While I’m a huge fan of the Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) genre and love hopping around from site to site on “teh interwebz”, reading blogs dedicated to them, sometimes I’m left scratching my head. At the moment, I’m sitting here, an eyebrow arched in a way that only villains with twirly moustaches and stovepipe hats ought to do at the notion that an MMOG fails because it didn’t come up with a fancy new take on the user interface.
Am I the only one that thinks that it is asinine to yank out the “Boo! Hiss! Copycat!” card simply because the interface is adopted from another game and doesn’t have go-faster stripes on the handlebars? There’s a reason that the world hasn’t embraced the square steering wheel; version 1.0 (Project Codename: Roundie) was a success! Why? Because innovation is not the point. It serves it’s purpose and that’s that. However, some pundits would make it a sin to adopt a UI based on WoW’s hugely successful model and then constantly praise WoW’s easy to use UI as one (among many others) of the reasons that it has enjoyed so much success and become the cornerstone of the genre.
I know. Your eyebrow is twitching now too, isn’t it?
At the end of the day, a game should be judged on what it does provide, which leads to the only question that matters when it comes to reviewing a game: is it fun? Something that can’t likely be deduced in less time than it takes to make a bag of popcorn in the microwave.
I think you’re right on this. Reinventing the wheel every time a new game comes out is part of the reason so many games are so bad. You might as well start with a good foundation and focus your creativity in more important places.
Comment by Anjin — February 4, 2009 @ 3:35 pm
Okay please join me in my circle of sanity. I think a lot of gamers and bloggers are drinking their own punch OR I’ve gone completely insane. I don’t understand this emphasis on the superficial aspects of gaming and not the experience of enjoying content, having adventures and character progression. When did the UI skin become the first criteria for judging a game? I mod the UI so much it doesn’t matter what it looked like out the box unless the features of the UI suck.
Here-here Anjin! Maybe I’m not crazy but we’re definitely sitting in the minority. *grrrr* To each his own and move on. Personally, you’d have to PAY ME to level in EQ2 or LOTRO regardless of the damn UIs.
Comment by Saylah — February 7, 2009 @ 8:52 am
@Anjin – I agree. I think that a lot of time and creative energy is wasted on simply making something different on that most superficial level that they forget to actually provide compelling content. Heck, even making the game playable takes a backseat because they are trying to reinvent the wheel.
@Saylah – I think that we’re singing from the same sheet or music. While I don’t necessarily share your dislike for EQ2, the last thing that I look at in a game is the UI. Especially since, as you’ve pointed out, modding it is a viable option that takes very little time to do. It’s all about providing content that’s fun to play through and a unique UI doesn’t make that any less true.
Comment by Exeter — February 10, 2009 @ 11:28 am