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This only gave grief

3 (6.1%)

Grakelin is not stupid

6 (12.2%)

Are you happier now?

1 (2%)

------ Haiku, the encore -----

17 (34.7%)

Disagreeing, Fine

0 (0%)

Why you make a fuzz 'bout it?

3 (6.1%)

Lets just be happy

19 (38.8%)

Total Members Voted: 48

[Sean Mirrsen]

I'd prefer a DF-like MMO. Kinda like Haven&Hearth, but with better construction options, more focus on cooperation and less focus on grinding.

[Ioric Kittencuddler]

Get me 12 !!!Sock!!!s 

[Cajoes]

Ah, the dumbing down of game. Not sure what to say on that. When I was but a toddler I played games like CnC and Z, Z being the notorious of the two because I could not even complete the first level.

Fast forward to Dawn of War: Winter assault. Three star general on the online community with a fondness for the IG underdog. I decide to give Z another spin.

Aced the first level, and only got stuck on the 18th one, (out of 20)

So.. are games getting dumber, or am I just growing smrter?

[The Architect]

Could be an age thing.

A lot of old games weren't hard in a good way (like Red Alert), they were hard in a bad way (like finicky controls and cheating AI). Goldan Axe, anyone? It was great on 2-player, but just stupidly hard by yourself due to finicky controls.

[Ioric Kittencuddler]

I would say it's a mixture of both  Some of the annoyances of old games were design decisions to make things more interesting.  Like the radar minimap in C&C only appearing when you actually had a working radar.  Of course we were also younger and dumber when those games were new, and we hadn't played them and the tons of other games since before.  But games these days have become easier, if for no other reason than the fact that they just require less thinking.  Mandatory tutorials and floating arrows or something similar telling you exactly where to go are quite common now days even in games where they don't make any sense within the context.  Not only that but they've gotten far longer and more involved.  Look at the progress from Fallout 1 to 2 to "3" or the Elder Scrolls series for some perfect examples.  Games are being targeted at a less thinking audience, that I think is clear.

[Sean Mirrsen]

Thankfully, that only really applies to the mainstream game developers. It isn't always true even in their case though. Some games require a lot of thinking - in the "more thoughts per second" meaning, rather than "more details per thought".

[Ioric Kittencuddler]

Good point.  Before someone comes in here with some diatribe about how I'm a lunatic gaming Luddite who hates all things new for being new again I should point out that I was specifically talking about mainstream games and mostly agree with Sean's statement..

[The Architect]

Haha. Don't you just love the need for disclaimers to avoid fiascos like that?

yes, it's sarcasm.*

*case in point

[Soulwynd]

......seems developers now have no choice but to pour tons of money into servers for MMO's 

People still like single player games and they don't always have internet access when they want to play a single player game.

I believe they should invest in game quality and decent online content. A solid multiplayer mode can guarantee a lot of sales from people who full-demoed. Free downloadable content for people who register in their site should also boost it.

They shouldn't treat actual customers as crap, they should try to please them.

[Micro102]

....since their games are going to be cracked anyway, why not just get rid of anything that might make them hard to crack and put that extra code to good use?

[Cthulhu]

No matter what I do, someone's going to rob my inner-city quickie-mart.  I should just leave the money on the counter and get rid of the cameras.

Okay, they're not the same, but the premise is.  People are putting their time and money into something, you can't expect them to just leave it unprotected, regardless of how ineffective the protection is.

Part of me hopes they figure out an uncrackable DRM, just to stick it to the Robin Hood pirates, but part of me doesn't, because I'm one of the maniacal cutlass-waving pirates and that would stick it to me too.

[JoshuaFH]

Do you think though, that if an uncrackable DRM were invented, and it wasn't invasive or aggravating, then the videogame market might seriously change?

Like, with people now forced to buy games, that videogames would then decrease in price since more people are buying them?

Also, I have a question for anyone that might be knowledgeable in the topic: What purpose does region coding serve?

[Micro102]

No matter what I do, someone's going to rob my inner-city quickie-mart.  I should just leave the money on the counter and get rid of the cameras.

Okay, they're not the same, but the premise is.  People are putting their time and money into something, you can't expect them to just leave it unprotected, regardless of how ineffective the protection is.

Part of me hopes they figure out an uncrackable DRM, just to stick it to the Robin Hood pirates, but part of me doesn't, because I'm one of the maniacal cutlass-waving pirates and that would stick it to me too.

I don't think there is such a thing as an uncrackable DRM, and many people buy games after pirating them to see if they actually like them or not, so why not use that second factor to boost sales instead of using it to prevent something that is going to happen anyway?

[Ioric Kittencuddler]

No matter what I do, someone's going to rob my inner-city quickie-mart.  I should just leave the money on the counter and get rid of the cameras.

Okay, they're not the same, but the premise is.  People are putting their time and money into something, you can't expect them to just leave it unprotected, regardless of how ineffective the protection is.

Part of me hopes they figure out an uncrackable DRM, just to stick it to the Robin Hood pirates, but part of me doesn't, because I'm one of the maniacal cutlass-waving pirates and that would stick it to me too.

Great, you're not even selfish, just spiteful.

[Draco18s]

Like, with people now forced to buy games, that videogames would then decrease in price since more people are buying them?

What?  No!  If you find yourself with unstealable goods you're not going to drop the price on them, you'll leave it the same: "more" people will pay that price now that they can't get it any other way.

As a side note: you never spend more on security than half the value of the object being secured (any more would simply be cost inefficient).  So yes, it is possible to have "unhackable" DRM...if you're willing to spend an infinite amount of resources.