Prez wrote on Nov 5, 2012, 13:44:
If nothing today has any value then why do you guys bother gaming? Jesus you guys sound like the decrepit old dudes that sit in McDonalds every morning drinking their free senior coffee and complaining how nothing is like it was 50 years ago and therefore everything sucks. Those rose-tinted glasses must be handed out for free at every corner given how much some people like to view everything through them. I played Quake and UT; I played Doom and Fallout 1 and 2. And I can unequivocally say that I'd rather play the modern games. Not everything is some phoned-in Call of Duty clone or a lifeless F2P game. After Fallout New Vegas I doubt Fallout 2 would ever recapture the magic; it was great in its day but now its time is past. The same goes for Deus Ex after I played Human Revolution. Despite you guys living in denial of it, many of these classic games have not aged very well. So many of them are old, tired, and archaic by modern gaming standards. I don't want to have my fond memories of the classics soiled by the realization that advancements in game design (the ones the old snobs slap their hands over their eyes an ears and refuse to acknowledge) have left them in the dust. I've tried re-playing several of the old greats that I bought from GOG and it wasn't pretty - not just the visuals, but the mechanics, the interfaces, and the severely limited gameplay that necessitated by the limited technology of the day robbed the experience of the magic it once had.

I used to think that left 2 options: either learn to appreciate what modern gaming has to offer (and despite the incessant bitching to the contrary from the old snobs there is a LOT that it offers) or just accept that gaming has changed and that this is no longer the hobby for you. But in the last several years I see that many people have chosen a third: keep buying games then complain constantly that they suck and belittle anyone who finds enjoyment in them. My rose-tinted glasses are retired. I'll play the games of today and not be ashamed of it just because a bunch of stodgy old grognards may think it proves I lack their finely-honed, sophisticated and oh-so-mature tastes.

I have no idea what precipitated the vehemence of that rant but anyway, I actually agree that old school PC games don't hold up well. The retro games I can still play and enjoy are mostly on the consoles, sprite based games in particular hold up fairly well. I think TIE Fighter is one of the only old school PC games that I still can play and enjoy simply because no game (even Freespace) has done the combination of gameplay elements better.

That said, there are many Mass Appeal concessions in modern games that are very frustrating as they often impact gameplay depth and complexity. So I totally get why some people miss the older games, warts and all because for all of their flaws compared to modern games they at least pushed and challenged you to think. I hate that it is suddenly market acceptable for games to be considerably dumbed down just so every moron out there can feel special. There were a lot of retro games I played where I just accepted that I didn't get the core concepts or wasn't up to the challenge and that was fine.

As throwback games like Demons/Darks Souls show, you can have difficulty and great design without hand holding. I'd rather have games that require you to work at them a bit than the michael bay masterpiece theater direction we've seen things go, where the player is barely involved beyond moving the set pieces forward.

...None of which pertains to F2P C&C at all I have to be honest, I just do not see EA doing F2P well. One look at how they proposed to F2Pize SWTOR and I've got similar dollar signs in my head. I'm not sure RTS games would lend themselves well to the concept either.

This comment was edited on Nov 5, 2012, 14:08.