In my personal case, I probably wouldn’t be worth much to SE or any other game developer since I don’t have the technical skills to program games, and that’s an absolute pre-requisite to be a game designer (as far as I know). I'm a geek fond of technology and science but I don't think that makes me a coder. :) My skills are more along the lines of writing, communication and management. Maybe as producer or something that would work, but then again without prior experience and no technical knowledge? I doubt many would be interested, I also don’t know if I’d actually be able to pull it off. I do a bit of amateur game critique in my spare time though, and maybe that’s where I’d be the most useful to this industry, should I make it a job. But let’s not digress, that was just to answer your question.
What we do on forums is theoretical, imaginary design. Reality is a bit more complex than that. What we can do, as players, is voice our appreciation of various mechanics (feedback), and provide insights from one game to another. Sort of pollination, so to speak :p But it doesn’t mean much more than that. And you’re right, arguing is pointless. It’s just an emotional need, I guess, to reply when something just doesn’t seem right. :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ramzal
I said earlier that I'm fine either way with how this content goes. If they keep it so that you make an 8 man team and have to duty find the next 16, that's fine by me. If they change it, that's fine too. Just think of it as a challenge in of itself or a chance to improve on leadership skills. Coordinate with other groups--or if you have to, delegate what can be done. If you all fail and die a lot, that's fine. It's a learning process for everyone. Often in life, you'll be tasked to work with people you don't know. Maybe even people you don't like and sometimes people you -think- you won't like until you get to know them better. It's really no different here. If we could go through our lives being able to do every single task with the same group of people we know, where the development? Where's the variety?
I think that there will be a greater feeling of accomplishment to be matched up with random people and pull through. Sure you want to play with your entire FC, but really you'll still be able to. Just with seven of them in this case. And if things get too dull, switch up your roster a bit. Hey, you can even see a few tactics that other people use and they get to see yours. Try to think of it in a more positive light.
Well, I’ll say this. I totally agree with you, especially when considering real-life. You’ve got that right.
Which is why I think SE’s got it a bit backwards. Allowing people to pre-make 24-men groups should be paramount to releasing the 24-men content. It’s so obvious when you know how most players think that I can’t wrap my mind around the idea that SE thought this would go well.
As for accomplishment, challenge, and all that. You’re right in theory. But in practice, gamers don’t want a challenge forced on them because the game is lacking a feature that’s obvious and available in every other game of the same genre. For instance you could consider it a challenge to sort your inventory, but in practice most players just despise having to play inventory manager in a fantasy role-playing game…
So, on topic, while some would think it’s cool to try and kill bosses with a PUG—and you see that in other games, people recruiting for a raid around 8pm in a major city, it’s actually quite commonplace—many others would rather try it with their PA, because in their experience it’s what yields the best results. And by ‘best’, I mean "whatever makes them tick": you’ve got casual PA’s, hardcore competitive ones, some made of friends and friends of friends without external recruitment and no rules whatsoever besides "let’s play and have fun" (like mine), and so on. Everyone is entitled to its tastes.
Mixing these crowds together works in a virtual world, but not too closely; some need their static + vocal chat + grind/gear regulations and whatnot; others just wish to spend a nice moment with friends without being bothered getting the latest leet-gear (or worse, being forced to, or excluded for not having it). That’s where a tool such as a duty finder just doesn’t cut it (see: WoW’s LFR).
It’s a recipe for disaster actually, socially; it seems like forcing different minded individuals to play together in a game is the most assured way to bring about the worst in people. And I can understand why, from a cold sociological perspective, since at this point cooperation ceases to be a win-win situation: X bothers Y because they don’t have the same goal, each feels like the other is trolling and ruining the fun, because ‘fun’ is a subjective concept and they sure as hell don’t share the definition at that moment. Just read this thread, it’s quite obvious: "you allagan people will not let us play it the cool way" — "nah it’s you casual people who will hold us back and leech our performance" and so on. WoW’s LFR all over again. Certainly not the best raiding environment, regardless of one’s buttons.