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Is the future of gaming more commercial?
Valotros
Member Posts: 23
Will games continue to become more and more commercial as the years go on? With big corporations dictating the contents, art and style of games that are released?
The Walmart climax of gaming seems to be coming, with no room for anyone except the big boy who appeals to the masses and the lowest common denominator.
[Mod Edit]
Comments
There's only one hope. Believe in the indies. The reason that things are so corporate is because anything less than AAA is shrugged off as impossible.
Check out the MUD I'm making!
If the game is fun, has good meaningful pvp, and holds my attention, i don't really care.
The gaming industry really needs another crash..
Just because you may not like a game does not mean everyone else hates it.
"The question that sometimes drives me hazy: Am I, or the others crazy?" - Albert Einstein
I will agree with one thing, corporate tends to have it's hands on the specific works too frequently. It's like a mixture of being a control freak with having to be part of the creative process when you're a tard. These people are businessmen, and seem to be envious of people with creativity or applicable skills, all the while trying to get them to see things their way. I've seen a lot of business degrees play celebrity lately, and that leads to a lot of "hands-on catastrophes" (see NBC). Keep out of the kitchen if you don't cook, especially if you're just a manager with a 6-figure salary.
To sum it up, corporate tends to spend less time putting their own vision into action, and get back to trying to manage people like they should be.
[edited for personal idiocy]
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
Indies really are the hope. But as I've said in previous posts, it's almost impossible for indie's (due to the inflated costs of MMO's) to succeed. Everyone wants top of the line graphics, top of the line servers, and a low learning curve. As a previous poster said, since the big guys have taken notice that MMO's can make a profit (WoW), expect to see a few years of drilling. In other words: where there is quick money to be made and a player base willing to settle for sub par items, expect a WalMart to appear.
The industry needs to learn patience and not force releases on half ass games. For the most part Players are willing to wait for a complete game. First impressions make or break your MMO. If it opens badly it won't recover and lose subs fast. And based on their (customers) word of mouth to their friends, no amount of promoting or free weekends is going to help them change their minds about your sorry ass excuse for a game.
Also for another reason for Failing MMOs the staleness of the game. Quite a few MMOs from my past experience release the game without any epic fight in it. When you reach the cap theres nothing for a raiding party to attack or do.... or unless zerg rape in PvP. At least put a stable guild encounter in the game at release so there is something to do at the end when players have reached the level cap..
Oh another thing!!! Something from my past. WHere the hell have GM EVENTS GONE? In EQ way back when it was owned by Verrant they would log on and do GM events like once a month. We would get a system wide message one time. Where we had to escort and elven princess from Black Burrow in Halas to Vox dungeon and during that event the GMs would follow a script (Roleplay) and read it out while they were traveling alot of players gathered up and particpated in the event. During the Escort of the Princess, Dark Elves would try and jump her and we would have to protect her the Dark elves were powerful SKs and Mages they would cast gravity flux sending everyone way high into the air killing alot of lowbies but it was all in good fun. Then we got to Vox lair the princess summoned Vox out to speak with her. Only Mayoong Mistmoore came out and Slayed the Dragon and more Dark Elves attacked us. In the end we killed the Dark Elves but Mayoong escaped and all you could hear was a loud thunderous roar from Solsek as Nagafens Queen had been slained. At the end of this event The GMs would Reward players who participated and even Roleplayed along with the event gave them Artifact items meaning that was the only one of its kind on the server,,,,,,,,,,,,, anyway I digress
Creators should get involved with their game and do GM events. Where they get themselves and you the player involved. I'm not talking about these lame events that happen during holidays either.
talk about a gross generalization. it is a bad assumption that all those funding the development processes, yet alone leading major firms, are incompetent and stupid, and lack any creative skills.
I do agree that nothing ends up solid when multiple design views conflict, resulting in a stalemate of half-assed implemented concepts.
Got me there, but you must know how hard it is for managerial staff to just do their job and not get mixed up in things outside their sphere. That happens far too often.
In fact, I bet money that the fate of a film, music group or game in the last 10 years has ridden solely on whether a "suit's" teenage kid liked it or not. Just an example of the thinking behind these people, God forbid they consider themselves a serious critic about what they actually deal with.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
Nowadays half the server would cry because a GM killed them, or it is not fair that player X has an item that I will never have a chance to get.
Nowadays half the server would cry because a GM killed them, or it is not fair that player X has an item that I will never have a chance to get.
You know how many games where players are going to have X item where you are never going to get. This can be applied in every single online game ever. Keep in mind these Artifact items weren't too game breaking. They were good items sure but nothing better than the Plane of Fear or Hate stuff at the time. Also your really missing the point. Its bout the GMS getting involved with the game. I didn't get squat for an item but I had fun just being there and got a decent gaming memory out of it. And I doubt anyone would bark up anymore of a storm about dying than players normally do. Even if a GM killed them or not. However not to mention when players did die to the darkelves they were ressed not only by players doing the event the GM princess would res them as well. Guess it would depend on the event and the GMs that were there.
/agreed.
Most companies now are about getting their share of the WoW pie. Rushing out half arsed games, making you pay for beta while they continue to fix and run the game. Along with seeing more companies with the Sub and micro transaction payment model, it is obviously about squeezing as much out of the players each month as possible. Companies don't care about the game or what players want. It is about what they think the players want and how they can get as much out of them as possible.
Todays games are about making the fast buck, and not really holding onto the playerbase for more than a few months before a new crop comes in. Unlike games such as UO and EQ that held the players for years.
There's only one hope for the future of the gaming Industry : The youtube of gaming.
A gaming equivalent of youttube, user generated games instead of videos with a corresponding site that is user friendly, intuitive and easy to use, where you can upload the games to play off the site or download them from the site. With a game development tool that is easy enough for a decent computer user to make something with, but flexible enough to do amazing things for someone who knows what they're doing.
I think we're already seeing this happen. The reason I see is that computer games have gone from a geek realm item to the consumer realm. When Grandma (age 65) and little cousin Ricky (age 5) are both playing the same games, there's no choice but to adjust design to fit. When broad audience games do well financially #cough#... investors flock to that design in search of better profits.
Sure, there will be nerd nightclub games, but they will fall into the gross minority meaning they get produced with minimal budgets and limited resources (marketing etc).
The golden age of gaming is over. Sad, but true.
Ken
www.ActionMMORPG.com
One man, a small pile of money, and the screwball idea of a DIY Indie MMORPG? Yep, that's him. ~sigh~
Nowadays half the server would cry because a GM killed them, or it is not fair that player X has an item that I will never have a chance to get.
You know how many games where players are going to have X item where you are never going to get. This can be applied in every single online game ever. Keep in mind these Artifact items weren't too game breaking. They were good items sure but nothing better than the Plane of Fear or Hate stuff at the time. Also your really missing the point. Its bout the GMS getting involved with the game. I didn't get squat for an item but I had fun just being there and got a decent gaming memory out of it. And I doubt anyone would bark up anymore of a storm about dying than players normally do. Even if a GM killed them or not. However not to mention when players did die to the darkelves they were ressed not only by players doing the event the GM princess would res them as well. Guess it would depend on the event and the GMs that were there.
I am not missing the point.
It is very cool to get GM action in like that.
WoW has not done it in awhile.
Why?
Everyone cries.
"being indie" is not an excuse for offering something of lower quality. If I pay for a product, I expect quality, or else I'll go somewhere else. Sorry but this is business, not charity.
The problem with the indies right now is that they are making indie stuff (as expected, and I have nothing wrong with that), but charging the price of AAA content. Darkfall, fallen earth, MO, whatever... they might not be bad games but to me they are NOT worth the same 15$ that we are used to pay for a "triple A" MMOs.
If someone wants my 15$, the content better be good, and right now the "indie companies" are not there yet. If it was 10$ I would seriously reconsider. Really, you cant sell your small buggy game for 50$ + 15$/month and be surprised when people don't want to try it.
Your attitude is the exact attitude my post was attacking. In fact, most indies are this way because they're underfunded. They're underfunded because of attitudes like that.
Ever heard of the game Kaos War? Go read how dedicated they were to getting the game out. Go read. I think one of the devs posted here on MMORPG.com in the Kaos War forums about how harsh the conditions were. They waited until the very last second to put the game on hold.
However, not all underfunded projects are that bad off. Look at Eskil Steenberg. One man project, paying out of pocket for any resources used. He's making it just fine and his game is more solid and bug-free than most AAAs are a few months after launch.
Check out the MUD I'm making!
I was simply amazed when i heard kaos war was all done and how the project manager literally got stabbed in the back. He literally lost everything he put into the game and all the years of hardwork, all for nothing. It's really things like these and the overall bad condition and stress game developers have to go through that doesn't make me want to become one myself.
If anyone is interested, apparently rockstar the dev studio behind GTA is being sued by wife's of game developers because of the work conditions.
Exactly. I read the story of Kaos War in horror. Shameful thing is, the people were all the kind of devs we need to really get a successful, creative, thriving game out. They were dedicated to their work of art. It was a cruel twist of fate to know that it went down in such a hopeless manner. I'm surprised most of them didn't quit, but I respect them entirely for their devotion.
Check out the MUD I'm making!
It's growing pains of a new industry and MMOs are a new industry not just a new type of game.
The entertainment and media business sectors are going through major flux right now. Many of the corporations are scrambling to bring in new revenue to replace the stuff that's failing. But games are a hard thing to get right - they have to be fun....and fun is hard to put into a spreadsheet and budget.
of course it's more commercial, now we have micro-transactions everywhere, there are always people that will buy stuff no matter how garbage it is, and companies will be pleased to relieve these people from the burden of their coin
Your attitude is the exact attitude my post was attacking. In fact, most indies are this way because they're underfunded. They're underfunded because of attitudes like that.
Ever heard of the game Kaos War? Go read how dedicated they were to getting the game out. Go read. I think one of the devs posted here on MMORPG.com in the Kaos War forums about how harsh the conditions were. They waited until the very last second to put the game on hold.
However, not all underfunded projects are that bad off. Look at Eskil Steenberg. One man project, paying out of pocket for any resources used. He's making it just fine and his game is more solid and bug-free than most AAAs are a few months after launch.
I'm sorry but like I said, it is a business. I will stick to my attitude, what I like to call the "don't throw your money on bad games " attitude.
Indie developers often give us less polish...but I'm fine with that! I'd like to support indie studios, I understand making game is hard, and I don't expect perfection.... My problem is mainly that being indie is now often used as an EXCUSE for lower quality . As a customer, why would I want to pay the same price for something worst? I really like the example of MO , the devs themselves have said that the game is gonna launch in an "unfinished state", but they still expect us to pay full price for it.
They should be realistic. Is their game good and polished? No? Then why ask for the price of a good and polished game, then? Its business 101. Being "indie" does not justify the fact that Darkfall, fallen earth, mortal online, global agenda, whatever are all overpriced.
What I find sad is that I notice this trend mostly for MMOs. See world of goo (20$), killing floor (20$), Torchlight (20$), Trine (20$), audiosurf (10$), Heroes of newerth (30$)... etc. Those are indie games... AT INDIE PRICES. I wouldn't get any of those game if they were sold at 50$.
For Eskil, I know what hes doing, and I really wish him good luck. I wont be paying for beta, however, as it is (again) completely counter-intuitive for me to be asked to pay for an unfinished product. I'd rather directly send him a donation, if I wanted to help.
Yes & no. Games will join TV & movies as one of the big boys of entertainment. But even with big money, and big audience, you still get thinking shows like LOST.
Plus, appeal to the masses is not necessarily a bad thing. Avatar is tons of fun. It is no Shawshank Redemption, but a great 2 hr 40 min of entertainment. Even with the easy mode dungeons, WOW is still a lot of fun because of its polish, content and adjustable difficulties (and unless you have beaten all hardmode of the latest raid, don't claim the whole game is easy).
Your attitude is the exact attitude my post was attacking. In fact, most indies are this way because they're underfunded. They're underfunded because of attitudes like that.
Ever heard of the game Kaos War? Go read how dedicated they were to getting the game out. Go read. I think one of the devs posted here on MMORPG.com in the Kaos War forums about how harsh the conditions were. They waited until the very last second to put the game on hold.
However, not all underfunded projects are that bad off. Look at Eskil Steenberg. One man project, paying out of pocket for any resources used. He's making it just fine and his game is more solid and bug-free than most AAAs are a few months after launch.
I agreed with this attitude. There are plenty of fun, well produced games out there. There is no need to go for some underfunded games with low production values that is not worth my money.
I buy games to have fun .. it is not a charity. If a company (indie or not) who cannot produce a fun game with good gameplay AND good production values, it is not getting my money.
If you want your product to do well, you have to target your market. I think it's a winning attitude to target the masses and to please as many people as possible.
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