You know, I've been very good. I've read this thread, had my little say with Gaxey, and tossed in a one off comment because, honestly, I did not want to wade into this argument with someone that, quite honestly, has an opinion far too high of themselves, their knowledge, and their opinions on game design.
You said you weren't arrogant. But then you post this:
Kachi wrote:
2: I can concede that my last comment sounded condescending, but come on guys. I've been saying some of these things very explicitly for a while now, and there's been very little effort to understand my point of view and a lot of effort to argue it. And I'm very familiar with that feeling--from talking to people who don't understand evolution. So I sincerely apologize if it came across as condescending, but I was just saying that that's how you're making me feel.
Are you some major industry player? Have you made a Triple-A, multi-million-dollar MMO that we've heard of? I mean, please, enlighten me. From what I gathered, you've studied programming, maybe even work within the industry.
And yet you're exemplifying what is entirely wrong with it at the same time.
Look around you. Just
look. If you were a developer, these are your customers. They are telling you the product they want to see. And you are telling them that they are wrong. Marketing 101 hotshot. Here's a community clawing at your door, wanting a specific experience, and, if you had your way, you would not be giving it to them. Instead, you insist on making your ideal game. That you like. And sure, others will, but blinding yourself that there (gasp) is another way is nothing short of career suicide.
In addition, you keep calling down all these other games saying that they are unbalanced, even agreeing that "most MMOs ARE poorly designed". Gee, really? So, hotshot, where's your MMO? Where's your practical expertise that has shown that your methodology, your design theory, is so sound that your game will be a perfect, unerring gem?
You see, you've been bothering me this whole time, preaching from your soapbox that you know better, that you're having to come down among us and educate us because we're all just @#%^tard gamers who can't understand how simple it would be to balance a game. You're basically saying that almost every single major development house, all those programmers, everyone who has laid hands on a game, just doesn't get how to make them?And you do? Again, please show me a link to your game, I'd
loooooove to see what your design is.
You see, you're making a cardinal sin that this industry is making over and over: Misjudging their audience. Square-Enix stated that Tomb Raider was a failure. Let me repeat that for you.
Square-Enix stated that Tomb Raider was a failure. It sold 3.4 million units, and was deemed to not meet expectations. And why? The developer thought the players wanted some new fancy engine, Hollywood caliber actors and a bunch of other very expensive yet ultimately useless window dressing.
You know what was a successful game? Minecraft. @#%^ing Minecraft, made by a tiny team, with graphics and gameplay that no Triple-A developer would have touched with a 10-foot pole. That game would have needed a ton of improvements before anyone even looked at it. And yet, the money rolled in. Why?
Because the developer listened to their audience. The Final Fantasy audience does not want a balanced PvP experience, no matter how "easy" you think it may be. No matter how explicitly you feel you've explained it to us simpletons of the forum who just aren't getting it.
See, we get it. We get that you'd prefer a game made that way. We get that you think that mathematically, that would be a great game. Here's the thing: WoW isn't @#%^ing balanced, and it has 12 million players at one point, and still boasts 8 million. And Rogues will still totally rape an unsuspecting player with little hope of a 50/50 win. You see, theory is a wonderful thing, but it can often conflict with reality. If you learn one thing from this thread, learn this:
Listen to the player base. They are who pays your salary. Edited, Jun 2nd 2013 5:33pm by Pawkeshup