PC Gamers needed to help with university paper

[lord.jeff]

1) Do you tend to purchase a particular style or genre over another? Or will any PC game do as long as it's good or at least looks interesting?

I prefer RPG and platformers but that's far from the limit of what I purchase.

2) All things considered and with the price being equal, what is more important to you personally when making a PC Game purchasing decision (list in order if you like!): gameplay mechanics, graphics, multiplayer or replay-ability

I play different games for different reasons Bastion for story, Point and clicks for humor, Thief for gameplay, the only thing I can say is that gameplay most always be good or at least bearable.

3) Would you tend to find yourself more likely to support a PC game if the developer was more active with its community, or would you not care? (any further comments or experiences here would be great)

It does, in the case of Starbound the regular feedback from the developers is keeping me more actively interest in the game while waiting for it.

4) Outside of obvious console ports; do you ever think about the user interface while playing a game? Could you easily name an example of a bad UI and a good UI off the top of your head?

Yes I do it's very important to games, and I believe a lot of the free to play MMOs on steam are some great examples of how not to do it.

5) Have you ever purchased an 'indie bundle'? If yes, do you actually play all the games in the bundle or are you just supporting the developers and/or cheaply buying an individual game.

Yes, I have yet to play every game from it but I did buy for the games and a soundtrack, also I did make sure to at least try the two games I didn't know about before buying the bundle.

 

[Zyst]

Sent you a PM, posting message here just in case:

1) Do you tend to purchase a particular style or genre over another? Or will any PC game do as long as it's good or at least looks interesting?

I generally buy most things that look interesting, however my favorite genre of games is MOBA, and considering League of Legends and DotA 2 are both free to play and going to keep being free to play that genre is in an absolute lockdown where every MOBA has to make their money through micro transactions or die. See: HoN going f2p, Smite as some notables.

I also absolutely love Eastern RPG games, I somehow enjoy grinding and cutesy graphics over super realistic open worlds, that doesn't mean I don't love me my Skyrim but I can say with confidence I like Recettear more than it.


2) All things considered and with the price being equal, what is more important to you personally when making a PC Game purchasing decision (list in order if you like!): gameplay mechanics, graphics, multiplayer or replay-ability

List in order, from most important to least:

Multiplayer: This doesn't mean I don't enjoy a good solo game, however I'm an absolute competitive freak and I enjoy games that let me thrive there.

Gameplay Mechanics: A game has to be fun and have a system easy enough to use to allow the Metagame to expand that much more See: Starcraft 2, seemingly simple to start playing, however the highest tiers of game are on an absolutely different level.

Replay-ability: I don't really care about this, a good multiplayer game can be played infinitely and I'll take that for granted, as for a single player I don't really care of how re-playable it is. I usually 'clear' or get bored of a game and then come back to it a few years later and enjoy it all over again.


3) Would you tend to find yourself more likely to support a PC game if the developer was more active with its community, or would you not care? (any further comments or experiences here would be great)

I don't care if they are my best buddies or if they are Satan, if I enjoy their products I will keep buying them. For instance Blizzard, I am absolutely in love with their games. Do I like their new business practices? Hell no, however that doesn't change the fact that I've sunk easily over 6000 hours playing Warcraft III (Mostly custom maps) Over 1000 hours playing Starcraft II, not that much in WoW or Diablo 3 but I enjoy both of them a lot.

However having a developer who actually listens to their userbase without caving into every 'OMG PLEASE NERF X' is always a plus, on the other side a developer who completely ignores the user base and fucks up balance wise won't have me buying many of their games in day 1.


4) Outside of obvious console ports; do you ever think about the user interface while playing a game? Could you easily name an example of a bad UI and a good UI off the top of your head?

I do not think much about an UI, as long as it's not Obnoxious I find it good to go.

Good UI:
Most Notable Mention: World of Warcraft, the fact that they implemented user created Addons makes sure there is absolutely nothing you don't like on screen if you are willing to sink the time on it.
Starcraft II
Diablo III
League of Legends
DotA 2
Team Fortress II

Bad UI:
None that pop into my mind, I actually thought about this for over 2 minutes and couldn't really think of a modern game that has a BAD UI, most of them are patched really quickly.


5) Have you ever purchased an 'indie bundle'? If yes, do you actually play all the games in the bundle or are you just supporting the developers and/or cheaply buying an individual game.

No, I haven't bought an Indie Bundle.

 

[Quadocky]

1) Do you tend to purchase a particular style or genre over another? Or will any PC game do as long as it's good or at least looks interesting?

2) All things considered and with the price being equal, what is more important to you personally when making a PC Game purchasing decision (list in order if you like!): gameplay mechanics, graphics, multiplayer or replay-ability

3) Would you tend to find yourself more likely to support a PC game if the developer was more active with its community, or would you not care? (any further comments or experiences here would be great)

4) Outside of obvious console ports; do you ever think about the user interface while playing a game? Could you easily name an example of a bad UI and a good UI off the top of your head?

5) Have you ever purchased an 'indie bundle'? If yes, do you actually play all the games in the bundle or are you just supporting the developers and/or cheaply buying an individual game.

1. I tend to avoid new genre as I am afraid it may disappoint me. The MOBA genre for example scared me away for a long time due to its relationship with strategy games. Eventually however I did find Awesomenauts and love it to pieces. I practically like every genre besides those associated with real time strategy. Kinda odd given the plethora of RTS on the PC platform.

2. None of those things matter to me. Its hard to explain but I accept that I will find fault in any game so I usually judge them on an individual level and look for all the positives that the game has. As such what happens is that the only main thing that can influence my decision in buying a game is Price. If I were to use that order it would be as follows: Replay-Ability, graphics, gameplay Mechanics, and multiplayer. Why graphics before gameplay is because I have little to go on if I do not know what the game plays like. So when I see a game like Borderlands I generally know what I am getting into in terms of content.

3. Yes. Any show of 'care' so to speak would encourage me to buy it as it assures me that they care about their customers.

4. Good PC game UI = Morrowind. Bad PC game UI = Deus Ex, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights 2. Reason: Because Morrowind's UI takes full advantage of the screenspace and mouse allowing you to see EVERYTHING that you need to know with a single click of a button. Because of this there were only two other things you needed to look at, the Journal and ESC Menus. You could also re-size the windows and arrange them how you wished. However in Deus Ex and Baldur's Gate you had to shuffle through multiple menus just to find what you are looking for, kinda like navigating some sort of development kit. Of course this was the olden days and UI was the best they could do at the time I suppose. A lot of older PC games were like this, lots of fancy menus. While its nice, it can be confusing to new users. I mention Neverwinter Nights 2 because its menu system still bothers me. You can have multiple menus open at once, but there is little point in doing so as they all crash and clutter into each other as you cannot re-size them.

5. The only Indie bundle I purchased was that Indie Music Bundle. I paid the 20 dollars for like 20 or so soundtracks. I did it because I like video game music and yes I wanted to support them but not buy the game because in some cases I already did own the game.

 

[MrPhyntch]

1) I prefer more strategy games (Starcraft, LoL, etc) or quick casual games (Bejeweled, Plants vs Zombies, etc), but I do enjoy the occasional shooter, especially F2P ones (such as Team Fortress 2, Blacklight Retribution, Tribes Ascend, etc). Everything else I prefer on consoles.

2) Gameplay is always first and foremost in my book. I like replayability and multiplayer, but both are useless if the game plays like crap. Graphics are important, horrible graphics can destroy a game for me, but they're far from the most important thing in my book.

3) I would say so. Some games that I'm most excited about (although I don't really play that much) have great community support. I'm talking Minecraft, Planetside 2, kickstarter stuff... I love the interaction with the devs.

4) Unless there's something way too jarring or confusing, I really don't think about UI too much. No examples of good or bad from PC, but my absolute favorite UI of all time was on "The Conduit" on the Wii. Literally every HUD element could be moved anywhere on the screen independently of each other or removed entirely. That should be the model for all HUDs in my book, and the HUD is the first thing people think about with UI.

5) I've purchased a handful of them. For the most part it's about getting a lot of games for dirt cheap, but I enjoy supporting the devs as well through it. The one exception is where there was a bundle with like 5 games i already owned and only like 2 that I didn't (this bundle had Psychonauts, Bastion, Limbo, Amnesia, and a bunch of other ones all on par with those), that purchase was ALL about supporting the devs, simply because I can't throw enough money at the guys behind Psychonauts or Bastion fast enough.

 

[Necron_warrior]

Hi PC Gamers,

I'm currently finishing off the last paper for my degree. The paper is based around entrepreneurial studies and I've chosen to investigate my biggest hobby; PC Games. While industry sources and the web in general is reasonably helpful, primary sources of information are going to make the biggest difference to the quality of my research. I'm hoping to 'crowdsource' as much info as possible from three different online gaming communities.

If you have time, please read through the questions below. If you'd like to have a go at any of the questions, please feel free to reply with as little or as much detail as you'd like. Any insight you can give will be very much appreciated. Flick me a PM if you've anything else to add or have any other questions.

Thanks,
Tim Do (Massey University, Wellington, NZ).

1) Do you tend to purchase a particular style or genre over another? Or will any PC game do as long as it's good or at least looks interesting?

2) All things considered and with the price being equal, what is more important to you personally when making a PC Game purchasing decision (list in order if you like!): gameplay mechanics, graphics, multiplayer or replay-ability

3) Would you tend to find yourself more likely to support a PC game if the developer was more active with its community, or would you not care? (any further comments or experiences here would be great)

4) Outside of obvious console ports; do you ever think about the user interface while playing a game? Could you easily name an example of a bad UI and a good UI off the top of your head?

5) Have you ever purchased an 'indie bundle'? If yes, do you actually play all the games in the bundle or are you just supporting the developers and/or cheaply buying an individual game.

1.>Strategy-Rpg mix
>Strategy
>RPG
>Other based on impressions.

2.>Gameplay Mechanics
>Graphics
>Replayability (In multiplayer at least - Its not a good multiplayer if re-doing it feels boring)
>Multiplayer.

3.It is better PR, and it does help knowing that in case I ever need to talk to them.
I remember sending a blizzard employee an ASCII Pikachu for how fast my whole hacked-malarky thing was resolved, He said that it was awesome and his workbuddies liked it to .

4. Good- Warcraft 3 & Starcraft(1&2)Both took up the minimum space for all you needed to do, without it being cluttered.
Bad-....uuuum, Legacy of Kain: defiance? not sure if its a port or not, but 3d platforming does not bind well into WASD.

5.I have bought one and one as a gift, (Humble bundle 5) And have given them all a shot (Besides Psychonauts...grrr why wont you work!). The-Pay-as-much-as-you-want model also was a definite selling point, better that it just seeming like a donation to a charity.

Hope this helps Good luck on your Paper!

 

[_tinned_magpie_]

1) Do you tend to purchase a particular style or genre over another? Or will any PC game do as long as it's good or at least looks interesting?

I prefer Western RPG's and sometimes platformers over other games, though I will go for something else if it looks interesting. I next to never play FPS games though.

2) All things considered and with the price being equal, what is more important to you personally when making a PC Game purchasing decision (list in order if you like!): gameplay mechanics, graphics, multiplayer or replay-ability

1. Gameplay mechanics
2. Replay-ability
3. Graphics
4. Multiplayer

However, the most important thing for me above all of these is the story, though that wasn't on the list.

3) Would you tend to find yourself more likely to support a PC game if the developer was more active with its community, or would you not care? (any further comments or experiences here would be great)

The developers behaviour in the community tends to change when I buy a game, not if I buy it. If there's a game I'm interested in playing, but I don't approve of the way the developer behaves towards the community, I'll wait some time before buying the game - usually when it's reduced in a sale or something. If they're not involved in a positive way, they don't get the full price on day one.

4) Outside of obvious console ports; do you ever think about the user interface while playing a game? Could you easily name an example of a bad UI and a good UI off the top of your head?

Not really - though I do feel there's a circle in hell reserved for games that don't let you change your key bindings.

5) Have you ever purchased an 'indie bundle'? If yes, do you actually play all the games in the bundle or are you just supporting the developers and/or cheaply buying an individual game.

Yep, bought the game and music versions. Usually the bundle has a few games I want to play, one or two I already own and a few I couldn't care less about. Either way, I usually get a few games for a decent price.

 

[Sammyjb17]

1) Do you tend to purchase a particular style or genre over another? Or will any PC game do as long as it's good or at least looks interesting?

2) All things considered and with the price being equal, what is more important to you personally when making a PC Game purchasing decision (list in order if you like!): gameplay mechanics, graphics, multiplayer or replay-ability

3) Would you tend to find yourself more likely to support a PC game if the developer was more active with its community, or would you not care? (any further comments or experiences here would be great)

4) Outside of obvious console ports; do you ever think about the user interface while playing a game? Could you easily name an example of a bad UI and a good UI off the top of your head?

5) Have you ever purchased an 'indie bundle'? If yes, do you actually play all the games in the bundle or are you just supporting the developers and/or cheaply buying an individual game.

1. Yes I do. My proffered genre is RPG, followed by action games and shooters. The only genres I consistently do not buy games from are the racing genre and the sports game genre.

2.Gameplay mechanics are always important, but having a good story also matters immensely. From there, replay-ability then graphics then multiplayer.

3. As someone who, back in the haydays of pre-Dragon Age 2, spent a helluva lot of time over at the Bioware forums, the developers replying to topics always impressed me immensely. It gave a sense that they cared about their community, and it did help me end up getting Mass Effect 3. Paradox is also great with that, which I why I sometimes purchase their games despite ending up way over my head.

4. I do think about the user interface in games- Dishonored, one of the games I'm most looking forward to, has a UI that I personally don't like- it's too large and I don't like the style of the health bars. A good UI is Dragon Age Origins's, simple, consistent with the theme of the game, and it's usable. A bad UI is obtrusive, ugly or a nightmare to use- Skyrim's at launch was particularly unwieldly, but perhaps that was due to being a console effort.

5. I have never purchased an Indie Bundle.

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

1) Do you tend to purchase a particular style or genre over another? Or will any PC game do as long as it's good or at least looks interesting?

Not really, I have pretty wide-ranging tastes. I'll buy anything that grabs my interest which could be anything from a point 'n' click adventure to a brainless retro FPS.

2) All things considered and with the price being equal, what is more important to you personally when making a PC Game purchasing decision (list in order if you like!): gameplay mechanics, graphics, multiplayer or replay-ability

Gameplay, replayability... multiplayer and graphics share the low spot, kind of. I really enjoy multiplayer in a lot of games, but I'm not usually fussed if a game doesn't have it. Good graphics are nice, but not a deal breaker.

3) Would you tend to find yourself more likely to support a PC game if the developer was more active with its community, or would you not care? (any further comments or experiences here would be great)

I really just support devs that are making games I like, but a little communication is always nice.

4) Outside of obvious console ports; do you ever think about the user interface while playing a game? Could you easily name an example of a bad UI and a good UI off the top of your head?

I only tend to think of the UI when it's clunky and unintuitive. Going through any of the Elder Scrolls UIs is a chore so I'm always thinking about it, whereas it never pops into my head when I'm playing Crysis. Everything is just so streamlined and intuitive without sacrificing functionality that I hardly notice it's even there. That's the hallmark of a good UI, I think.

5) Have you ever purchased an 'indie bundle'? If yes, do you actually play all the games in the bundle or are you just supporting the developers and/or cheaply buying an individual game.

I've bought 4 indie bundles and played most of the games from them, though not all. I often already own a couple of the games, too, so I guess I'm just buying the games that interest me cheaply with the chance to play something else when I'm in the mood, too.

I usually pay above the odds to support the bundle and the developers, but it's still cheaper than buying them individually.

 

[A_Parked_Car]

1) Do you tend to purchase a particular style or genre over another? Or will any PC game do as long as it's good or at least looks interesting?

I prefer to play RTS, RTT, grand strategy games and the like. Shooters would come in a more distant second.

2) All things considered and with the price being equal, what is more important to you personally when making a PC Game purchasing decision (list in order if you like!): gameplay mechanics, graphics, multiplayer or replay-ability

In this order: gameplay mechanics, replay-ability, graphics, multiplayer

3) Would you tend to find yourself more likely to support a PC game if the developer was more active with its community, or would you not care? (any further comments or experiences here would be great)

If a developer has good interaction with a community I am certainly more likely to support their game. Paradox is quite good for this, as is Tripwire. On the other hand, DICE is lacking.

4) Outside of obvious console ports; do you ever think about the user interface while playing a game? Could you easily name an example of a bad UI and a good UI off the top of your head?

Hmmm. I don't usually think about the user interface, but when I do there is obviously a problem. An example of a bad UI would probably be Men of War. It can be difficult to find what you need, and downright tedious even after you have learned what does what. There are many examples of a good UI. The Total War series really has their UI design down really well.

5) Have you ever purchased an 'indie bundle'? If yes, do you actually play all the games in the bundle or are you just supporting the developers and/or cheaply buying an individual game.

Nope. Most of the time the games simply do not interest me.

 

[mgirl]

1) There are some genres/styles I will completely avoid, just because I know I don't like them, other than that though, anything will do.

2) Gameplay, graphics, replayability, multiplayer. To explain, whether or not I will play something more than once doesnt affect my decisions, I've had great fun with games like bioshock then never touched them again. And I don't give a damn about multiplayer.

3) Hm... I like certain developers because they are active with the community, like valve and mojang, but it's not something that really affects me buying a specific game. It can make me more likely to keep an eye on the other things they release though.

4) Most games have a UI that is designed for consoles, even games like skyrim. Borderlands immediately springs to mind as a game with a terrible UI, it was so off-putting... That said, console designed UI isnt always a bad thing, I find most games to be either simple enough that it doesnt matter or easy to get used to. Bad console ports that have problems with lag and graphics are much more of a problem than the UI.

5) Yes, quite a few. I tend to only buy the bundles that have at least a couple of games I'm interested in in the bundle, and I try to make an effort to play all of them. I have a bit of a backlog of unplayed games though, due in part to these bundles, and steam sales.

 

[keegars]

1) Do you tend to purchase a particular style or genre over another? Or will any PC game do as long as it's good or at least looks interesting?

RPG/Fantasy Genre (Skyrim, Dragon Age ) then generally the FPS (Halo, Mass Effect etc...)

2) All things considered and with the price being equal, what is more important to you personally when making a PC Game purchasing decision (list in order if you like!): gameplay mechanics, graphics, multiplayer or replay-ability

Graphics, gameplay, replay-ability then multiplayer.
Graphics always adds alot to a game, the better its executed the more I like it. Gameplay always the breaker, as clunky controls mean I don't even play it. Replay-ability, not too concerned about aslong as it has a lengthy playthrough as I prefer to play it once and enjoy that experience than to play it to death and know every twist and turn. Then multiplayer, never really play....unless Mmorpg....

3) Would you tend to find yourself more likely to support a PC game if the developer was more active with its community, or would you not care? (any further comments or experiences here would be great)

Communities like Torchlight 2, the developers are amazing at interacting with the community and really listening to what the player wants. As soon as I even hear TL2 was coming out I pre-ordered the game due to how good it was and how much they were listening to the community about what they wanted.

4) Outside of obvious console ports; do you ever think about the user interface while playing a game? Could you easily name an example of a bad UI and a good UI off the top of your head?

If everything is in the way then it really reduces the play experience, as if you cant see whats around you or you miss things in a game due to the UI then it was a bad decision on the developers side. Good UI, Skyrim unmodded is tolerable, but modded really does add alot to the whole game and immersion. Bad UI, can't actually think of one....as always watch trailers to see if I would like the game or not.

5) Have you ever purchased an 'indie bundle'? If yes, do you actually play all the games in the bundle or are you just supporting the developers and/or cheaply buying an individual game.

Bought an Indie bundle before, just to support the developers but also to buy an individual game cheaper.

 

[direkiller]

1) Do you tend to purchase a particular style or genre over another? Or will any PC game do as long as it's good or at least looks interesting?

RTS>RTT>RPG>outer

2) All things considered and with the price being equal, what is more important to you personally when making a PC Game purchasing decision (list in order if you like!): gameplay mechanics, graphics, multiplayer or replay-ability

mecanics>multiplayer(if applicable not a breaker if it dose not have it though)>replay>Grapics

3) Would you tend to find yourself more likely to support a PC game if the developer was more active with its community, or would you not care? (any further comments or experiences here would be great)
good custmer support and anogment of feedback is a good thing. It's not a deal maker but it can be a deal breaker if the company has a bad history of it.

4) Outside of obvious console ports; do you ever think about the user interface while playing a game? Could you easily name an example of a bad UI and a good UI off the top of your head?

Bad:Ruse
http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2010/09/ruse-4.jpg
units deselected after a command
no real useful feedback on troops outer then movement commands and sound cues

Good:
Homeworld 2
http://image.gamespotcdn.net/gamespot/images/2003/pc/homeworld2/0916/home_screen002.jpg

Easy to control 3D moment
Pros and cons of each unit given while building
Easy to use full screen tactical map
Visual and audio cues




5) Have you ever purchased an 'indie bundle'? If yes, do you actually play all the games in the bundle or are you just supporting the developers and/or cheaply buying an individual game.
No I have not

 

[drednoahl]

1) Do you tend to purchase a particular style or genre over another? Or will any PC game do as long as it's good or at least looks interesting?

I tend to avoid fps unless there is a demo to test. It's pot luck for any other game since I don't believe a word that reviewers say any more. More often than not I'll only buy a game now if it's on sale.

2) All things considered and with the price being equal, what is more important to you personally when making a PC Game purchasing decision (list in order if you like!): gameplay mechanics, graphics, multiplayer or replay-ability

Gameplay is king - graphics, multiplayer or re-playability are pretty much non issues. For me though, you've missed design. I'm not too bothered by graphics, but the actual design has to be interesting (I'm finding this hard to describe so I'll put it this way. I wouldn't be at all interested in a realistic skate and tag game, but I'm almost frantic to get my hands on Jet Set Radio.) I think I look for something potentially individual and iconic; something with style. Sound design is just as important.

However, if the game is on Origin or comes with DRM that I don't want then I'm not buying the game no matter how good it is.

3) Would you tend to find yourself more likely to support a PC game if the developer was more active with its community, or would you not care? (any further comments or experiences here would be great)

Certainly, and it's part of the reason I sold my console and got a decent PC.

4) Outside of obvious console ports; do you ever think about the user interface while playing a game? Could you easily name an example of a bad UI and a good UI off the top of your head?

The X series has a pretty terrible UI, and TES series isn't too far behind for me either. That said, they are the games I've played longest regardless. The worst has to be EVE online which even after this summer's update got worse if you can believe that.

Off the top of my head I can't think of a really good UI.

5) Have you ever purchased an 'indie bundle'? If yes, do you actually play all the games in the bundle or are you just supporting the developers and/or cheaply buying an individual game.

I've usually got the games offered in bundles that I'm interested in before - so no. Bundles are a great idea imo, but with over twenty games in my library I haven't played yet I don't need more.

 

[Paladin2905]

1) Yes, I give much more attention to strategy games than I do other genres. While I have played games of all different genres, only strategy is likely to make me pick up a title I've never heard of before.

2) Mechanics, replayibility, multiplayer, graphics. My introduction to PC gaming was an Atari 400 home computer, so graphics fall dead last for me (great games and bad games were still made back then, regardless of hardware limitations). Above all I prefer a game to work and be fun, with the other items falling far behind.

3) Yes I would, however I would point out that there are different types of "involved with the community". I have little to no use for company community spaces or forums, however I am extremely happy with companies that provide as much mod support as possible. While this can be a disadvantage (I fully believe that Bethesda lets their community fix all their games for them) I find that in most cases community/company involvement leads to a plethora of good things. The best companies will even grant the community the best gift of all after years of work together: the source code. So many games I've played and loved have been given new life by their companies and communities working together many years after release.

4) Hell yes. A badly designed or thoughtlessly implemented UI can be horrible. A good UI that quickly comes to mind is Supreme Commander, with its seamless transitions between strategic and tactical views, multiple monitor support for information, nearly endless ability to automate units, and ability to control minute parts of the game at any level. I'd also put forward Freespace 2, where every single command imaginable (I swear they had "target target's target" in there) was bindable and the in game messages would always reflect your changes.
I know you wanted to avoid console ports, but all the examples of poor UI I could think of fell in that category. Mass Effect 2-3, Fable 1,3, Oblivion/Skyrim... these all had horrible UIs that did not function well or keep the gameplay smooth. Back when Mass Effect (1) was released they delayed the PC release for a few months, and in those few months did great work optimizing the UI for PC usage. As a result it worked much better than its sequels do.


5) I've never purchased an indie bundle. Anybody who's ever taken Economics 101 can tell you that 'bundle' is a marketing codeword for 'spend more money on this that you would have'.

 

[Laurents van Cauwenberghe]

Hi PC Gamers,

1) Do you tend to purchase a particular style or genre over another? Or will any PC game do as long as it's good or at least looks interesting?

2) All things considered and with the price being equal, what is more important to you personally when making a PC Game purchasing decision (list in order if you like!): gameplay mechanics, graphics, multiplayer or replay-ability

3) Would you tend to find yourself more likely to support a PC game if the developer was more active with its community, or would you not care? (any further comments or experiences here would be great)

4) Outside of obvious console ports; do you ever think about the user interface while playing a game? Could you easily name an example of a bad UI and a good UI off the top of your head?

5) Have you ever purchased an 'indie bundle'? If yes, do you actually play all the games in the bundle or are you just supporting the developers and/or cheaply buying an individual game.

1) i will take a look at every rpg that comes out (trailers etc.) and apart from that i just buy games when i see a lot of positive feedback from the gaming comunity (that is community NOT reviewers)

2)mechanics > gameplay > replay-ability > graphics > multiplayer
( more important > less important... if you know what i mean by that )
anyway, i find that the mechanics, gameplay and replay-ability are VERY important in my game. that is also the reason i do NOT give a flying fuck about multiplayer modes, i think that if a game is made it should be either multiplayer OR singleplayer, a studio can't make both good in the standard development cycle(best example is probably dark souls for me, the multiplayer aspect of that game was just awful and the time they spend on that could've been better spend on making more content, the game is still amazing but the multiplayer aspects blow harder than a whore) . if i buy a game i want depth in my singleplayer campaign or (a) really good multiplayer mode(s)
...
got slightly off track didn't i?

3) yes, while it won't influence my decision of whether or not to buy the game it will however influence my decision of whether or not i buy their future games/dlc

4)no ,sorry I don't know really when i can classify a game ui as "bad" or "good"

5) no I haven't, i am not able to buy games via credit card because my parents don't allow me to buy anything that's not retail (amazon shopto... are ok for some reason, fucking idiots)
but, however if I'd ever have the means to do so, i would buy the indie bundle mainly to support indie developers. and yes i'd try out every game but i highly doubt that there will ever be a shitty indie bundle.

goodluck!

 

[ohnoitsabear]

1. I tend to gravitate slightly towards open-world type games (examples: Morrowind, Terraria, Just Cause 2), and I usually avoid strategy games, but my games library has a good variety overall.

2. Of the things mentioned:

1. Gameplay, because it's why I'm playing a game, and usually why a game appeals to me or not.
2. Replayability. I like to get a lot of value for my dollar, so replayability is always a plus, but it usually isn't a huge factor.
3. Multiplayer. I never buy a game specifically for multiplayer, but having it might push me over the edge to make a purchase.
4. Graphics. I think that graphics are important, but they rarely influence my purchasing decision.

3. I like it when a developer is active in the community, especially in regards to making fixes and design tweaks, but I don't find it ever impacts my purchasing decision.

4. I like UIs to be efficient, so I usually think about them whenever they slow me down from doing what I want to do with them. Good UI: Morrowind's main interface, with inventory, stats, etc. I can easily access most things with just one button press, and it's improved further with the Morrowind Code Patch, which allows complete resizing of all of the windows in the menu. I must add, that Morrowind's journal interface is not nearly as good as the rest of it, and is actually quite shitty. Bad UI: Oblivion's. Can take three clicks to get to any one thing, and there may be a lot of scrolling in addition to that. Horribly inefficient. Another bad UI: Skyrim's skill menu. All the visual elements get in the way of what I actually am trying to do in it.

5. I have purchased several indie bundles. Usually, they will have two or three games that I want to play, and at least one more that wasn't interested in that I end up enjoying. I try to install and play most bundle games I get, but this doesn't always happen, and I often only play some of the games for 10 or 20 minutes. They're still awesome, though.

 

[Karoshi]

1) Do you tend to purchase a particular style or genre over another? Or will any PC game do as long as it's good or at least looks interesting?

RPGs and MMOs are the games which I am most interested in.

2) All things considered and with the price being equal, what is more important to you personally when making a PC Game purchasing decision (list in order if you like!): gameplay mechanics, graphics, multiplayer or replay-ability

1.Gameplay mechanics
2.Replayability
3.Graphics
4.Multiplayer

Hey, where is the little factor called "Story"? Cause that is the most important reason to buy any game for me.

3) Would you tend to find yourself more likely to support a PC game if the developer was more active with its community, or would you not care? (any further comments or experiences here would be great)

Highly depends. I don't care if Valve or Bioware ignores their community and just delivers one game after another. One the other hand, games like Diablo or Starcraft require constant patches and feedback from community. Without it, the games would be pretty much dead.

4) Outside of obvious console ports; do you ever think about the user interface while playing a game? Could you easily name an example of a bad UI and a good UI off the top of your head?

Are Skyrim and Fable obvious console ports? Both UI were horrible, but most games got shitty Ui these days.

Mass Effect and Deus Ex: Human Revolution had good interfaces, since I could click on any feature with my mouse. That's the biggest deal for me with interfaces.

5) Have you ever purchased an 'indie bundle'? If yes, do you actually play all the games in the bundle or are you just supporting the developers and/or cheaply buying an individual game.

I have bought the British Bundle and am slowly chewing through all these games. Dunno if I am going to buy any more Indie Bundles, I wasn't very impressed so far.

 

[Blade1130]

I'll help you out a bit.

(Just to point out, I'm kind of in between switching from being a mainly console gamer to a mainly PC gamer, while you seem to be focused on PC gamers. So take this for what it's worth.)

1) I always favored shooters / stealth / Western RPG's with a bit of dabbing in Real-Time and Turn-Based strategy. But I wouldn't say that has stopped me from buying games in other genre's that peaked my interest. I'd say that I'm more tolerant to crap in those genres. I can still find decent enjoyment in a mediocre shooter, while a mediocre JRPG just has me getting bored or annoyed.

2) The only things that matter to me would be gameplay mechanics and replay-ability. If I can enjoy my time or gain something from the experience the rest doesn't really matter. Whether it is multiplayer or not is irrelevant, if it is good multiplayer then I will play it, otherwise I won't waste my time. Graphics are even less important, Deus Ex hasn't aged well, but I don't have a problem playing it as long as I can see what I'm doing. I should probably mention story and narrative are damned important. I just finished Spec Ops: The Line a few days ago, that game is many things, fun is not one of them. I wouldn't even call it a video game, that implies you're trying to have fun. Gameplay mechanics are clunky at best, will kill you at worst. Not very replay-able, due to the gameplay being crap. Yet, that game is one of my favorite ones of all time, because the narrative and interactive experience sell it. The game is sort of intentionally bad in those areas because the narrative uses it to screw with the player. It is one of the few story-based games that legitimately could not work as a movie, because the entire game is built around YOU being there. Around YOU dredging through the horrors of Dubai. So the story, narrative, and presentation to a good extent have a lot to do with how much I would want to play a game.

3) Ultimately, playing a game comes down to whether or not it is worth playing. The best community in the world can't get me to play a crap game. But having friends that play it can always have them trying to get you into it, which is the best advertising a game can ask for (plus it's free). I bought Minecraft just because a friend started up a server and I've playing with him ever since. When I got Left 4 Dead 2 I played a while but couldn't get any good games going, until I met one guy I had awesome time with, friended him, and now I've put nearly 400 hours into that game, yet I can't remember the last time I played without him there. In fact, this same guy got Dungeon Defenders (awesome game BTW), and I decided to buy it too, just so I could keep playing with him. A good community can keep people playing an old game, or buy a completely new one if the group changes games. Although whether or not the developer is involved with that community is irrelevant. In Team Fortress 2, I've been playing on the same server for a couple years now, and so I've gotten to know the people that frequent it. Knowing them just gives me another reason to play. Only downside is that if that server / group were to shut down, I probably wouldn't be playing TF2 anymore (similar to when a WoW guild closes its doors, and everyone who was in it stops playing WoW entirely). Valve never directly got these people together, but they gave the tools that allowed that to happen. The developer doesn't have to be directly involved with the community, but they definitely need to consider one when making their game. Mods are a great way of doing that, how many supports did Valve get after the successes of Counter-Strike and Team Fortress? Not to mention all the people buying their sequels. Minecraft was the runaway that it was largely because of the sheer amount of mods for it. Getting bored? Just google the current big mod and try that. I just picked up the Tekkit pack and lost most of last week because of it. Again, Notch & Mojang didn't really do anything, they just allowed the community they had to create and expand. Think of how many people bought Minecraft after all the YogsCast videos. That is how you manage a community, subtle, but effective.

4) I don't really think about the UI unless it gets in the way. A good UI usually isn't noticed. If I can't find that one option to switch the map from the left side to the right, but I know it's there I can get a bit frustrated. One thing that always bugs me is the subtitles option, is in audio, gameplay, or video? It kinda fits in all of them. Usually it's audio, but is it really a crime to but in all of them? I guess it takes up space, but if you have some spare room it can't hurt. Also a lot of games don't realize that people might want to play with console controllers, they usually have the functionality built in, but don't make it easily usable. In Portal 2 I was trying to use the controller because I was bored and waiting for someone (I don't usually do this), come to find out there was a console command I had to run just to get it to register the controller. I shouldn't have to type into a command prompt to use a controller! What makes it worse is that there was an enable / disable controller button, but it didn't work, so that's pretty worthless.

5) I don't believe I've ever bought an indie bundle, largely because I already have the one or two games I want from it. I did buy the Orange Box, not indie obviously, but I bring it up because I bought it specifically because I heard so many good things about Portal, then got HL2 and TF2 as an extra (which is ironic, because it was meant to sell you Episode 2 and TF2 with Portal as the extra). I got that on PS3 because I was mainly console at the time, but I loved those games so much I bought TF2 on Steam again just for all the updates and I would buy Episode 3, if we existed in a universe where that was possible. Not exactly an indie bundle, but closest I've come.

Wow, that went longer than I expected, hopefully that helps

 

[CrustyOatmeal]

1) Do you tend to purchase a particular style or genre over another? Or will any PC game do as long as it's good or at least looks interesting?

i tend to buy real time/ turn based strategy games on my PC over other genres which i usually get on my consoles. however, if the game seems has a large modding community i will buy it on PC (Fallout New Vegas for example)

2) All things considered and with the price being equal, what is more important to you personally when making a PC Game purchasing decision (list in order if you like!): gameplay mechanics, graphics, multiplayer or replay-ability

#1 is story for me (i know its not on your list but that is my driving focus)
#2 mechanics
#3 replayability
#4 graphics
#5 multiplayer (i dont play multiplayer unless its at a LAN party)

3) Would you tend to find yourself more likely to support a PC game if the developer was more active with its community, or would you not care? (any further comments or experiences here would be great)

for me, my feelings toward a company (both the company producing and developing) definitely factor towards my purchase of a game. i actively avoid games produced by EA but i find my contempt can be swayed if the developer is a company i like such as Blizzard or Bioware (remember, i like good stories). if a company actively involves or, more importantly, listens to their fans i am more likely to look at their game more closely and more favorably. a good company doesnt grantee a purchase from me but it does grantee i will look at their products more closely and more leniently

4) Outside of obvious console ports; do you ever think about the user interface while playing a game? Could you easily name an example of a bad UI and a good UI off the top of your head?

i only notice a UI if it enhances the game or if it drags the game down. average UI's never catch my attention because they arent anything special and most games have them so they are not unique. i always try and finish every game i play all the way through but there are only a few reasons why i will stop playing a game without finishing it, an extremely bad UI will make me stop playing a game before i finish it. unfortunately for this survey but fortunately for my sanity, i tend to forget all games that i stop playing half way through because of bad UIs so i cant name any one in particular

5) Have you ever purchased an 'indie bundle'? If yes, do you actually play all the games in the bundle or are you just supporting the developers and/or cheaply buying an individual game.

i tend not to buy bundles because i generally only want to play one of the games. however, if i feel the price is sufficient for the one game in the bundle i actually want then i will buy it and try the other games. i have had bad experiences with bundles where i enjoy the game i wanted in the bundle but hated the others which can sour the taste of the game i like and make me feel frustrated while playing it as i feel i wasted money with the purchase