Darwin award

Briosafreak

Briosafreak

Lived Through the Heat Death
Gamespy has an article on how gamers opinions should be dealt by developers, following the Deus Ex2 demo debacle.
They try to show two different points of view, with praises to the Commandos fans that tried to prevent the mistakes of Commandos3, and the usual Gamespy rants against Fallout fans that tried to do the same thing when Fallout Tactics was being made. The split personality thing was supposed to be witty and to spark the discussion, but a few sentences are so dumb that I could only laugh.

So the Darwin Award for this week goes to Allen "Delsyn" Rausch and from the many examples there are two particularly funny and dumb paragraphs:
<blockquote>Fallout fans pull this stuff all the time. They flamed Fallout: Tactics from the minute it was announced, feeling that only they were qualified to judge the direction of the future of the franchise. I remember a long-running whine over a Tactics screenshot that drove the Fallout fans nuts because some lizard-beast had hair! "How dare you! Don't you know these things are reptiles? They don't have hair! You're ruining the franchise!"
I reiterate - gamers are buying a game, not stock in the company. The game's creators only owe gamers their best efforts to produce a quality, bug-free product. They are not required to submit to gamers for approval if they decide to move the storyline forward or change the gameplay mechanics, nor do gamers have some divine right to a sequel to a series they enjoy. If they don't like what the developers are producing - they don't have to buy it.</blockquote>
So he explains why tactics didn`t sell and doesn`t even notice it...
But the best "removed from the genepool" sentence is this one:
<blockquote>The best games come from one person or a small team with a vision and the guts to bull through marketing weasels and lowest-common denominator thinking. That's what gets you a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic or a Legend of Zelda.</blockquote>
Right, those games were made by very small teams with no marketing input on the development process at all :D
Thanks to kumquatq3 for the heads up.
 
Briosafreak said:
So he explained why tactics didn`t sell and doesn`t even notice it...
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Ahahaha, that's incredible. You summed it up perfectly, but I need to say it too cause it feels so good. The eternal paradox of idiot game reviewers - "Fallout fans rail against Fallout:Tactics because they don't agree with what the designers are doing with it. Well, Fallout fans: shut up! The devs are not beholden to you! If you don't like the game, don't buy it!" vs. "Fallout:Tactics was a good game that had poor sales and went unnoticed by the public because fanatical Fallout fans constantly bad-mouthed it and didn't give it a chance, for no reason other than the fact that it wasn't the game they wanted!". If we're the reason a game sells like shit-on-a-stick, then maybe the devs should listen to us, right moron? Where do they dig up these idiots? Do they just give jobs to whoever begs them the most?

Just read the article - this guy is a complete tool. Not only is he bad at playing Point-Counterpoint with himself, he's stupid enough to use the "If you don't like it, make your own game!" statement. And how exactly did KOTOR come from "vision and guts" and "going against the marketing weasels"? Thanks, gamespy - you've made me laugh once again!
 
Nothing like irresponsible journalism to get the day started. "The best games come from one guy or a small team..." What a limp tool. More than half of Bioware was working on KOTOR - something like 30+ people. Hardly a small team. Maybe he should look a bit more closely at the Bioware credits. Same thing with our favorite CRPG, Fallout - 15 programmers, 10 designers, 22 artisits, etc. What a completely stupid and insulting thing to write about developement teams. I want to punch him in the face.
 
That has got to be one of my biggest pet peeves when people give all the credit to one person, or a very small handful of people, for the success of a game. Ignoring the contributions of everyone else on the team is not only insulting to the entire development team, but also extremely ignorant. Granted, some make more contributions than others, but it does not negate the fact it took an entire team to make everything come together.
 
Damn, you're all making me read this damn article..And to think I was going to ignore it..
 
I didn't notice this until Puuk mentioned his "small development team" comment:

Can you imagine the storyline of KotOR being written by committee?
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- Underneath a screenshot of KOTOR. Nope, can't imagine it.
 
It doesn't matter where an idea comes from, if it is smart then use it. Some (many?) times developers are stupid.

And the Fallout issue had been to do with respecting previous work.

The developers can make whatever they want but don't put the wrong title on the box!
 
I have a GamespyID, and I posted a nasty comment of the article. That'll show 'em who they are dealing with...
 
Tatics didn't do that bad on the market did it? Of course they can't expect it to sell in numbers like f1 and 2. You can't make C+ game and then when it doenst sell like an A or B game blame the fans for flaming it. Own up to your own failure.
 
Actually, Tactics had the highest number of pre-orders from the Interplay online store. I'll admit mine was one of them.

Then the reviews came pouring in. Even the most glowing had something almost uniquely negative to say about it except for the long-term Fallout fans who trashed the game mainly because the setting was hosed, among much more.

Sales then dropped quite fast. I bet the moron doesn't even take into account that GameSpy dropped support for Tactics a bit quicker than they did for other games. I wonder why.

I wonder if the clueless GameSpy twit will take potshots at the X-COM community because they are dissatisfied with the crap spin-offs they dislike, waiting in vain for the next real X-COM game or if their wait is futile.

It is clear that the dumbshit has no experience with how games are truly sold. Ultima became popular and progressed into the best form that is Ultima 7, mainly because it gave the fans what they wanted, only better each time, up to a point. When two games the fans didn't really care for, mainly because they were rushed together for a quick release (thank you, Electronic Asshats), that was when the single-player Ultima was starting to show quite a few hiccups in fan following. Loss of fan following = less sales, especially when word of mouth goes around. Not too bright. So when you make a game that the fans don't care for, but you are basing the game in a universe (however loosely in terms of dumbfuck Chuck), then really...who the hell are you making the game for? When will they learn that spin-offs RARELY work, and ONLY if they are done well on their own merit, but fit into the established setting?
 
Won't Go There

Won't Go There

But did this self inflicted play and FINISH, ... FO T?

Some FO fanboy strong arm his lunch money?

From what shallow well does he draw this pseudo outrage?

What was his opinion of the broken Perks and the 4 Horseman Bug?
Now these are the true seeds of blind fury.

4too
 
Well, the funny thing is that BIS do still speak to us. They do this either it is good advertising or because it helps them stay customer focused.

To say that input from the fans is bad is to say that the judgement of the developers is bad. They have to weed through the bad ideas that come from within the team just as much as they have to weed through the bad ideas from outside. In the end it comes down to their own judgement as to what goes in.

edit: Oh, btw, the use of two polarised viewpoints in journalism is a complete cop-out. All it shows is the inability of the journalist to remain independant of opinion while still offering a balanced argument.
 
Michael said:
edit: Oh, btw, the use of two polarised viewpoints in journalism is a complete cop-out. All it shows is the inability of the journalist to remain independant of opinion while still offering a balanced argument.
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Actually, it's pretty much a pot-shot at the Fallout fans for no other reason than GameSpy "journalists" (and I use the term very loosely) live in their own reality or lapped up some explanation from Interplay.

Everyone should know by now that GameSpy = media whore. It makes them even more laughable when they can't even bother to get their facts straight. True, some objected when the game was first announced, especially when there were hints that it wasn't going along the setting. When more proof came along, especially when some MicroForté shithead came along and said it was going to be "just like JA2, but set in the Fallout universe", that was when all hell broke loose when it was discovered that they were lying. I guess Mr. "I get paid/free games for posting mindless shit" doesn't count that as a valid reason for the fans to be irate. As for the DeathClaws having hair (well, more like a complete ignoring of their design), is it too difficult for that tard to understand that the same objections would be made if it were an element of some other game's setting? Or imagine if BioWare fucked up some important aspect of Forgotten Realms. The DeathClaws are a vital aspect of Fallout's setting, and their history was documented enough to be unmistakable to all except those who haven't played the game nor care about it, instead using it as a weak excuse to denigrate a fan base that has every right to be irate.
 
ok that was the most illogical thing I've ever read... someone commenting that (deathclaws?) shouldn't have hair. Being a rant that hurts the developers and the game? Well lets say that MOST developers would completely ignore that comment if they already went over it inside the team... I hope they did. And fans of the famous gaming franchises say ALL kinds of things, granted I think FO fans are one of the most ZEALOUS, but still... there's plenty of crap feedback and suggestions for any semi known/famous game out there... u know.

the second quote was making quite a bit of sense till the part where he mentioned his examples... I mean COME ON!!! lol just comes to show that he knows NOTHING about the industry and the sized of the teams that are making the games he's playing... if u don't know don't say it... but it does make sense in a way, some of the most successfull companies have been relatively small... the best example that just begs to be put in this message is ofcourse ID... I mean u can say anything u want about their games, but u have to agree they all were pretty cool for the times they were released in... all it really takes is a few similar minded individuals who have similar views, love games, love what they're making, don't work for the paycheck and don't only show up for the 9-5...

and large teams are ofcourse difficult to manage, I guess every dev team out there started small, starting big is a dangerous thing (ION STORM biz0tch) most of the startup companies are rather small, u get more money, less ideas (which can be a good thing, and can keep ur game from becoming the UBER demon nazi raindeer from outer space ... simulation), and ofcourse there's a lot less expenses.
 
What's ironic is that the same person would slam a Star Wars game that had a Luke Skywalker NPC who was black.
 
Hmmm, I had overlooked something of note.

Legend of Zelda, small team? Not with any of the more recent releases, and there was a time when Nintendo didn't credit all those who have worked on their titles, such as QA. Or does around 40+ people constitute a "small team"? GameSpy must really be scraping the bottom of the barrel if they are hiring monkeys* so retarded they pull grotesquely idiotic statements like that out of their ass.

* - My sincere apologies to any sentient, clued-in monkeys out there.
 
What they should have done in KotoR was put Darth Vader in as the bad guy and make the Wookies a type of android (oh, and related to Jar Jar B...). That would be like what they did to the Brotherhood and the Deathclaws.
 
Puuk said:
More than half of Bioware was working on KOTOR - something like 30+ people. Hardly a small team.
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BioWare should probably can the other people, then. KotOR is way better than anything else they've ever done. They should also can the guy(s) who did things like script Calo Nord's first encounter in the game so that if you piss him off, and he attacks you, he instantly kills anything he shoots. Oh, and can the guy(s) who made the Sand People turrets instantly kill your whole party when you're in range of them.

Roshambo said:
Actually, Tactics had the highest number of pre-orders from the Interplay online store. I'll admit mine was one of them.

Then the reviews came pouring in. Even the most glowing had something almost uniquely negative to say about it except for the long-term Fallout fans who trashed the game mainly because the setting was hosed, among much more.
Click to expand...

It wasn't the reviews that hosed this game, Rosh. The reviews for Fallout Tactics were all pretty high ranking score reviews. I'd say it had more to do with the forums for the game, word of mouth, and the fan sites.

Loss of fan following = less sales, especially when word of mouth goes around. Not too bright. So when you make a game that the fans don't care for, but you are basing the game in a universe (however loosely in terms of dumbfuck Chuck), then really...who the hell are you making the game for?
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This should be GAME MARKETTING 101 shit here. If you're making a game based on a license, make sure the fans of the license are receptive to it. You might sell one or two spin offs, if they're close to the original based on that name thing, but after a while, you're just going to keep widdling down the fan base.

Michael said:
What they should have done in KotoR was put Darth Vader in as the bad guy and make the Wookies a type of android (oh, and related to Jar Jar B...). That would be like what they did to the Brotherhood and the Deathclaws.
Click to expand...

Well, they did kinda screw up lightsabers in KotOR. Nothing like watching sandpeople blocking your dual lightsaber attacks with their gaffi sticks and all.
 
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