tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post4272157038583741094..comments2024-03-28T10:18:05.213+00:00Comments on Inventory Full: You've All Done Very Well! : DAWBhagpusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-50561181902340249052015-04-06T15:35:01.160+01:002015-04-06T15:35:01.160+01:00firstly, thanks for reading and for quoting me :)
...firstly, thanks for reading and for quoting me :)<br /><br />secondly, the quote about getting the audience they deserve is actually very sad. I don't think it's true, although I can understand why they said so. There are so many things that could be said about this, it's incredibly complex (why people behave like they do online) and not actually just confined to gaming (the recent Goodreads controversies etc). ugh...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-46716176563807453162015-04-05T11:59:10.591+01:002015-04-05T11:59:10.591+01:00Yes, and my characters are relegated to the "...Yes, and my characters are relegated to the "ugly friend" role. I'm used to it...Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-76065091379930117262015-04-05T11:56:17.535+01:002015-04-05T11:56:17.535+01:00That's one of the reasons I remain "subbe...That's one of the reasons I remain "subbed" to SOE (now Daybreak) All Access. They have been my favorite MMO developer for the entire time I've played MMOs and I am happy to do my small bit in paying for that to continue. It's a bit like leaving a tip for good service.<br /><br />As for devs talking to the media and on social media that's a bottomless pit of possibilities, good and bad. As a lowly bookseller, back when we were owned by a medium-sized, listed company, we had very strict rules on talking to the press: don't do it. Currently we are encouraged to use social media but personally I would never talk about anything I do at work in other than the vaguest, most innocuous terms because I have no idea what might or might not get me into trouble. <br /><br />Obviously no-one wants to talk to me about my day job but almost any developer or designer working on video games could get a hearing from international gaming news media by making one phone call or sending one email. Or even one tweet. It must take a considerable amount of self-restraint and it's no wonder the PR departments are nervous - one inappropriate comment could potentially sink an entire project.<br /><br />Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-43769284745458872032015-04-05T11:46:05.430+01:002015-04-05T11:46:05.430+01:00The Microsoft/Minecraft deal kind of makes the poi...The Microsoft/Minecraft deal kind of makes the point of how I feel things should work. If you compare gaming with semi-comparable creative/entertainment industries like cinema or music, what tends to happen is that small, independent operators come up with the genuine innovations on a shoestring budget and then big companies come in to market a blander, safer, more approachable and usually very much more lavish version for marketing to the mainstream. Or else they just hoover up new ideas and ruin them. Both, usually.<br /><br />What doesn't generally happen in other mainstream entertainments is for the audience to demand ongoing, radical innovation from the very big, established producers. That seems to be unique to gaming and as we can see it doesn't really work there either.<br /><br />Also, the cost thing is interesting. The guy from Crowfall, Gordon Walton, recently said Star Wars Galaxies cost "only" $18 million to make and took "only" two years nine months to make. That's $23m in 2015 money and to me that's still a lot of money to make a video game. When you look at the sums being asked for on Kickstarter you have to wonder where those millions are going. Either that or wonder if any Kickstarted MMO will ever be playable at all. Something doesn't add up.Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-59211433033047848732015-04-05T06:40:38.834+01:002015-04-05T06:40:38.834+01:00Mrs. Bhapuss' toon reveals are the BEST THINGS...Mrs. Bhapuss' toon reveals are the BEST THINGS EVAH... or, anyway, in the top ten. <br /><br />-- 7rlsy<br />AB & BarfgateAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-48911964712397065122015-04-05T06:17:46.171+01:002015-04-05T06:17:46.171+01:00I personally vote with my wallet, not unlike peopl...I personally vote with my wallet, not unlike people who donate way more then an actual finished game is worth in a kickstarter campaign. I've been subscribed to ESO for about 8 months yet my played time is way less then most single player games I outright own. This is mainly because I really appreciate what the developer is doing. I do feel for devs yet also hate when they speak to players in a pandering fashion. So it's not entirely surprising to learn they have 'handlers'. WAR was annoying to the nth degree in that way - every dev update was full! of! exclamation! marks! after! every! sentence! because otherwise us dumb gamers couldn't possibly fathom their enthusiasm for their game. Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00632504896755877667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-5723848031302192612015-04-04T18:35:59.932+01:002015-04-04T18:35:59.932+01:00Actually, it's not strictly true that people w...Actually, it's not strictly true that people won't buy innovation. They will, to the tune of $2 billion dollars. (What Microsoft paid for Minecraft, the most popular game in history).<br /><br />So I guess it comes down to, what does the average person mean by "innovation", and what does the creative mean? They are probably thinking of different things.<br /><br />The average person probably sees innovation as the Beatles or Nirvana. Something based on what went before, but also totally new. The next epoch in art. If it's something only slightly new, then they might think, why bother? And stick with the familiar.<br /><br />But for devs, and creatives, getting to the home run, the next epoch, requires those incremental steps, innovation in parts before the whole. But people -- and probably especially gamers, notoriously conservative apparently -- are wary of that, and so stick with the traditional.<br /><br />It's probably like that in any genre actually. I'm sure genre novelists probably confront the same problem. The genres that actually accept continual innovation, like literary novels, actually only command a miniscule portion of the market (despite critical presence).<br /><br />Add to that the fact that games costs so much to make, and the pressure is so vast, it's amazing that anything new is made at all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-78710183190342802092015-04-04T17:26:52.194+01:002015-04-04T17:26:52.194+01:00That's definitely part of it. Another part is ...That's definitely part of it. Another part is cultural conditioning I think. We're all brought up to believe that innovation and progress are always good, that change should be welcomed, even sought, and that life is about meeting and overcoming challenges. Doing things "the same old way" is frowned upon and often derided. Being comfortable with the status quo is very rarely an acceptable stance to take.<br /><br />Couple those ingrained attitudes with a medium that relies on technology that changes and develops almost too quickly for most people to keep pace and it's not surprising that gaming is always running so fast it falls over itself. Most other kinds of games (card, board, sports) change relatively little over long periods of time and when they do it's in small increments that rarely change the overall experience. No-one expects basketball, cribbage or chess to come up with an entirely new game-mode every year or two, far less an entirely new game.<br /><br />If I had one wish for the next decade in gaming it would be for developers to concentrate on perfecting and iterating on the types of games they already see people enjoying rather than expending vast amounts of money, time and energy trying to create endless novelty. More of the same but better is what I'd like to see.<br /><br />True innovation will come when it comes. It can't be forced or bought by the yard. Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-61082775353388506582015-04-04T13:00:59.143+01:002015-04-04T13:00:59.143+01:00"Someone's not telling the truth about wh..."Someone's not telling the truth about what they really like or what they really want"<br /><br />I love this quote. I have spoken on this before - it's hard to explain that you want a *feeling* that you once had but you aren't willing to be put under the same circumstances that you were forced into to get that *feeling* in the first place. That is the evil nostalgia =)Iseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09489936780809266112noreply@blogger.com