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Sony Patents Game Demos With Feature Erosion
MojoKid writes "When a game developer releases a demo, it's typically intended to entice players into first trying and then purchasing the full version. This is the stuff of Game Design 101 for most of us, but a crack team of cutting-edge gaming researchers at Sony have applied for a patent based on a novel concept: game demos that become progressively less fun the more you play. Sony refers to this as 'feature erosion.' The idea behind this dubious concept is that gamers will become hooked on a game while it's still in demo, then squawk unhappily as features and abilities they've unlocked begin to disappear. In order to prevent this, the player ponies up for the full version. A demo or program that provides limited functionality or play time is one thing; a game that's purposefully designed to take your progress away, in an admitted attempt to get you to buy once you've been hooked, is something altogether different."
Lots of demo software is designed to stop working entirely after the demo period expires. The concept of doing this gradually over time seems, if anything, more humane.
I suggest we roll over and go back to sleep -- or at least save our angst for worthy matters.
It doesn't have to be silent degradation. Imagine a pop-up notification: "You have just lost 2000 XP and your +3 armor of wisdom, buy the game to regain them!", or "All injuries will now become instant headshots, this won't happen if you buy the game!".
True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
I think the larger issue is not whether this is a good idea for a game demo, but why is an idea at this level of abstraction even patentable?