Gamer Entitlement. One thing is certain, gamers are passionate about the media they consume. They flock to message boards and social media to talk about the newest releases, and not all of that is the happy joy-joy kind. Sometimes gamers get angry. In the past there have been calls to boycott games because of the ending. There have been in-game protests both in EverQuest and World of Warcraft. There have also been threats, some vacuous with no merit and others chillingly real, sending Devs from their homes and involving police. Making games can be a hard path with the only assurance being that somebody is going to be angry about some decision or design choice that they didn’t like. You will not be able to please everyone, and it is all too easy to look at the dissent and pass it off as “Entitlement.” However, gamers are the consumer. They buy the product and will be the ones, by word of mouth, driving sales. So perhaps the best way of dealing with Entitlement is to listen. Listen to the consumer and what complaints they have for your product. Gaming itself is changing. More and more developers outside of AAA publishers are moving towards crowd funding and self publishing. When you rely on your audience for the very funds that allow your game to be made, they become a sort of defacto board of directors. You are no longer working for investors. You are working for the fans, and they should have a voice. How can developers and gamers reach out to each other in a way that the consumer voice is heard and get the game they want, while at the same time allowing the artist to maintain their vision for the game they want to make? Developers may have to ditch the Entitlement excuse and actually listen to people who are paying for their game. Communication and transparency will be born out of this. Maybe try explaining changes and the games’ direction in an open and honest manner. Gamers will have to listen. They will have to understand that while they do have a voice, that voice can not be used to shout down everything they do not agree with. Make it known what you like and don’t like. Just remember not everyone will agree, and that’s OK too. Maybe the game being made isn’t for you. We at Hydra Interchange would like to know what you, the gamer or developer think about this. What suggestions do you have to help narrow the communication gap between the player and the designer?
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 21:23:55 +0000
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