Suggestions important?

[dethklok]

Were our suggestions just there to get us excited or did HMX really look at them and pick them from there? What are you thoughts? I just think that HMX looked at them, but didn't really pay attention to them. I know a lot of us had great songs that are not in the list (not saying the list is not great). I just wish to see some kind of Disturbed, SOAD, or RHCP. That would really be awesome.

[admanimal]

I'm sure they took them into consideration, not just for the game but more importantly for DLC.

[sporkBrigade]

Realistically, it's both. Getting us to post setlists is a great way to keep us interested in Rock Band over the long term, but at the same time, there's no reason not to take information gathered from the Forums and use it to your advantage. However, fact is, user input always has to be balanced against deadlines/cost/time/etc.

The most important thing to keep in mind on user input from a developers side, it's very unlikely that they're taking each list and pouring over them in detail. They're not going to look at your list, see that you really really like Distrubed and go "Wow, this guy has great taste in music. We're totally taking his suggestions." Not that I was there, but if I had to venture a guess, it's more along the lines of "Wow, we pulled 100 random posts, and 63 percent of them requested a weezer song. We'll try to get some weezer going."

And now I guess they have that advisory board going. No way knowing whether they'll be paying any attention to these forums in the future as far as music selection is concerned.

[Kang_Zircon]

Didn't the Ramones song get changed? I think something like that may have been a result of popular demand. Other issues like DLC pricing and bundle options/pricing are things they're probably looking at and are actually considering the user input from the forums.

[Coldplayer]

Well, none of the many songs I suggested is in the game so far.

But, think about it, they probably got 1000 of suggestions, how should they decide what songs are in the game?
I actually don't know how they decide such things. I know they have some kind of jury (we remember the announcement), but everyone has different music tastes after all.

I think they look at the songs and bands that were suggested the most and if they find songs everyone likes and almost everyone agrees with having in the game they probably get into the game. Others may become DLC someday.

I'm sure they look into this forum too. But I can't really say how they decide what band or song is going to be taken in consideration.

[Electric_Zen]

I doubt they had much effect on the 40 songs that shipped on disk, but I suspect it has a big effect on DLC.

If they take the top 20 most requested songs off that form, there is a guaranteed revenue stream in getting those up for DLC, and it helps them prioritize their licensing efforts.

[Sons_of_Kyuss]

You have to realize they can't give everyone what they want, so of course a lot of people will be disappointed. I want Kyuss, Corrosion of Conformity, and Electric Wizard really bad, but will I get them? Seriously doubt it.

[dethklok]

I know they can't give everyone what they want, I'm just hoping that some of those bands show up. They are my favorites. I also love the setlist and can't wait to play it, i like most of those songs. What you guys are saying about DLC is true, maybe most of the suggestions could be DLC...

Who besides me would love to play "Brianstorm" by Arctic Monkeys on drums?

[Rock_Starman]

I'm pretty sure they do. They did with GH at least.

[sa_nick]

Dont Fear the Reaper made it in, I think a bunch of ppl voted for that.

I voted for a couple of NIN songs, neither of which were Hand That Feeds, but hey they got the band right.

[ThePaska]

They definitely take all our suggestions into consideration, and I would not be surprised to see a lot of the songs people requested show up as DLC.

[Sons_of_Kyuss]

You also have to think that they want to be a little selfish, and do some of their own favorite music. I know that if I were them, I would listen to my employees, as well as the fans.

[Akaymay]

They obviously can't take EVERYONE'S suggestions.

For me, I'd be happy as hell to see the game completely full of AC/DC, Guns N Roses, and Van Halen. But obviously, a lot of people would resent the game if that happened. Everyone has different taste in music. And one person saying "Hey Harmonix, can you put all my favorite songs in the game, just for me?" is completely ridiculous

Everyone wants different stuff in there, so they try to take the best of each type of rock, so everyone is happy. Because any classic rock fan cannot say that they don't like Don't fear the Reaper, or Tom Sawyer. Then a lot of people like Nirvana, so they're happy.

Trust me, it is NOT easy to please everyone when it comes to something this huge. That's why GH:Rocks the 80's sold so horribly. A lot of GH fans don't like classic rock. I was totally pleased by it. A lot of people hated it.

Harmonix has to make a game that EVERY Rock fan likes.

[Magnet]

That's why GH:Rocks the 80's sold so horribly.

Where do people get this kind of information? Do they just make it up? The fact of the matter is, 80s held the honor of having the highest first-day sales in the entire history of Activision.

[Akaymay]

Where do people get this kind of information? Do they just make it up? The fact of the matter is, 80s held the honor of having the highest first-day sales in the entire history of Activision.

I said that wrong. I meant that people were very disappointed. It sold great, but a lot of people didnt like it much.

[Bobalicious93]

Who besides me would love to play "Brianstorm" by Arctic Monkeys on drums?

Hell Yeah! but i think this would be better on drums: <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GF978AgLyaY"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GF978AgLyaY" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

[jlc510]

I think people are putting too much faith in DLC. I remember the DLC for whatever reasons was a huge disapointment for GH2. I don't think the DLC will be as disapointing in RB as it was in GH2, but I'm just going to wait and see what they actualy do with the DLC in regards to putting in songs that people want to play before I get excited. I don't think the forums do much for what HMX is putting into this game. If they wanted real suggestions on what fans want to play, than they'd look at Frets On Fire and the custom songs put into the guitar hero games. In my opinion, those are the more popular songs that people want play in these games, otherwise people wouldn't take the effort and the risk to put them in those games.

[Bakkster_Man]

I'm pretty sure they do. They did with GH at least.

Exactly. GH2 had tons of improvements based on suggestions.


Trust me, it is NOT easy to please everyone when it comes to something this huge. That's why GH:Rocks the 80's sold so horribly. A lot of GH fans don't like classic rock. I was totally pleased by it. A lot of people hated it.

GH:80s wasn't disappointing to people who don't like classic rock, they were disappointed by the new-wave/synth-pop that didn't really fit into the rock genre.

And disliking classic rock is a minority opinion from what I've seen: basically your metal-heads ("WTF, not enough metal") and middle-schoolers ("OMG, My Chemical Romance"). They may be the most vocal, but remember that the largest video-game demographic is the 25-44 year olds (http://www.games-advertising.com/demographics.html). Teenagers are just more vocal, more opinionated, and more likely to have nothing better to do than forum-troll.


I think people are putting too much faith in DLC. I remember the DLC for whatever reasons was a huge disapointment for GH2. I don't think the DLC will be as disapointing in RB as it was in GH2, but I'm just going to wait and see what they actualy do with the DLC in regards to putting in songs that people want to play before I get excited.

If they put Who's Next for DLC they've basically matched all of GH2s DLC. Also, Who's Next can be bought as a full album or individually (also an improvement). So it can only get better.

I can see why you wouldn't expect the moon from them. Again, I wouldn't pin it on HMX's fault. I can foresee EA
mucking everything up...