There is a simple reason why most video games can't hold water anymore. The industry and developers have become too big, and the developers are no longer making a game that they love and is exactly what they want to play, but are instead making games that they think everyone else will want to play...so they end up appealing to everyone but satisfying no one.
Someone who is an expert is any given field has no soul. And since the industrial revolution and even before it's time, the ignorance of humanity wants to assemble and only have experts in any given field.
err ugh, it's not the devs! It's the suits that fund the projects and want to "play it safe". It's not the people that know what they are doing, the actual experts, they have bosses, the bosses pay them and tell them what to do. The suits are the ones that don't know what they are doing. It's like a bureaucracy. The suits are detached, they only see $$, and they say what they generally want which is what the market share is ringing out before their blinded eyes. The suits generally live in the publishing office, play the stock market (not mmo's) and take expensive vacations monthly (to rl places!). The gaming industry is bigger than the movie industry, and is becoming more and more like the record industry. Blah!
The players basically expect these games to play themselves nowadays. There is little imagination or creativity on the players' part. Grind XP, recieve phat lewt. Rinse. Repeat.
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
I think the problem is that MMO quality is A) simply too subjective, and now big business, meaning new MMOs are targeting the lowest common denominator to maximize their potential playerbases. Every AAA title in recent history has been prettied up and slimmed down in an attempt to match the cover art on the boxes (pretty, anorexic women with heaving chests and sparkling hands). What's significant about that is that it's worked; the supermodels of the gaming industry have sold their boxes, so it's going to continue for quite some time. That's great news for the new generation of gamers, but it's pretty bad news for those of us who just want a nice piece of toast.
I've been saying this for years. The problem with this viewpoint is that you're wrong, as you fall into the minority. Nobody is going to make an expensive video game with such a small target audience, ever.
The real problem is so many MMO fans just don't want to let go of the past. They still are complaining about UO trammel and NGE and idolizing 10 year old games. No one else can match that ideal picture, and the games that try fail.
I do sometimes think back to the glory day's of old and yes those games were awsome they also had flaws and bugs. The problem i see these days is instead of improving and coming up with new idea's to expand on these classics, some of the new MMO's seemed to get it slightly wrong and remove things from the genre that a lot of people enjoyed i.e. (open world sandbox pvp worlds, immagination, an economy with player run towns, shops) which lead to the overall immersion of the game world, and dumbed it down so even a blind, brain damaged kitten could play. This made it so easy that people could get to max lvl in 2-3 weeks before getting bored and start qq @ the dev team for more to do.
If some of the new MMO's where a little harder and involved players to use their immaginations a bit more people would find a game a lot more enjoyable, I mean why should i be forced fed someone else's idea of what I should and should not be doing in game, some storyline is good and gives us some purpose but ultimatley choice is what we need and freedom to be able to express those choice's in a manner we see fit from the simple merchant to the hunter of foul beast's.
A fun game is made by players for players. Those are getting fewer and fewer.
And if you don't like EQ and Eve you are kinda screwed since almost every single MMO is a variation of EQ. And even if you did like EQ, how long is doing the exact same things fun? 5 years? 10 years?
That is why I am getting more and more tired of current games, almost all of them are the same. Thank the gods for CCP, Bioware and Arenanet.
First, developing a game and keeping a game constantly updated and fun to play is not easy thing and it takes time. Therefore, the condition to get fill-up would be very limited.
Secondly, the game company never want to see the game lives for only one year. It cost money to make so they want to earn enough money from the game. Therefore, they have to make it repetitive. Most games are quest grinding or level grinding or skill grinding or crafting grinding. Grinding became the only method for game company could think of to making the game with longer life.
Repetitive grinding definitely has its negative impact.
Third, the genre of the game. The market is full of such similar or cloned games as if if you want to dine out but you see every restaurant selling only chicken burgers. You don't have appetite to eat any more or you feel like you are full before you eat the burger.
What do I think it's fun? take example of Warhammer, it is a fun game. If Warhammer change the Tier 1,2,3 become grinding for certain skills or something and make it longer to get level up, whenever people login, they would be able to join for battle. No time to chat or social because it is in battleground. People only talking where to?
Comments
There is a simple reason why most video games can't hold water anymore. The industry and developers have become too big, and the developers are no longer making a game that they love and is exactly what they want to play, but are instead making games that they think everyone else will want to play...so they end up appealing to everyone but satisfying no one.
err ugh, it's not the devs! It's the suits that fund the projects and want to "play it safe". It's not the people that know what they are doing, the actual experts, they have bosses, the bosses pay them and tell them what to do. The suits are the ones that don't know what they are doing. It's like a bureaucracy. The suits are detached, they only see $$, and they say what they generally want which is what the market share is ringing out before their blinded eyes. The suits generally live in the publishing office, play the stock market (not mmo's) and take expensive vacations monthly (to rl places!). The gaming industry is bigger than the movie industry, and is becoming more and more like the record industry. Blah!
M59, UO, EQ1, WWIIOL, PS, EnB, SL, SWG. MoM, EQ2, AO, SB, CoH, LOTRO, WoW, DDO+ f2p's, Demos & indie alpha's.
yeah, I bet it's real lonely on the top of Mt. Olympus...Thanks for the info!
The players basically expect these games to play themselves nowadays. There is little imagination or creativity on the players' part. Grind XP, recieve phat lewt. Rinse. Repeat.
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
I've been saying this for years. The problem with this viewpoint is that you're wrong, as you fall into the minority. Nobody is going to make an expensive video game with such a small target audience, ever.
I do sometimes think back to the glory day's of old and yes those games were awsome they also had flaws and bugs. The problem i see these days is instead of improving and coming up with new idea's to expand on these classics, some of the new MMO's seemed to get it slightly wrong and remove things from the genre that a lot of people enjoyed i.e. (open world sandbox pvp worlds, immagination, an economy with player run towns, shops) which lead to the overall immersion of the game world, and dumbed it down so even a blind, brain damaged kitten could play. This made it so easy that people could get to max lvl in 2-3 weeks before getting bored and start qq @ the dev team for more to do.
If some of the new MMO's where a little harder and involved players to use their immaginations a bit more people would find a game a lot more enjoyable, I mean why should i be forced fed someone else's idea of what I should and should not be doing in game, some storyline is good and gives us some purpose but ultimatley choice is what we need and freedom to be able to express those choice's in a manner we see fit from the simple merchant to the hunter of foul beast's.
My 2 bobs worth
A fun game is made by players for players. Those are getting fewer and fewer.
And if you don't like EQ and Eve you are kinda screwed since almost every single MMO is a variation of EQ. And even if you did like EQ, how long is doing the exact same things fun? 5 years? 10 years?
That is why I am getting more and more tired of current games, almost all of them are the same. Thank the gods for CCP, Bioware and Arenanet.
First, developing a game and keeping a game constantly updated and fun to play is not easy thing and it takes time. Therefore, the condition to get fill-up would be very limited.
Secondly, the game company never want to see the game lives for only one year. It cost money to make so they want to earn enough money from the game. Therefore, they have to make it repetitive. Most games are quest grinding or level grinding or skill grinding or crafting grinding. Grinding became the only method for game company could think of to making the game with longer life.
Repetitive grinding definitely has its negative impact.
Third, the genre of the game. The market is full of such similar or cloned games as if if you want to dine out but you see every restaurant selling only chicken burgers. You don't have appetite to eat any more or you feel like you are full before you eat the burger.
What do I think it's fun? take example of Warhammer, it is a fun game. If Warhammer change the Tier 1,2,3 become grinding for certain skills or something and make it longer to get level up, whenever people login, they would be able to join for battle. No time to chat or social because it is in battleground. People only talking where to?