Are developers right to think we're stupider now than 12 years ago?

[geldonyetich]

Lately, it's been clear that developers think we're stupid.

For example, take Supreme Commander 2 versus Total Annihilation. In the later game, you had a great deal of power to use as you see fit, and with great power comes the great responsibility that you could really screw up badly if you were careless. Supreme Commander inherited a lot of this. However, Supreme Commander 2 found that to be a problem and so it does the opposite, it severely diminishes the power you have to issue orders specifically to prevent you from overextending yourself.

It worries me. What is it that motivates a largely Indy developer such as Gas Powered Games to gut the core niche from one of their main franchises in order to conform to a simpler, mediocre standard of gameplay? The only reasonable answer I can come up with is that their target audience is just a whole lot stupider now than they were 12 years ago when they released Total Annihilation.

It's not just Supreme Commander 2, it's everywhere. Lately, I've been playing a lot of X-Com Apocalypse, another 12-year-old game, and grimly noticing that it has oodles more depth and sophistication than games I have played in years. Despite that I played many recent games, playing this 12-year-old game caused me to fee something I haven't felt in a long time: deep gaming satisfaction.

When the entire gaming development world seems to be bent on developing shallower and simpler games, it brings about a crisis of confidence. Maybe the professionals who make games these days are right. Maybe I'm wasting my time trying to develop my own game to counter this. Maybe today's gaming audience really is that much stupider now than they were 12 years ago.

 

[Defyant]

I like Supreme Commander 2. I also really like Supreme Commander.
And TA.
TA:K sucks.
Anyway, what do you think is wrong with SC2?

 

[geldonyetich]

Anyway, what do you think is wrong with SC2?

I'll not address any comments defending Supreme Commander 2 because that is not the point of this thread. If you want some reasons why nearly everyone doesn't like Supreme Commander 2, go read the neigh-universal dislike of the demo on the Rock Paper Shotgun comments [http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/02/24/supreme-commander-2-demo-via-steam/#comments] or even the Escapist thread [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.177518-Supreme-Commander-2-Demo-sucks] on the matter.

Gosh, I hope I get more than overzealous SC2 defenders before this thread falls off page one, or I'm going to have to assume that I have my answer.

 

[ultrachicken]

I think that the previous generation of gamers were simply stuck with more difficult and sophisticated games (I don't mean that was bad), and if they could they would have gone for simplistic easier games.

As for this generation... I just don't know. I'm part of it, and so is my brother. I appreciate depth, difficulty, and a good story, but all my newly made gamer brother cares about is explosions and shit dying.

...I can't believe I have demonspawn in my house...

 

[Good morning blues]

The problem isn't that Gas Powered Games thinks its audience is stupid, the problem is that Gas Powered Games doesn't want to go out of business because they spent millions of dollars developing a game that appealed only to what is, according to you, a "niche" audience.

As video game budgets go up, they're only going to get more simplified and accessible. If you want bizarre or complex games, you're going to be restricted to the low-budget games that are able to make a profit with their small expenditures.

 

[Googleplex]

I'd say the core of us aren't. But developers know that they can hit a wider market (or different market that is bigger) by doing this, so as a business (you know, that wants more money, like all the others,they do). Developing a game that won't sell as well is expensive, back 12 years ago when making a game like X-com, a small group could do that, but not with today.

 

[reg42]

The sad thing is that no matter how stupid they think we are, they'll still manage to sell a lot of game, which would explain why they think we're stupid.

 

[Der Kommissar]

I like Supreme Commander 2. I also really like Supreme Commander.
And TA.
TA:K sucks.
Anyway, what do you think is wrong with SC2?

While not taking part to the course of this topic I would like to wholeheartedly congratulate you due to your clairvoyance.

 

[TelHybrid]

To answer the topic question, yes they do have the right to think we're more stupid nowadays.

Case and point, the amount of people who bought Modern Warfare 2.

/thread

 

[sms_117b]

They're right to think the average gamer is "stupider", this is because gaming is now more culturally acceptable and as such isn't just for the nerds, and as such big game developers will always serve the lowest common denominator.

Damn those jocks/frat-boys are still ruining our lives! Haha

On a side note, I didn't even like SC so SC2, I'm really not fussed about, I'll stick with getting destroyed on TA with some mods.

 

[EBass]

To answer the topic question, yes they do have the right to think we're more stupid nowadays.

Case and point, the amount of people who bought Modern Warfare 2.

/thread

Agreed.

I think a lot of it is down to a very pliable gameing press though. You hardly get any reviewers calling the big games out. MW2 recieved so many 10/10 reviews it was insane.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

In the early days, PC gaming really was expensive and ruled by a PC gaming master race. If by elitist master race you mean relatively well educated and computer literate adult males. This all changed in the mid 90s with cheaper hardware, windows and the internet and the trend has carried on since. A lot of developers just make more money if they cater to the larger audience.

 

[veloper]

They're right to think the average gamer is "stupider", this is because gaming is now more culturally acceptable and as such isn't just for the nerds, and as such big game developers will always serve the lowest common denominator.

Damn those jocks/frat-boys are still ruining our lives! Haha

this made me smile

 

[geldonyetich]

The problem isn't that Gas Powered Games thinks its audience is stupid, the problem is that Gas Powered Games doesn't want to go out of business because they spent millions of dollars developing a game that appealed only to what is, according to you, a "niche" audience.

Yeah, I knew this: casual market is bigger, therefore why develop games for the established gamers?

I don't really like that approach though. Not only because I'm not a casual gamer and this leaves me high and dry, but also because I'm not sure how true it really is in the long run.

Basically, gaming marketing has decided that the majority of the market is casual. The game developers have responded by deciding that "casual = stupid." Therefore, they're better off developing games that would appeal to their concept of stupids.

They feel justified in damning all of humankind. We're just supposed to sit here and take that?

 

[Plurralbles]

As more and more people become gamers, the average intelligence diminishes and the average will to play a game that takes a little bit of effort severely drops.

 

[Pingieking]

They feel justified in damning all of humankind. We're just supposed to sit here and take that?

If doing so makes them more money, then yes.
Companies are chasing the business holy grail called "Obscene Profits". Generally speaking, they don't much care how they get there. All the trend lines right now point to games for "stupid" people leading to massive profits, so companies are going to make those kind of games.

In a way developers don't THINK that we (as in, the entire consumer base) are stupid, They KNOW we are stupid. This isn't a theory recently published internally by some publishing company. This has been rigoriously tested in the industry, and the consumer responces prove them right.

 

[geldonyetich]

In a way developers don't THINK that we (as in, the entire consumer base) are stupid, They KNOW we are stupid. This isn't a theory recently published internally by some publishing company. This has been rigoriously tested in the industry, and the consumer responces prove them right.

So, lets not beat around the bush here, you're basically saying,
"Yes, the developers are right to think we're stupider now than 12 years ago."

 

[Pingieking]

So, lets not beat around the bush here, you're basically saying,
"Yes, the developers are right to think we're stupider now than 12 years ago."

Yeah... basically. I would rather it not be this way, but life sucks and this is just another example.