State of CRPGs This Summer: Lucky Thing I’ve Been Too Busy To Notice…
Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 4, 2010
RPGWatch contributor VoxClamant states that for CRPG fans, it has been a long and disappointing summer:
“…it was largely a summer of disappointments and failures. And it was matched by some discouraging trends in the game industry that are slowly trying to sap the life out of gaming. Were it not for mods to old games, indies such as Eschalon: Book 2 and Underworld – and DLs of some classics now available – I might have had to actually do something as distasteful as step outside into the real world, or fix my shed, or trim the hedge.”
Perish the thought!
As to the trends he is referring to, those disturb me too.
For one thing, he notes how games are being released buggy and badly in need of patches from day 1. This is not a new trend, however. This has been complained about ever since that Internet thing caught on, and patches became a possibility. It’s now going to consoles, too, which is both humorous and sad.
He also notes the horrible, horrible trend with premium downloadable content (DLC). I have nothing against DLC or expansions, but charging $5 to $10 for something that is less impressive (and offers less gameplay) than a free fan-built mod is ridiculous. My own personal concern is being asked to pay extra to get what really should have been with the core game in the first place.
Intrusive DRM is another issue, although when he mentions the increasingly casual attitude towards “game theft” (he does not refer to it as piracy), it sure seems like it’s a response to a losing war. Even $5 for an amazing game is too much for games for younger consumers, because they know it is a trivial matter to find illegal versions for free.
And for RPGs specifically, he notes a general trend towards the “dumbing down” of the mechanics. I should comment on this, but it would require a whole ‘nother entry, so I’m going to hold off for now. The long and short of it is that I think the pendulum has swung too far in what was a previously needed direction.
Anyway, the rant is worth reading, and it ends on a happy note – there are some great-looking RPGs on the horizon.
But as for me, I’ve been so busy with my own game and playing a wide cross-section of recent and older games, I’ve really not noticed much. I’ve even missed some indie RPG offerings, for which I need to repent as soon as I get a chance…
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McTeddy said,
I agree that I’m not a fan of the path that the industry is on. So much so that I’ve actually been thinking of relinquishing my title as gamer, sell my consoles, and do something productive with my time like curing cancer…
The whole DRM to piracy thing is an awful demonstration of “progress”. Each game they release these companies make things hard to play for normal consumers, but day one hackers release a free version that has none of the problems. Have the people at Ubisoft/EA/Etc. ever thought of just asking, it’d probably be just as effective and wouldn’t piss off the honest customers.
DLC actually doesn’t bother me at all, so long as I do have a complete game in the first place. I usually look at it as optional content that I only pay for if I want to learn more. I just don’t want to feel like they are charging me when they leave out major parts of a game and force me to pay even more than 60$.
I could go either way on the Glitches part, actually. Most of the time I find games that are glitchy have attempted to fit a lot of unique content into the game leaving too little time for polish. While it is just me, I’d rather play an unpolished gem than another polished glass. I see the patches as a good thing, even if it does contribute to rushing releases.
As for dumbing down of games… It’s hitting me hard. The more time passes, the more alienated I become from the mainstream game industry. I’m sorry that my brain works… I’m sorry I’m not drunk and high… I’m sorry that I like to think… please for the love of mike just give me something thats not as mentally empty as God Of War, Mass Effect 2, or Grand Theft Auto.
Between the new X-Com and Castlevania, I’m beginning to really hate the industry. The disappointments are begin to form genuine pain… and I’m beginning to think it’s time for me to just turn in my controllers for good.
Calibrator said,
While I agree with some points like perhaps most people (DRM) others are highly subjective and I am not as pessimistic about the whole market, right now.
As an example, I could say that I “hate” TV as 90% of all broadcasts are uninteresting or even garbage in my eyes. Nevertheless I *do* find enough pearls to record on a nearly daily basis. Actually, I often find things that I’m eager to see.
In my experience (spanning about 30 years now) the very same principle applies to video games: 90% aren’t necessarily garbage but at least totally out of my focus and I can live very well with the other 10% – of which I can actually play much less (mostly b/c of limited time).
Even more important: This is no new development – game companies in fact produced as much clones of existing hit titles (a myriad of Pac Man clones, countless Invader-type games etc.) as they are now pumping out 3rd-person action-adventure shooters.
Yes, there were a lot of daring concepts but we also have those today: Simple game mechanics in smaller games (back then most games were “small”), iPhone or not, indie or PSN…
On the other hand the professionalism of the industry has definitely increased – in conjunction with the bigger budgets necessary to reach the majority of “hardcore gamers” (by getting high scores in reviews for graphics, for example).
Another similarity to the film industry: The mainstream market in most western countries is pretty much ruled by five to six American majors, after which a few dozen smaller (local) studios/distributors follow. Some independent productions somehow make it, too, but more often than not have exactly zero financial impact on the market and are happy when they don’t make a big loss.
This market has been mostly consolidated but it’s structure still allows for many players, big and small.
This is more or less exactly the same situation of the video game industry, IMHO: Large console producers and bigger distributors like Activision, EA, Konami and Ubisoft are the majors, Bethesda, id, Koei or Majesco are the smaller outfits and there are countless tiny indies – often single-person “studios” – as well.
Perhaps you are simply a bit saturated of video games and need a break? A few years ago I spent more time getting infos about games/RPGs instead of actually playing them. I can’t say that I was demotivated by business decisions of the big mainstream companies but I simply wasn’t in the mood.
Today I don’t play excessively much but a healthy mix of mainstream and smaller titles, sometimes even downright obscure ones and retro(-like) games.
It’s all about personal satisfaction, after all, and if the market doesn’t produce anything you like then simply don’t consume…
McTeddy said,
You’re probably right.
It also doesn’t help that I’m too close to it. A number of friends have been laid off from their dev jobs recently, including one who had only been at Rock Star for 2 months.
It’s just irritating to see the public statements that “These employee’s knew it was only until the end of the project.”
If he knew it was for two months do you think he’d have left his own job? That said, his old company has been unable to pay employees for the past two months or so because the publisher refused to pay the studio.
I know cover-ups and Public Relations at the expense of truth are the real world, but it still doesn’t settle well with me.
I’m just beginning to question whether any of the things that I loved about the industry are still there. Now when I look at it, all I can think of is a fast food joint. It relies on abusing the employees in order to get processed crap on the table in record time so that they can charge super-sized price (And allow Ketchup as DLC). Any time an employee wisens up to the industry, they have an army of graduates who were taught in school that “Making games is Fun!”
You’re probably right a break would do me well. Even stopping to actually look back at the titles I’ve played over the passed year… there was a tiny fraction of unique and entertaining experiences. I just let the hundreds of advertisements I see daily for big name games wash away the memory of the good things.
Calibrator said,
Being too close to something can always ruin the experience. I bet a magician’s assistant isn’t too thrilled about his tricks, either…
You describe your frustrations quite well and, basically, it’s the exact same deal everywhere else. The world doesn’t consist of smaller, fair-trading companies anymore – where a handshake still counts.
The video game world is often controlled by the big companies and if you examine their CEOs like, for example, Bobby Kotick you won’t see many differences to, say, the CEO of BP. While the BP CEO at least knows what he sells I’m still in doubt regarding Kotick, though…
WCG said,
I’m actually optimistic, though that’s because of all the great work being done by indies. I’m always too busy in the summer to play much anyway, and I’m so far behind in games I WANT to play that I’ll never get caught up. So I didn’t pay much attention to this summer’s offerings (except for Minecraft and the new version of Dwarf Fortress).
The vast majority of everything is crap, and computer games are no different. As mainstream developers focus on the largest market (the lowest common denominator, as they used to say in television), indies are making games I want to play. So why shouldn’t I be optimistic?