Game Designer's Worst Nightmare - the fans?

[Toonces]

I'll put myself on report here.

I've been, not exactly ranting but expressing forceful, negative opinions, on SimHQ on the Battle over Stalingrad, Rise of Flight and DCS forums the last few months.  Mostly this stems from the fact that as an avid flight simmer and somebody who's been in the hobby pretty much from the beginning, I feel that I have a good pulse of what makes a mainstream-ish flight sim that appeals to a wide variety of players.

There just aren't that many sims in the works these days, and the ones that are coming out seem to miss obvious mechanics that have made previous sims so popular and have such longevity.  It's like, the wheel is invented but developers seem to feel the need to go and keep trying to reinvent it.

Take IL-2 for example.  That is a widely popular, long-lived flight sim.  If I'm going to make a WW2 flight sim, Cliffs of Dover or Stalingrad or whatever, the first thing I'm going to do is look at what made IL-2 so popular and keep that stuff in...improve upon it.  Not reinvent the wheel with things like unlocks, static campaigns, limited planesets, etc.  This goes for other sims as well: Over Flanders Fields/Red Baron 3D vs. Rise of Flight; Falcon 4.0 vs. DCS; etc.

So when we as customers rage against developers, it's mostly because some of the stuff we players want seems so bloody obvious.  We get frustrated when the guys that make these games refuse to listen to what we want, and for lack of alternatives we play what we can get, rather than what we want....and meantime lament the lack of content that is so obviously missing.

[GDS_Starfury]

Take IL-2 for example.  That is a widely popular, long-lived flight sim.  If I'm going to make a WW2 flight sim, Cliffs of Dover or Stalingrad or whatever, the first thing I'm going to do is look at what made IL-2 so popular and keep that stuff in...improve upon it. 

my guess is that its when they try improving upon the good stuff that things go pear shaped.

[Arctic Blast]

Ah, gamers. Quite possibly the most obnoxious and toxic social group on the planet.

[GDS_Starfury]

Ah, gamers hipsters. Quite possibly the most obnoxious and toxic social group on the planet.

fixed

[Mad Russian]

As a game developer I use one simple rule. It keeps me sane.

I make the game I like.

Then I share it with you. If you don't like it, play something else.

Good Hunting.

[Swatter]

I think the game developers in the article come off as a bit like spoiled babies. On twitter I saw a few tweets going around from high profile developers, they sounded like they were suffering from a unique form of persecution. It sounded like there was no end to the hurt feelings (perhaps bruised egos).

We all experience the idiots that roam the internet causing misery wherever they go. When I played WoT, calling out other players rudely was very common. In any MMO I have played, the general chat area is filled with insults, immaturity, and racism. Perhaps developers get more than their fair share of crap from disappointed gamers, but it is a common problem faced by all. It is not the fans, it is just a new breed of idiot growing up on the consequence free internet.

[Arctic Blast]

I think the game developers in the article come off as a bit like spoiled babies. On twitter I saw a few tweets going around from high profile developers, they sounded like they were suffering from a unique form of persecution. It sounded like there was no end to the hurt feelings (perhaps bruised egos).

We all experience the idiots that roam the internet causing misery wherever they go. When I played WoT, calling out other players rudely was very common. In any MMO I have played, the general chat area is filled with insults, immaturity, and racism. Perhaps developers get more than their fair share of crap from disappointed gamers, but it is a common problem faced by all. It is not the fans, it is just a new breed of idiot growing up on the consequence free internet.

I disagree about the spoiled babies part. These are people who are literally sent mountains of DEATH THREATS AND WORSE because they tweaked a timing issue in a game or many equally other minor situations. Nowhere else in human society would that be accepted. Yet the vast majority of the gaming world shrugs and pretty much says "Well, that's how it works here." That's insane. I'd probably have one Hell of a chip on my shoulder facing that on a regular basis and then being told I should just grin and bear it "Because, y'know...gaming!"

I'm being completely serious when I say that the majority of the gaming world are the most spoilt, whiny, socially maladjusted collection of humanity you will find in the supposedly civilized world.

[Nefaro]

I think the game developers in the article come off as a bit like spoiled babies. On twitter I saw a few tweets going around from high profile developers, they sounded like they were suffering from a unique form of persecution. It sounded like there was no end to the hurt feelings (perhaps bruised egos).

We all experience the idiots that roam the internet causing misery wherever they go. When I played WoT, calling out other players rudely was very common. In any MMO I have played, the general chat area is filled with insults, immaturity, and racism. Perhaps developers get more than their fair share of crap from disappointed gamers, but it is a common problem faced by all. It is not the fans, it is just a new breed of idiot growing up on the consequence free internet.

Yeah, you make a good point.  If you've played multiplayer games on the 'net much, then it's likely you've been the target of some idiot's personal attacks.  The developers just get the attention more than Avg Joe.

[Swatter]

I think some do act spoiled, but I do concede that they can receive more than their fair share.

At the same time, anyone who engages in online public forums potentially exposes themselves to death threats and douchebags. If I had the poor judgment to routinely engage in political discussions on twitter, then I open myself to that kind of vitriol. Game companies engage in public forums to promote and discuss their projects, it would be naïve to expect the idiots to hold fire.

It is a minefield we all must walk through (unless you are the one laying the mines). Now, when I discussed some tweets from developers earlier, the whiniest ones were the ones whose job it is to get out and promote their games via trade shows, forums, and twitter. I am not sure what they expect. It is their job to promote their products and often promising the world in the process. When the product sucks or falls short of the stratospheric expectations they peddle, are the results all that surprising.

I have a feeling much of this crap comes from twitter, because forums are heavily moderated these days. If you can't ignore/block an idiot on Twitter, you need a different job or simply need to not engage on Twitter. I am sure there are many horror stories on Twitter and most of them having nothing to do with game development.

"literally sent mountains"

Ok, you have a point here. Sending mountains is over the top, but if someone is willing to pay the shipping costs on a mountain, perhaps they should be listened to.

[Swatter]

This conversation reminds me of an Angry Joe twitter exchange a week or so ago. Angry Joe (if you don't know) is a YouTube game reviewer with his own brand of showmanship. He tweeted one day about how a certain game was going to enlarge the breasts of one of its female characters. He said something about how it degrades women and perhaps the developers should concentrate on actually making the game better. This Twitter conversation quickly devolved into death threats. Yes, death threats over Joe's benign comment.

The more I think about it, the more whiney these game developers sound. I think it isn't so much angry/crazed fans as much as a new dynamic occurring in these social mediums. Its something that affects us all.