Irrational hysteria of "dead" or "alive" game

Off-Topic
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Until 2013 I had a totally outdated computer and newest game I could run was Marvel Ultimate Alliance. I got my new rig (which is aged af by now) and was able to catch up on new games, gaming trends and get wider perspective on how gaming industry works.

My point is, before I did not realize how big deal is to people if game is played by lots of people or by scarcity of people. I did not care about that, I just played my old games for pure fun.

But I have noticed this trend that personally ennoys the hell out of me. Just to clarify - I am not against patches and support when this is needed, where there are technical or balance issues or core gameplay is so good it deserves additional content.

I constantly see on this or other games’ forums constant threads like “any info on season 1255?” or “will there be new patch or is game dead?” or “devs stopped support, game is dead.” and I find it ridiculous in most cases.

This is a vicious cycle: players are scared that game will become obsolete and community will perish, but instead of actively play to prove otherwise, they are actually first to leave.

Why can’t you just play the game you like instead of being hostage of this stupid mentality that “I prefer to play game I enjoy less but it gets regular support.”? Sometimes I feel like people don’t give a damn about an actual game but they just like to be a part of something that is talked about, see download progress bar near it’s title, play for week and cry for further support afterwards, which is baffling to me :rolling_eyes:

If game has a reasonable amount of content and technical and balance aspects are figured out I don’t see further reason to force in another patch or stop playing it because there was not patch in certain amount of time. Why can’t we just let refined games establish themselves, cement and become a classic for years to come?

People cry for Season 4, and at the same time they spread negativity about post-Season 3 characters’ quality. Can’t you see IG with these additional characters is pulling the string to it’s limits already? Personally 26 characters after S3 roster was added was perfect quantity, and game was in perfect spot to get wrapped up nice and tight and call it finished product. I don’t mind post-Season 3 characters but it’s obvious the game loses it’s momentum with those remixes and it overall feels like the liquid is spilling out of the jar.

Do chess, table tennis, football, baseball, etc. require their rules yearly added and flipped around to not get obsolete and forgotten? Let’s look less far, 3rd Strike is almost 20 years old and still brings hype and fun for players around the world (let’s point out that it was disregarded when it was new)

I mean game is not like food or other perishable product that after a certain time it gonna collapse or disintegrate. I know this metaphor is silly but it’s literally what comes to my mind when I see these threads.

Sorry for this post being kind of chaotic, I just had a surge of thoughts and wanted to write them before I forget them.

What do you guys think?

@rukizzel forum detected word “Mass” as the one without “M” at the beginning, can it be fixed?

3 Likes
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I love your post SOOOO much.

People that think games are dead once regular, substantial updates and additions are nowhere to be found or once devs stop their support really rustle my jimmies.

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I feel that Killer Instinct is a special-case. It launched with the promise of “more content.” Since it has been an ever changing title, to slow the momentum and stop updating the game would lead to a massive drop in player base. It’s all theory, but I’m the sort that puts time and money into KI in the hope that it continues evolving from a content and balance perspective.

When KI receives its “Final Update” I’ll keep playing the game online regularly, but I don’t imagine it has the capability to maintain anything close to its current popularity without ongoing developer support. I’ve always compared KI’s model to games like League of Legends - constant updates and changes to a beloved core-game is an exciting thing. Part of the “game” is to adjust to the changes - or at least that’s what I’ve felt inadvertently. With any fighting game of certain quality, there will always be a retain-able core player base, but to attract new and/or casual players the allure of a “new and fresh” game will always beat out a historically proven one.

On your 3rd Strike point, I would say that’s the exception to the rule. I’m certain that older fighting games continue to evolve dependent on the player base at hand. But player evolution and meta are completely different from developer updates and enhancements. For what it’s worth, I completely agree that it’s baffling that people seem to prefer a “Changing” game to a “Perfect” game. I’d say that to me, KI is a perfect game that changes.

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The dead vs alive game debate reeks so much of esports to me. It makes sense from the perspective of a “pro gamer”, since if you are literally paying your bills with money you get from playing video games, it matters if those games make money, which in turn requires viewership and insane levels of support from both the creators and community.

The idea that a game like Killer Instinct, which has a large fanbase and is still getting large content updates in addition to regular patches, could be considered “dead” can only exist in the minds of people who see video games as a job and, let’s be real, that mindset isn’t very realistic to begin with. It would be like someone who enjoys basketball mocking my interest in lacrosse because there’s no money in it. Not only does it discard the reason I play the game in the first place (I enjoy it), but it also assumes that this person’s casual interest means they will definitely be the one in a million people who will get rich playing basketball, and that’s a hard fantasy to break. Especially for the kind of young people who are also likely to shout “lol dead game” in a stream chat.

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Yeah, because this game functions on seasons and added content over time. It’s fairly natural to want to know what’s coming down the pipeline and yes, you can wonder that and still enjoy what you have at the same time. I’m not sure why you seem to assume the opposite.

That’s not a cycle, that’s just irony. Also, I’m not “scared” that the game will become obsolete. As someone that’s wondering about season 4 and the future, I just want to know if we’re getting more of a good thing. If the answer’s no, this next character is the last one, that sucks and I’ll be sad because I’m psyched for some of those survey design ideas they had, however, I’ll still play this game and enjoy the hell out of it.

That’s a massive over generalization. Lots of people that want a 4th season also liked season 3 and even if they didn’t, why does that matter? If they still want more content, isn’t that a good thing?

Here’s some more irony. The person complaining about those bashing the game is now also bashing the game. Also, you might like 26 characters and think that’s a perfect amount, but I’d rather have more. If we don’t get more, then so be it, but some people are of the opinion that more IG character designs is a nice idea, even if you think the game is perfect where its at.

You’re comparing apples to oranges in video games and physical sports that have been around for far longer, but in humoring this comparison, yes, actually, rules are changed in these games and the governing bodies meet yearly in most sports to look in to rule changes to optimize the game. Both Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League just had meetings recently to do just that.

No one’s saying it is. People just want more of a good thing. You might think that’s greedy or unnecessary, but in a game like this, that’s specifically DESIGNED around the concept of “we’ll keep making more content until you stop asking for it,” I don’t think it’s insane for people to want more content, to ask for more content, or to wonder if the content stream is ending soon.

Now I agree that doomsayers that call the game dead all the time are rather annoying, especially given how many entrants to KI cup there were and what… 25,000 people watching via stream? That’s just one example, but either way, I don’t think we can call this game dead yet and as such, again, I don’t think it’s crazy to want to know more about the future.

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Games really only die when the community stops playing the game. Devs don’t support Smash Melee but damn if that community isn’t alive and well.

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IMO big factor in case of Smash is game being simple.

Yes, I fired shots at smashers.

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26,000 people watched the KIWC stream yesterday, not to mention those of us who were on site.

I don’t think anyone who claims the game is “dead” has a whole lot of ground to stand on.

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That doesn’t bother me, I haven’t played one in years nor do I watch it/keep up with it I was actually just using Melee as an example to support the idea you mentioned about Devs dropping support does not = dead game.

That game came out when I was in elementary school yet it’s still “alive” based on what I hear.