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EA Exec: "Our Games Are Too Hard To Learn"
Loke666
Member EpicPosts: 21,441
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ea-exec-our-games-are-too-hard-to-learn/1100-6425141/
Sigh, I feel a new dumbing down of the games comming up... A chimp can already learn to play them but it seems that EA thinks their players are incredible stupid.
They also in their wisdom say: "Every game is an RPG now,".
Comments
""And asking for two hours of somebody's time--most of our customers, between their normal family lives...to find two contiguous hours to concentrate on learning how to play a video game is a big ask," he added."'
2 hours.... two... really
Yet another sign of the coming apocalypse
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
'They also in their wisdom say: "Every game is an RPG now,".'
That's funny because we have a few round here that insist every game is an MMO. Are we eventually going to reach the absurd point that every game is an MMORPG? Wouldn't shock me.
"Mr. Rothstein, your people never will understand... the way it works out here. You're all just our guests. But you act like you're at home. Let me tell you something, partner. You ain't home. But that's where we're gonna send you if it harelips the governor." - Pat Webb
omg... we thought we've seen it all when's it comes to dumbing down and that it's time had past. WE JUST SAW THE TIP OF THE ICEBURG!!!# we just saw it first!
When blizzard started proggessive dumbing down other began to do studies. Their results are coming in!
Yeah, sorry. I was a bit unclear there. He works for Warner, not EA. Not that it matters, it is still sad when game devs say things like that. Seen a few morons saying all games will be MMOs soon as well (in other interviews).
Here is my credit card number Mr EA. I am too stupid to even know how to use it so I entrust you with it.
And masses of people continue to buy and play their games. I wonder what is up there.
Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box. ~ Italian proverb
Yes really.
2 hours is the time to watch a movie. I usually don't give a game 2 hours before I decide whether to give it more time. If it is not fun in the first 15-20 min, i am out of there.
Plus, he makes a good point in the article. I really don't want to waste time to learn just another button layout in a more game. It is not that I cannot .. but I have better use of my time. So it would be great if button layouts are similar across games (which btw, is almost true today, anyway).
Now if devs don't want to make games for me, it is perfectly fine .. i have plenty to do. However, if they want a slice of my entertainment time, don't waste it, and make it fun from the start. I am not giving anyone 2 hours just to sell me.
There is a difference between dumb, and unwilling to waste time on learning merely button layouts of a game.
Yes, that is true. A good game should be easy to learn the basics but hard to master. Kinda like Chess. Good examples are computer games like CIV and for that matter the Empire games.
But most games today don't have a zillion weird keys like many did on C-64 and Amiga. They are already incredible easy to learn so to most of us it sounds like they want the games so easy that your dog can play with you.
If a game is both easy to learn and easy to master we will tire of them in a few weeks or even days. But I guess we always can pay another $50 to get a new game then.
You still have to spend some time memorizing the buttons ... unless it is done like a game you have played before. Remember we are talking about a game here, and that learning has zero value unless you are playing more.
So the bar is different.
Unless a game can convince me that it is fun quickly, why would i even waste 5 min to learn anything about its operations?
i stopped reading at:
"Our games are actually still too hard to learn," Hilleman said during during an on-stage interview with other developers. "The average player probably spends two hours to learn how to play the most basic game."
No matter how hard a game was back in the day i remember sitting with the booklet/manual that came with the disc to read and learn about every character in the game, what the story was about, and all the basic functions and controls in the game. I got into the game and never had a problem. A game that is difficult to play is not the same as a game that is difficult to learn. Making proper tutorials (since games dont come with booklets anymore) help new players learn the basics of the game. That doesnt mean the game itself has to be easy.
I really hope EA are not using that "hard too learn" as an excuse to dumb down the difficulty of their already boringly easy games. Instead they can make better tutorials for those players who would need them.
All they need to do is to use a difficulty slider .. and that is already in many of their games. So i don't see a problem. You wouldn't care if you can still play a challenging game, right, even if other players choose an easier mode?
Is that the point of a game, learning how to play it and to eventually master it?
The irony is that people are bemoaning the "dumbing down" of games in posts which are marginally articulate and laced with spelling and syntactic errors.
And the EA executive saying, "That's a big ask."
This reminds me of the Orwell quote:
"The English language becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for foolish thoughts."
And if you haven't seen this, it really relates to the "dumbing down" and you might consider it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiocracy
Edit: This is not directed at non-native speakers of English, even though this website does use spell check.
D3, Marvel Heroes .. and many of the games you have cited have already solved the problem.
1) Make the front part of the game easy and fun. You don't use all the systems until later. So take Diablo 3. The combat is great action fun whether you are playing the first act at level 1, or doing greater rifts at L70. Most of the complex stuff won't cut in until later. You absolutely do not need to optimize anything to beat the story mode. But doing T6 rifts or high greater rifts? You better know the builds and optimize build + gear (which I do .. it is not easy). The same applies to Marvel Heroes. You don't need the uniques, enchantment, omega system, hero syneries to beat the story the first time. But if you want to do cosmic, and raids at L60, you need to pay attention to those.
2) Add a difficulty slider. So no one can say the game is too hard or too easy.
Almost all games of the same type use more or less the same basic keys and if they don't you just change them in "options".
There are a few that actually takes longer to get into, like "Endless legends" for example but few if any of them are made be EA.
If people have trouble to get into the games then it is the tutorial that sucks, or in MMOs case they might give you too much stuff from level 1 and not let the players gain more abilities as they play.
But if they dumbed down most games we will get an attack button and the movement keys (well forward and back, the rest you can use your mosue for, that is easier) and nothing more. Doesn't sound very fun to me at least.
And that a few more advanced games exist is just good, games need to vary from eachother or we will just play reskinned versions of the same game over and over.