Post by Morreion on Feb 20, 2010 8:07:04 GMT -5
Being in it for the money (Massively)
I've always thought that complaining because companies 'are only in it for the money' was naive in the extreme. Like the complainee would ever go to work without a paycheck. MMOs are not a surefire path to riches; the majority of businesses of all kinds fail. I'm betting that most people working in the field are fans as well.
We might fight a lot of enemies in our MMOs, but a number of players will agree that there's one enemy that is bigger than anything else: the company that makes the game. Blizzard, Square-Enix, Funcom, Bioware -- according to this branch of the playerbase, they don't care at all about the people playing their game. All they're concerned about is making money. They just want to get your money by any means necessary.
However, the people who claim that say that like it's a bad thing.
Nobody ever smiles and says "boy, I'm sure glad Sony Online Entertainment is in this for the money." Oddly enough, when you start to think about it, the fact of the matter is that it's not only transparent that these companies are in it for the money, it's a good thing. We should be happy that most of these companies are there to get our money by any means necessary.
The first and most obvious benefit is that it gives us a voice. Really, developers aren't obligated to give players the time of day. As long as their bosses are happy with them, well, that's all they really need to be concerned about. Of course, said bosses aren't going to be happy if a developer decides to absolutely destroy some vital feature of gameplay and the players respond by unsubscribing.
We've talked about voting with your wallet before, and this is what allows us to do precisely that.
However, the people who claim that say that like it's a bad thing.
Nobody ever smiles and says "boy, I'm sure glad Sony Online Entertainment is in this for the money." Oddly enough, when you start to think about it, the fact of the matter is that it's not only transparent that these companies are in it for the money, it's a good thing. We should be happy that most of these companies are there to get our money by any means necessary.
The first and most obvious benefit is that it gives us a voice. Really, developers aren't obligated to give players the time of day. As long as their bosses are happy with them, well, that's all they really need to be concerned about. Of course, said bosses aren't going to be happy if a developer decides to absolutely destroy some vital feature of gameplay and the players respond by unsubscribing.
We've talked about voting with your wallet before, and this is what allows us to do precisely that.
Leaving aside the debate about whether or not people who love something are the most qualified to manage it, there's the simple fact that nobody gets involved with the MMO business without first being interested in the field. This is not investment banking. Successful games do decently, but they're not outstanding. Many games don't. There's a reason why many developers have blogs and talk to the community -- because they started as fans and got into the industry because of that.
You can love something and still make money off of it. Heck, the job of covering MMO news and opinions -- it's a job. It's work. We do it because we love games in general and MMOs in particular, but the volume of our posting is because we're here to do a job. And, yes, make money.
And the thing is, more often than not, when you make money by doing something? You start caring about it more, not less. It stops just being what you're doing to have a laugh, and starts being a skill that you owe it to yourself to practice and refine. Something you need to learn more about, to get better at, to develop. I'd wager good money on the idea that every single developer is happy to be working on a game, proud to go into work every day and get paid to do something they love.
They're in it for the money. Good for them. Good for us.
You can love something and still make money off of it. Heck, the job of covering MMO news and opinions -- it's a job. It's work. We do it because we love games in general and MMOs in particular, but the volume of our posting is because we're here to do a job. And, yes, make money.
And the thing is, more often than not, when you make money by doing something? You start caring about it more, not less. It stops just being what you're doing to have a laugh, and starts being a skill that you owe it to yourself to practice and refine. Something you need to learn more about, to get better at, to develop. I'd wager good money on the idea that every single developer is happy to be working on a game, proud to go into work every day and get paid to do something they love.
They're in it for the money. Good for them. Good for us.
I've always thought that complaining because companies 'are only in it for the money' was naive in the extreme. Like the complainee would ever go to work without a paycheck. MMOs are not a surefire path to riches; the majority of businesses of all kinds fail. I'm betting that most people working in the field are fans as well.
