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| [Nov 24, 2012, 6:12 pm ET] - Share - Viewing Comments |
Cliffski's Blog - Kickstarting inequality.
Kickstarter is the absolute poster-child for inequality amongst gamers, based on income. Now I am definitely not a raging socialist, but I know a lot of gamers are, and I find it a bit weird that it doesn’t bug them that when these kickstarter games ship, not only will gamers with more money that them be swanning around with better outfits and weapons, (This already happens in F2P games), but some of the NPC’s will have the names of the ‘wealthy’ backers. Some will even have their digitized faces in the game. Elite is actually naming PLANETS after people who back the game with a lot of money.
Gamers say they hate in-game product placement and advertising. It compromises the game design for the sake of money. I agree. So why are we deciding that the best way to name our planets or design the appearance of our NPC’s is to put that part of game design up for auction? Why should gamers who are wealthy get more influence over a game that those who flip burgers for a living? The cold hard economic reality of the real world is bad enough without shoehorning it into games too.
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Re: Op Ed |
Nov 25, 2012, 01:46 |
Creston |
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Hey, cliffski found something to bitch about again. It's been awhile.
Cliff, here's the difference. Pay attention now, because I want to make sure you can follow, okay? I'll talk REAL.SLOW.
The reason we have no problem with planets or NPCs being named after wealthy backers is because without those wealthy backers that game wouldn't exist.
When a publisher like EA sells me a game for 60 bucks, which got funded with their apparently endless billions of dollars (why the IRS doesn't burn that place to the ground is incomprehensible), and then they put advertising and product placement in it, it's pure greed. The game would easily have existed without it. Even so, if the placement is unobtrusive and doesn't hamper performance, most gamers really don't care that much. If the bad guys in GTA5 all drive a big SUV that says Tahoe on it, eh... Does anyone really care?
But if in Alan Wake, you constantly stumble across reminders to PICK UP MORE BATTERIES FOR YOUR VERIZON PHONE!!! then THAT is fucking annoying.
Now, seeing an NPC company in Eternity called "David's Azz Kickurz!" will probably be annoying too (and I doubt they'd allow such a thing), but I can console myself with the idea that without it, the game wouldn't have existed.
Do you see the difference now? Oh wait, who am I kidding, of course you don't. You bitch against anything and everything that's good for gaming.
Creston |
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