The Last of Us 2 promotional email about a new feature: kill dogs and make their owner cry (no spoilers)

[Naga]

edit tl;dr: read below, this isn't about the dogs, this is about the marketing.

I've just seen that on twitter, weird marketing choice:


For those having an issue with embed:

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That's not exactly a new feature (killing dogs are in lots of games, and npcs having reactions based on what is happening around them too) and I believe has been talked about in some old articles, but the weird part about this is how this seems to be pushed not even as some kind of moral choice, but as a "see? You're bad" point.

Does anyone know what is the full promotional email about?

edit 2: this is from Gamestop:

We didn't write this, this is from GameStop's page.

https://www.gamestop.com/collection/last-of-us-part-2

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[Deleted member 45414]

Fucking violence fetischists man...

 

[SteveWinwood]

just what i always wanted

 

[SubvertedTrope]

Aw poor pups.

 

[ToadPacShakur]

So edgy

 

[jman0625]

Welp looks like the theme of the game is to make everyone even more uncomfortable than the first game did, lol.

 

[Akronis]

:/

 

[Aaron D.]

Yuck.

 

[Deleted member 8741]

WTF.

I was all in for this game, but I'm not sure now.

 

[Deleted member 46948]

Ugh.

 

[Deleted member 10737]

yikes, that's not really something you would want to advertise as a bullet point.

edit: has anyone here gotten that email too? it's hard to know if it's legit or not based on one tweet.

 

[DrArchon]

TLOU3 confirmed to be spending $60 and having Naughty Dog hire a guy to come over to your house to punch you in the face repeatedly.

 

[Ebnas]

We referenced many videos of dogs having their skulls caved to properly convey the emotional weight of being the last of us.

 

[Deleted member 1839]

Dunno about that chief.

 

[82T79]

This fucking game is edgy central LOL I'm glad it leaked

 

[Van Bur3n]

Very strange thing to point out.

 

[Damn Silly]

What a bizarre way to promote the game

 

[ASleepingMonkey]

Taking Naughty Dog to another level.

 

[Carn]

The dogs thing was mentioned a lot in the 2019 september press cycle; example:

The Last of Us Part 2 and the brutal addition of dogs

Man’s best friend is your worst enemy

www.polygon.com

Same with every enemy having an unique name and some characteristics. I think its a pretty good idea in a media study kinda view; we'll see what it means for the actual gameplay when the game is out I guess.

 

[Cloud-Strife]

Time for ERA to overreact aboout something we have seen for years in other games.

 

[HockeyBird]

Last of Us 3 new features:
-Tie up your enemies and force them to watch as you eat their families.

 

[Stacey]

We've known this since the gameplay trailer?

 

[Rosebud]

C'mon, really?

I remember being @ a lot when I said I don't like killing dogs in games because "who cares it's just a game"

 

[jrizzle]

Cool ai feature. Not a great way to market it though.

 

[Deleted member 179]

The first is my fave game ever, I'm super excited for two, but holy hell is that the cringiest, edgiest shit I've seen in a while lol

Edit: not the feature itself but that email advertising it

 

[Deleted member 198]

You'll be ashamed of your words and deeds

 

[Deleted member 2791]

i really can't with the whole fetishism of violence with this game and its marketing.

also who exactly would feel bad about killing a dog to *survive*

 

[Deleted member 51691]

.

 

[Deleted member 6539]

No point in reactionary reverse-trolling.

Anyway, this was known a while ago. The thread title is pretty terrible and intentionally made to cause outrage over something that's been explained pretty well by the developer. But that's no surprise considering ...

The Last of Us Part 2: How Dogs Change Combat...and Make for Tough, Moral Choices - IGN

The Last of Us Part 2 introduces dogs to combat, forcing players to make some tough choices while playing.

www.ign.com

"Dogs are...interesting in that…it feels pretty messed up to kill a dog, especially when you hear it yelp," Druckmann said. "You're left with this situation where, 'OK do I want to ghost this whole setup,' which, you don't have to kill a single dog in this scenario [of the gameplay demo]. Or do you want to say, 'OK, I'm overwhelmed. I could shoot an arrow into this dog, then take out that owner and then go around this way.

So the strategies you can take and the options in the layout are much greater than we've done in the previous game."

Druckmann is referring to the Suburbs level of my recent hands-on preview time with The Last of Us Part 2, which saw me contend with several rounds of enemies and their dogs.

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"This group, the WLF that controls Seattle, has bred and trained dogs to sniff out trespassers. You, Ellie, being new to Seattle, are a trespasser. Dogs can pick up on your scent, even though you're hiding somewhere and normally wouldn't be seen, a dog can slowly lead its owner to you," Druckmann explained.

Players can notice that scent in the game's returning "Listen" ability, which allows Ellie to not only see enemies' nearby locations but also notice the scent trail she's left behind. Dogs can be thrown off your trail by tossing a bottle or brick to distract them, or sneakily moving far enough away (and not being caught by others) so that they lose interest.

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[Yoshichan]

Sounds like scripted crap. It won't be THAT affective.

 

[piratepwnsninja]

I guess those dogs were naughty dogs.


edit: I am really uncomfortable hurting animals that are domesticated in-game. I mean, in real life too, obviously.

 

[SweetNicole]

why would you ever include this shit

ow the edge

 

[CanisMajoris]

This was known from last year.
Also clickbait title, it's worded very differently there..

 

[Deleted member 1102]

That's fucked up. Why take pleasure in that?

 

[drewfonse]

Bleh

 

[Dyle]

This industry is never going to grow up

 

[Naga]

this was featured a lot in the 2019 september press cycle; example:

The Last of Us Part 2 and the brutal addition of dogs

Man’s best friend is your worst enemy

www.polygon.com

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Yeah, that's in the OP.
Dogs aren't exactly the weird bit here (it's a classic in games), it's how it's marketed.

edit:

We've known this since the gameplay trailer?

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This was known from last year.

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see above.

 

[Tora]

This game is very edgy

But I mean I guess the point is to further add to the impact of each NPC that you're killing lol

 

[ASleepingMonkey]

this was featured a lot in the 2019 september press cycle; example:

The Last of Us Part 2 and the brutal addition of dogs

Man’s best friend is your worst enemy

www.polygon.com

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Noting it in preview coverage seems more... understandable. They're just explaining the game as people are playing it and the journalist noted it in their coverage. Seeing it in a marketing email seems odd lmao

 

[Indiana Jones]

I loved the first game but I have absolutely no desire to play this game after reading that. Jesus Christ—the world is sad and depressing enough right now.

 

[Vire]

Whoever worded this email should be fired.

Their lifeless furry best friend?... dude why?

 

[APerfectOrganism]

They mentioned in an early interview that the theme of the game revolves around violence and it's impacts on everyone. So I guess bringing that to the AI makes sense. But it is horrifying

 

[Deleted member 64666]

yikes, that's not really something you would want to advertise as a bullet point.

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I do agree that it's weird that this is considered as a selling point....

 

[____]

Time for ERA to overreact aboout something we have seen for years in other games.

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Also was talked about before in previous TLOU2 media.

 

[ianpm31]

Seeing the way it's executed in a gameplay sense is pretty cool but I wouldn't advertise it.

We've seen this already last year.

 

[Timeaisis]

I'm over this game. Just seems like Feel Bad Simulator 2020.

 

[Deleted member 5491]

The fuck...?

 

[Instro]

Turns out when you're working 100 hours a week you make some pretty dumb decisions.

 

[Caiops]

Ugh i dont like this

 

[DidactBRHU3]

Pretty weird...