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An open letter to Rockstar Games

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Re: An open letter to Rockstar Games

#12
post #5

'Loose' and 'lose' seems to be the new their/there/they're.

Wow, I do this all the time (and it really annoys me to no end when I notice). But I've never seen anyone else make the same mistake. I'm kind of happy to know I'm not the only one.

I notice people using "loose" when they mean "lose" probably twice a day on average, but I get unusually distracted by spelling mistakes. I don't think I've ever seen the reverse mistake.

Re: An open letter to Rockstar Games

#14
post #10

I was hoping Rockstar would do the opposite and wipe all of the servers once they were stable. While some players would be upset I think the majority of players would like to see the ones that got out in front by unfairly exploiting missions be pulled "back in the race". In fact I'd like to see them wipe the servers every 3 months or so and declare "winners" (player with the most $, clans with the most $, player with…

Because people have wildly ideas of fun than you do.

While many hardcore gamers might like the idea of complete wipe every three months (and is has been successfully done before, see ladder in Diablo 2), the hard truth they need to face is that 'hardcore' crowd is not a majority of the market, and hasn't been for a long, long time.

People like to think that average gamer is 20-something college guy, right? That's cute image, but completely wrong. Average gamer 30 years old. People who buy most games are 35. 45 percent of gamers are woman. There are more woman >18 playing games, than boys Frankly, even though I'm only 20 years old, I'm increasingly identifying with casual market than with hardcore-tru-gamerzzzz.

I find it hard these days to spend >10 hours on a single game.

I think most games have really ridiculously tuned difficulty curves with crazy spikes in places where it makes absolutely no sense.

I can think of three, maybe four games that I spent over 15 hours in last few years. That would be Diablo III, GTA V, Cookie Clicker (does that count?) and Super Hexagon.

And frankly, if Rockstar wiped Online servers after I (and many, many, many) more people put ~20 hours into it, as much as I love that game, I would quit and never look back. I just don't have patience to grind all day long anymore.

You also have to remember that you can purchase in-game-currency with micro transactions - paying fifteen bucks for GTA$ and then seeing it vanish next day because ladder season ended would be... frustrating, to say the least.

/I'm sorry if my rant is a little bit incoherent, but video-games and hardcore gamers demanding developers to cater to them are my pet-peeves./

[1]: http://www.theesa.com/facts/

Re: An open letter to Rockstar Games

#15
Author of the paste (and post) here:

Wow, didn't expect this to reach the top of HN! To answer some points raised:

Maybe I am taking a game a bit too seriously, but my friends and I have put a lot of time into GTA online, and had a load of fun. I just don't want RS to do something that could ruin that.

I agree that in the GTA world $500k isn't really 'rich', maybe the title was a little link baity, but my point remains, I truly believe that $500k would have a detrimental effect on the game.

If this never reaches rockstar, or they ignore it, I will simply have to exercise some self control and keep my bank balance > $500k at all times.

I too wouldn't actually be that averse to Rockstar wiping the servers clean, as long as I didn't have to play through the tutorial again :)

And finally - loose / lose - damn it, and I'm usually a stickler for grammar, my only excuse is that I wrote this pretty quick.

Thanks for all the feedback, and if any one on HN is from Rockstar or knows someone, I'd love to hear what they think about it.

Re: An open letter to Rockstar Games

#16
I think the author misses the point here. The cost of purchases in GTA Online adds up so quickly that $500,000 isn't actually that much in the greater scheme of things. It might get you an apartment or a cheap car, but once it's been spent, you need to earn more. Some of the cars in the game are over $500k as well. Seems like complaining for the sake of complaining without any real facts to back things up here.

Rockstar are doing it right in my opinion. It costs them nothing to give users fake $500,000 and it keeps the users happy and in the game, which means more users online which means the higher the chance of Rockstar making real money off of your presence.

Re: An open letter to Rockstar Games

#17

Author of the paste (and post) here: Wow, didn't expect this to reach the top of HN! To answer some points raised: Maybe I am taking a game a bit too seriously, but my friends and I have put a lot of time into GTA online, and had a load of fun. I just don't want RS to do something that could ruin that. I agree that in the GTA world $500k isn't really 'rich', maybe the title was a little link baity, but my point remai…

*quickly

hey - you asked for it by claiming grammar stickler status :)

Re: An open letter to Rockstar Games

#18
post #14
post #10

I was hoping Rockstar would do the opposite and wipe all of the servers once they were stable. While some players would be upset I think the majority of players would like to see the ones that got out in front by unfairly exploiting missions be pulled "back in the race". In fact I'd like to see them wipe the servers every 3 months or so and declare "winners" (player with the most $, clans with the most $, player with…

Because people have wildly ideas of fun than you do. While many hardcore gamers might like the idea of complete wipe every three months (and is has been successfully done before, see ladder in Diablo 2), the hard truth they need to face is that 'hardcore' crowd is not a majority of the market, and hasn't been for a long, long time. People like to think that average gamer is 20-something college guy, right? That's cut…

I agree, but a quick point about those statistics I see trotted out repeatedly: they include casual games. The people playing Bejeweled clones or hidden image games are not the same people playing Grand Theft Auto.

Re: An open letter to Rockstar Games

#19

Author of the paste (and post) here: Wow, didn't expect this to reach the top of HN! To answer some points raised: Maybe I am taking a game a bit too seriously, but my friends and I have put a lot of time into GTA online, and had a load of fun. I just don't want RS to do something that could ruin that. I agree that in the GTA world $500k isn't really 'rich', maybe the title was a little link baity, but my point remai…

An alternative would be for you to blow that $500k on some expensive cars, and then drive them all into the ocean.

Re: An open letter to Rockstar Games

#20
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because people have wildly ideas of fun than you do. While many hardcore gamers might like the idea of complete wipe every three months (and is has been successfully done before, see ladder in Diablo 2), the hard truth they need to face is that 'hardcore' crowd is not a majority of the market, and hasn't been for a long, long time. People like to think that average gamer is 20-something college guy, right? That's cut…

I agree, but a quick point about those statistics I see trotted out repeatedly: they include casual games. The people playing Bejeweled clones or hidden image games are not the same people playing Grand Theft Auto.

Not but there are many people who take a laid back approach to the game, not unlike how one could play a game or two of bejeweled then get on with their day.
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