Jimquisition: Dumbing Down for the Filthy Casuals

[jmarquiso]

Now I mostly agree with Jim here, but I found an interesting counterpoint to this video:

Spoiler

Elder Scrolls: The Dumbing Down [http://www.youtube.com/embed/JweTAhyR4o0]

And no, I don't necessarily agree with that video. Just adding to the discussion (I hope).

he kind of lost me at "catering to casuals"

uggghhh even if the whole "dumbing down" thing is absolutly 100% objectivley true..I've heard it so many fucking times I just don;t want to think about it anymore...I wish people found something else to complain about

EDIT: though upon further watching I'm actually surprised most of his gripes seem to come from the general role playing issues (like important characters being unkillable) rather than stats and numbers...areas I'd be inclined to agree

Yeah, the thing is while I agree with his conclusions about design decisions, he's created sort of a "straw-casual" to blame it all on. I don't think that's entirely the case.

 

[jmarquiso]

Just replace "casuals" with "cash".

But who's providing the cash?

(I hate to say it might be console gamers...but that's a whole other elitism I'd rather not get into right now...

 

[grumbel]

Just a quick throw in: Having an easy mode is not a new idea, Tie-Fighter, Strike Commander and many other old PC flightsims have had options for unlimited ammo, no collisions, invulnerability or other ways to make the game drastically easier right in the option menu. No cheat code required, you press a button and are done. I never heard anybody complaining about that back then and nobody complained about those games being to easy.

So yeah, if you wanna play on hard, play on hard, don't stop other players from playing the game the way they like it, no matter if that means running around in God mode or playing Doom on Nightmare with their bare fists only.

All that said, easy mode ain't perfect. One thing I would like to see is more games actually trying to teach the player how to play them. Racing games do that pretty good these days with dynamic racing lines and other helper features, but most other games really don't give you any help at all beyond telling you which button does what.

 

[jmarquiso]

why don't they make a new ip and dumb that down is it because they wish to use that brand recognition? Hey RE got better and better as they made it more accessible right? Silent hill got better for it's original fans right? Every franchise i used to like is a husk of it's former self due to developers wanting to make money more than great games. Hey check this out it's totally over hyped shit but you are going to buy it because we spent millons on selling it to sheep with flashy adds and speeches made by psychology departments on how bad ass you are when you buy this shit.

Actually it'd be more likely the XBox 360 that brought forth the popularity. Microsoft saw potential in Morrowind, and the 360 needed an RPG at launch that was both graphically and narratively impressive. Oblivion was developed for both in mind. Adding voice acting from someone like Patrick Stewart certainly helped.

So I don't think it's a matter of catering to the casuals at all, really just expanding their audience.

 

[jmarquiso]

Just a quick throw in: Having an easy mode is not a new idea, Tie-Fighter, Strike Commander and many other old PC flightsims have had options for unlimited ammo, no collisions, invulnerability or other ways to make the game drastically easier right in the option menu. No cheat code required, you press a button and are done. I never heard anybody complaining about that back then and nobody complained about those games being to easy.

So yeah, if you wanna play on hard, play on hard, don't stop other players from playing the game the way they like it, no matter if that means running around in God mode or playing Doom on Nightmare with their bare fists only.

All that said, easy mode ain't perfect. One thing I would like to see is more games actually trying to teach the player how to play them. Racing games do that pretty good these days with dynamic racing lines and other helper features, but most other games really don't give you any help at all beyond telling you which button does what.

Heck, play the original X-Com on Easy.

 

[grumbel]

Is it so hard to understand to every rule there are exceptions. Dark souls would be a very short boring game with nothing new to offer in a sea of rpg's.

And who the fuck is forcing you to play on easy? Right, *NOBODY*. So why exactly do you have a problem with it?

if you don't like a game why should it be changed?

So that I can like it? Why should a game be made inaccessible when some very simple optional tweaks could open it up to far bigger audiences?

I don't play fiffa should it adopt rpg elements and cut out the manager side just to accommodate me?

You know what the nice thing with options is? They are optional.

 

[grumbel]

So it's ok to ruin the comunity the online aspect rip out a core gameplay concept and it won't affect me ok yea i believe you.... I call BS

Nobody is forcing you to play on easy. Nobody is forcing easy-mode to be compatible with normal-mode when doing multiplayer. Options are optional. Why is that so hard to understand?

 

[grumbel]

So again why do you want to play a game you don't like?

Because it's a good game and there is no reason to prevent people from playing. How about we stop doing translations, play your Japanese games in Japanese for some extra difficulty? Doesn't sound like a good idea? Is there maybe some value in making games accessible to wider audiences?

 

[grumbel]

Easy mode how would it not fragment the comunity?

What would be the harm of there being a easy-mode community, one filled with people who right now do not play the game?

The game is optional so why do you want to play a game you don't like?

Are you playing your game in Japanese? No? You are fracturing the community!!!!11

What right do you have to criticize a game you haven't played?

I have played the game.

Either way, I think you are missing the bigger picture: An optional easy-mode means that hard-mode can stay hard. If you don't have that option it means that the game will get a dumbed down mode by default, meaning easy-mode will be the only mode there is and you no longer get the hard-mode. Options mean you can play the way you like it, not having options means you have to play the game by the way of the least common denominator.

 

[grumbel]

Words will not do justice to how fking dumb your answers are.

Insults are not a replacements for an argument, try again.