Ekim's Gamer View: Buying Early
Ekim, 2003-07-04

Complaining Rights

So, are we right to complain because the games we buy are buggy? Of course we are! The problem is not really that we complain, it's how we complain. Those of us who take a plunge early should do so at our own risk in this present time. Publishers want to make money fast. They want their product to come out before their competitor's. They want to release the game now, and fix the problems later.

Why do publishers behave this way? Well because we consumers buy into it of course. Imagine : if no one bought games until they were really ready, two or three patches down the road, then why would publishers put their unfinished products on the shelves? Developers would have a greater say in whether the product is ready or not. As it stands now, if a developer presents a game that is buggy but still playable by a publisher's standards, the game will ship. Whether the game has missing or incomplete features, even if it's incompatible with a certain tier of hardware doesn't matter to them. That's enough to release a game apparently.

Knowing this, I wonder why we continue to rush out to buy games the first day they're available. Knowing this I wonder why I myself do it all the time! I guess hype has something to do with that, and again the publisher is the biggest culprit in this. But again we must ask ourselves if we do our homework as consumers. We know it's hype, we can smell it a mile away, and yet we welcome it with open arms as if it was the answer to all our problems… I think that if we made a survey right now among those that visit gaming websites on a daily basis the most popular MMORPG would be those that aren't even out yet! People already anticipate the likes of Horizons and Realms of Torment being among the saviors of the MMORPG genre. Boy! Are they in for another disappointment or what!

Hype: the father of bugs

Whenever anticipation is involved, disappointment usually follows close behind. On top of that we are often presented with games that are not ready for release… That's a pretty bad combination. So, of course we complain. And we are right to! And all those that are angry have a right to be too, I guess. But you have to ask yourself if you shouldn't just have waited a little until someone somewhere talked about it before making the decision to buy the game. Of course the trick is knowing when the game is really ready.

Reviews exist for that purpose. For some strange reason though I think that most of the people who actually read reviews are those who already bought the game. We have a strange need to know what other people think about the game that we liked or disliked. Sometimes when reviewers have a different view of a game than others they are treated as garbage, but I guess that comes with the job. Still, for those who are still wondering if they should buy a game or not, a review should light their way. Actually not only one review but a few. Especially when MMORPGs are concerned. Most reviews of SWG up until now, be they positive or negative in general, have mentioned that although the game has tremendous potential it is still very buggy and that it would have probably needed at least another month in BETA. That means : stay away until the bugs are fixed!

Controlled Anger

Again, I want to stress the point that it's fine to complain. We all should, with a certain degree of control. Anger and pointless ranting doest amount to anything though. Publishers are to blame for letting buggy software out the door. But we are to blame for buying into the hype and getting the game on the first day it's available. Never forget that publishers are in this business for only one thing: make money. Their game is to sell, and buying their hype is playing their own game, as buggy as it may be.