Are we setting our standarts too high?

[thethingthatlurks]

My two cents:
Set the standard as high as possible! Nothing will ever live up to your standards, no matter where they are set, but at least this way the end result will still be good.

This post was brought to you by: ethanol. Ethanol, everything you write suddenly seems deep and insightful...to you!

 

[Jodah]

My standards are high for a game to be classified good or great (one hour of enjoyable gameplay per dollar cost for good 2 hours/dollar for great). But for fair games I have only basic standards. I have to be able to get through the game without wanting to stab myself repeatedly with a spork...

 

[go-10]

my standards are neither high nor low rather with the years I've become a big budget whore or established franchise, in order for me to pay any attention to a game now a days one of the 2 MUST be met
I wish I could go back to the way I used to be but I just can't, I still hate Halo though

 

[Erana]

Some general standards are too high, while others are too low.

My problem is that we seem to have the wrong standards. For example, people keep fussing over well developed female characters and respectful representation of minorities, when what we should really be asking for is better characters as a whole.

If writing and the techniques used to create great characters is a major focus with developers, great minority leads will inevitably follow.

And of course, people have their priorities mixed up on good interface and ease of use. Of course, this simply comes down to people not accepting the idea that not all streamlining is bad.

With graphics, however, I find it downright stupid for people to be obsessed with the pursuit of photo-realism as a standard in games. This fixation hurts the creative process in making games because developers are afraid to go for aesthetic appeal over realism and realism is very expensive, making video games a greater financial risk.
And people with big pockets don't like risks, especially when the safe route is very lucrative.

So yeah, I think we need to reorganize our priorities to promote the games we want, rather than to just be reactions to what has already been made.

 

[GarryIsTheHero]

Taking and idea from a game and re-vamping it too make in work in your game is a great idea, but it happens to often! Game companies have become lazy, Bioware (who are my favorite company ironically) Use the same dialogue trees, combat systems, "good & evil" meter and general gameplay in most games, which is just plain lazy! But, I digress. I don't think peoples standards are too high I just don't think modern games have been meeting our expectations. I blame this on fans of mega popular franchises e.g CoD, WoW etc. If they release a new Cod for example, with minor game-play changes and short, crap single player campaign with the depth of a wall and just make the multiplayer good people will buy it! The games industry is supplying what the masses will buy, Which is a God Damn shame!

 

[jonyboy13]

Hard Reset was pretty good, the relatively low score is due to the crap story and short campaign.
Space marine is a horrible game, saying it's average is an undeserved compliment. It fails as both shooter and hack & slash by trying to combine them both.

If anything, the standards are low from all the disappointment in games for the past decade.

 

[Racecarlock]

If I'm not having fun, I'm not playing the game. Simple as that. Why should I suddenly have to start liking games where you go to work repeatedly or drive a city bus? Why should I lower my standards, when the developers and publishers are the ones responsible for the quality drop? Why should I suddenly have to like "artsy" and "deep" games when they do nothing to entertain me, but still prop themselves up on pedestals while saying "Like me, I'm artistic!". Well, no dice. I want to have fun and that's the game type I'm aiming for. I like participating in hollywood style police chases or races with tons of crashes or battles of yavin. I like base jumping and huge, epic dogfights. I don't like games that go out of their way to make me feel depressed. I got enough depression in school, so I'm pretty much done with that fucking terrible feeling. And no, I won't lower my standards because someone told me to. That's not how it works. I could try to lie to myself, but I'd rather commit suicide than lie to myself.

 

[boyvirgo666]

I enjoyed Space Marine, i wish the health system hadnt gotten me killed 8/10 times i tried to use it when i really needed it but hey whatever. My standards for games is pretty low as long as it does a few things right. It needs to look good(to me. doesnt meant good graphics that means it has to be art consistant), it has to have good mechanics for whatever is core gameplay has to be(in this case that was combat), the story has to be tolerable or at least make me feel like a badass, and last the game must have decent length to cover for the games cost and not pander to multiplayer(ok this games campaign was...ok length? better than homefront was at least).

The thing is i went into space marine knowing it was going to be a mindless game. Space marines are not known for thought provoking tactics and all that. But some things in thi game did bother me. The one glaring one only came up once. WHY THE HELL ARE THE IMPERIAL GUARD SALUTING LIKE US SOLDIERS?! HEY ARE IMPERIAL GUARD MAKE THE SIGN OF THE AQUILA THIS IS A 40K GAME NOT A MODERN MILITARY ONE! Sure its not a huge error but if you actually like the story of that fake world then it kinda broke the immersion factor.

 

[Netrigan]

To the OP.

It's a long established trend that people are far more likely to complain than compliment. Most popular games are enjoyed by the vast majority of it's purchasers. But the guy who doesn't like Call Of Duty is much more likely to start a thread about all the things wrong with it than a Saints Row 2 fan will start a thread about how awesome it is.

And there are always, always, always people who legitimately don't like something. Their disappointment is real and they often vent.

 

[The-Epicly-Named-Man]

It's funny because Stan's generally the one who throws too high when we play darts, but always hit below the 20.

 

[scar_47]

Your standards should be high especially when your paying 60 dollars for a game, of course its going to be subjective and comparing to a known quantity makes reviewing much easier I could write a paragraph explaining the controls or simply say their like god of war, the whole point of a review is to objectively look at a game to do that things perceived as flaws need to be pointed out.

 

[RJ Dalton]

Cthulhu's writhing tentacles, no. If anything, our standards are too low.

 

[boyvirgo666]

Taking and idea from a game and re-vamping it too make in work in your game is a great idea, but it happens to often! Game companies have become lazy, Bioware (who are my favorite company ironically) Use the same dialogue trees, combat systems, "good & evil" meter and general gameplay in most games, which is just plain lazy! But, I digress. I don't think peoples standards are too high I just don't think modern games have been meeting our expectations. I blame this on fans of mega popular franchises e.g CoD, WoW etc. If they release a new Cod for example, with minor game-play changes and short, crap single player campaign with the depth of a wall and just make the multiplayer good people will buy it! The games industry is supplying what the masses will buy, Which is a God Damn shame!

Sir i must say that just means you misunderstand how game development works. See that good/evil meter is not lazy its part of the engine bioware developed. Much like the source engine always having the same ammo counter and save system, the odyssey engine which bioware uses has things like this too, and it works for them. if you want every game to look dramatically different then release times would be much longer since you would also have to write new framework for said game. Which takes much much longer to do. This is why most games by the same company look the same and why most shooters now look alot like half-life, because engines are whatmake the entire game industry easier.

Edit:for reference, bioware is now using the eclipse engine which is similar to the odyssey engine since it was based upon improving the old one. Which is what they did for the engine for neverwinter nights 2 who's engines name i forget right now.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

I get how people will have different opinions on what does and doesn't make a good game. What I don't get is why almost every single opinion I here when it comes to gaming is so... extreme.

Nobody ever 'likes' or 'dislikes' a game anymore. Instead you have one camp that cry's "ZOMG THIS GAME IS SOOOOOOO AWESOME! I WOULD TOTALLY BUTT FUCK THIS GAME IF IT HAD AN ARSEHOLE!!!" and then you have another camp that wails "WTF THIS GAME SUCKS SWEATY BALLS! I'D RATHER HAVE HORSE SHIT RUBBED IN MY EYES FOR 6 HOURS THAN PLAY IT AGAIN!!!" just because 1 aspect of the game did not totally conform to what their wildest dreams.

Since when did every point of opinion in gaming become this love it or hate it line in the sand with no middle ground. It makes no sense.

 

[C95J]

Definitely I think. All I see now is people complaining about every little detail...

 

[Aprilgold]

(To focus on something that specifically irks me) Have you seen some of the shit people label as good writing and/or storytelling in games?

People's standards definitely aren't too high, and its a problem.

I concur that another problem is people ONLY think ONE game is a specific game that started a series and thus any game with the same formula that makes it fall into the same genre is a clone. As with the OPs post, its Warhammer Space Marine. You can look at ANY FPS now in days and people will claim its a rip when its not, like Home Front, it was bad for A LOT of reasons, but isn't a rip.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I don't think our standards are high. We want intuitive and fun gameplay, a compelling story that makes sense, a finished product that doesn't freeze, crash or run at 5fps at a decent price. Some developers give us exactly what we want, some even give us more, and some give us less or nothing. Most of the time those who give us less or nothing are the richest companies out there. So why the fuck are you still buying their games? I'd say that it's because gamers buy shitty games, our standards have lowered over the years.