A Socratic View on Gamedevelopment

[MenschMaschine]

If you do not know Socrates, look him up before you freak out and/or feel insulted or attacked.
None of that is intended  :-)

With that out of the way,
I fondly remember the days when you heard about a new game, in a game magazine made of paper
at most a month or two in advance of its release.

Good Times. Easy Times for gamers.

Now there are how many? Let's just say... 7 entirely different newsplatforms with millions of readers,
partici-pants each, rumourizing around, gullible and easily impressed.

It certainly helps small studios getting the word around about something they make.
And it quenches the today's gamers thirst for immediate satisfaction, perceived importance,
and at times even self-entitlement.

A Trend, in my personal view, that arose from the Developers telling the gamers that they matter,
from the very beginning of the planning stages of a game.
Combined with the "early access"-systems that are now in place, Developers kinda shot themselves
into their own foot.

These days, announcing a game easily results in thousands and thousands of posts, tweets, comments.
Small Developers usually do not have the manpower to read, much less process all those suggestions,
wishes, thoughts.

And yet, simply the action of posting often enough makes the gamers -think- that what they write
will be read and thought about, maybe even replied to or implemented into the new shiny gem that in their
mind will (again) be the best game for all time.

Nowadays, Developers of games have a problem. They have ONE vision, 1 dream, A plan.
And millions of gamers who all have their own visions, dreams, plans.
Obviously, Developers want to make games that appeal to many people, so they can sell many copies
of their game. (there -are- other reasons too of course, but... let's be honest)

That can become an act of balance, to get the vision right, coherent and true without alienating or
even losing too many future customers. But then again, gamers these days have a short-lived memory.
They may complain and whine and even file lawsuits, but a few weeks, or even days into the future,
the next buzz, hype, promise is already there, nagging, nagging for their attention.

How do gamers today keep afloat in the ocean of perceived great games, without drowning, losing their
integrity, wasting time and money and more importantly, commitment to The Next Big Thing?

How do Developers cope with their brainchildren being questioned, poked, prodded from all sides
without losing their way, -their- integrity, fans and customers?

Sometimes, i wish i would develop games. SO many ideas...
Sometimes, i am glad that i don't. SO many traps...

[Lurler]

I moved that go general discussions, I hope you don't mind

[loudent]

How do gamers today keep afloat in the ocean of perceived great games, without drowning, losing their
integrity, wasting time and money and more importantly, commitment to The Next Big Thing?

Well, I've certainly wasted money before but mostly I keep "afloat" by sticking to devs with proven track records, games that have strong modding support and (*this is key!*) "Let's Play/Try" videos on youtube. Usually the you tubers get an advance copy so you have ample chance to see how the games plays before you buy

That's how I originally discovered Void Expanse. I had no idea it existed until someone did a small series on it

[Lurler]

That's what I do as well. I would watch at least a couple of hours of let's play before committing and purchasing a game. Well, or as you said - sticking with devs that I believe would produce a good product.