Well, wait a minute, more pedestrians would certainly be essential to the gameplay. It's going to be a hell of a lot harder to do those drag race missions during rush hour in the middle of downtown. You might plow into so many bodies on the corner of Jefferson and Main that they stop your car completely in the PS3 version!
There are many others... ultimately this is an extremely good move for the industry and we should be very glad of it. Perhaps with this the games industry will finally move towards the "software as a service/continuously updated product" model that is spreading far and wide in the rest of the software and meatspace industry.
What MMORPG doesn't take this view point, though? All MMORPGs that I've seen consistently release patches to fix issues and add new content. Successful ones put out expansions to add a whole lot of new content to maintain interest in the product. I think the problem here is that if your initial product is not working, then don't release it yet. If you have major scope creep occuring on your game project, then move a bunch of features to "Phase 2" and release an overall solid and working but lesser product as "Phase 1".
I think somebody hit the nail on the head here earlier - Game developers seem to be all about adding new things, and less about fixing and refining the existing code. If your existing code needs a lot of QA, debugging, and patching, then focus on that for a while and shut off the new feature floodgate until you can get your head above water.
But judging from the sales numbers, I'm guessing *most* people don't enjoy EQ-style downtime, camping, severe XP loss + corpse retrieval, etc.
Who DOES like these things? I played a lot of EQ years ago because it was, in my opinion, the best MMORPG out on the market at the time. Later I made it into the WoW beta, and I have been playing ever since. Here are the things that I think WoW has going for it over EQ and EQ2:
Better artwork with an overal consistency of style
Easy-to-use questing interface that's actually fun and rewarding
The ability to almost always play solo with any class
No more experience penalties on death
No more painfully long meditation breaks between battles
More benefit and less annoyance with PvP play
I can play for one hour and, in that time, accomplish something and have fun no matter my level.
Retrieving my corpse after death is no longer more tactically complicated than any other part of the gameplay.
Faster, non-realistic duration, world travel
I'm sure there are plenty more things. But it was because of things like these, that I never wanted to play EQ ever again. I've been playing WoW for over 2 years now, and I still have a great time with it. It has a lot to offer a much broader audience. But, then again, I'm sure that's obvious based on the size of its subscriber base.
So.. let me get this straight he (1) made an investment of 600$ +/- (2) attempted to capitalize on his investment, but failed and then (3) got a full refund.
Where is the risk in that again?
The risk is that you most likely wasted a lot of time waiting in line for no good reason.
What about Quake 2's "The Edge" map? I believe it was the greatest deathmatch map ever created. I played about 2,000 games in that thing, and it was always a lot of fun!
This reminds me of when EA put a stop to Peroxide's Ultima I remake. Peroxide never intended to make any money off of their work, and I doubt these guys did either... Yet these companies squash the project. If I were in their positions, I would be flattered that people enjoyed their product so much they decided to make a tribute to it.
Wow. This guy was trying WAY too hard to make his cold war analogy fit the console market. National defense is JUST LIKE a couple of video game companies competing to dominate their collective market. My god, that just makes SO MUCH sense!
Meanwhile, in the Cold Cookie War, Oreo and Hydrox keep each other locked in a constant state of fear that the strongest cookie will annihilate the other.
Exactly! Once I hit 60th level, and tried out the "high-end" game content, I realized that I would have to sacrifice massive hunks of my time at home, and quite possibly my time SLEEPING at home, in order to keep-up with the guild.
Screw that! I'd rather spend my video game time playing games that don't require me to play for multiple uninterruptible hours. For other casual gamers, like me, I highly recommend buying a Nintendo DS instead of playing WoW. Hey, you can CLOSE IT, and it will pause your game, any game, no matter what you're currently doing in the game! I CAN GO TO THE BATHROOM AGAIN!
Simon's Quest always seemed to be quite the hack job to me. It had a great artistic feel, great music, but the level and monster design seemed pretty rushed. The bosses looked horrible and were incredibly easy to kill, the story and dialogue didn't make much sense at all, and the layout of the maps just seemed sloppy and uninspiring.
I love how the game felt. I loved the day and night feature (What a horrible night to have a curse!) I probably beat the game about 30 times when I was a kid, but it just seemed like it was rushed out the door. I wish they would make another game more like Simon's Quest that felt more refined and played better.
I'm sure studies would also find that teenagers are spending a lot more of their time making online journals, establishing online contacts, and posting personal information along with attention-whore photographs of themselves all over the Internet;)
One time I played through all of Final Fantasy on an NES emulator at work while I installed a boring and tedious PeopleSoft service pack that took about two weeks or so to get fully installed.
McDonald's seems to be doing OK only selling hamburgers
There's a big difference between selling a hamburger and selling a piece of entertainment media. People are more willing to come back to get the same thing to eat than they are willing to play the same kind of game that eats up hours of their free time.
First of all, we need to eat, we don't need to play GTA.
Second, eating at McDonald's is a lot less of a time sink:)
Slashdot Mirror
Well, wait a minute, more pedestrians would certainly be essential to the gameplay. It's going to be a hell of a lot harder to do those drag race missions during rush hour in the middle of downtown. You might plow into so many bodies on the corner of Jefferson and Main that they stop your car completely in the PS3 version!
What MMORPG doesn't take this view point, though? All MMORPGs that I've seen consistently release patches to fix issues and add new content. Successful ones put out expansions to add a whole lot of new content to maintain interest in the product. I think the problem here is that if your initial product is not working, then don't release it yet. If you have major scope creep occuring on your game project, then move a bunch of features to "Phase 2" and release an overall solid and working but lesser product as "Phase 1".
I think somebody hit the nail on the head here earlier - Game developers seem to be all about adding new things, and less about fixing and refining the existing code. If your existing code needs a lot of QA, debugging, and patching, then focus on that for a while and shut off the new feature floodgate until you can get your head above water.
Who DOES like these things? I played a lot of EQ years ago because it was, in my opinion, the best MMORPG out on the market at the time. Later I made it into the WoW beta, and I have been playing ever since. Here are the things that I think WoW has going for it over EQ and EQ2:
- Better artwork with an overal consistency of style
- Easy-to-use questing interface that's actually fun and rewarding
- The ability to almost always play solo with any class
- No more experience penalties on death
- No more painfully long meditation breaks between battles
- More benefit and less annoyance with PvP play
- I can play for one hour and, in that time, accomplish something and have fun no matter my level.
- Retrieving my corpse after death is no longer more tactically complicated than any other part of the gameplay.
- Faster, non-realistic duration, world travel
I'm sure there are plenty more things. But it was because of things like these, that I never wanted to play EQ ever again. I've been playing WoW for over 2 years now, and I still have a great time with it. It has a lot to offer a much broader audience. But, then again, I'm sure that's obvious based on the size of its subscriber base.Personally, if I played Second Life, I believe I would rather look a little something like this: http://www.localarcade.com/arcade_art/data/thumbna ils/2/q-bert.jpg
"I pity da foo' who ain't got a machine gun for a hand!"
No, I do not.
The risk is that you most likely wasted a lot of time waiting in line for no good reason.
Folding his arms in front of his chest Zonk looks at you sternly, and in the Comic Book Store Guy's voice he says, "Worst. Launch. Ever."
I'm guessing that was the N64...?
What about Quake 2's "The Edge" map? I believe it was the greatest deathmatch map ever created. I played about 2,000 games in that thing, and it was always a lot of fun!
I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to be ordering the Playstation 5 from eBay instead.
I feel sorry for you losers stuck with your obsolete gaming technology!
This reminds me of when EA put a stop to Peroxide's Ultima I remake. Peroxide never intended to make any money off of their work, and I doubt these guys did either... Yet these companies squash the project. If I were in their positions, I would be flattered that people enjoyed their product so much they decided to make a tribute to it.
Wow. This guy was trying WAY too hard to make his cold war analogy fit the console market. National defense is JUST LIKE a couple of video game companies competing to dominate their collective market. My god, that just makes SO MUCH sense!
Meanwhile, in the Cold Cookie War, Oreo and Hydrox keep each other locked in a constant state of fear that the strongest cookie will annihilate the other.
Exactly! Once I hit 60th level, and tried out the "high-end" game content, I realized that I would have to sacrifice massive hunks of my time at home, and quite possibly my time SLEEPING at home, in order to keep-up with the guild.
Screw that! I'd rather spend my video game time playing games that don't require me to play for multiple uninterruptible hours. For other casual gamers, like me, I highly recommend buying a Nintendo DS instead of playing WoW. Hey, you can CLOSE IT, and it will pause your game, any game, no matter what you're currently doing in the game! I CAN GO TO THE BATHROOM AGAIN!
Simon's Quest always seemed to be quite the hack job to me. It had a great artistic feel, great music, but the level and monster design seemed pretty rushed. The bosses looked horrible and were incredibly easy to kill, the story and dialogue didn't make much sense at all, and the layout of the maps just seemed sloppy and uninspiring.
I love how the game felt. I loved the day and night feature (What a horrible night to have a curse!) I probably beat the game about 30 times when I was a kid, but it just seemed like it was rushed out the door. I wish they would make another game more like Simon's Quest that felt more refined and played better.
...or am I the only person who immediately thinks, "Who the hell cares?!" when I see the phrase "Virtual Economy" in a Slashdot article's title.
BOOOOOOO!!!
This movie will not make money.
I'm sure studies would also find that teenagers are spending a lot more of their time making online journals, establishing online contacts, and posting personal information along with attention-whore photographs of themselves all over the Internet ;)
.... There's nothing like this article to remind you that there are a lot of really stupid people in this world.
:)
Can we please stop calling Second Life a game? It's going to give the industry a bad name
One time I played through all of Final Fantasy on an NES emulator at work while I installed a boring and tedious PeopleSoft service pack that took about two weeks or so to get fully installed.
There's a big difference between selling a hamburger and selling a piece of entertainment media. People are more willing to come back to get the same thing to eat than they are willing to play the same kind of game that eats up hours of their free time.
First of all, we need to eat, we don't need to play GTA.
Second, eating at McDonald's is a lot less of a time sink
If the industry moves away from cut-scenes, then we'll never get our regular dose of "Bullshot" video game hype!
l lshot
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bu
...that article wasn't even funny.
It says:
...I think I'm going to lie down.
OMP's Essential 100: PS1, PS2, and PSP Games You Must Play Before You Die from 1UP.com
Hmmm.... 1UP.com has been making me feel a little light headed lately...
It seems to me like the XBox has some years on 360. I think the XBox 360 is the true little brother ;)