The Oakstout

Friday, May 20, 2011

Monday, May 16, 2011

Why do people buy games?

What motivates certain purchase over others, especially in the same genre?

Why buy one FPS, MMO or RTS game over another? Is it devotion? The fanboy issue where one franchise or developer is better than another?

What drives the consumer to spend hard earned cash on a $60 game?

My theory? It's mass hypnosis.

Developers want your money, whether they put out a good product or not. But how do they get players to part with cash?

First, they put a good bit of money in the commercials. Make the game look like it's going to visually rock their world. If players ask for actual game footage, well, just video a few scenes produced under controlled situations with very low lag on super computers. I mean how is a player to know differently, especially with disclaimers on the box that say "your online play may vary", meaning "we don't really know how this game will play once thousands of users log into our tiny servers, but that's not our fault that, you bought a beta, sucker."

They use post hypnotic suggestions like "stunning graphics" or "new control schemes". Maybe they say "WoW killer" and poof people are spending money and clearing shelf space.

Demos do nothing more than make us cluck like a chicken with delight. We can't possibly know what a game will be like from a 10 minute tease or a 20 level beta.

Developers have their hands in our pockets and we are so blind we can't see it. If we aren't hypnotized explain to me why 90% of the games released get a patch on the first week and we are happy about it?

"Man lag was bad till they patched it, but now I'm having a blast. I still can't access my bags or bank but I hear they are working on another patch, hope that fixes it", he says with great enthusiasm

If we bought a defective car would we be so happy about them giving us a new part 7 days after purchase? Would we return it if we found out it had 2 hamsters on a wheel instead of an engine?

I ask this, if it's not hypnosis what is it? Mass stupidity?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

What sucks?

Everything!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Blank

What to blog about? That's a huge question? Do I talk about the current MMO landscape and it's future? What, if any, impact has Rift had on WoW's sub numbers? Will WoW wither away or become Free to Play? Should more companies take chances to break out of the WoW mold or should they continue to clone it?

Well I could talk about all those things but then I would be like thousands of other bloggers out there, speculating on the future of a business that 10 years ago was dominated by Everquest and why was that? Because they were the only game in town, basically.

In the future it seems that anyone with a programmer and investor's cash will be getting into the MMO business, sorry Curt Schilling. All this does is clutter the field, making it harder for the gems to stand out. Forcing bloggers to pick a favorite and trounce everything that isn't what they are playing. Giving birth to a flock of Fanboys that will circle looking for prey, starting a plethora of flame wars and...

Well to be honest that isn't the future it's the present. People spend way too much energy deciding who has the bigger penis, I mean MMO, and why? Who really cares? I change MMO's like underwear, once a year and to be honest I'm only loyal till you bore me to death or fail to provide value for my dollar. Trying to explain why my choice is better that your choice is like trying to explain what a song bird sounds like to a deaf person and pretty silly if you ask me.

If people were the same, liked the same thing and made the same choices the world would be boring. Excepting that your opinion matters but only to you is the first step to recovery, from the dreaded fanboy disease.

And I thought I wouldn't have anything insightful to say.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Back to the Middle again!

Middle Earth that is.

Succumbing to the powerful Jedi mind tricks of several friends (a nice SWTOR plug),I decided to give the Free to Play (F2P) version of LOTRO a try.

Now as some if my readers may know I did sub to LOTRO back when it first came out but only briefly. At the time I was still hooked on the WoW crack so playing another MMO along side it was always fatal to the other MMO. So I ended up dropping LOTRO.

I won't do a true first impressions of the game since what I posted back a few years ago still hasn't changed much in my opinion. Instead I'll discuss my current likes and dislikes.

Lets talk about the dislikes first. This way I can end the post on a positive note.

Turbines new Free 2 Play business model is based on Micro Transactions. Basically Turbine let's you play for free and gives you access to almost all of the content. However some items, perks and content will cost you money to unlock. Real money is exchanged for Turbine Points which is used as currency in the LOTRO store.

Want a second revive and disregard timers, then spend a few points. Want more bag and bank space, how about resetting your daily tasks or increasing the number of tasks you can do per day well just spend a few Turbine Points. Would you like to ride your own horse? Well the horse will cost you a few game silver but the skill will cost you points. I'm not a fan of micro transactions because the player can end up spending more to unlock items than it would cost for a monthly sub where a majority of things are free.

On the plus side, as you adventure and unlock Deeds you do earn some Points to spend in the store. It just takes a while to build them up, but it is possible to play the game without paying for a sub or buying Points. But like me, most people who play an MMO want instant gratification, which makes it hard to wait. I want what I want and I want it now has always been my motto when playing any game.

Subscribing to the game will unlock a lot of items and areas, but developers have added a few additional quests and storyline content to LOTRO since launch that even subscribers have to pay for with points to access it. I'm not a fan of charging subscribers for additional content when they spend $15.00 every month, but Turbine makes up for this by giving an allotment of points free to subscribers every month which can be used to unlock additional content as well as other perks available in the store.

The point with all this is that before playing Free 2 Play LOTRO I hated the idea of an MMO using micro transactions. Now I don't think it's so bad. It let's me play a triple A game for free and I like that.

That should cover all my dislikes. I do have some nit picky stuff I could mention but all games have some animation, sound or graphical glitch that effects the experience and although LOTRO has there fair share, still, it's not enough this time to detour me from playing.

So why am I back in Middle-Earth, besides the fact it's free? Mainly because a bunch of close friends have decided to start playing. Before no one I knew in real life played and the game quickly became more like a single player game in a world of strangers. I got bored and left. Now we have a little community that hangs out once or twice a week. We are all learning the game together and having a fantastic time. It's very casual and I like that. The game is still gorgeous. The sounds and music help get you into the game.

I'm usually not big on game lore but I am really digging the whole Tolkien setting this time around, trying to finish parts of the main story line and really enjoying the journey.

The game just seems more fun this time around. Maybe because it's not competing with WoW or maybe playing with friends does make a huge difference or could it be that it's free? Who knows. Either way I'm having fun and that is the important thing, right?

Location:Piedmont Pkwy,Greensboro,United States