I am just curious as to what the hardcore gamers play these days? With the market being saturated with the most casual of games [Guild Wars 2], what is there for the hardcore crowd? The only two games that come to mind are EVE Online and Final Fantasy XI and even FFXI has been scaled way back and is now a joke.
I feel as if developers are catering to casual players too much and not so much to their base hardcore fans. Things like Dungeon Finder, terribly easy leveling and instant gratification are pretty much the norm now and it's starting to become beyond a joke. Casual players complain when they can't solo the entirety of the games content so the devs scale it back. One thing that devs have started to inject is the normal and hard mode dungeons but... shouldn't these be hard anyway? why should I be able to roflspam my abilities and prance around and come out with tier gear [WoW] Where is the meaningful content? Never I have felt so good after finally getting my BLU spells in FFXI, all the work, all the hours meeting new people along the way, it was a journey, it wasn't about the end reward.
Developers should stop catering so much to casuals and start making content and games that require some sort of thought, some strategy and furthermore teamwork! Also, I hate to hear this "Well I can't play for hours on end grinding for particular gear, so it should be easier!"
Look, if you don't have the time to commit to an MMO then you shouldn't play an MMO, simple.
I don't have the time to put into EVE, it doesn't mean I should complain that their game is too difficult and demand they scale it back for me; I simply don't play.
Man, can you imagine if say... Tomb Raider 1 [PS1] was re-released for this generation? "Where is the guide telling me where to go? where is the enemy health bars? why aren't I automatically regaining hp? help i've ran out of med-packs! this game sucks"
my 2 cents...
Get back to me in 10 years, we can see how you feel about this statement then.
That Guild Wars 2 login screen knocked up my wife. Must be the second coming!
Well i do agree on both references,i really got a hole shot through my gut when they ruined FFXI.As for Eve well don't like the game,only about 1/3 of an actual game but i do see the point of being hardcore.
I think money has been the main culprit in game design.Games are no longer some guys vision,they are what can we do to make a game acceptable and cheap and still make money.
FFXI is the better example,almost a complete NGE there on changing the game.They have got lazier and cheaper in content expansion packs,they are taking advantage of a loyal fan base.So when a developer sees an easy take,they go one further and start catering to an even broader audience,figuring that no matter what they do,they always have the main core to rely on for income.
So in comes tons and tons of hand holding.I don't consider that hard or soft core,i just call it hand holding because that is what it does.However adding in book burns was definitely a curb towards easier leveling.That part was a well thought out plan to get players to high level content for the sake of selling xpacs that are always about new high level content.
In other words can't sell xpacs aimed at level 75-80 if some players are still down at level 20-50.
The same thing for penalties,we have seen both EQ2 and FFXI drop penalties way down,again got the loyal hooked ,so now we need to cater to the well umm can't think of a term but the players who want things easy.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Making MMO games costs a lot more money now than it used to - which means you have to sell more copies.
The so called "hardcore" gamer is a bit of a rare breed.
Not enough of them to justify AAA budgets.
But the real trend now is options - options are good.
Difficulty settings, hard modes, different servers types, etc.
And besides, most "hardcore" gamers have no idea what they are calling themselves. Any game can be played "hardcore." There are hardcore Hearts players or hardcore Pokemon players...
Anyone who thinks a world-first competitive raiding guild in WoW isn't "hardcore" is, quite frankly, a moron.
Certain game mechanics, like those found in EvE or old-school UO/EQ or FFXI certainly tend to attract more of the "hardcore" type of players.
But investment <= expected return.
Punishing, brutal and/or grind heavy systems are just not popular.
^ this +1 sadly. There is too many whiny mmo players now.
....Being Banned from MMORPG's forums since 2010, for Trolling the Trolls!!!
Making MMO games costs a lot more money now than it used to - which means you have to sell more copies.
The so called "hardcore" gamer is a bit of a rare breed.
Not enough of them to justify AAA budgets.
But the real trend now is options - options are good.
Difficulty settings, hard modes, different servers types, etc.
And besides, most "hardcore" gamers have no idea what they are calling themselves. Any game can be played "hardcore." There are hardcore Hearts players or hardcore Pokemon players...
Anyone who thinks a world-first competitive raiding guild in WoW isn't "hardcore" is, quite frankly, a moron.
Certain game mechanics, like those found in EvE or old-school UO/EQ or FFXI certainly tend to attract more of the "hardcore" type of players.
But investment <= expected return.
Punishing, brutal and/or grind heavy systems are just not popular.
^ this +1 sadly. There is too many whiny mmo players now.
Sad only for those who don't like anything in the market. It is relative. I don't find it sad at all.
Plus, this is exactly how supply & demand should work. Don't you think it is a good thing when entertainment products are entertaining more people?
Making MMO games costs a lot more money now than it used to - which means you have to sell more copies.
The so called "hardcore" gamer is a bit of a rare breed.
Not enough of them to justify AAA budgets.
But the real trend now is options - options are good.
Difficulty settings, hard modes, different servers types, etc.
And besides, most "hardcore" gamers have no idea what they are calling themselves. Any game can be played "hardcore." There are hardcore Hearts players or hardcore Pokemon players...
Anyone who thinks a world-first competitive raiding guild in WoW isn't "hardcore" is, quite frankly, a moron.
Certain game mechanics, like those found in EvE or old-school UO/EQ or FFXI certainly tend to attract more of the "hardcore" type of players.
But investment <= expected return.
Punishing, brutal and/or grind heavy systems are just not popular.
^ this +1 sadly. There is too many whiny mmo players now.
Sad only for those who don't like anything in the market. It is relative. I don't find it sad at all.
Plus, this is exactly how supply & demand should work. Don't you think it is a good thing when entertainment products are entertaining more people?
Comments
Get back to me in 10 years, we can see how you feel about this statement then.
That Guild Wars 2 login screen knocked up my wife. Must be the second coming!
As if imposing your view on others on the Internet will work.
I don't have time to commit to a MMO. I don't commit to MMOs, period. And i am playing several. There is really nothing you can do about it.
Well i do agree on both references,i really got a hole shot through my gut when they ruined FFXI.As for Eve well don't like the game,only about 1/3 of an actual game but i do see the point of being hardcore.
I think money has been the main culprit in game design.Games are no longer some guys vision,they are what can we do to make a game acceptable and cheap and still make money.
FFXI is the better example,almost a complete NGE there on changing the game.They have got lazier and cheaper in content expansion packs,they are taking advantage of a loyal fan base.So when a developer sees an easy take,they go one further and start catering to an even broader audience,figuring that no matter what they do,they always have the main core to rely on for income.
So in comes tons and tons of hand holding.I don't consider that hard or soft core,i just call it hand holding because that is what it does.However adding in book burns was definitely a curb towards easier leveling.That part was a well thought out plan to get players to high level content for the sake of selling xpacs that are always about new high level content.
In other words can't sell xpacs aimed at level 75-80 if some players are still down at level 20-50.
The same thing for penalties,we have seen both EQ2 and FFXI drop penalties way down,again got the loyal hooked ,so now we need to cater to the well umm can't think of a term but the players who want things easy.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
^ this +1 sadly. There is too many whiny mmo players now.
....Being Banned from MMORPG's forums since 2010, for Trolling the Trolls!!!
Sad only for those who don't like anything in the market. It is relative. I don't find it sad at all.
Plus, this is exactly how supply & demand should work. Don't you think it is a good thing when entertainment products are entertaining more people?
Not for the ones that are not entertained.