the small community feel and only veterans play it, no noobs around.

Personally I would rather be playing RO and variants thereof for a long time into the future. So, I am not a noob-hater.

 

[EddyzAquila]

I'm not a noob-hater either, it gives us something to shoot at, but time and time again we see how big companies produce average games because they want more and more people to play it. It's simple economics - $$$ governs.

Unless you're Tripwire Interactive. You don't trip over $$$, and let's hope they continue like this in the future.

 

[Richard_B.]

I am more worried about what our "beloved" rating system - the USK - will do to the next RO title than I am worried about the newspapers.

Does Tripwire already have a publisher for Europe/Germany? Actually, I would really love to hear that TW found a publisher willing to release RO in Germany without any "cutting" (censorship).

Well, on the other hand, I think that RO could be rated "M" ("Ab 18") already just for the fact that you are able to play as a Wehrmacht soldier - what would make any cuttings senseless. Hm...

 

[Fedorov]

I would like to know if there will be swastikas this time, that seems like a huge taboo in every game nowadays, but they were in "Commandos" and they had no problem with it.

 

[[TW]Wilsonam]

For the record (and for the 200th time):

1. To be released in Germany at all, there can be no graphical references to Nazi-related paraphenalia. This means removing swastikas and SS runes for a start. Whether or not it is "silly" is another debate. It is a legal requirement to prevent the game being banned completely in Germany.

2. No publisher is going to release a game into the German market without the "necessary" cuts being made. The reason is simple. If USK takes the view that something is "innappropriate" under the law for the protection of youth, then the game ends up being "indexed". This means that it can be sold - but it cannot be sold openly, on store shelves. It cannot be marketed in any way whatsoever in Germany. This also means that it cannot be reviewed in magazines in the German market. As a result no store will stock it - no store manager is going to try and sell a game that he cannot advertise or even show to a customer.

So long as the USK continues on its own peculiar path, games developers/publishers only have 2 (real) choices:

a) Do what L4D and cut the game down such that it gets an 18+ rating and is not indexed. For Heroes, this MAY involve dropping gore levels. There are no written guidelines for the USK jury - it is down to opinion at the time of their review.

b) Do what Epic did with Gears and just not bother to sell a boxed copy in Germany.

Now, what we do in other markets - those governed by PEGI and ESRB primarily - is another matter. To be honest, I'd be surprised if we are required to cut anything. PEGI rated Ostfront 16+, ESRB rated it 17+. No problem. USK rated Ostrfont 16+ - but only because we made cuts on gore. And we had to remove all swastikas, SS runes etc.

 

[Hackel]

I would like to know if there will be swastikas this time, that seems like a huge taboo in every game nowadays, but they were in "Commandos" and they had no problem with it.

There's not much need to have them in the first place. There's 2 places on the German uniforms that had them, but they're so small you wouldn't notice them unless you really looked closely. The only place you would really notice a swastika is on the tail of a crashed German plane. Other then that there's no other place to have them besides some aesthetic flag on a German command center.