As I write this, Fallout 4, one of the biggest games of the year, has officially released. After years of rumors, leaks, and teasers, it’s finally here. But what’s out now is almost irrelevant.

Like I said, there was huge hype around this game. The previous Fallout game, New Vegas, was released in 2010.  Additional content for that game stopped being released in 2012. Leaks surrounding this most recent game date back to 2013. Memes, cosplays, and all manner of articles, videos and lists about the Fallout series have been made in the interim. So what happens now that it’s out?

Part of the problem may be that it’s simply too early to write anything substantial about the game itself. Fallout 4, like Fallout 3 and New Vegas, as well as developer Bethesda Softworks’ previous title The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, are gigantic games. They market themselves on that. The game worlds are huge, full to bursting with enemies, quests, characters and random stuff to encounter. You can easily drop 50 hours playing these games, even 100 hour playthroughs are common. So how can a game this huge be talked about immediately afterwards?

However, the public demands immediate information. We need to know, right now, if it’s worth it. All three previous games I mentioned are critical and commercial successes. They even rank on greatest games of all time lists. As a game-playing and -buying public, we need to know if this one is just as good.

It’s not just Fallout that does this. Disney is also hyping the hell out of the upcoming Star Wars movie. Every second of the trailers are scrutinized for the most remote glimmer of story elements. Even big-name albums are getting into the game. For the release of Yeezus, Kanye West blasted the song “New Slaves” on to 66 locations around the world, and Arcade Fire used graffiti to hype their album Reflektor.

Why do they do this? These are some of the biggest names in their respective games. Let’s be perfectly honest: there could be a new Star Wars movie tomorrow, and it’d break box office records with effectively zero marketing. Kanye can have a chart-topper just by his name. Fallout was almost guaranteed commercial success on pre-orders alone. Shouldn’t it be the tiny guys who get that kind of marketing push? Why not cut your marketing budget and reap more profits?

Furthermore, everyone does marketing on their own now. Oh sure, we just talk about it like “You HAVE to hear Album X or watch movie Y”, but that’s marketing. When we share our thoughts about whatever media we consume, that’s word-of-mouth advertising, and it’s the best you can get. People believe their friends before they believe an ad agency. Sure, you need to plant the seed, but once it’s there, it’ll spread like kudzu, especially now that we’re all connected.

However, the word of mouth is almost out of control. When we analyze every image in a trailer and pick apart every statement made at a conference, that’s going to ruin some of the experience of actually seeing the thing, right? And remember, you are marketing the unreleased media with no guarantee it’ll be worth it. Weren’t we all let down by The Phantom Menace? Why should we believe The Force Awakens won’t be a repeat of that?

What do we do to change that? Part of it is economic. Wallets can speak even louder than words. But it may just be a part of the landscape now, so we just direct this energy towards the good. Mad Max: Fury Road was beaten out by Pitch Perfect 2 at the domestic box office, despite Mad Max’s higher Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic scores. Movies can become cult classics this way, languishing on opening day but recovering in the DVD market. You can even help crowdfund projects you want to see made now, and further support them by badgering your friends to do the same.

So the the hype train has derailed. We can at least minimize the damage it does. Otherwise, we have a lot more mediocre movies. And no one wants that, right?