Charles et al, I'm going to try to put this across in the best way I can without coming off arrogant. Please excuse in advance any ego implied by this post.
I think you're absolutely right. In a lot of ways, the save game option is like the difficulty setting of the game. Nobody is saying that you need to play on a certain difficulty level, and it's up to you, the individual gamer, to make that distinction. The upshot of harder difficulty levels, aside from the pride in beating them, is that the skilled player usually gets a better reward. In the case of MOTA it's a higher score. However, there is nothing to separate the player who tackles expert mode without saving from the lucky guy who tackles expert and saves every two steps, restoring when necessary--and that, I think, is where the problem lies. I think anyone who tackles a game and masters it thoroughly hopes to be recognized for doing so. Beyond that, though, I think--especially in our market--that we can't generally make a game too difficult. One has to make an exception for Techno Shock and the enemies who shoot the player as soon as they see him, but in general the principle holds. Far too many of our games have set a very low difficulty bar, and I think it's resulted in some rather coddled gamers. When the first version of Monte was released--James North's version--he used true 2D movement. If your character jumped, and you pressed right arrow twice while in the air, you would make a short jump. If your character jumped, and you pressed right arrow six or seven times, your character jumped a lot further. (Side note: this is how most mainstream games of this style go, though you usually held the arrow key as you jumped). Additionally every jump in Monte came with a burst of elevation, which meant that trying to jump off a rope meant that one could hit one's head on the ceiling if the character was too close to it. I remember someone writing a post to the list at one point saying something to this effect. "James, I spent over an hour trying to figure out that rope puzzle you put into the game, and it was way too hard. You should take that out." Whether we're dealing with "rope puzzles," game saves, or difficulty settings, though, I think the concept is the same. Those of us who have had experience with mainstream games want something closer to what we're used to. On a more basic level, though, I think what's really needed is a general raising of the bar for everyone involved. We have to understand that a well crafted game shouldn't be beaten in a matter of hours right out of the proverbial box, and we have to be willing to struggle and work at a thing in order to be good at it. If we as gamers allow ourselves to be coddled by games that are too easy, we can't ever raise that bar. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Charles Rivard Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 10:48 PM To: Gamers Discussion list Subject: [Audyssey] the save game option If there is an option of a game that I never use, I certainly would not complain about it being there. That would make no sense. The key is that it is an option, not a demand that you must use it. It's up to each gamer as to whether he or she uses it. What could be unfair about that? --- Shepherds are the best beasts. --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
