10 misconceptions about the games industry (2nd hand, DLC, piracy, entitlement, etc)

[Sketcz]

Holy **** is this one of the best articles I've read in YEARS. Mainly because it reinforces everything I knew already, while having to suffer the bleating trolls who argued otherwise. Read it, get educated on the subjects, and then stick it to all the publishers and misguided people who blindly support them.

http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Top-Misconceptions-About-Gaming-Industry-40569.html

I am especially infuriated by numbers 8 and 10, because on several different forums I have seen multiple people in support of EA/Bioware with their essential extra story character first-day DLC, and the same old spanking paddle is brought out when you criticise it: oh you whiny gamers, stop acting so entitled.

You know what the problem is in the industry? The plebeians who believe the lies.


THE FOLLOWING ARE LIES:

1.) Corporate PR Always Tell The Truth

2.) Publishers Don't Make Enough Money

3.) The Industry Is Dying

4.) Used Game Sales Hurt The Developers

5.) Piracy Is Killing PC Gaming

6.) Development Costs Are Rising

7.) Without DLC Publishers Don't Make Enough Money

8.) Day-One DLC Is Finished After Certification

9.) Without Publishers There Would Be No Games

10.) Gamers Act Entitled

[Neon Ignition]

Mis-education is definitely a gnawing pain with following games, I'd say I agree with almost everything listed in that top 10 and there's probably enough annoyances that it could quite easily be extended out to a Top 20. The first day DLC one is particulary amusing as it isn't even restricted to day one DLC, bar a handful of instances all DLC will have been planned, mapped out and started long before the final game is certified in order to plan out resources and budgets. It's what makes the full download or 100k unlock key discussions mute, either way you're playing extra for content that could and should have been in the final game.

[Brad]

The following argument about DLC is the one that gets my goat. I'll pick a random game to illustrate the point:

"So, after we've finished Mass Effect 2 there's a period where it goes to certification before being pblished etc. blah blah. What are we supposed to do with the developers during that time? Lay them off or have them make DLC?"

Ooooh, I dunno. Start making Mass Effect 3? Do what I and every other software developer I know does - start doing bug fixes for a patch and working on the next version / next project. If you're gonna ship games with known bugs (and this is almost unavoidable except for a privileged few studios) then the coders should be working on bug fixes as soon as there's a code freeze and everyone else can begin work on the next project. Saying that everyone HAS to make DLC in order to remain employed is bollocks surely?