F-15E WIP Update Discussion

[Rodeo]

24 minutes ago, fragal said:

If it's good enough for a youtuber it should be good enough for everyone, the preview phases last for way to long swamp all social modia and suck away any joy anyone had for the module after a while and end up leaving resentment, i get the marketing point of view but market it on a build intended for everyone 1-2 weeks before the release, you have a week or 2 to record  content and release preview vids, people then look forward to the actual release with a few vids to preceed it rather than leaving it open for weeks and being swamped in pointless vids and leaving people feeling like youtubers are releasing vids just to rub people faces in to a product they've already paid for "haha look at what i'm playing and you're not" - call it marketing in moderation

Raz, IMHO, is handling this release poorly. They seem to be following a script that a lot of companies across a lot of small boutique industries do; I know because I’ve been guilty of following the same playbook as well by my customers. What it appears to me is that Raz is following the data and analytics when it comes to choosing YT Content Creators and coordinating directly or indirectly video releases and content… your point on their handling of this release is correct.
 

However having worked with a lot of YT Channels over past decade, and still today, none of them are releasing videos “to rub in people faces”. The top YT Creators, in any industry, put long hours in writing the scripts, creating the content, editing and then all the headaches of dealing with YT to release quality videos. Additionally with F15E and DCS in general think of the time and energy that goes into learning a new module as quickly and professionally as you can to get the best video released ahead of the pack.  That is why someone can not simply enter the content creation world because of data on views and all the analytics companies such as Raz look at and will just ignore or dismiss amateur YT channels; trust me I have my fair share of amateur ask for free products all the time to “review”.

I have great respect for the DCS YT Channels and all that they do for the community.  For many this started as and still is a passion product. Good for them to get Development products to fly and review because it is a fair trade off for their hard work towards all of our collective passion which is DCS.  

[pii]

2 hours ago, Zahnatom said:

and 2+3=5 and the 5th letter of the alphabet is E so its F/15/20E

 

nahh man

x2 +  y2 +  z2 – 3xyz = (x + y + z)(x2 +  y2 +  z2 – xy – yz <2 WEEKz)

Deal with it!

[Fromthedeep]

55 minutes ago, bfr said:

That assumes the version the previewers are getting is release-ready and doesn't come with many 'try this, but whatever you do then don't press x or try to do y' caveats.  The first start-up video that was then rapidly pulled because it was done using the wrong version suggests the current builds are still quite frequent and fluid.  As someone else alluded to in an earlier post, tech demos like that can be made to hide all sorts. We don't know if a 5 minute video took several hours to compile because some bug they're still working on crashed DCS several times along the way of making it and they had to keep starting over.

Then why give it out so early? If the build is truly that bug ridden and unstable, it's not anywhere near release anyway. So what, will we get a different video every day for the next 3 months until it reaches a basic, acceptable level of quality? (Assuming what you said is correct.) That's just as bad as purposely holding back a module that's already playable to generate hype.

[Ignition]

Razbam can show the aircraft in a controlled way with a few youtube people, if there's a bug a crash or wathever is not big deal this way and in the meantime they can fix these bugs before release.

Try to take the best thing of each video even if its just graphics or audio, then read the manual then fly the aircraft.

Don't make the situation bigger than it really is.

[Fromthedeep]

10 minutes ago, Ignition said:

Razbam can show the aircraft in a controlled way with a few youtube people, if there's a bug a crash or wathever is not big deal this way and in the meantime they can fix these bugs before release.

 

Typically in the history of DCS, content creators getting a module indicated that the release is relatively close. This doesn't seem to be the case here at all. Giving access later, closer to release clearly worked well for other devs in the past. I'm not sure why Razbam would change it unless their goal is to put the hype train into overdrive.

[AhSoul]

We don't know how close it is. We're all just speculating.....

[PD919]

33 minutes ago, Fromthedeep said:

Typically in the history of DCS, content creators getting a module indicated that the release is relatively close. This doesn't seem to be the case here at all. Giving access later, closer to release clearly worked well for other devs in the past. I'm not sure why Razbam would change it unless their goal is to put the hype train into overdrive.

Unless they release it by the end of the week/month, they all have it so early that it feels like mockery.  It's mainly the videos of people like GS playing around in it.  If they were dry tutorial videos, I'd feel different.  It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  If I didn't get the extra discount for pre-ordering I wouldn't after seeing it. 

[bfr]

1 hour ago, Fromthedeep said:

Then why give it out so early? If the build is truly that bug ridden and unstable, it's not anywhere near release anyway. So what, will we get a different video every day for the next 3 months until it reaches a basic, acceptable level of quality? (Assuming what you said is correct.) That's just as bad as purposely holding back a module that's already playable to generate hype.

Probably two main reasons to give it out early:

1. To test it in a slightly wider pool than in-house testers and get feedback

2. To get those people to make content and put it out there for marketing and instructional purposes. Also some of them will be making content for the module itself (missions, the manual and so on)

To turn your questions slightly on their head, if the module currently circulating with YT content makers is sufficiently featured and stable for initial public release, what possible benefit would Razbam or ED have in not getting it out ASAP?  After all, there will be a decent chunk of people who will probably end up buying it who are holding off until a date is set in stone or just after release (to gauge initial public feedback). Just sitting on it would be deferring revenue for no good reason that they could have much sooner.

Edited May 23, 2023 by bfr

[AhSoul]

I suggest everyone immediately stops watching YT and reading these forums, and do something else until the ED newsletter says The Eagle Has Landed.

Edited May 23, 2023 by AhSoul

[elchacal]

2 hours ago, pii said:

x2 +  y2 +  z2 – 3xyz = (x + y + z)(x2 +  y2 +  z2 – xy – yz <2 WEEKz)

Deal with it!

[VR Flight Guy in PJ Pants]

How effective are those videos would be?

This thread, at the time of posting, has 120.7K views

The 6 videos made by GS alone are counting 53K + 62K + 69K + 99K + 131K + 136K, I suspect many of them are watched by individual not on this forum. Judging by the view counts alone, even it may not be any way scientific, it sounds like a very good marketing tool. And they are showing mostly what works, except one I am aware of,  and they are not reviewing the product here so I would see them as some form of promotion.

[pii]

4 hours ago, Fromthedeep said:

This doesn't seem to be the case here at all.

Why not? Seems to me they are doing everything to tell us it's close, real close. Giving access to YT creators wasn't the only sign, just the first. I say it's coming soon or at least a final date. lol  

[Agg]

55 minutes ago, pii said:

Why not? Seems to me they are doing everything to tell us it's close, real close. Giving access to YT creators wasn't the only sign, just the first. I say it's coming soon or at least a final date. lol  

Growling Sidewinder did a preview video on the Strike Eagle more than a year ago, so I would't read too much into it. Hopefully it is very close, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Edited May 23, 2023 by Agg

[Letusg345]

17 minutes ago, Agg said:

Growling Sidewinder did a preview video on the Strike Eagle more than a year ago, so I would't read too much into it. Hopefully it is very close, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

He actually has done like 5 more videos with it in the last week, so it is probably very close. 

[Fromthedeep]

18 minutes ago, Letusg345 said:

He actually has done like 5 more videos with it in the last week, so it is probably very close. 

Very close could still be 2-3 months away, which may be close in terms of DCS updates but it's not what I would define close otherwise.

[Letusg345]

9 minutes ago, Fromthedeep said:

Very close could still be 2-3 months away, which may be close in terms of DCS updates but it's not what I would define close otherwise.

Ya, your probably right.

[AhSoul]

Official cold start vid is out which is also encouraging!

Edited May 23, 2023 by AhSoul

[VR Flight Guy in PJ Pants]

Here we go…

[Phantom88]

Now We are getting Somewhere!!!

[VR Flight Guy in PJ Pants]

I think I would watch the RAZBAM's cold start again and again a few more times. I kinda get it is slightly different from the ones before.

[AhSoul]

Did he drop the EA date in the UFC at the end? If so it was 20th July (or just July depending on how you read it)

 

Edited May 23, 2023 by AhSoul

[freehand]

You dedicated fans miss nothing I will give you that.

[Ranucci]

7 hours ago, pii said:

x2 +  y2 +  z2 – 3xyz = (x + y + z)(x2 +  y2 +  z2 – xy – yz <2 WEEKz)

Deal with it!

A precise inequality, my friend. Can't deny math

[FZG_Immel]

59 minutes ago, AhSoul said:

Did he drop the EA date in the UFC at the end? If so it was 20th July (or just July depending on how you read it)

 

 

 

if thats the release date, im gonna be pissed

[Midair]

Me too