CmdrGoob said:
cuddly_tomato said:
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There is simply no reason one platform (the platform which sold less than one in five of that particular game) to have such a massive amount of tech issues compared to the others.
You can't think of any other reasons why forums for a computer would tend to get more posts from people playing on PCs? If you're playing it on a PC and it crashes, the support forum is right there, if you're playing it on a 360, you'd have to get up and turn on your PC to go and complain.
I'd say part of the reason might also be that no people are sitting and fiddling with their Xboxes, installing random stuff, getting trojans, viruses and other annoying things, they don't have to worry about each and every part being compatible wih the game.
If you check a support forum like that for a pc, I mean really check, and follow through on all the questions posed, how many of those do you think actually had something to do with the game, rather than with the users computer or hardware? It's Vista being a *****, it's your drivers that need updating, it's your anti-virus program that kicks in and stops you from playing, you installed it wrong, you downloaded it wrong, you, you, you, you.
And no, I don't think piracy is destroying PC gaming. Considering that there is a lot of piracy for consoles too, maybe nowhere near as much, but a lot still.
The reasons PC gaming is "failing" isn't because of piracy. Piracy is just a symptom, one that is hurrying the "failing" along quite a bit, but a symptom nonetheless. The reasons are many, but mostly boils down to the customers of games. It's much easier playing a game on a console. You don't have to worry about anything. Playing a game on a console is also more of a social activity. It's easy to plug in several controllers and wreck some mayhem around. Being a console gamer, rather than a pc gamer carries a completely different social stigma.
If you have a console, you can just put a disk in, boot it up and play, directly. Nothing complicated, no worries. It's going to start up, it's going to do so quickly and smoothly. You also have a nice big screen, and usually a pretty comfortable sofa, floor or chair to sit it.
If you play on a computer, you instead have to boot up your computer, put a disk in, install the game, patch the game by downloading the patch, make sure your internet security settings are correctly configured, download new drivers, and then start playing. You're sitting in an office chair at best, with a (since you're a gamer) mouse and keyboard in completely the wrong places, ergonomically speaking.
Wether or not one actually is more casual than the other, the two ways of playing have two completely different images. I remember in several youth-centers (I think this is the term...) I've been that they have consoles people can use. People often play together, often with an audience, or a quene to take over. The computer in the corner though has a single person sitting at, occasionally glancing angrily in the consolers direction. PC's demand more, more attention, more knowledge, and they are an ultimately solitary, at least physically, pursuit. People these days, customers these days, don't want that. They want the pretty system they can play on their pretty tv, and show off to their friends. Sure, the nerdier among us will play computer games too, and scoff at the consolers, for a lot of reasons. But this is one of the bigger reasons why PC gaming is "failing". This and the ridiculous pricing, horrible buggy console ports, overintrusive copy-protection systems and games that are really hard to get is the reason why piracy is so abundant.
Piracy is a partially connected point to PC gaming "failing", but it's not the reason, it's one of the effects. But since game publishers (rarely the developers) think piracy is so abundant, they spend less and less on pc titles.
It should turn up soon though, either through a new influx of quality, or extras, or something, that makes people want to play games on their computers again, or alternative methods of earning money. I don't think the perfect DRM is going to stop piracy, I don't think that taking harsher legal action is going to stop it. I think making people want to buy games is going to stop piracy.
Disclaimer: Yes, I'm aware people may have posted this, in this topic and in others.
I tried to refrain from my personal opinions, and stick to "facts" and observations, except for the summary.
I am not infallible, I may have written something wrong. It is not my intention to cause anyone offence by this post.
I have never owned a console myself.
Apologies for a long post.
