I was reading through a post on WoW Insider about Cataclysm and the author was discussing the things he liked and will miss about Cataclysm. Someone said something in the comments that, I think, explains why most gamers are spoiled, whining brats. Nobody appreciates the work and effort that goes into designing and developing these games. There will never be another MMO that will reach the number of users that World of Warcraft had because Blizzard has set the bar so high no game will ever satisfy that many gamers again. Gamers are so spoiled that now they expect every feature of WoW to be available at launch of any new MMO.
The mere thought of that last statement is hilarious almost to the point of absurdity. All games are developed in a closed source environment. Obviously Blizzard isn’t going to share its dungeon finder algorithm, for example, with Bioware or Trion. It doesn’t matter anymore that a majority of the features currently in World of Warcraft weren’t available at its launch, but apparently now they are a necessity for all new games. If a new game doesn’t have these features then its deemed “unfinished”.
The MMO gaming industry is cutthroat and volatile. The longer a company waits to deliver a new product the farther behind they will be so it becomes crucial from a profit and marketing philosophy to deliver something sooner rather than later. Nobody will ever release a product that is bug free and with every feature at launch. I remember how much grief players would give Blizzard on days when there were huge content patches that made the game almost unplayable. It was expected that nobody would be raiding on Tuesday nights because the game was incredibly unstable and buggy.
Perhaps the MMO genre has lost its edge. I see comments on posts (mostly on gaming news and blog sites) that they don’t like the “kill X number of Y” type of quests, or any kind of quest. I never see anyone offer alternative methods of leveling. Clearly they have a better idea for leveling then completing quests if they are complaining about it … or maybe they are just complaining because it makes them feel important.
I also see people complaining that Game X lacks any end game content when it actually has the same end game content all the other games have (i.e. raid, pvp, instances, dailies). What else do you want?!? If these games lack so many features, and clearly you know what features they should have, then submit your resume! I assure you that you will find out immediately why games take so long to make and what it takes to develop one.
I think the appalling lack of appreciation is lost because of blind ignorance!
/endsoapbox
I love how Greg Lloyd put it (regarding Football): “It’s a violent freaking sport!” I don’t understand what it is with players these days demanding changes to the game because of the injuries. It’s almost as if players these days are shocked that there are so many injuries in football.
Everyone playing Diablo III has sparked many nostalgic conversations about the days of Diablo II thrashing LAN parties. Diablo II wasn’t always the pivotal game for face smashing; Quake and Unreal Tournament were often the games I played at LAN parties for destroying faces.
I remember back in high school (which has been just over 10 years ago) it was common for me to be labeled as a geek or nerd. It’s funny how the times have changed. I don’t know if kids today are still being labeled as geeks but what is funny is that really, we’re all geeks.
OMG, what is with all the whining!!?? Yes, I am aware that I am whining about whining. It isn’t hypocrisy, its cognitive dissonance. So be that as it may, there seems to be a lot of people whining about everything recently. UI changes, patches; are we, as a society, so spoiled that our immediate reaction to change is to focus on the negative?? I am fully in favor of technology evolving to bring us information faster but a pitfall of instant gratification is we seem to always expect the results to be perfect and we whine about it when it isn’t perfect.