I don't complain about games just to be a downer. When it comes to single-player games I may offer my opinion but I won't go on about it. MMOs are a different story--if I complain loudly and long enough, the developers may realize that they need to change things up.
If you were the customer of a service, say mobile phone service, and the service was "okay" but not spectacular, but no other service filled your needs, would you simply remain silent about it? Or would you complain every time your signal tanked for an entire day?
@Ignacius: I really think there's a market for what you're talking about, but it's definitely not the mainstream MMO market. That sort of thing appeals to the Kickstarter indie crowd. Most MMO players don't want to deal with that kind of gameplay. How do I know? Old MMOs had those punishing and harsh gameplay mechanics, and people complained about them so much that they were changed. New games that came out didn't have them because most players didn't want them, and the developers saw they could attract far more customers if the games weren't so incredibly punishing.
I know that if XIV decided to revert to 1999-2000 era MMO mechanics, I would probably quit right away. I'm not a teenager anymore. I don't have time for a game that you cannot solo in, a game where even the weakest monsters can slaughter you with impunity, a game where you have to dedicate at least a four-hour chunk of time in order to actually progress at all. I'm an adult and I have other things to do besides waste all of my day playing video games. Granted, I do spend many hours playing them (I am a gamer, after all) but I would not play a "hardcore" MMO. I bet you that most MMO players in 2014 would not want to, either.
We just don't have that kind of time anymore.
If you were the customer of a service, say mobile phone service, and the service was "okay" but not spectacular, but no other service filled your needs, would you simply remain silent about it? Or would you complain every time your signal tanked for an entire day?
@Ignacius: I really think there's a market for what you're talking about, but it's definitely not the mainstream MMO market. That sort of thing appeals to the Kickstarter indie crowd. Most MMO players don't want to deal with that kind of gameplay. How do I know? Old MMOs had those punishing and harsh gameplay mechanics, and people complained about them so much that they were changed. New games that came out didn't have them because most players didn't want them, and the developers saw they could attract far more customers if the games weren't so incredibly punishing.
I know that if XIV decided to revert to 1999-2000 era MMO mechanics, I would probably quit right away. I'm not a teenager anymore. I don't have time for a game that you cannot solo in, a game where even the weakest monsters can slaughter you with impunity, a game where you have to dedicate at least a four-hour chunk of time in order to actually progress at all. I'm an adult and I have other things to do besides waste all of my day playing video games. Granted, I do spend many hours playing them (I am a gamer, after all) but I would not play a "hardcore" MMO. I bet you that most MMO players in 2014 would not want to, either.
We just don't have that kind of time anymore.
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