![]() This is a crowd dedicated to a very particular niche, and the presenter is selling them something that runs directly counter to their tastes. The crowd isn’t upset that this thing exists, they’re upset because this is not what they’re here for. ![]() Imagine a Star Trek convention where Paramount promises to unveil something new, and then it turns out to be a trailer for an upcoming Transformers movie. I don’t think it’s unreasonable for the people who spent hundreds of dollars to attend Blizzcon to assume that the show will be designed for them and not aimed at some other absentee group. ![]() Blizzard was marketing a mobile game to people largely uninterested in freemium mobile gaming. Both are groups of people who enjoy games, but they’re still two entirely different groups. There’s very little overlap between the people who’ve been playing StarCraft since 1998 and people who routinely dump money into Candy Crush Saga. Having said that, it’s important to recognize that we are talking about two very different groups of consumers here. This is ugly and it tends to derail the discussion. We need to use labels to talk about them if we’re going to have a rational conversation about this industry, but those same terms are often hijacked and used as a form of community gatekeeping. We all recognize that hardcore and casual gamers are different groups of people with different playing habits and spending patterns. The problem is that we don’t have more neutral terms for these groups. I dislike the notion that one particular style of play makes you more of a gamer than another, or that people that play certain games don’t count as gamers. I’m wary of terms like “hardcore” and “casual” because they’re loaded terms that tend to start fights. That same week, Bob Chipman gave his take on it where he posed the perfectly reasonable question, “Why get mad about this?” Bob gave his take on where he thought the ire was coming from, so I thought I’d do the same. If you missed the story or need a refresher on the details, Russ Pitts can bring you up to speed. The big news last week was the controversy surrounding Blizzard Entertainment after they showcased a free-to-play mobile game as the headlining title at their convention.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |