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Are Games Lifelong Contracts?
Posted June 2nd, 2008 at 09:11 PM by S.R. Krol
How long should game designers/developers be indebted to their customers?
In the good ol’ days if you wanted clarification on some rule you had to send in a SASE and phrase your question in the form that would allow a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response. Sometimes you might call up the publisher or find out the designer’s phone number and call them direct. Then there was cornering someone at a con. But for the most part there was little in way of communication between designers and gamers. You bought the game, played it, and if something was broken you house ruled it.
Today the landscape has radically changed. The idea of asking a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question about a game is ludicrous. Now a gamer can communicate directly with designers and publishers through a variety of methods: email, forums, newsgroups, blogs, and of course all the old fashioned ways.
We expect to be able to communicate in all those ways. But should we really expect communication back?
Last week there was someone on the forum asking a question about Weird Worlds. This is a game that has been out for almost three years. The developers aren’t going to be checking the forum every single waking moment after three years. There will be a delay. And there was. But in the meantime the fan was getting a little upset because his question wasn’t answered right away.
We praise developers who are in the trenches, answering questions and taking suggestions, but is it fair to criticize the developer who leads from afar? Does our $40, $50, $60 purchase now mean that ten years from now the designer should still be discussing his game on a regular basis? What is the statute of limitations on that?
Really all I expect from a developer/designer is to deliver a playable game. Anything beyond that is icing on the cake. Obviously the guy who takes time to answer my email about his game scores points, but if there are ninety-nine other people every day doing the same thing, when is he ever going to work on his next game?
So, when we buy a game should we really feel that we’re buying lifetime support for it too?
In the good ol’ days if you wanted clarification on some rule you had to send in a SASE and phrase your question in the form that would allow a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response. Sometimes you might call up the publisher or find out the designer’s phone number and call them direct. Then there was cornering someone at a con. But for the most part there was little in way of communication between designers and gamers. You bought the game, played it, and if something was broken you house ruled it.
Today the landscape has radically changed. The idea of asking a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question about a game is ludicrous. Now a gamer can communicate directly with designers and publishers through a variety of methods: email, forums, newsgroups, blogs, and of course all the old fashioned ways.
We expect to be able to communicate in all those ways. But should we really expect communication back?
Last week there was someone on the forum asking a question about Weird Worlds. This is a game that has been out for almost three years. The developers aren’t going to be checking the forum every single waking moment after three years. There will be a delay. And there was. But in the meantime the fan was getting a little upset because his question wasn’t answered right away.
We praise developers who are in the trenches, answering questions and taking suggestions, but is it fair to criticize the developer who leads from afar? Does our $40, $50, $60 purchase now mean that ten years from now the designer should still be discussing his game on a regular basis? What is the statute of limitations on that?
Really all I expect from a developer/designer is to deliver a playable game. Anything beyond that is icing on the cake. Obviously the guy who takes time to answer my email about his game scores points, but if there are ninety-nine other people every day doing the same thing, when is he ever going to work on his next game?
So, when we buy a game should we really feel that we’re buying lifetime support for it too?
Total Comments 1
Comments
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Eddy SterckxHi,
It's perhaps no coincidence that I've observed a positive correlation between forum responsiveness and game bugginess. In other words : wargame developers who are responsive to their current and future customers are also not likely to release a bugfest. Therefore when I check-out a new game in it's forum and see a simple question go unanswered for days and days my gut reaction is to say uh-oh and get the hell out of there. Like they used to say : Quality shines through in everything you do Greetz, Eddy Sterckx |
| Posted June 5th, 2008 at 08:51 AM by |
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