Ladies and Gentlemen,

As JoWooD announced that a successor for the Gothic Series will be made, many of the fans were thrilled; others were suspicious and worried because of JoWooD’s latest games (Gothic 3 and Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods) – which at the release date were barely playable.
Fans expected JoWooD to have more commitment and motivation, to make a successful game and a worthy successor for the Gothic Series.
This also means the bond between JoWooD and the fans - to see how the game looks before it’s release.

Recently the Community criticized the following problems:

Screenshots released from the game are too old – Generaly they are six months old when we receive them. The screenshots show a very early stage of the development. It is very motivating for the fans to see that the game is progressing, but this delay between the screenshots is not possible.
Therefore we want more current screenshots.

A similar problem was with an interview that couldn’t be published immediately after it was made, and it was released after six months.
(http://www.worldofgothic.de/gothic4/...=interview24_1)

Another problem of the screenshots is that their quality is really bad. Generaly they have low resolution, and all the details can’t be observed. They hardly generate anticipation.
Also, instead of getting screenshots of an area that could give us more details about the game/location, we receive screenshots of an unfinished area and in low resolution.
To solve this problem, the screenshots should be chosen carefully. The resolution should be high enough so that we could recognize the details; it should also be focused on the content.


An example:
We found a screenshot on the internet showing a skeleton as an opponent, even though the skeleton wasn’t officially announced as an opponent in the game. We didn’t get an official screenshot, but had to get it from a source on the internet.
It could have been much better: First they could show us the concept of the skeleton (an artwork), and after a few days they could’ve released the actual high resolution ingame screenshot with the skeleton as the opponent. Then a video could be showed to demonstrate how the skeleton looks ingame – with a fight against the hero.
That is exciting – short but relevant information builds the tension. This is a good example of what we would like to see.

Also, the previous video footage published suggest lack of professionalism. Only magazines are releasing short videos and previews. Therefore we have low quality videos, which show one of the 2 versions, sometimes the videos are really choppy and you can’t distinguish a thing. This way you can’t show a future AAA game.

The Community would be very happy if you would release at least one video showing a finished area in the game, no magazines or leaked choppy videos anymore. This way we can see how the development is progressing.

Unfortunately the game is not represented well on the internet. The official website – www.arcania-game.com – is visually well represented, but it is outdated.
The Gothic Community (www.worldofgothic.com/de) provides in almost all the cases the latest news and information regarding the game, in other cases information is also provided by JoWooD’s official forum (http://forum.jowood.com).
The game’s official website has a lot of potential – the short stories could be published there, developers could make reports, or a blog could be made.
The website needs to be kept up to date, and provide information to every visitor (fans or just simple gamers that are interested in the game).

In addition, we want more passion in marketing. Previously, the screenshots were even focused on a specific point and had their own background story – as they were officially published (http://forum.jowood.com/showthread.php?t=162215).
But that era seems to be over. Now we only receive screenshots from websites/blogs or users. These screenshots are almost never officially confirmed.

The biggest problem however, is the communication between JoWooD and the fans.

Not every publisher can answer all the questions posted by the fans. Nevertheless we think that JoWooD cannot afford to ignore the fans.
They already accrued various buggy games – which were only an amusement for JoWooD during the lunch break. Fans already made countless “I Hate JoWooD..” threads where you can read all their dissapointments regarding the released games.
Many times JoWooD promised that it will change, fans always talked about these statements, but nothing seems changed until now.

Our latest problem is with the GamesCom in Cologne. Several fans from World of Gothic and JoWooD forum were selected to present ArcaniA at the GamesCom (http://forum.jowood.com/showpost.php...31&postcount=1).
Unfortunately, once again, it didn’t come that far.

Opinions from the presenters:

We were told that we will join Arcania at the GamesCom. The selected presenters would go there to offer their advice and support for the game.

For reasons that are unclear so far, everything was canceled in the last minute. They should have announced the presenters earlier, and avoid causing them all the stress regarding the trip and the presentation.

There was only a non-public presentation, in the business for reporters and the presenters – as a compesation for the failed program.
But the majority of them did not come in the business area, since the news wasn’t spread – only 3 of out 10 presenters were present.
Also, the communication was not organized well, so not everyone knew where to get his “ticket”.

In our hope of getting a quality game, we were dissapointed several times. We have years of community made patches for Gothic 3 which made the game better – what we expected and hoped for when the game was released. Even top titles like “Crysis” don’t have such a strong Community.

We had high hopes for Forsaken Gods – unfortunately it was another disappointment for us – and we had to wait 9 months to have a playable game.

After all that we have given to JoWooD, we have the right for a desire – A good marketing strategy and a better fan support – it’s not too much to ask.

I hope that they will perceive our outcry, and prepare us soon, for example, with a new (and certainly better) Marketing Concept.

Finally, we would like to say that this letter intends no harm to anyone. This letter is meant to wake JoWooD up, because the Community now wants a better communication between them and the publisher – we want to be informed and kept up to date regarding ArcaniA – A Gothic Tale.

More openness from JoWooD is our primary concern.

Sincerely,

Stefan Klaußner