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The all-things-Tex Murphy: Tesla Effect thread

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Completed the game and loved it. Here are my five questions to Mr Cobbett and PC Gamer that need urgent answers.

1] Given that Mr Cobbett sponsored Tesla Effect’s development on kickstarter, is PCG sufficiently satisfied that his review is free from an undue conflict of interest?
 
2] If so, what measures were taken to alleviate further conflict of interest given that Mr Cobbett also 1] Expressly set out on a mission to overturn PCG’s prior verdicts of the Tex Murphy series, as he said so himself, and 2] Personally requested that the TE review is assigned to him?

3] Given all the above, did Mr Cobbett’s further self-expressed belief that TE would be better than Pandora Directive (AG’s 9th best adventure of all time) create unrealistically high expectations for an FMV game that was made on a meager budget and a very tight development schedule?

4] Did Mr Cobbett’s disregard of TE’s $20 price tag break PC Gamer precedent that factors in a game’s pricing point in its review score?

5] Is Mr Cobbett’s opinion of TE impossible to overturn, even if proved objectively false, given that admitting he has erred would, in his mind, discredit his review and make him look like an incompetent video games journalist?

     
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I don’t think Kickstarter support is a conflict of interest in the way that traditional investment is, because there’s no financial benefit to be gained or lost. I don’t really think it’s a problem.

Anyone can have unrealistic hopes or expectations for a title, and ultimately, it’s up to the reviewer to try to write for their audience, rather than for themselves in every review, regardless of the circumstances.

I also disagree that price should factor into a review. A reviewer should review the product on its own merits, and leave the reader to make value judgements. $20 to me might be a lot, and to you might be very little or vice versa. That’s for the consumer to decide.

     

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Completely agreed. The aforementioned issues, however, continue to persist. Namely:

1] Mr Cobbett does not write for an audience, in so far as his reviews are personalized opinion pieces that encompass one and only one (his) point of view. This is something he openly admits. Consequently, unrealistically high expectations (or any other opinion/state of mind) are never checked or cross examined against a third party, thus affecting the entire nature of the review.

2] PCG traditonally takes into account a game’s price point into the review score. Whether we agree or disagree with this is not important. The issue is that of breaking precedent.

3] Funding the game on kickstarter is different to financially investing in it. Does this, then, completely eliminate any conflict of interest? Or is the nature of the conflict still present but changed? Randy Cohen, who wrote the NYT Ethicist column for 12 years, states, “I think you’ve got the ethics of journalism issue just right: You can contribute to any worthy cause as long as it’s not something you cover [ie review].” The topic is too complex to discuss in all its facets, but it does bring up seemingly tangible ethical concerns that, in principal, ought to be disclosed and addressed. Meanwhile, from reading PCG, it is very difficult to even access the information that Mr Cobbett was a TE backer in the first place.

     
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Goldfish95 - 27 September 2014 09:28 AM

1] Mr Cobbett does not write for an audience, in so far as his reviews are personalized opinion pieces that encompass one and only one (his) point of view. This is something he openly admits.

All reviews are subjective, that’s not exclusive to this Mr. Cobbett. Every review ever written was a personal opinion piece by the writer. Some writers try to be more objective in their approach (and keep their audience in mind), but true objectiveness is not achievable, simply because the review will always be based on the reviewer’s subjective opinion…

And if a reviewer has any journalistic integrity, then reviewing a game he/she has backed shouldn’t make any difference (and if it does, it’ll show quickly enough)...

     

The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka

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I don’t think Mr Cobbett needs to address any of these questions (issues?) urgently, if at all.

While some would disagree with the means in which the review was ultimately presented (citing various points), it does not really matter as it has been published and referenced, and we should just soak it up, learn from its message and move on. In fact: when these concerns were initially voiced, Mr Cobbett came here and addressed them directly with users in this thread (myself included), at which point we all came to a respectful and mutual understanding. As a result I learned from the experience, which I think is a positive thing regardless or how the review went down. 

Personally, I cannot disagree with the content of the review itself, as it addressed many things that were valid, whether they were positive or negative in nature.

     
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TimovieMan - 27 September 2014 01:32 PM

All reviews are subjective, that’s not exclusive to this Mr. Cobbett. Every review ever written was a personal opinion piece by the writer. Some writers try to be more objective in their approach (and keep their audience in mind), but true objectiveness is not achievable, simply because the review will always be based on the reviewer’s subjective opinion…

Subjectivity is not really the point. A review is inherently a subjective opinion piece, but a good reviewer is obliged to give the reader the information they need to draw their own conclusions.

This doesn’t mean that a review shouldn’t state the reviewers conclusions and opinions, just that he should write about all the factors that are important to his reader. Ideally, I can read a negative review for a game, and still come away with the opinion that it suits my personal tastes, even if it doesn’t the reviewers, because the reviewer has adequately described the aspects of it that I’d enjoy.

     
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Tesla Effect is currently part of the Humble Bundle! Pay what you want for a DRM-free download of Tesla Effect and $1 or more for a Steam key. If you wanted to try the game and haven’t yet, now is the chance. This bundle also includes some other cool games, such as deep psychological adventure game, Always Sometimes Monsters, and an RPG by Daedalic.

https://www.humblebundle.com/

     

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Thats a nice bundle. Blackguards is a heavy content nicely crafted rpg.

     
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There are really cases where games come in bundles way too early. I can’t imagine what Big Finish Games gain by having it part of a bundle and available below the average so soon after it’s been released. In some cases, it makes sense because it’s a good way to get people to buy the next game but this time?

I was a backer for Tesla Effect and still didn’t get to playing it (wanted to replay all the previous games before), I don’t regret backing but still a bit suprised…

     

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well if hype around the game has totally died out (and in this case i think it has).. then a bundle can get people paying attention to the game again. And then even after the bundle is over more people might be made aware of it.

     
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The problem is that by teaching people that their game will be available 5 month later for one dollar, they teach people to wait and not give in to the hype resulting in a race to the bottom. I can understand being part of the bundle as part of the games people get if they beat the average but for a recent game being available at $1 is crazy.

     
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From their point of view, selling several hundred thousand copies of their game at 50c each (or whatever their cut is) is probably a whole lot better than selling a small handful of full price games. It’s a tough one but that’s just the state of game sales nowadays—really only hardcore fans purchase games at full price, while everyone else waits for the price drop they feel comfortable with.

     

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giom - 11 November 2014 07:13 PM

The problem is that by teaching people that their game will be available 5 month later for one dollar, they teach people to wait and not give in to the hype resulting in a race to the bottom. I can understand being part of the bundle as part of the games people get if they beat the average but for a recent game being available at $1 is crazy.

its crazy but thats how things are, particularly for recent games that arent getting enough exposure.
A large % of fans still buy day 1 anyway because of the culture of “i played it first” infects gamers so much.
Possibly its smaller indies that really get the short end of the stick, and people are more willing to wait it out for sales. Which is also crazy.. since its the indies that are priced much lower to begin with.

     
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giom - 11 November 2014 07:13 PM

The problem is that by teaching people that their game will be available 5 month later for one dollar, they teach people to wait and not give in to the hype resulting in a race to the bottom. I can understand being part of the bundle as part of the games people get if they beat the average but for a recent game being available at $1 is crazy.

Yes, this puzzles me also. I don’t think we’ve ever had a production of this size being released to Humble Bundle 5 months after release?

     
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subbi - 12 November 2014 04:18 AM

Yes, this puzzles me also. I don’t think we’ve ever had a production of this size being released to Humble Bundle 5 months after release?


the problem is that Tesla Effect, while a good game, is most likely very hard sell to everyone else outside the circle of people who either love FMV or are already familiar with the character. I don’t think that even the most recent GOG and Steam sales have been that huge hits for it, so in order to make revenue this is the best way, as they will propably make more, or at least just as much from this than they have done from sales.

     

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