SOE, tell a story with your trailers

Anderz · 2012-06-20, 02:05 AM

Every battle is a story.

That is the angle I wish Planetside 2 would adopt for their marketing, particularly their trailers.

The current trailers simply do not tell a story; they're just a mish-mash of explosions and gunfights, few of which feel as though they belong to the same battle.

But ask any Planetside player "their story" and they'll be able to describe the time they defeated the odds, or the time they were completely outplayed; the epic moments where it all came together or it all fell apart. Hell, I've never even played PS1 and I know this to be true.

So why can't the trailers tell a story like this? A story the highlights the teamwork, the classes, the environment, the factions and the persistent world of Planetside 2.

A trailer, for instance, that begins by showing the calm before the storm, with nothing but the sound of crickets and far off gunfire.
Then the spec ops squad infiltrating in the dead of night, stealth killing any enemy spotters.
Then the tanks and ATVs as they roll in over the hill as the sun rises, leading the charge.
Then the defenders as they spawn in their tubes and run to man the walls.
Then the manned wall turrets bombarding the tanks and troops as they try to breach the walls.
Then the far-off team of snipers who take out the soldiers manning the turrets.
Then the defending MAXes as they hold down the main entrance, their gattling guns making mince meat of the incoming zerg horde.
Then the light assault squad who jump the walls and flank the MAXes in co-ordination with a gunship as it swoops down and finishes them off.
Then a Galaxy dropping in fresh reinforcements, only to be taken out suddenly by the last surviving enemy fighter.
Then the Anti-Air soldier who locks on to the fighters, taking them out.
Then the tanks roll into the base, cleaning up the last of the defenders.
Then the changing of the flags as day turns to night, the battlefield quiet once more.
Then zooms out to show another faction falling into formation behind the mountain ridge, preparing their own attack.
And keeps zooming out to show that this is but one of many battles taking place across Indar, and ultimately Auraxis.

I obviously came up with this on the spot, but I'm sure SOE could do better if they put some thought into it. Heck, they don't even have to do that; just read over the stories of PS1 players and go about recreating their battles in PS2. Anything other than a bunch of soldiers standing in a line and firing at the camera, which then cuts to a random explosion without any context as to who, what, where or why.

Edit: Here is an example of an EXCELLENT story-driven trailer:

Ok, that's enough from me. Rant over.

Bags · 2012-06-20, 02:07 AM

Their latest one was the TR taking over a base~

Reefpirate · 2012-06-20, 02:11 AM

Originally Posted by Bags

Their latest one was the TR taking over a base~

You stole my idea for a reply...

The TR arrived. There was much shooting on both sides. The TR took the base.

However, I do like the OP's idea for a story a lot better.

Anderz · 2012-06-20, 02:16 AM

Originally Posted by Bags

Their latest one was the TR taking over a base~

No, it was randomly compiled footage involving TR soliders, and then a
"Facility Captured" logo to give it false context.

A story, be it in game or in film, requires an understanding of cinematic language; how to frame a shot, how one shot leads to another, how to define characters etc.
Whoever is directing and editing these trailers does not understand that at all.

Check out this excellent machinima for BF3 and you'll see what I mean

This guy gets it. In fact, he makes cinematic trailers for games as a job. Hire him.

The fact that, in PS2, you can customize your appearance also makes telling a story much easier as each player within these trailers can be individually identifiable from one shot to another, making the battle feel more personal and unique. There is so much potential here being wasted.

Bags · 2012-06-20, 02:20 AM

Kinda hard to fit that into a 40 second clip.

zomg · 2012-06-20, 02:21 AM

I would imagine them doing more "cinematic" trailers in the future since they do take much more effort and planning to execute nicely I think.

For some reason I immediately thought of the intro video to Steel Panthers 2 when I thought about a nice video showing (sort of) a "war story" thing. Although it's pieced together from multiple clips, you can still get the feel of the armies preparing and deploying troops and eventually entering combat and so on. Something similar in a style might work I think, to show the variety of roles and the execution of an operation

super pretendo · 2012-06-20, 02:23 AM

You're right, but random gun fight's don't look compelling at all and mischaracterize the game. Nothing looks awesome in any of the gunshootin montage videos. Just reading a random wiki page about the maps or hex system is 100x more epic than generic shooting

Anderz · 2012-06-20, 02:24 AM

Originally Posted by Bags

Kinda hard to fit that into a 40 second clip.

40 seconds is basically a TV spot. A trailer can be -- and often is -- around 2-3 minutes. That's plenty of time to tell a story.

Anderz · 2012-06-20, 02:26 AM

Originally Posted by zomg

I would imagine them doing more "cinematic" trailers in the future since they do take much more effort and planning to execute nicely I think.

For some reason I immediately thought of the intro video to Steel Panthers 2 when I thought about a nice video showing (sort of) a "war story" thing. Although it's pieced together from multiple clips, you can still get the feel of the armies preparing and deploying troops and eventually entering combat and so on. Something similar in a style might work I think, to show the variety of roles and the execution of an operation

Steel Panthers 2 Game (SPWAW) Intro Movie - YouTube

Nice example; another is the intro to BF2, which always got me pumped for a round.

zomg · 2012-06-20, 02:31 AM

Originally Posted by Anderz

Nice example; another is the intro to BF2, which always got me pumped for a round.

Battlefield 2 Intro - YouTube

Yeah that one is definitely a good example of how to do it well. Not to forget the Battlefield theme being the prime example of an epic theme song

Dreamcast · 2012-06-20, 02:32 AM

Im starting to hate the soldiers standing in the open with no cover shooting at each other trailers....I mean srsly?

This last trailer wasn't as bad as the first so they are getting better.

I would love for soldiers to take a little bit more cover and be more spread out.

I know they want to show big battles but thats not the way you do it.

It looks like a futuristic 1800 war where soldiers just stand in the open and shoot.

Nemises · 2012-06-20, 02:38 AM

..well, lets face it, that's semi realistic for what 90% of the masses will be doing anyways :P

Having said that, I agree with the OP in terms of the SOE official video media being pretty un exciting / un inspiring...not that I would know how to do it either.

Anderz · 2012-06-20, 02:39 AM

Originally Posted by zomg

Yeah that one is definitely a good example of how to do it well. Not to forget the Battlefield theme being the prime example of an epic theme song

The best theme. Me and my friends hum along to it regularly when drunk

Dreamcast · 2012-06-20, 02:43 AM

I am assuming battlefield 1942.....Because thats the best intro out of all the battlefields.

Anderz · 2012-06-20, 02:45 AM

Originally Posted by Dreamcast

I am assuming battlefield 1942.....Because thats the best intro out of all the battlefields.

True, but it's not in-game footage. The point of this post is show that SOE don't need to hire a CGI team to make an engaging trailer when they have everything they need already.