On video games and on other people in them
Today I was informed by Ash that some of the people that made the original Command and Conquer games are making a free MMO game. I personally was in fact somewhat disappointed and maybe annoyed by this news, rather than the enthusiasm he felt about it. Looking at the game in question (Mytheon, apparently the first 1000 to sign up to the site get Beta access, if you're interested) and was equally disappointed to find it looked like a fairly generic MMO. The setting, ancient Greece was hardly original as well. At a glance the whole game seems wholly derivative, which is not to say it will be a bad game but in an age where Massively Multiplayer Online gaming is a well established and populous genre it will be hard for it to be more than above average I feel.
What really disappoints me is that many large and sometimes small companies, feel the need that once they have made a few successful single-player games that the next step is to make an online game. It saddens me that this seems to be a trend. While I accept that it is more expensive and difficult to develop a game now than it was when I was much younger, the carefully crafted single-player experience seems to be going out of fashion. Increasingly games are becoming more connected to other people and less about an individuals own and personal experience. Options are good, most people in general (a possible fallacy on my part admittedly, but I think it is likely to be true) likes to have at least the option of multi-player even if they do not use it. But increasingly we are seeing a dearth of single-player experiences and an increasingly multi-player setting.
I admit that some of the genres I personally enjoy are seemingly in decline, most notably 4x Turn-Based Strategy games (the 4 x's being eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate and usually in that order), such as the likes of Civilisation, Masters of Orion, Space Empires, Imperium Galactica and so on. Adventure gaming is experiencing a small revival thanks to the work of the makers of the episodic Sam and Max series, now working on their 3rd season I believe, and Roleplaying (in the Western Dungeons and Dragons themed sense of character exploration and choice, not the crafted narratives of Japan) is holding on as well but is less varied than it was and experiencing a hybridisation into other genres. In addition to these factors as was previously mentioned the increased cost and effort required to develop large A-grade titles these days. The increasing prevalence of games which offer quick and instant gratification, and the seeming decline of those that require time and effort but offer potentially a wider and more diverse, as well as a deeper experience is something I do not deny frustrates me. But there is little I can do about it except discuss it, write and then eventually accept the facts and either make the best of what I have now or replay older games. I do a combination of both.
Returning to my original contention is the fact that back before the Internet was fast, easily accessible and common people didn't depend on multi-player. Some titles had it, others didn't and those that didn't were often balanced around this fact. Which raises the question for me, if people could make well crafted games for a single person before, why does that no longer seem to be the case? While some games I enjoy, I do so for their crafted nature; Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment for example contrast strongly against Neverwinter Nights' customisability and comparatively broad and generic story with their specific and detailed stories, although there was an incredible amount of room to explore those stories. The gameplay by comparison was more restricted and there was less mechanical freedom but it was a scale, with story on one side and mechanics on the other. This is probably a fact particularly intrinsic to the style of RPG games I enjoy, but it is also apparent in other genres to a lesser extent. Scribblenauts and Little Big Planet for example both offer a great deal of creative potential in a platformer, but as a consequence they lack the detailed polish of crafted games such as Mario or Ratchet & Clank. A machine can't creatively respond to the spontaneity that freedom allows and so it has to limit it, a limit we inevitably notice keenly.
In terms of MMO games it easy to look at the glut of games from Korea and China. Many of them almost the same except for statistics, names and artwork. Games such as Aion, Guild Wars, Grenada Espada and so on have all come from the Asian MMO bread-basket to the West. It's easy for me to as a consequence get frustrated with yet another MMO when several have been released this year, when strategy gaming, is far less populous a genre. Halo Wars, Majesty, the Sins of a Solar Empire expansion and Empire: Total War are all that the genre has to stand on for this year. It's actually been a good year, last year saw fewer titles. Fortunately smaller 'indie' developers make some games to fill in the gaps and perhaps as a more niche genre this will increasingly be the case, but is easy for me to be frustrated by the glut of First Person Shooters, poorly made and tacky Wii games aimed at children which have yet to truly extend beyond a waggle-gimmick control scheme, Racing games and the ever present continuing iterations of large Sports series.
Am I actually railing against the decline of the genres I enjoy? Probably it is a large part of it. But these last few weeks I have played some Morrowind and quite enjoyed that. I also played Champions Online, but when you so often play alone in games and only play with others when you have a slightly more difficult task. Communication is infrequent and often short, I may even swap access to my friends list only to never talk to that individual again. This makes me wonder if people really want non-stop access, or the option of it and the ability to opt out. I enjoy playing with other people to be sure, but I certainly enjoy an experience on my own, finely crafted and created with care and attention.
What really disappoints me is that many large and sometimes small companies, feel the need that once they have made a few successful single-player games that the next step is to make an online game. It saddens me that this seems to be a trend. While I accept that it is more expensive and difficult to develop a game now than it was when I was much younger, the carefully crafted single-player experience seems to be going out of fashion. Increasingly games are becoming more connected to other people and less about an individuals own and personal experience. Options are good, most people in general (a possible fallacy on my part admittedly, but I think it is likely to be true) likes to have at least the option of multi-player even if they do not use it. But increasingly we are seeing a dearth of single-player experiences and an increasingly multi-player setting.
I admit that some of the genres I personally enjoy are seemingly in decline, most notably 4x Turn-Based Strategy games (the 4 x's being eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate and usually in that order), such as the likes of Civilisation, Masters of Orion, Space Empires, Imperium Galactica and so on. Adventure gaming is experiencing a small revival thanks to the work of the makers of the episodic Sam and Max series, now working on their 3rd season I believe, and Roleplaying (in the Western Dungeons and Dragons themed sense of character exploration and choice, not the crafted narratives of Japan) is holding on as well but is less varied than it was and experiencing a hybridisation into other genres. In addition to these factors as was previously mentioned the increased cost and effort required to develop large A-grade titles these days. The increasing prevalence of games which offer quick and instant gratification, and the seeming decline of those that require time and effort but offer potentially a wider and more diverse, as well as a deeper experience is something I do not deny frustrates me. But there is little I can do about it except discuss it, write and then eventually accept the facts and either make the best of what I have now or replay older games. I do a combination of both.
Returning to my original contention is the fact that back before the Internet was fast, easily accessible and common people didn't depend on multi-player. Some titles had it, others didn't and those that didn't were often balanced around this fact. Which raises the question for me, if people could make well crafted games for a single person before, why does that no longer seem to be the case? While some games I enjoy, I do so for their crafted nature; Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment for example contrast strongly against Neverwinter Nights' customisability and comparatively broad and generic story with their specific and detailed stories, although there was an incredible amount of room to explore those stories. The gameplay by comparison was more restricted and there was less mechanical freedom but it was a scale, with story on one side and mechanics on the other. This is probably a fact particularly intrinsic to the style of RPG games I enjoy, but it is also apparent in other genres to a lesser extent. Scribblenauts and Little Big Planet for example both offer a great deal of creative potential in a platformer, but as a consequence they lack the detailed polish of crafted games such as Mario or Ratchet & Clank. A machine can't creatively respond to the spontaneity that freedom allows and so it has to limit it, a limit we inevitably notice keenly.
In terms of MMO games it easy to look at the glut of games from Korea and China. Many of them almost the same except for statistics, names and artwork. Games such as Aion, Guild Wars, Grenada Espada and so on have all come from the Asian MMO bread-basket to the West. It's easy for me to as a consequence get frustrated with yet another MMO when several have been released this year, when strategy gaming, is far less populous a genre. Halo Wars, Majesty, the Sins of a Solar Empire expansion and Empire: Total War are all that the genre has to stand on for this year. It's actually been a good year, last year saw fewer titles. Fortunately smaller 'indie' developers make some games to fill in the gaps and perhaps as a more niche genre this will increasingly be the case, but is easy for me to be frustrated by the glut of First Person Shooters, poorly made and tacky Wii games aimed at children which have yet to truly extend beyond a waggle-gimmick control scheme, Racing games and the ever present continuing iterations of large Sports series.
Am I actually railing against the decline of the genres I enjoy? Probably it is a large part of it. But these last few weeks I have played some Morrowind and quite enjoyed that. I also played Champions Online, but when you so often play alone in games and only play with others when you have a slightly more difficult task. Communication is infrequent and often short, I may even swap access to my friends list only to never talk to that individual again. This makes me wonder if people really want non-stop access, or the option of it and the ability to opt out. I enjoy playing with other people to be sure, but I certainly enjoy an experience on my own, finely crafted and created with care and attention.