Interfectum
Member
Gamers don't have too much power... Mass Effect 3 just had a very shitty ending. Shitty enough to piss off a lot of gamers. No real story here other than how bad Bioware fucked up.
All preparation and networking for when they finally make the jump to be community manager at their favourite company.Last time I checked, gamers had very little power.
Why do so many journalists feel compelled to antagonize consumers and come to the rescue of developers?
All preparation and networking for when they finally make the jump to be community manager at their favourite company.
What the fuck is this dumb shit? I can complain about whatever the fuck I want on my own time if I pay for a product and I'm dissatisfied about it.
I guess if you see video games as art and not as products, there is an argument to be made here.
Seriously? We live in a world where most publishers push out games that expect the consumer to spend $40+ for DLC in addition to the $60 they paid for the game. And we have people writing that the consumers are the ones abusing power? Fuck off.
I guess if you see video games as art and not as products, there is an argument to be made here.
Video game enthusiasts were the early adopters of the internet, and therfore, social media. Ours is the most web-savvy and outspoken of groups and the relationship we have developed with the businesses and service providers are going to be different than other media junkies like movie lovers or TV fans.
By the same token game developers have used the internet and social media to deeply connect with their customers. There is much that can be gained from this means of communication. It is an unfiltered relationship though so you are going to hear things you might not want to otherwise.
But don't you see the gamer entitlement inherent in telling BioWare that you don't like their piece of shit game? They worked hard on that piece of shit, man! You have no right to tell them that you don't like it, because you didn't put your blood, sweat, and tears into it! Do you know how long it took them to download all those stock images? To put those awful-looking 2D sprites in all those incredibly visible places? To record all that terribly written dialogue? For shame.
Movies are seen as art, and there are tons of widely acclaimed movies which are rereleased with changes. The most relevant example would be Blade Runner.
The whole artistic integrity argument is void, ignorant and childish. Tons of pieces of arts are changed after release for a wide variety of reasons. Viewing art as something handed down from heaven and unchangeable just shows how ignorant videogame """""""journalists""""""" are.
Why do game journalists hate their audience so much?
That wasn't the argument at all; the person who wrote this article is a hack who's clearly only looking for page hits.http://www.computerandvideogames.com/345396/features/have-gamers-got-too-much-power/
If you look beyond the numbers you'll find the content of their argument to be weak. They propose a 'more pleasant ending' with alternatives including Shepard 'settling down with his lover' or 'becoming an intergalactic diplomat'. Do either of these really sound like an electrifying way to cap off an epic sci-fi trilogy?
The real problem is that the 18-35 year old mainstream game buying demographic seems immature.
They're very naive about games, and buy into hyperbole and marketing campaigns.
Mass Effect 3's ending(s) are no worse than just about any "let's be epic" endings in video games. Same shit, different day. The difference in Mass Effect's case is that the player base actually bought into the claim that Mass Effect was somehow "elite" among games, when Mass Effect 1 and 2 didn't actually have storytelling that was very great, or great endings. They were built on the same cliches as most games are. Fell back on the same crutches and lame tropes. The series just dresses it up in the appearance of being intellectual.
Gamers are still "wowed" by the appearance of sophistication. That their vidya gaems have talking peoples that look like the movies is a novelty that continues to have power. With games focusing on story and competing with motion pictures more than ever, storytelling and writing that would be substandard in some super hero comic books is accepted in games because it's impressive that "what used to be 'tendo games' are now so technologically advanced.
The outcry over Mass Effect 3's ending may be a watershed moment though, in a different way. A large number of gamers might have finally figured out that they're being sold silly shit that's poorly thought out, wrapped up in production values and discreet gameplay chunks that individually might be higher quality since video games are the result of many hands, not just a single author, or a single writer and single director. (This factor also makes it more difficult to judge video games compared to other mediums.)
Their initial reaction is still immature; crying for the creators to "fix their game" when the problem runs far more deeply in the entire series, and the "fix our game" avenue also doesn't recognize that it's a systemic problem with most games, not just this one.
But, perhaps that will cause some to approach these big budget wannabe hollywood productions with a more skeptical eye the next time out.
On the subject of consumer power, many gamers seem, due perhaps to the maturity problem, to be petty about the wrong things. They'll bitch more about people buying good games that have DLC, than about mass numbers of people buying into huge franchises that actually hurt the state of gaming in bigger ways.
Of course since the economics just don't work out anyway, this is perhaps all a moot point! We'll see how much longer publishers can survive with their 50 million dollar hollywood games that have 100 million dollar ad campaigns, while the empire crumbles from the outward edges in.
I don't think they have much power at all, but most publishers really are some of the most entitled bunch I've seen.
Soooo... Apparently, Mass Effect 3's ending is controversial because it leaves a lot of questions unanswered. And the fans aren't happy about that at all.
gamers = consumers with less rights.
Hahaha for a second I almost believed this.The outcry over Mass Effect 3's ending may be a watershed moment though, in a different way. A large number of gamers might have finally figured out that they're being sold silly shit that's poorly thought out, wrapped up in production values and discreet gameplay chunks that individually might be higher quality since video games are the result of many hands, not just a single author, or a single writer and single director.
Ha! It's actually a very clever-meta commentary, you see.Author of this article just proved that any idiot can voice his opinion on the internet. lol, games journalism.
And no backbone to speak of. Seriously, the lack of spine is probably the biggest reason why gamers as a market are pretty much seen as a flock of mindless sheep by publishers.
Giant babies that are marketed to with the most infantile, depressingly shallow and chauvinistic marketing strategies. Every single high production game is marketed towards 14 year olds. To people who use physical atributes, consumable goods and items that hold a perceived social value, to declare themselves mature. It's the most embarassing shit to see this industry claim for artistic integrity but at the same time it treats it's customers like insecure teenagers, like adolescent boys who out of their own inexperience cling themselves to whatever promises them deliverance to adulthood.
It's basically like the Automobile industry, but at least they have the excuse of a cars practical use, while gaming is entertainment, not an integral part of human mobility in the 21st century.
So before people start to complain about the entitled gamer, maybe they should consider that games aren't a gift that consumers should be happy to even get, but just another entertainment product that competes for a consumers money.
Games aren't special, Gamers aren't special, grow a fucking spine, get your head out of the publishers PR asshole and stop blaming others, and this goes for both developers and their apologist followers.
As for Bioware, they get to complain about creative autonomy when they stop making games that are the poster child of focus group design, mixed with scams implemented by publishers like EA (online pass)
And no backbone to speak of. Seriously, the lack of spine is probably the biggest reason why gamers as a market are pretty much seen as a flock of mindless sheep by publishers.
Giant babies that are marketed to with the most infantile, depressingly shallow and chauvinistic marketing strategies. Every single high production game is marketed towards 14 year olds. To people who use physical atributes, consumable goods and items that hold a perceived social value, to declare themselves mature. It's the most embarassing shit to see this industry claim for artistic integrity but at the same time it treats it's customers like insecure teenagers, like adolescent boys who out of their own inexperience cling themselves to whatever promises them deliverance to adulthood.
It's basically like the Automobile industry, but at least they have the excuse of a cars practical use, while gaming is entertainment, not an integral part of human mobility in the 21st century.
So before people start to complain about the entitled gamer, maybe they should consider that games aren't a gift that consumers should be happy to even get, but just another entertainment product that competes for a consumers money.
Games aren't special, Gamers aren't special, grow a fucking spine, get your head out of the publishers PR asshole and stop blaming others, and this goes for both developers and their apologist followers.
As for Bioware, they get to complain about creative autonomy when they stop making games that are the poster child of focus group design, mixed with scams implemented by publishers like EA (online pass)
Bad example, because Blade Runner was the artist taking back his work from the publishers who stirred it up in the first place.
Anyway, if games truly are art the artist wouldn't listen to the critics or fans. Banksy doesn't hold a poll asking where or what he should tag next. Van Gogh wasn't even alive for people to tell him what to think of his own work. When that art is commissioned, then sure, the buyer can have a say in how it looks.
Last time I checked, gamers had very little power.
Why do so many journalists feel compelled to antagonize consumers and come to the rescue of developers?
Hey isn't that our very own Shocking Alberto? Great piece.All I know it's that the regular gamers opinion on ME3's ending is way more intelligent than the regular game press' opinion.
Besides, the game press has taken to insulting gamers regularly which is unacceptable. In this regard people should read
http://www.nitrobeard.com/home/2012/4/4/being-rude-1.html
Hey isn't that our very own Shocking Alberto?
Yeah that's not the argument at all.
You can still make the entitlement case without completely misrepresenting people's actual issues. It's not hard.
The Iliad and The Odyssey were composed over centuries of changes to better suit the public's tastes. Are they not art for this?
Shakespeare changed his plays to better suit the public tastes, and plays are a much closer example to what videogames are, than paintings or graffiti, as they can be changed (patched) after release with relative ease. e: and are realized by a big group of people, as opposed to one or two loners.