meisdavidp
All your belief cannot absolve your sin.
Hi. I'm fairly new to these forums, the CIC and basically WC in general. The last thing I want to do is offend anyone. If I post this or anything else in the wrong place, please let me know or move my post (and let me know what I did wrong). Also, as I am fairly new to these forums, please bare with my ignorance. If I say something that anyone takes offense to, please let me know so I can try not to let it happen again. I'm here in hopes of becoming a friendly participant in intellegent discussion about Wing Commander (or any other relevant topics that I feel the interest in discussing).
Ok, now that's out of the way.
My point in writing this is to put forward my thoughts on games like Privateer II and Descent: Freespace; as well as movies such as Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. Please keep an open mind.
I'm writing more about the politics of sales rather than the quality of the afforementioned titles. I've seen a lot of negative opinions about all of the above (with the exception of Freespace, which is in a league all its own) which made me curious about what might irk people so much. The more I delved into this the more I realized how much fun I could have with this. The titles I named above have essentially one thing in common: They have nothing to do with their namesakes. Taken as sequels they all fail before they begin. Normally I would wash my hands of them and not write commentary. The part that interested me was that Privateer II also recieved a good deal of fantastic reviews. Freespace became a breakout hit spawning expansions and eventually a sequel of it's own. The Freespace II community is a thriving hotspot for modding and enhancing thanks to the release of the source.
The way I see it, the fans determine the sucess in a way that may infact kill games more than help them.
At this point, I would like to ask all reading this to clear any prejudices against Origin, EA, Chris Roberts, Volition, Interplay, Square-Enix and any other names that come to mind. Now that your minds are clear, please take your shoes off. We'll be wearing theirs for a bit.
POV1:
You are a designer in gaming giant. The company is making terrific advances technologically. You are ready to release a game to raise the bar. You design your magnum opus. Something fresh and sparkly. You are thrilled. Little do you know how doomed you are. Or perhaps you do, but for the purpose of this example, imagine you don't and are completely enthuised to have the opportunity to make a NEW game. Now imagine finding out your game is flawed. The company was built on a series; a franchise that has nothing to do with your game. You are being told that if you want the game to sell it needs to connect to that series or no one will buy it simply because it isn't a KNOWN idea. That or your dream dies. You go home and weep.
You now find yourself having to make a choice that will make people unhappy no matter what you do.
YOU CAN:
Make the game exactly as you planned and tack on minimal connections to the required series... or not in some cases (Priv II, Freespace I, Final Fantasy: SW, Final Fantasy XI)
PROS:
Fans will buy it simply because it is expected to be familiar.
CONS:
Fans bring a new set of requirements to the table.
-The game now must have enough of the material from the old series to satisfy them as well as being good enough to stand on its own against modern things
New gamers may be scared of by the fact that your game is a sequel.
-Sequels often mean "don't play me if you don't know the back story."
OR
The game will not be made and fans will blame you for causing the failure of a game you may not have ever intended.
This is where these games either shine or rust. It all comes down to the balance between pleasing the fans and making the game attractive to newcomers.
Now that you are all back in your own shoes, I want you to consider something. Freespace succeeded and Privateer II failed. Does anyone have any thoughts as to why?
I'd love to hear other sides of this. If I'm mistaken in my opinions, please help me to see things correctly.
Ok, now that's out of the way.
My point in writing this is to put forward my thoughts on games like Privateer II and Descent: Freespace; as well as movies such as Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. Please keep an open mind.
I'm writing more about the politics of sales rather than the quality of the afforementioned titles. I've seen a lot of negative opinions about all of the above (with the exception of Freespace, which is in a league all its own) which made me curious about what might irk people so much. The more I delved into this the more I realized how much fun I could have with this. The titles I named above have essentially one thing in common: They have nothing to do with their namesakes. Taken as sequels they all fail before they begin. Normally I would wash my hands of them and not write commentary. The part that interested me was that Privateer II also recieved a good deal of fantastic reviews. Freespace became a breakout hit spawning expansions and eventually a sequel of it's own. The Freespace II community is a thriving hotspot for modding and enhancing thanks to the release of the source.
The way I see it, the fans determine the sucess in a way that may infact kill games more than help them.
At this point, I would like to ask all reading this to clear any prejudices against Origin, EA, Chris Roberts, Volition, Interplay, Square-Enix and any other names that come to mind. Now that your minds are clear, please take your shoes off. We'll be wearing theirs for a bit.
POV1:
You are a designer in gaming giant. The company is making terrific advances technologically. You are ready to release a game to raise the bar. You design your magnum opus. Something fresh and sparkly. You are thrilled. Little do you know how doomed you are. Or perhaps you do, but for the purpose of this example, imagine you don't and are completely enthuised to have the opportunity to make a NEW game. Now imagine finding out your game is flawed. The company was built on a series; a franchise that has nothing to do with your game. You are being told that if you want the game to sell it needs to connect to that series or no one will buy it simply because it isn't a KNOWN idea. That or your dream dies. You go home and weep.
You now find yourself having to make a choice that will make people unhappy no matter what you do.
YOU CAN:
Make the game exactly as you planned and tack on minimal connections to the required series... or not in some cases (Priv II, Freespace I, Final Fantasy: SW, Final Fantasy XI)
PROS:
Fans will buy it simply because it is expected to be familiar.
CONS:
Fans bring a new set of requirements to the table.
-The game now must have enough of the material from the old series to satisfy them as well as being good enough to stand on its own against modern things
New gamers may be scared of by the fact that your game is a sequel.
-Sequels often mean "don't play me if you don't know the back story."
OR
The game will not be made and fans will blame you for causing the failure of a game you may not have ever intended.
This is where these games either shine or rust. It all comes down to the balance between pleasing the fans and making the game attractive to newcomers.
Now that you are all back in your own shoes, I want you to consider something. Freespace succeeded and Privateer II failed. Does anyone have any thoughts as to why?
I'd love to hear other sides of this. If I'm mistaken in my opinions, please help me to see things correctly.