A good trailer can draw attention to the game. But if there's nothing there? Warhammer Online had a lot of attention at launch, and then it cratered because the game itself was pretty bad.

A good game with a bad trailer will do better in the long run then a bad game with a good trailer.

It comes down to money....any game with an expensive peice of marketing (like a cgi intro or trailer) has to make that much more just to break even (a trailer of DoW quality was probably around 500k - 750k).  The budget is finite (especially ours), and spending that kinda' cash for something that adds nothing to the gameplay (talking functionality, not immersion) would be extremely foolish on our part.

Another problem with cgi nowadays is that it's 'old hat'...the was once a time where 3d in any-form was mindblowing. Now you have places like Blur and Square doing such AMAZING work, it's become aa artform that requires perfection to build the proper buzz, and again, perfection is expensive

Don't worry though, we're putting A LOT of effort into what should be a fantastic intro movie...even if it's not exacly CGI.

god, ya know most gamers beg companies to spend less money on glitz and more on game... A trailer lasts a few minutes, the game is what matters.

When did I say I want spreadsheets? And when did the Devs say that they wanted to make a game in 8 bit with 16 colors and not make a trailor? Why are some of you guys assuming the game will look horrible unless you whine incessantly on the forums. The screens ive seen thus far seem great for a game still in alpha.

god, why do people say other people are whining when they simply disagree with them? I think a trailer would be good for elemental. I, as in me personally, never said anything about a blockbuster sized trailer. god, if only people would stop and listen for a moment. A good trailer could help Elemnetal sell better. (keyword is could. I didn't say it was for certain). And a good trailer doesn't have to be an expensive one. Showing off a few spell affects, the GUI, there are a lot of things you can show people that introduce a game in a visual way. but, god, if you its all or nothing for you, that's fine.

lol. Nicely put. AoW's trail was good, basic but not pointless. Thats all you need, just give the idea of the game and call it a day.

Sorry. I was just replying in kind. After all, I thought that is why you started the way you did, you know generalizing everyone in the discussion that didn't agree with your opinion?

Lol... and to think I never even saw them.

Wow, I had no idea those guys charged so much - that seems ludicrous. I humbly withdraw my suggestion to seek out Blur.

That's good to hear. Something to raise a little excitement about the game and draw some people in that have never heard of the game. It's funny how fast a good trailer can go viral.

Depends on which ones. The patch 3.1/3.2/etc trailers are done using in game graphics and machinma. Those take a fair bit of work, but it's not crazy expensive.

The ones made for Wrath itself? Yeah, THOSE take an entire team at Blizzard weeks (or more) to make. Blizzard already has a group of staff dedicated to doing those. For SD to contract it out for something of Wrath's quality would be a huge expense.

We outsourced the GC1 intro for around $40k and that was a measly 3 shots! The DoW intro is 2 minutes of (crude estimation) 80-ish cuts, and we all still remember it so that was probably money in the bank. We just don't have that kind of cash to gamble when the team feels strongly that we can do something memorable inhouse.

What's the pricing of traditional animation look like compared with modern CG studios?  I'm guessing it's exorbitant as well, but I could see a properly done anime opening as looking pretty stupdendous for Elemental.

Regardless, I'm sure something in-engine with the cel-shading tuned right could look great too.