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Originally Posted by TarukShmaruk
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It doesn't create poor gameplay when people pay out the ass for cosmetic things and minor boosters.
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In F2P (or P2W) games, every part of that game is a carrot to get you to spend money. It has to be that way. Almost every aspect of the design is intentionally plugging into psychological elements - the same ones that get people addicted to slot machines by the way, and is the reason slots are now implementing lots of RPG elements. This is why there is so much discussion about "Skinner boxes". There are lots of articles online about this for anyone who wants to read about it.
You cannot have a game like the original EQ within that model, because it's intentionally difficult, slow burn, challenging, subtle, and long term. It plays on foreshadowing, delayed gratification, and rewards genuine thought and effort. You don't get a trophy just for turning up. There are so many touches of "unreasonable detail" because it was for the most part a labour of vision and love. The difference is clear for anyone who loves games and RPGs in particular, and it's the same in all works of creativity.
F2P games can't do that. Their game mechanics can't do that. Their reward schemes can't do that. Honestly, it affects absolutely everything from art style to time between level ups, to the layout of geometry. It's built upon instant gratification and ADD attention spans. There is nothing, in the end, that is untouched by the single-minded pursuit of mass market mediocrity and profit.
So, by its nature it can't create anything
but shallow, mercenary, exploitive, manipulative gameplay - which is the antithesis of good gameplay. And it can't do anything but undervalue ingame effort and reward. Buying game progression devalues everything about that game, and cheapens it irreversibly. It is the death of everything that under-girded RPG games, and people are just beginning to realize it en masse, and stop handing over money to it. They've been tricked, and they see it. The games industry is imploding right now, as I've said. In the past few months dozens of studios have closed, some major. Zynga, that abortive mess of a Skinner box shop, just laid off 500 employees. Most of my ex-colleagues are out of work - all over the world. So much about games is crap right now, and this coercive F2P philosophy is a big part of the reason why.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arclanz
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Great post. Highlighting parts I especially agreed with. Whenever a committe tries to please the masses, everything gets washed over and watered down = sucks for everyone rather than being epic for some.
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Thanks man. For my part, it's really been heartening to read the posts here showing that there are lots of people who feel the same way. There's this saying that a camel is a horse designed by committee, and it's brutally true.