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[RRS]

EoF said that if I don't want to play such games, I can freely skip them. True, but that's history now.

Because it used to be Farmville - or the "command my bosom, milord" Evony... yet now it affects a game I was interested in.

I played both first and second Diablo. Maybe I wasn't hooked like the others, but I did complete both parts. I saw the visual design of the 3rd part and I like it even more than that of the 2nd part (about which I complained a lot back when it was released). But Diablo 3 is poisoned by this new design attitude, it was made with that mindset from the ground up (while item selling for 2nd was just a side effect). This makes me steer clear of this game, no matter, even if I got it for free.

Just like with tattoos. They used to be for some troubled weirdos I'd never want to date, so no problem. Today they're so common they affect the girl-next-door, one I might have wanted to hang with.

[Eagle of Fire]

Sorry, but all I can see is a "yes, but not in my backyard" syndrome. Unless there is something deeper you are trying to tell me?

Everything the gaming industry made in the past decade led to what we have right now. You can't keep saying "ok, I disagree completely with this but since it is marginal I'll simply let it go" and expect it will never come back to bother you. In life everything cycle in and out. It was only a matter of time before it happened.

Why do you think I kept saying that the golden age of gaming was in the '90 and that almost everything made since the 2000 is crap? I saw this coming years ago.

[RRS]

No, I'm against it, even if it's "outside my backyard". I'd gladly forbid it if I could (now you'll probably call me a "nazi" or whatever is currently trendy in newspeak). You can only blame me for not forseeing it coming "years ago", perhaps I kept playing the same old games and didn't notice the new trends before they jumped me in my face.

Now, I'd like to hear from you how you tried to stop it from happening, because when I read your words it looks like it was only me sitting ignorant and idle.

[MrFlibble]

I've had very little interest in contemporary mainstream gaming industry for a pretty long time, so I'm not really much concerned with the whole situation. There are, and always have been, not too many really good games. Today, lots of people are trying to make a buck off gaming, and games that aren't very good have become plentiful. In addition to this, there are all sorts of enterprises that shamelessly try to leech money off users. I also suspect that online-only games are popular with the designers also because you don't have to code the AI, just put in the playing mechanics for the players to interact with.

I'm not really put off by what Blizzard did with legalizing the real money trade. That was logical if you take into account what was (and probably still is) happening with WoW. A rather predictable move, actually. However, since I'm not an online player at all, I assume this means I automatically belong to a minority in the gaming community. Luckily, there are still people who are not only willing to play, but also to develop and sometimes even distribute for free the old school games, be it in mechanics only or also in graphical style, that are oriented at the single-player experience.

[Eagle of Fire]

Now, I'd like to hear from you how you tried to stop it from happening, because when I read your words it looks like it was only me sitting ignorant and idle.

You can't stop it from happening. If it was possible we would have turned the industry around years ago. Unfortunately, common sense doesn't dictate how the vast majority of people act or react so...

Why do you think I've been staying around this site so much even though I'm really getting fed up on what is happening in it? Short of having a real answer, preserving games and shoving it to youngsters who care face to make them realize that old games really are better is the only thing I can think would have any impact whatsoever.

I've already been doing for a long time what I think is the only thing to do in this case.

[TotalAnarchy]

People play games because they are fun, not because they are more fun than other games. I have played both Team Fortress 2 and Tribes: Ascend. I had fun with both and didn't pay a dime.

[RRS]

True, most of the people are the "meh, whatever" folk.

People who do care about the subtle differences were always in the minority.

So you could argue it was always the same. Games were already mass entertainment back in 1980s, with market flooded with poor Space Invaders clones. One could say that only the style fluctuates, and my complaints are only thanks to me being old-fashioned and unwilling to change.

But there's more than that. Certain dangerous trends are in the works, for years. Dangerous to quality. Increased development costs (due to rich visuals) multiplying risk of publication and thus hampering creativity. Monetization, freemium etc. Simplification and shortened gameplay time. Flood of crappy free Flash/mobile games, which makes any other title drown in their sheer numbers (read: expensive ad campaign is needed to stand out).

All of the above killed certain genres.
Please find today a serious business simulation game where you manage an airline (or car factory), which isn't cartoony and uses real planes (cars) - I can easily find such titles from 1990s.
Who will risk today to make another The Last Express and will go to the lengths of researching actual train cabs from 1912? Or recreate a palace like Cryo did for Versailles 1685? Where's the Harpoon of today? (4th was cancelled, 3rd is just repackaged 2nd)

We could compare the situation to the movies. I'm not saying I only watch art films (you know, silent and black&white story about gay Pakistani goat herder with references to Kieślowski). The fact that I'm picky doesn't mean I can't enjoy popular titles, yes: mass entertainment. But provided they meet the quality standards. While "Indiana Jones" was just silly fun, this silly fun displayed very good craftsmanship (photography, editing, music etc.). That's why no "Tomb Raider" or "National Treasure" of today can't compare with it.

That's the problem. We used to get products for the mass market that had better quality standards. Today in order to find a game I like I'm forced to look among the small indie developers because big studios long abandoned the design ideas I still stand by. Or I need to dig up and old game...

[MrFlibble]

Originally Posted by RRS

Certain dangerous trends are in the works, for years. Dangerous to quality. Increased development costs (due to rich visuals) multiplying risk of publication and thus hampering creativity. Monetization, freemium etc. Simplification and shortened gameplay time. Flood of crappy free Flash/mobile games, which makes any other title drown in their sheer numbers (read: expensive ad campaign is needed to stand out).

All of the above killed certain genres.

That is very true. But once again, it is also quite unsurprising.

That's the problem. We used to get products for the mass market that had better quality standards. Today in order to find a game I like I'm forced to look among the small indie developers because big studios long abandoned the design ideas I still stand by. Or I need to dig up and old game...

I'd say we're pretty lucky there are still people who work creatively. Mainstream gaming industry has become something very weird to me, with the focus on things that actually have peripheral value.

I also agree that it's somewhat of a problem that one has to plough through thousands of rubbish titles, be it commercial mainstream games or just some free or quick buck shareware stuff, in order to find something decent.

Creativity certainly suffers because it is much safer to follow the already well known scheme of gameplay and plot, rather than risk putting off a considerable part of the audience (and hence losing revenue) as a result of introducing something new.

[BranjoHello]

Thanks, MrFlibble!
Found so really good stuff from the links you provided.

[MrFlibble]

Here's a neat site dedicated to free gaming alternatives:
Free alternative games