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I just give up on gaming.
Sciela
Member UncommonPosts: 46
Ever since I was little, like 3-4 years old, I've loved gaming. Even if I didn't know what was going on, I still had fun. The older I got, the more I fell in love with gaming, and it stuck with me throughout my entire life (22 now). But, lately I've been seeing a trend. It's been happening for 10-12 years or so now, but I just chose to pretend like it didn't exist. But, gaming was dying, and is now buried for years.
Where before games were developed by people who loved what they did, now they're developed by greedy suits who really don't give a damn, so long as you shovel money into their mouths -- even companies that held on to what really mattered for so long eventually succumbed to their greed (Nintendo in particular). New companies pop up every now and then and develop a truly good game, but then the success gets to them, and they start down the wallet-humping path. Quality just isn't really all that important anymore, and that's apparent everywhere you look.
Now we also have a more recent trend called F2P, and its cousin DLC. Both are just the epitome of greedy, underhanded business methods; in an F2P game, you release a game that has no soul or life to it (but that's okay 'cause it's free, right?), and charge people to even enjoy themselves. You focus so much on milking the cash shop and all that, that you forget about the game itself. So, you trade a quality product for nickel and diming. In DLC, you might release a good game, but you pull parts of it out and resell it as "additional content." I remember when DLC used to be akin to expansions, adding NEW content that wasn't pulled out of the game / should have already been in by default.
Challenge. Remember that word? The current generation of gamers doesn't want to ever hear or see that word, and throws tantrums any time a game hints at it (thanks, society), so every game is built without challenge. Where before you'd wipe to a raid boss for hours before figuring out how to beat it, now you just beat it straight up, 'cause that's fun apparently. Where before you had to actually be good at the game to progress, now you just win by default, since everyone is a winner. Where combat was fast-paced, mechanically intensive and required an amount of thought and effort, now we have flashy, brainless combat that, while fast-paced, is ultimately boring because it's just a spamfest.
I donno. Just don't really feel like any companies out there really care anymore. Gaming isn't what it used to be, and now it's just a big cash grab. It's almost enough to make me cry, watching my childhood hobby die in front of me, and knowing there's nothing you can do about it. While I'd like to believe some company will come out (or I'll make my own company) that will challenge other companies to actually care... who am I kidding? Gaming just isn't meant for people like me.
Sometimes, I hate having a brain. If I was a moron, all these games would be fun. You know, I used to dream of developing my own games, composing my own soundtracks, telling my own stories... I just don't know anymore. Childhood dreams are silly anyway.
Where before games were developed by people who loved what they did, now they're developed by greedy suits who really don't give a damn, so long as you shovel money into their mouths -- even companies that held on to what really mattered for so long eventually succumbed to their greed (Nintendo in particular). New companies pop up every now and then and develop a truly good game, but then the success gets to them, and they start down the wallet-humping path. Quality just isn't really all that important anymore, and that's apparent everywhere you look.
Now we also have a more recent trend called F2P, and its cousin DLC. Both are just the epitome of greedy, underhanded business methods; in an F2P game, you release a game that has no soul or life to it (but that's okay 'cause it's free, right?), and charge people to even enjoy themselves. You focus so much on milking the cash shop and all that, that you forget about the game itself. So, you trade a quality product for nickel and diming. In DLC, you might release a good game, but you pull parts of it out and resell it as "additional content." I remember when DLC used to be akin to expansions, adding NEW content that wasn't pulled out of the game / should have already been in by default.
Challenge. Remember that word? The current generation of gamers doesn't want to ever hear or see that word, and throws tantrums any time a game hints at it (thanks, society), so every game is built without challenge. Where before you'd wipe to a raid boss for hours before figuring out how to beat it, now you just beat it straight up, 'cause that's fun apparently. Where before you had to actually be good at the game to progress, now you just win by default, since everyone is a winner. Where combat was fast-paced, mechanically intensive and required an amount of thought and effort, now we have flashy, brainless combat that, while fast-paced, is ultimately boring because it's just a spamfest.
I donno. Just don't really feel like any companies out there really care anymore. Gaming isn't what it used to be, and now it's just a big cash grab. It's almost enough to make me cry, watching my childhood hobby die in front of me, and knowing there's nothing you can do about it. While I'd like to believe some company will come out (or I'll make my own company) that will challenge other companies to actually care... who am I kidding? Gaming just isn't meant for people like me.
Sometimes, I hate having a brain. If I was a moron, all these games would be fun. You know, I used to dream of developing my own games, composing my own soundtracks, telling my own stories... I just don't know anymore. Childhood dreams are silly anyway.
Comments
Don't kid yourself. People haven't changed.
Back to singleplayer maybe better chose , though the DLC still bug me .
Once you understand the entire process you begin to see very shallow efforts.I am positive that devs know as well their games are simply not good enough,but this is big business,they all want a piece of the pie.
You can't have several big suits all making 6 figure or better contracts,then Directors and Producers and tons of high paid employees,you end up with a huge budget and not even started the game yet.So then rather than attempt this and lose their shirts ,along comes free handouts...kickstarters.This to them is like winning the lottery,no matter what they can deliver anything and still put a tidy sum in their bank accounts.
What drives this whole engine are the people supporting this crap.Without the spending none of this would exist,only the very good games would continue while slack developers would fold up shop.We are at a point where any Tom Dick n Harry can start up a game and the market shows it.
The ONLY people that will continue to get my support are the artists,they do amazing work in these games,the suits they can all fall off a cliff for all i care.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Star Citizen – The Extinction Level Event
4/13/15 > ELE has been updated look for 16-04-13.
http://www.dereksmart.org/2016/04/star-citizen-the-ele/
Enjoy and know the truth always comes to light!
Oh, and since I enjoy them I must fall into the category of 'moron' right?
Well, I could counter with "if you were as smart as you say, you would have found a way to accomplish your dreams and make those games you wanted."
Hope you like apples. Cuz how about them apples...
The OP was pretty "spot on" with the exception of "gaming is dieing." Gaming is making more money and reaching more people than ever before. This does not say "dieing" to me. Also, making money may be what some developers love, so they are doing what they love.
And finally, there is a difference between making money (which is a good thing) and "raking in the dough", which is a bad thing. When WoW got all that money coming in, developers and publishers pushed their expectations ever higher (and falling ever shorter). No longer was 250K to 500K monthly paying players adequate. That did not "make them enough money." Now, they load up the shotgun, take aim at their demographic (whales) and shoot, hoping to hit as many as possible to get them to pay massive amounts of money in a short span. Then reload the shotgun and fire again the next month.
This is very different from when games (MMORPGs especially) did things to try things out, had ideas in their heads and stuck to them, pushed the technological envelope, and produced games they actually wanted to play to see how many others felt the same way. They wanted to make money (of course), but not the kinds dreamed of today.
VG
Much too young for such cynicism.
"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
Granted there are bad ones too, looking at you Battlefront (DLC) and recently Blade @ Soul (FTP).
It's extremely easy to list things like greed, laziness on the devs part, to how different gamers are nowadays, and externalize fault.
If a game doesn't interest, then one shouldn't invest time or money to it. Anyone can generalize about a genre's decline citing personal anecdotes and declines in specific games to bolster their claims. It's simply confirmation bias being used and does not represent the whole.
If there is little to nothing one may find enjoyable to play, then give up gaming for the moment and do something else you love.
It's highly doubtful with the amount of games out there, being played, still being loved by many and making such money that is constantly reported here, that there is a major problem in the gaming industry. No matter the opinion of the individual as to what is 'wrong' with it.
I vote with my wallet, and if others cannot control themselves to do the same and 'bad' games flourish. I won't begrudge those players their right to enjoy what they want, even if my tastes differ.
I've been playing games since the Atari 2600 and don't see any change in my habits, that's just me.
Sadly, in the last 30-40 years, people have been changing, mostly in America; people are becoming greedier, more selfish, and just acting like spoiled little brats who had their toy taken away. So, what do gaming companies do? They pander to the entitled brats, and make games for them. No longer do you have to put in effort, nah, you just pay your way through, and if not that, you can win by using one finger. Usually though, those two go hand in hand.
So, don't kid yourself. People aren't changing, but how they act and behave are.
See, when gaming began, it wasn't a bunch of greedy ass suits, it was a bunch of nerds who came up with something new. They loved it, and did everything they could to make every game the best experience they could. Now that they've all died off or retired, we have a new generation of developers. These are the kids who whined and moaned and complained about how hard things were, and how much reading they had to do, and all that. So, they go and make games we would have LAUGHED AT back in the day. But, as that's the new norm, that's what we call "good."
10 years ago is when F2P and DLC really started to catch on -- and that's when the final nail was struck, and buried gaming.
Well, I've always wanted to be a developer, so I've done a lot of research on it all. I've even interned at Nintendo! So I know what goes into it all, and it's just kind of depressing what people throw out at us. What's even more depressing is that people buy into it though. : / If people didn't enable shitty companies like Ubisoft, Activision, EA, NCsoft, Nexon and all those, hey, they wouldn't be around. But everyone has holes burning in their pockets, I guess.
Well, what I do enjoy in gaming is slowly fading away. Quality story that, you know, exists (most MMOs don't care for story anymore) or isn't some edge magnet teeny thing? Nah, not important. Combat/gameplay that's engaging, challenging and rewards you for playing well? Well, kids won't pay enough if they have to -try- in order to win. Artwork and design that increases immersion and really paints a picture of another universe? Psh, who cares about immersion? It's all about looking pretty! ... forget those side details. Gaming just isn't an art anymore, and it's lost its soul to greedy suits and assholes who go ruining everything just so they can get their grubby fingers on more money.
And, you know I probably could find a way to go out and become a developer. But, I have to ask myself: Would it even be worth the time? I wouldn't develop some hand-holding, PC (politically correct), flashy game that has no value in story or quality content. Most people don't have the attention span or brainpower to play a game that isn't a gimme, so a lot of people wouldn't buy it. So I'd go investing all this money I don't have and all this time... for nothing. So why bother?
Firstly, yeah, gaming as an industry is booming. But gaming as a means of telling stories, as a window to another universe, as an art... that kind of gaming is dead. And has been for many years.
And yes, your second point is very true. There's making money (non-profits are a good example of this), and then there's being greedy, pulling in all the money you can, and giving no damn about your product (most AAA studios)... it's just sad that people seem to have forgotten the difference, and have stopped caring altogether.
I tried EVE, and got bored within probably an hour. I enjoy being a part of the game, not sitting and watching a cinematic spaceship fly around.
I've been cynical since I was a little kid. Never held people in high regard, and was always kind of disgusted by what goes on in the world. Honestly, I'm kind of embarrassed to be human. Oftentimes I like to imagine that I'm some kind of alien or something, and that's why I'm so different from other people and never had any kind of friends or anything. Of course, I know that's not true.
No people's behavior hasn't changed. Yes people are still being taught to be good and respectful. And others are being taught to win, the same as always.
There was never any more or less people making them just for the love and never any more or less people making them just for the money. It has always been a mix. Always. Virtually every decision that is made in a game by virtually every single developer group is always 1. will this enhance the game. 2. is it worth the cost.
The difference is you. You are not the same person you were before. You are older, more experience, less naive, less exuberant... Your tastes are different, more refined? more concrete.
Sure, if you look for challenge in mmorpg its a tough one because you basically have to go hardcore raiding to find it. However, I have to question why you are looking at mmorpg's to find challenge, its never been a particularly challenging genre.
Maybe I'm wrong and that you are at the point where regular gaming just doesn't cut it anymore. Maybe its time to learn how to play bridge or chess and truly challenge yourself, like adults do.
The problem with former and current generation of gamers is that they would rather throw a tantrum at how bad the gaming industry is at making games for them than finding actual solutions. So many people claiming to have a brain but acting like morons.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
I'm not saying they are villains at all. Did not even imply that. The OP stated games are only made by greedy people implying that they are no longer made by people who love the games. I'm stating that is wrong. Games have always been a mix of people doing it just for the love and people doing it for business. The suits are in charge of the business, it is their job to ensure the company turns a profit or everyone is out the door.
I'd say if you're judging anyone based on what entertains them, you might want to look in the mirror when saying things like "morons"...
If I want a challenge I pick up my guitar or open one of my art programs to create or learn something new (like a new way to animate or a new type of phrasing).. I play MMORPGs when I want something I can do while I eat or multi task, they've been perfect for that since I started playing them in 2002..
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
I do see innovation in indie games, one day those concepts that are now indie may become mainstream as they get refined and find their audience. Also at 38 I know that the first generation of gamers is a little older than me but we are still a significant market, however we are also more demanding in terms of gameplay, not so much with graphics.
In 2015 it seems that 70% of my time was spent playing indie games for new ideas and innovation and hearthstone when I am too tired to play anything more demanding.
Tried FFXIV and GW2 and thought they were horrible games, but i can see they were not made for me so I move along.