Creston wrote on May 9, 2011, 15:44:

Graham wrote on May 9, 2011, 14:40:
I think we can both agree that online forums aren't really representative of the actual weight of game-purchasing consumers; we're a unique subset of the vocal minority; the actual popularity of social games (and the existence of several high volume sites dedicated to the pursuit of achievements) contradicts the conclusions you've drawn from your relatively small sample-size.

True. Otoh, developers see Farmville and go "OMG, 100 MILLION PEOPLE PLAY A GAME THAT TOOK 5 MINUTES TO MAKE MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY LETS SWITCH ALL OUR GUYS TO MAKE THE NEXT FARMVILLE OMG !!1!!!!!"

But those 100 million people likely rarely overlap with the people who have been buying their games before. I don't think anyone on blues plays Farmville (and if you do, DON'T FUCKING ADMIT IT!) and I know a grand total of two people in general who play it, and they're both the kind of people who would NEVER play a game like HL2 or something like that.

So for a developer of HL2 to basically go "Fuck yeah, we're gonna do social shit!" and to then expect that its fanbase is going to be happy with that, is extremely peculiar. They may very well make a lot more money than they were before once they switch, but otoh, it's not that hard to see why their fans are EXTREMELY unhappy about such a switch.

Creston

"It’s more that we think we have to work harder in the future, that entertainment is inherently increased in value by having it be social, by letting you play with your friends, by recognizing that you’re connected with other people."

It's just Facebook and Twitter Integration!!

Fuck yeah, we're gonna do social shit!