Soul/Love into the Game

[bamb00k]

I've been thinking about this so much..
90% of games nowadays are coming without any love or soul into it and even average quality. So only teens can play in that with any interest. (not talking about multiplayer). And these plots....So banal and poor...
I'm 21 and I just can't play in another one need for speed or call of duty and really have fun. Maybe some game's innovations can make interest for me for a short time, but i haven't seen anything cool since gta iv physics (but its great game in all ways) or prototype sandbox's lvl.
But some developers can invest a really Soul or Love into the game, even if quality isnt great, no matter, game can be very addictive and fun. I talk about Piranha Bytes and their Gothic series (especially 1 and 2 parts. 3 sucks a lot).
Developers like Rockstar Games in addition give a game a great quality, twisted and interesting plot, and amazing soundtrack.
I dont know about Blizzard. All i can say that their games got amazing quality level.

What about Runic Games..They did Torchlight with low budget and low time and even with some gameplay's holes, but this game just have amazing amount of Soul/Love invested..I got a big impression about their communication with the community, about their attitude to developing.
Looks like Torchlight 2 will have a much more Soul/Love and quality lvl than original. Especially with more time and more money

[Kalsten]

I think that companies don't spend time creating a "soul" for games because they don't consider it profitable. I mean, they know that releasing one Call of Duty/Need for Speed/Medal of Honor per year will be worthy, economically speaking.

For people that has been playing videogames for more than 20 years (80s generation and older), the games of today seem to be too easy, without anything that make us feel involved in the game. I remember the first Unreal, and compare it to the FPS nowadays, and it is sad.

But, at least as I see it, the small companies like Runic, spend more time polishing small details and the mythology around their games, creating a more complete experience, in my opinion. I suppose that they have to do it in order to fight bigger titles. If people only buy games by their quality, and not because of the marketing around, the situation would be very different.

[JBeck]

We appreciate that and we certainly put a lot of love into our games.
But it should also be stated that many, most even, at larger studios working on larger games do every bit as well.
The primary difference is our size and communication make it a bit more personable because you can interact and get to know us, which isn't always something that's practical for larger studios.

Any person who devotes 2, 3, 4 or more years to a title invests a lot of themselves into it regardless of the studio size.

It reminds me of this quote I just made up.
"Don't hate the cogs, hate the machine" -- someone, somewhere, probably.

[Graeystone]

We appreciate that and we certainly put a lot of love into our games.
But it should also be stated that many, most even, at larger studios working on larger games do every bit as well.
The primary difference is our size and communication make it a bit more personable because you can interact and get to know us, which isn't always something that's practical for larger studios.

Unfortunately not all small studios are like Runic. Too many went the way of the dodo because they did things no sane company would do no matter how big or small and that is tick off their consumers. Too many broken game, not listening to the consumers complaints(right or wrong), etc.
While there is a definite glamor in game development, there's also a downside. Before getting into the profession people need to realize what they are really getting into before they get in over their head and end up crashing and burning.

[Zidders]

Unfortunately not all small studios are like Runic. Too many went the way of the dodo because they did things no sane company would do no matter how big or small and that is tick off their consumers. Too many broken game, not listening to the consumers complaints(right or wrong), etc.
While there is a definite glamor in game development, there's also a downside. Before getting into the profession people need to realize what they are really getting into before they get in over their head and end up crashing and burning.

Most studios go the way of the dodo becuase running a successful business is extremely hard no matter what kind of business it is you own. Even successful game companies small and large can end up falling prey to changes in consumer interest, new laws affecting how they do business, illness, all sorts of bad things can happen to a company. It doesn't matter how much heart and soul a company has or doesn't have, companies are made up of many people and one of the true constants in the universe is that shit happens. Like Jbeck stated. "Don't hate the cogs, hate the machine"

I totally agree with the second part of your statement. Thing is, that goes for anything in life. There's always a positive and negative side to everything. The thing is, life is all about taking chances and taking risks. Risk vs reward might work great in a game but it rarely applies to the things that really matter in life. Rewards are rarely evident. Sometimes, you have to close your eyes and step out and over that ledge.

[MrHill]

.... I dont know about Blizzard. All i can say that their games got amazing quality level. ....

Well, I would say that Blizzard Entertainment does put a lot of soulz and lovez into their games. They do polish like hell. So they do not rush out their games and risk bugs and other flaws ruin the game experience just for money. The character design is excellent. The game mechanics are well thought through as well as the story, as you already have noticed.

But Blizzard does also the midnight launch signature of their games. At least if I remember correctly, for Starcraft 2, in particular cities all over the world, Blizzard developers appeared at shops and put their signature on the customer's game box. A beautiful ritual to my opinion!

And yeah, Blizzard does respond to community concerns. The community was bothering about that Diablo 3 is going to be too easy. Later, blue posts appeared explaining how hard the Inferno difficulty is really going to be. Also Blizzard made a short video about the difficulty of Diablo 3, explain that it is not going to be as easy as some may think. I believe that they made even changes to the Inferno difficulty because of the community's fear. Though, I believe that Runic is much more open and closer to their community than Blizzard, however.

The only bad thing Blizzard did recently was the pricing of Diablo 3 in Europe. From what I could gather, they say that in America one pays $60 for the digital version of Diablo 3 and in Europe they charge 60€. So, Blizzard didn't convert from Dollar to Euros meaning Europeans have to pay more for Diablo 3 than Americans. Because $60 is 45€, not 60€. But maybe this pricing is Activision's fault, not Blizzard's. Though, I haven't been able to verify the American price. I only have an European Battle.Net account.

[gold163]

I think Blizzard's nature as a big corporation, as well as a select portion of their fanbase, are enough to wrongfully give them a negative reputation among some opinions. I don't doubt that Blizzard puts a lot of hard work and soul into their games but sometimes I disagree with their design and financial practices. For one thing, the lack of LAN play in their modern games but that's a shitstorm for another day.

[Syl]

You should take a look at Orcs Must Die 2. They announced it earlier this week and the game looks amazing.
A fan went to PAX to chat with them and try the game, here are some videos:
http://www.robotentertainment.com/forum ... ax-footage
The game is good, the community and the devs are pretty cool, it reminds me what's happening here.

[xani]

I've been thinking about this so much..
90% of games nowadays are coming without any love or soul into it and even average quality. So only teens can play in that with any interest. (not talking about multiplayer). And these plots....So banal and poor...
I'm 21 and I just can't play in another one need for speed or call of duty and really have fun. Maybe some game's innovations can make interest for me for a short time, but i haven't seen anything cool since gta iv physics (but its great game in all ways) or prototype sandbox's lvl.

Err, no, it might be 90% of games YOU saw, but there are a lot of good games out there, just that not a lot of them get hyped by media so you don't hear about them that much.
Yes, game by small or medium developer often wont have top-of-the line graphic (altho one can argue a lot of AAA titles could be better but console ports -_-), or high amount of polish but there's a plenty of good story, quality or just plain good gameplay.
Other reason is, well, the more games you play the harder it is to find something new.

Another probem is, well if someone like EA or Activision owns dev studio, they make something awesome and popular, what sad people in suits say ? "Make a sequel, we will earn more money". Not "make some new innovative game" but "polish this that and that, add a bit of new things and increase number after title". And while it does make a good games and it does make them tons of money it doesn't exactly encourage innovation.

IMO the big 'hope' for more innovation is game companies using kickstarter to get money for development, because then it's basically "game get funded when enougth players want it" not "game gets funded when sad people in suits thinks it will sell milions". That method have some problems, but very interesting posibilities.

[tsar]

90% of games nowadays are coming without any love or soul into it and even average quality. So only teens can play in that with any interest.

On the contarary, I don't remember when was the last time there's been so many kick-ass, innovative games made with passion, love and dedication. The gaming scene starts to be lively and interesting again. It's like it's reliving its young days once again.

I'm 21 and I just can't play in another one need for speed or call of duty and really have fun.

So maybe the problem is that you are still looking at games from the perspective of need for speeds and calls of duty? I know it's easy to get blinded by the most brightly shining stars, but if you let that happen, you will miss a lot of gems out there. And belive me, for the price of newest CoD sequel that gives you 6 hours of the same stuff you got with previous release, you can get yourself a few really interesting titles that should offer some serious fun.

BTW, my first post here. Thought I might hang around a bit while waiting for TL2 release. It's been a long time since I've been so excited about a game. Funny how I was not interested in first Torchlight at all and just bought it for cheap on one of those steam sales (was one of those "i'm bored so I'll try it" moments). Now I'm totally hooked. Good thing The Witcher II EE is coming out in few days to make the waiting easier.

[Seer]

You should take a look at Orcs Must Die 2. They announced it earlier this week and the game looks amazing.
A fan went to PAX to chat with them and try the game, here are some videos:
http://www.robotentertainment.com/forum ... ax-footage
The game is good, the community and the devs are pretty cool, it reminds me what's happening here.

This looks bloody awesome.




Also, you can have great graphics if you know which art styles to follow (hint), more often than not with greater value, soul and personality than those 'AAA' graphics we see in huge titles.

[DarkTails]

I agree with the OP, TL2 needs more disco music and afros.