evrett37
Prince
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2008
- Messages
- 346
I saw a blog post that explained the relationship between players and developers very well. The article is about Activision-Blizzard and wow but its the same problem we have with 2k/Firaxis
http://dechionsplace.wordpress.com/2010/07/09/blizzard-likes-farmville-too-bad-we-are-the-sheep/
Businesses make their money by keeping their customers happy.
What a lot of people don’t realize (or choose to forget) is that the player is not the customer.
The players of Blizzard games (or any company’s games for that matter) are no more the customer than the sheep are the shepherds customer.
They are the resource, the source of the profit.
You, me, my kids, everyone that plays the game are just part of Blizzards vast herd of sheep.
Like the sheep, players need to be fed and maintained just enough shiny new things to keep us nice and docile so that we are still around, still making wool (or paying $15 a month as the case might be).
The stockholders of the company are the real customers.
When you are wondering why in the hell they come up with ideas remember a lot depends on your point of view.
Just as a Shepard would gladly feed a few sheep to the wolves if it ment getting thousands more in return, so Blizzard has no problem losing a few of its long term customers in exchange for a whole lot of new ones.
I feel this is exactly how 2k-Firaxis has treated the longtime fans of Civ. We are here to be fed, maintained and exploited as a resource. They are not interested in our high bar threshold so much as our low and even then I'm guesing they are willing to cull some of the herd if it serves their plans. The relationship is completely one sided and there is no better evidence o this than the lack of communication from the developer. They dont send us a communicator - they send us a marketing advertiser who distributes information in"exclusive" blurbs. It hasnt always been this way. The 2k marketing reps are a sign of the illness, if you will, that has come to the body of civ's design. A change in the paradigm from games for gamers to games for mass appeal and profit.
One of the mods wrote that this forum is here to support the game we love. Sometimes, if you truly love something, you have to kick it out the door and let it go clean itself up. Tough love is also a kind of love and if we buy Civ 5 we are supporting the unhealthy relationship, disfunctional communication style and greedy, quantity over quality plan for the future. Its selfish to say we need the game so much that we will allow this toxic posion to blossom in its governance.
If you love Civ - dont buy Civ 5
http://dechionsplace.wordpress.com/2010/07/09/blizzard-likes-farmville-too-bad-we-are-the-sheep/
Businesses make their money by keeping their customers happy.
What a lot of people don’t realize (or choose to forget) is that the player is not the customer.
The players of Blizzard games (or any company’s games for that matter) are no more the customer than the sheep are the shepherds customer.
They are the resource, the source of the profit.
You, me, my kids, everyone that plays the game are just part of Blizzards vast herd of sheep.
Like the sheep, players need to be fed and maintained just enough shiny new things to keep us nice and docile so that we are still around, still making wool (or paying $15 a month as the case might be).
The stockholders of the company are the real customers.
When you are wondering why in the hell they come up with ideas remember a lot depends on your point of view.
Just as a Shepard would gladly feed a few sheep to the wolves if it ment getting thousands more in return, so Blizzard has no problem losing a few of its long term customers in exchange for a whole lot of new ones.
I feel this is exactly how 2k-Firaxis has treated the longtime fans of Civ. We are here to be fed, maintained and exploited as a resource. They are not interested in our high bar threshold so much as our low and even then I'm guesing they are willing to cull some of the herd if it serves their plans. The relationship is completely one sided and there is no better evidence o this than the lack of communication from the developer. They dont send us a communicator - they send us a marketing advertiser who distributes information in"exclusive" blurbs. It hasnt always been this way. The 2k marketing reps are a sign of the illness, if you will, that has come to the body of civ's design. A change in the paradigm from games for gamers to games for mass appeal and profit.
One of the mods wrote that this forum is here to support the game we love. Sometimes, if you truly love something, you have to kick it out the door and let it go clean itself up. Tough love is also a kind of love and if we buy Civ 5 we are supporting the unhealthy relationship, disfunctional communication style and greedy, quantity over quality plan for the future. Its selfish to say we need the game so much that we will allow this toxic posion to blossom in its governance.
If you love Civ - dont buy Civ 5