A few of these threads highlighting the discrepancies between the trailers and the most recent builds have popped up in the past, but for this one in particular I wanted to discuss the ethics of bullshots, pre-rendered footage, and E3 builds. The most infamous cases of misleading marketing in recent memory come from the likes of Halo 2 and 5, Killzone 2, Watch Dogs, and No Man's Sky—but for the most part Sea of Thieves seems to get away with what was ostensibly a misdirection.
I was going through some of the old trailers to see how the game has evolved over the past three years, and I noticed that the original depictions of the game—especially the 2015 announcement trailer—looked substantially more refined than the current game itself. Here are the two trailers below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z48qvGsA_0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl3UiHp0sz0
The 2015 trailer clearly has a less saturated, grittier colour palette; better sound and visual effects, more interesting wildlife patterns (though likely scripted); more varied enemy design, better animations, a mutiny system; and most importantly—the ability to open chests.
The 2016 trailer is totally cinematic, so it can't be held to the same standards as the 2015 trailer (especially when you factor in the accompanying gameplay trailer at the MS press conference). That being said, the trailer does depict a few features which aren't currently in the game. I counted instruments, pets, endemic wildlife/ mermaids, dungeons, rowboats, and ship destruction—all missing elements within the "final" version. Beyond that, there are a few world building elements not present as well. Small things like being able to help other crew mates carry the chests, grog bottles, diving/ jumping animations, parchments being carried, and underwater locations brimming with treasure. The 2016 trailer also shares a similar gritty art-style to the 2015 trailer.
So basically the question is, is it wrong to sell people on a concept rather than something tangible? Or is game development so fickle, so constantly in a state of flux that some liberties can be afforded?
