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Game article up :)

polycounter lvl 17
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Xaltar polycounter lvl 17
Here is the link to my Article
as promised.

Feel free to comment here if you like. These are my views and my interpretation of the views expressed by some of you in the threads I have made on various forums. I am not a writer, I just wrote this to help out a site I have been a member of for a long time. Its an interest piece btw.

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  • Rick Stirling
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    Rick Stirling polycounter lvl 18
    I feel you are confusing 'PC games' and 'The Gaming Industry'. You use both terms as though they meant the same thing.
  • Xaltar
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    Xaltar polycounter lvl 17
    Look at the title.
  • Daz
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    Daz polycounter lvl 18
    I find it *really* incoherent to be really honest. I think it's rambling and as a piece of writing it completely lacks structure. I still don't really understand your point. What *is* your fundamental point? You'd like to see more story driven games with ugly chicks in them?

    You end the whole thing by reaching the conclusion that the next wave of releases will utterly prove your original statement wrong. But *WHAT* original statement?!
  • Ferg
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    Ferg polycounter lvl 17
    "IS PC GAMING GETTING MORE AND MORE BORING?"

    I think that pretty much sums up the whole article.

    edit: and you're undemployed with a family to support? Wtf are you doing writing brainless opeds about gaming? Shouldn't you be out getting a fcking job?
  • Xaltar
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    Xaltar polycounter lvl 17
    Thanks for the crit, I will work on making things more clear if I do another article. This is my first so I know I made a lot of mistakes. I wrote it in the same way I write PC hardware reviews.

    Basically I would like to see more effort go into the feel of games, in old games developers had to relly on the feel of a game to make it sell because the eyecandy just wasn't there. It seems to me that certain aspects have been neglected and replaced with eyecandy.
  • animatr
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    animatr polycounter lvl 18
    that's a good point that I think most people will agree with, including developers. Which is why I think, if you look at the games people are really interested in, that are coming out in the next year, they are games that have the whole package.

    I agree that it was a trend for a while, to just put in as much visuals as possible, and it will continue, but those gmaes arent generally the ones that do that well anyway.
  • Rick Stirling
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    Rick Stirling polycounter lvl 18
    Loads of effort goes into games, its just that where PC games are concerned then only 3 things that sell are FPS, RTS, and World Of Warcraft. PC game makers are just not taking those risks for big titles, but for smaller titles there are literally thousands of superb games out - just take one look at Manifesto Games.

    The Gaming industry as a whole releases some truly fantastic original games.
  • Justin Meisse
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    Justin Meisse polycounter lvl 18
    when I was a youngster, it seemed like every game that came out was a sidscroller where the objective was to save your girlfriend. To me, things just seem to keep getting better and better.
  • Xaltar
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    Xaltar polycounter lvl 17
    Some pretty cool stuff at Manifesto Games. Thanks for the tip, I have been out of the loop for quite a while and pretty much have only bought the "hype" games. I will have a look at some smaller titles. Still though, most casual gamers will only ever see the big releases and its those that my article mainly pertained to.

    Hey Justin_Meisse - Don't forget commander Keen and Jill of the jungle :lol:
    Man, 16 colour graphics.... those were the days *makes gaging sound*
  • noritsune
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    noritsune polycounter lvl 17
    Quoting the article:
    [ QUOTE ]
    I will say that I don’t feel the games industry is truly stagnant, its just not producing many games that I personally enjoy.

    [/ QUOTE ]

    To me, this is sadly the point of the whole piece. Your article is a complaint that you, a player, don't like the stories featured in comtemporary titles. As a reader, I don't take much away from a statement like that. I havent read any objective discussions of good stories vs. bad, or evaluations of the importance of story on a whole, let alone read suggestions for future directions for story-driven games to take.

    Early in college I received a very poor grade on a contemporary art essay where my thesis was essentially that I thought the artwork was ugly. I learned the hard way that your personal opinions, and most importantly statements based on TASTE, are neither good grounds for making value-judgments nor interesting to read.
  • Xaltar
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    Xaltar polycounter lvl 17
    Thank God I don't have to worry about being graded on it :lol:
  • motives
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    motives polycounter lvl 18
    Im just uhm.. What are these awsomeliciously good story driven games you are refering to as better?

    To me right now it kinda sounds like grandpa going "bah son, it was a loooooot better in the past"

    Maybe you should throw in some examples to back up your arguments?
  • ebagg
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    ebagg polycounter lvl 17
    Here's my editorial on your editorial;

    Your way of research by trolling forums is asinine. Your conclusion "the state of games is in the eye of the gamer" is so blatantly obvious you didn't even need to waste our time with your "research" topic before. And to repeat my point from your last topic, you talk about story in games specifically, it's not stagnant, you've just been playing the wrong games! Furthermore, what expertise do you have on the state of PC games? You say in your first paragraph you've barely played any, until recently since you've been unemployed!

    You need to learn how to properly write a thesis, how to conduct proper research and need to gain some credibility before you make up a generalization based on a few games you've played.
  • TomDunne
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    TomDunne polycounter lvl 18
    Xaltar, your article is one of the most ill-informed and unprofessional contributions to video game discussion I have ever read. I'll dissect it in no particular order.

    You offer us your premise as a question (is gaming boring?) but deliver us an op-ed piece (gaming is boring!), intended not to explore a topic but to reinforce your previously held opinion. If you want to write a slant, write a slant and do away with the pretense.

    You create an antagonistic thread here on Polycount in order to feign having researched the article, but as far as I can tell, you dismissed every dissenting opinion in that thread. Instead, the attitude you swaggered in here with is the one you've regurgitated into this article, queasy bits of digital bile still dribbling from your virtual chin. Hideously bad journalism any way it's viewed.

    The article is peppered with inconsequential personal trivia that isn't even intellectually consistant. You're an unemployed working man? My first thought is what the fuck?, closely followed by the complimentary who gives a fuck? Your position that irony is what makes life interesting is a delightful slice of your personal philosophy, but it has nothing to do with video games until you draw a convincing correlation. You didn't draw any correlation. Where's the irony that makes Tetris capitvating?

    Your supporting statements tumble between the ambiguously uncertain and the thoroughly unsupported. To wit:

    - "Creativity is taking a back seat to profit..." You didn't illustrate (a) how that is so or (b) how this is inherently a problem. All video games are designed with profit in mind; creativity that doesn't sell does little good.

    - "The majority of the casual gamers tended to agree..." If you have statistical evidence to call something a majority, cite it.

    - "To quote something I agree with 'The stagnation of the game industry is dependant on the point of view of the individual'." I've also got a quote that I would like to share: "A quote that you don't bother to attribute is a waste of my time." Mind you, I'm quoting myself on that one. If you won't bother with context, don't bother with the quotation marks.

    Finally, your closing point is wildly unsubstantiated. Games are dull now, but we're just around the corner from all sorts of gaming goodness? And you base this insight of yours on what? You didn't offer a hint, not the slightest clue, as to what leads you to believe this. An article that spent eight paragraphs lamenting the state of modern video gaming is swept under the rug with a zephyr of optimism, and your readers haven't the faintest idea why you think this is so. Barring an offhand reference to Windows and DirectX, both technical components and already dismissed as unrelated to the "feel" of games, there's nothing you mention as even peripheral to this forthcoming upsurge in gaming quality.

    If you're going to write again, do it better - the standard for legitimate journalism is higher than it is for web forum debate. And find yourself an editor that knows where to put apostrophes.
  • Justin Meisse
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    Justin Meisse polycounter lvl 18
    Just found your "research" thread, why do all that "research" if you aren't going to use any of it?

    On the other hand, Vermilion, I love your review, an enjoyable read.
  • Mark Dygert
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    How can you be a working guy that supports his family but not have a job? There are a few ways I can think of to support your family and not have a job, most of them are not favorable or you are actually leaching off your family instead of supporting them. The way you worded it, your family is supporting you while you diddle away the days on the computer. Either way you're not coming off as someone I would listen to. Nice opener =/

    You say you're out of the loop and not really in the know about games. Wow no wonder you have no idea about up coming games or some of the games that don't make into mass media circulation. You would think that after you do research and these things are pointed out you might start to change your mind. But you seem to grow more entrenched? Open minded journalism FTW! To sum up your article "I'm bitter and too lazy to research games I might be interested in, listen to me rant for the next 3 pages"

    I think you are light on backing up your stated research which actually comes off as opinion not fact or even the majority of people polled. I would like to actually see all the other threads and read the disscussions if there where actually more than just the one here at Polycount, which your wording leads me to belive there was only one post in one forum but you're leading the reader to think there where more. But again, we can't check your facts since no links where provided.

    In short, you're out of the loop and writing an article about a subject you desperatly need to be in the loop to talk about.

    EDIT: Just read verms post, and I totally, 100% agree.
  • rooster
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    rooster mod
    yes the whole thing was worth it just to read your review verm laugh.gif
  • Jon Jones
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    Jon Jones polycounter lvl 18
    If you're going to write an article that you want other people to read and really benefit from it in some way, try reading an article that actually does that and try to understand why it works.

    It's obvious that this whole article was written by you, about you, for you, and you released it hoping someone would like it. All because you can't be bothered to consider what your target audience wants to hear. Which is pretty ironic considering you're accusing game developers of the same thing. smile.gif
  • ebagg
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    ebagg polycounter lvl 17
    I love this thread for Verm's fuckin beautiful review....and for seeing Jon Jones's Polycount babes kissing avatar laugh.gif!!
  • hawken
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    hawken polycounter lvl 19
    my brain went numb reading that article.

    nice avatar though
  • aesir
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    aesir polycounter lvl 18
  • Kevin Johnstone
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    Kevin Johnstone polycounter lvl 19
    Verm: Go go go! smile.gif

    r.
  • Xaltar
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    Xaltar polycounter lvl 17
    I was sure I would get this kind of response but I did promise to post a link to it and I keep my word.
  • Cubik
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    Cubik polycounter lvl 18
    You were sure that you would get a insightful and thought through review that makes good points about quoting and obvious statements?
  • danr
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    danr interpolator
    that reads like an answer to the exam question "IS PC GAMING GETTING MORE AND MORE BORING? : DISCUSS" when you've been given half an hour to write it and are making it up on the fly. Since you claim it's a researched piece you're at least 5000 words short of tackling the question properly (outlined by verm), but since you have the writing style of a pig with a wine bottle stuck in its anus i'm kinda glad you kept it short ...

    like daz i don't get the point you're trying to make, but i also don't get the point of the article in the first place ... short of padding for the site you're trying to help, or inciting moaning replies like this from people that fancy a bit of a rant before they start their working day ...
  • Frank
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    Frank polycounter lvl 18
    [ QUOTE ]
    I have been out of the loop for quite a while and pretty much have only bought the "hype" games. I will have a look at some smaller titles.

    [/ QUOTE ]
    Then you have nothing to say on this topic. Good day.

    Frank the Avenger
  • sonic
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    sonic polycounter lvl 18
  • Ninjas
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    Ninjas polycounter lvl 18
    [ QUOTE ]
    I was sure I would get this kind of response but I did promise to post a link to it and I keep my word.

    [/ QUOTE ]

    Well, it is not a good article, but it's nice that you at least understood it was bad before you posted the link.

    The reaction is based on the fact that many people here have completed hard course work in college or are avid readers and would have no trouble at all writing a better article than this. Off the top of my head, this is what the article needs:

    Actual quotations from forum members

    Forum poll statistics, preferably from more and less "hardcore" game communities, ideally from a lot of them.

    Statistics on sequels and movie based game sales compared with critical success titles like Ico.

    Historical analysis of dominant game genres.

    Analysis of the number of movie based games and game sequals over time. Combined with...

    Number of titles released for each console in every console generation.

    Have the recent quotes from EA about developing new IPs.

    Having those would have made it worth reading. I also would have liked to see a cross analysis comparing the movie and game industries in terms of mainstream and obscure titles.

    If I wasn't busting my ass making games with new and groundbreaking gameplay I would write the damn thing for you! The paper I just outlined sounds like it's worth reading.
  • Downsizer
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    Downsizer polycounter lvl 18
    It reads like a middle school book report. It's full of grammatical errors. It's a giant complaint list, with no positive side.

    And just to join in. Get off your ass and support your family instead of fucking around writing articles that no one gives 2 shits about. It's seriously funny to see how people with industry experience have the complete opposite opinion. You are just mad because you miss your childhood nostalgia. Things are just different, not worse. Keep playing old games, no one is holding a gun to your head to play these lack luster titles.

    Edit* Verm is my hero.
  • Daz
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    Daz polycounter lvl 18
    [ QUOTE ]
    And just to join in. Get off your ass and support your family instead of fucking around writing articles that no one gives 2 shits about.

    [/ QUOTE ]

    Jesus. So the guy wrote a crappy article. Is it really necessary to get quite so personal?
  • Mark Dygert
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    Agnst, gotta take it out on someone =/
  • ebagg
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    ebagg polycounter lvl 17
    Downsizer, simmer down now. Although I also have to call this Xaltar guy's character into question. Why would anyone with half a brain cell first troll forums, then when most people respond negatively post "hey folks I just posted this to start a debate, thanks for being my unknowing research subjects!" THEN write a bad article about your opinion, and post it back on those forums you just harassed, and post that you knew we'd respond negatively?! My mind just gets dizzy with why you'd make an ass of yourself like that, or how this sort of mindset would translate to how you act in real life. What it definitely shows is that you have way too much time on your hands, please do us a favor, get employed again so you don't have such spare time.
  • Xaltar
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    Xaltar polycounter lvl 17
    How I spend my time is of no concern to ANY of you and if you felt my article was bad, thats your opinion and you are entitled to it. As for your personal insults, I will not lower myself to the extent of taking offence to blatant egotistical ramblings. IF my "trolling" caused offence I appologize for that, it was not my intention. I am frankly amazed at the rediculous behaviour I have witnessed in this thread. Rather than comment on the meaning of my article, you meticulously pick appart its composition and throw arround insults. It seems to me that I am not the one with too much time. Grow up and get a life. I will not demean myself further posting in this thread, you hated my article and my means of gathering opinions, that was all that needed to be said.
  • Ferg
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    Ferg polycounter lvl 17
    [ QUOTE ]
    Grow up and get a life.

    [/ QUOTE ]

    There we go. This thread is now complete.
  • bearkub
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    bearkub polycounter lvl 18
    OK, this has gotten waaaay too far out of hand. Time for a closure.
This discussion has been closed.