I hope that Divinity 2 will make a "Boom" like The Witcher did.
Very little advertising, only quality stuff. If the game has quality, reviews all around the internet will do the rest.
There is a serious lack of good RPGs these days and Divinity 2 will be a nice surprise.

Well, when I first heard of this game here in the US I thought it looked interesting enough, but I had too many other games I was anticipating more. However, the other day I just decided to read up on Divinity 2 while I had the spare time. Wow, was I ever suprised at how fantastic the game looked and sounded.

To me, it looks like what Oblivion, Fable and Lair should have been all rolled into one, yet still retains it's own distinct identity from both an artistic and gameplay perspective. Now it is my most anticipated game, right along with Dragon Age from almighty Bioware. It even looks better to me in some regards.

What really baffles me, though, is the fact that so many here are unaware of this game and what a gem it indeed appears to be. So many disappointments, such as with games like Fable 2 that clearly did not deserve the scores it recieved. I know there are legions of RPG fans here in the us like me that feel the same and would go nuts over this game if they but had more exposure to it.

I think the story trailers are a good start, but what is needed is more media previews, and especially emotionally moving GAMEPLAY trailers that show off the world, the atmosphere, the action and the incredibly beautiful music. This would, in my opinion, have the good old snowball effect, as it were. As the quality of the product will speak for itself.

Anyway, I am so looking forward to finally hearing of when the Xbox 360 version will be releasing here in the USA and I truly hope that this game will get the recognition that I believe it deserves. As I can tell from looking at it that Larian has put heart and soul into this game. I know I am trying to inform as many of my fellow gamers as I can and I think a great many of them will see something special in this game, as I do.

*By the way, could someone please tell me who does the theme music? As it is some of the most enchanting, ambient music I have ever heard in my life. Thanks and nice to meet you all. Looking forward to the conversations here about Divinity 2.

Kirill Pokrovsky, he did the music in the other both Divinity-Games, too.

http://www.kirillpokrovsky.com/

You can download his music. At least we now know there will be a demo, just not for a while yet. Guess like a month before the full release, think that is how it was for the 1st game.

This reminds me of what many people say about the Gothic series of games.

Speaking of which, what do you think about Arcania: A Gothic Tale? You think it will be accepted by fans of the original Gothic or do you suppose that they will flock to Risen instead, since it is being developed by the original devs of Gothic? Looking forward to both, myself. However, not as much as I am Divinity 2.

Looking forward to both, Arcania moreso than Risen, because the former seems to take itself more seriously. But neither as much as Div 2, Diablo 3, or Dragon Age.

4. Arcania
2. Risen
3. Divinity2
1. Dragon Age

but its so easy to get attention these days.
and it costs not a single dollar.

twitter,blog,kotaku,gametrailers.com

ill remember these very first DD2 screenshots on may 2005
http://news.softpedia.com/news/New-graphics-engine-from-Larian-Studios-2047.shtml

between these screens and the very first preview in august 2008
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=192049

this game was absolutley invisible!


and after the first preview and the RPC this year there was not very much material.

it wouldnt hurt them to let the publicity take a look at the game.
invite some gaming mag writers, releasing artworks, screenshots, short vids.

you dont need millions for PR, you need only a good informed fanbase.

Honestly, the guys (and pretty lady) from Larian know what they're doing. I'm sure they've done all they can short of tv-commercials and gigantic promotion stunts. Look at the buzz the Witcher generated before it came out. Wasn't that great really. It was mostly due to its quality that its sales took off big time. And that's what we have to hope for in Divinity 2. As for me, I'll do a lot of word-of-mouth publicity in my area... Hope there's a collector's edition, too.

And really, it's a no-brainer that there was little publicity between 2005-2008. It was the same thing with Dragon Age, and that's as high-profile as it gets. It just doesn't pay to do something, because generating buzz 3 years before something hits the shelves may hurt your game more than it benefits it.

As far as I can see that was all done in Germany. All gaming magazines and several gaming sites have received preview copies. There are plenty of previews to be found at german gaming websites. But then again there is a publisher in Germany to take care of that. There isn't one in the rest of the world.

Swordscythe is right. I've seen some over-eager hype machines go into action far too soon and public interest peaked before the product was out - after which, the only way is down. That kind of thing actually loses sales.

I think Larian have kept the balance about right in slowly rising the profile of their game as launch nears.

***

Turi - the problem with the 'rely on online marketing' model is that the only people who will find out about the game that way are hardcore gamers with a definite interest. By far the largest number of people who buy games are more casual and buy stuff that looks cool or that has good word of mouth.

Online marketing does have a cost too, BTW, as you need people to do it and people cost money for salaries. Not to mention the various normal expenses of running an office. It's cheaper than many other methods, yes, but it's not free.

Hello,

it is annoying that the demo will be released in September (or even later).
My problem is that I do not know the prequels and also just saw a video of the game.
So I want to play a demo to "try before I buy" the game.
If I can not try a demo I will not buy it.

The reason for this is simple: in past I get disappointed by some games.
And if I had played the demo before, I would not have bought them.
So I will wait for the demo and not buy the game.

Divinity II sounds excellent, but I am a bit carefully and fear to waste money for games that I do not like.

So PLEASE release the demo quicker!

Greetings

OLLI

Rent the game to see If you like it.

Hello,

first of all I have to apologize.
I just read in the first topic the passage about the demo (I searched in FireFox for "Demo" and just read that it will be released after the XBOX release).
I did not read the rest of the topic, also not that the development costs were (are) so high.

My problem is that I also just saw some trailers.
Also in the German magazine "GameStar" I did not see a lot of the gameplay.

I want to know how a fight feels like (at least a video).
please publish a video where you see some fights.

I also would love to see some more details about the abilities and spells.
In the GameStar video I saw that you have some and that you see a preview of the current selected spell.
But it was not very clear.
So any information about spells and abilities would be fine.
Maybe just publish the manual as PDF, there you already describe the abilities (I hope so) and so you just need to publish an existing document.

I really WANT TO buy the game, but I need more information.
So I asked for a demo.

By the way: the biggest magazine "GameStar" wrote that Ego Draconis is ecxellent.
I hate them.
They have a playable version, that I do not have.....

So, please publish more videos.

Greetings

OLLI

We'll just wait a week or so.
Then you might hear about some spells and abilites from forum members and others.
You also might find some gameplay videos uploaded by various people.
I doubt the description of Ablities will be in the manuals.

Like I said Rent the game...

Or you could havbe a look at this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwaL50KKtNQ&feature=related

I do not speak German, but that was some great footage, regardless. Thanks.

We should be getting the english version soon enough, a bit more patience

Playing the previous games would not help as far as combat, since the controls have changed in D2:ED. The demos for them should still be around somewhere, though, which would give you an idea of the style and atmosphere that will most likely be carried over into the new game (both were designed to be fairly linear, though the DD demo is more open and has more NPC interaction, etc). Also, while not necessary prerequisites for D2:ED, playing the first two games (or at least Divine Divinity) would certainly help hold you over until September (it is still possible to find both online (eBay, etc) and Beyond Divinity can be downloaded from GamersGate.

I have also had to wait awhile after a game's release to get to play a demo. In this case I am willing to 'gamble' based on the previous 2 games and what I know about D2:ED, but couldn't say that about many other new games (old/cheap games I am a little more willing to gamble on based on reviews from trusted sources).
If the English PC version goes gold the same time as the XBox versions, then (depending on how long it takes to make the demo compared to the lead time it takes for manufacturing, packaging and shipping the games before release) there may not be too long a wait for the demo. If not, at least there should be lots of help and information available by the time the demo is out, from those who didn't wait.