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Designing Videogames For The Wage Slave
Thanks to Ron Gilbert's weblog for pointing out a GameDev.net article discussing the topic of "Designing Games for the Wage Slave" . The author explains: "We balance on the knife's edge between our glorious time-squandered youth, and the commitments of inevitable middle age... If games can adapt to the needs of the working gamer, they can find a lucrative niche." He goes on suggest practical tips for game developers, including 'Don't Waste My Time' ("Make every moment count. I don't play games to punish myself. I play them to be entertained, rewarded, and challenged"), 'Curiosity Killed The Cat...' ("Constant death was a necessity in the days of video arcades... Now, in the comfort of our lounges or offices, what reason is there to keep dumping us out of the game we bought with our hard earned cash?"), and 'I Need Help' ("Make any necessary information available from within the game.")
The article itself actually seems to focus on things that constitute bad game design in general, rather than things like MMORPGs, which have problems that apply only to the time-constrained.
Looking at the article's examples, I see "don't make me hunt for lost keys!" When I was a kid I abandoned a game or two because I was so sick of looking for the keys. That old Lord of the Rings game for SNES, I'm looking at you. Unskippable splash screens are fine once, but it's the kids who get most impatient over them the 20th time around. And other complaints like jumping puzzles, lack of direction towards goals, and endlessly replaying the same content? Those are cheap tricks necessitated by the primitve technology of the past, but on modern hardware with modern development tools and budgets, that stuff is the hallmark of a half-assed game. Good games can still use such techniques, but they do it in ways that support the gameplay rather than covering up holes.
help someone help while bio is getting a snack this is my only chance to get help i'm tie d up in the basement as a sex slave pelase call the cops somebody help me
The complaints in the article are all focused on things young gamers complain about too-he's talking about plain old poor game design, which pisses of the salaryman enough to drive him away from the product only because he has plenty of cash to go to competitors, and needs to get the biggest bang for his hour of play. The factors that allow kids to put up with lousy games are removed.
However, there are issues that constitute bad design for the older set but are good features for kids. MMORPG's are the best example. Players with unlimited time want and need endless depth and a time sink that rewards their dedication. However, full-time workers just can't compete. The solution is to change the way the game works, and offer different paths that allow everyone to enjoy a rewarding, high-octane game experience without either unbalancing the game horrendously or requiring years of building up. For example, you could have a humans vs orcs vs undead combat game, where humans can spend endless hours building up towards awesome power with an emphasis on rpging, orcs get an action packed but still hardcore rpg experience that appeals to the typical "guy gamer", and the undead come with cool powers right out of the box for time-starved gamers to experiment with. The groups are not competing in parallel, so the fact that an hour old undead can 50 hour old human won't unbalance the game horribly. The undead won't be hanging around the human newbie towns abusing the weaklings.
Why don't more games do that? Because it's a hard design problem. The real issue isn't the games themselves, it's that the market as it is today puts an emphasis on flash, hype, and marketing, not solid gameplay. Brilliantly designed games will remain rare exceptions, just as brilliant movies are the exceptions in Hollywood. Really, the game industry is evolving towards Hollywood very quickly.
Slashdot editors, I agree wholeheartedly with this post. That BEIGE OF THE END TIMES would make a highly paid full time worker puke all over his overpriced game.
This should be a new slashdot thing. THE BEIGE OF THE END TIMES is the most radioactive, eye burning color anyone's ever seen-in Japan, soviet russia, and slashdot. Imagine a beowulf cluster of computers all displaying the BEIGE OF THE END TIMES. it would be enough to petrify natalie portman , even if she was lubricated by the Olsen Twins. GNAA: Last Measure should add THE BEIGE OF THE END TIMES to its repertoire of abuse post-haste! And just think of all the possibilities for insults involving beige. Your mom is BEIGE. OF THE END TIMES!
FEAR THE DAMNED ELDER GOD FOR ITS BEIGE OF THE END TIMES CONSUMES YOUR SOUL