cageymaru
Fully [H]
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2003
- Messages
- 22,080
Deveoping computer games is hardwork and they only have limited budget. So the more time spent on developing 'inclusiveness' the less time that can be spent on making the game rock.
The pay off for the inclusion of more romance/lead character options doesn't seem to match the downsides - especially in this competitive market. Some of the people that would play DAII are just going to play Witcher 2 instead. Witcher 2 doesn't seem to have 'any' inclusiveness -- but many people liked it better then DA II despite its pathetic budget in comparison.
I think of gaming more like skiing. The ski resorts looked at the massive expensive involved with skiing and for the most part have long ago 'given up' on getting everyone to ski. They instead concentrate on making sure the people that already ski - have a good time. That's sound business strategy.
Likewise the game designers need to worry about making excellent games not creating a giant FBI like crime chart of romance options. Even the white heterosexual players don't often care about that..
The big publisher's budget aren't for game development. It's for advertising on TV, the press, website, more advertising at trade shows, etc. It's for the huge megatron screens to demo the game. I would be surprised if DAII's actual development budget was more than 2x the size of The Witcher 2. DAII didn't keep up the game play from the first game is why people were critical of it.
Also I would argue that there are no downsides to including branching story lines to a game to attract more demographics into your game. Did the movie industry start losing money when minorities started appearing and having prominent roles in film? Don't think so. What about women? Did they scare away the audience? No. Is the movie industry that much different from the games industry? Not in my opinion. Plus there are lots of indie movies that cater to tough subjects. Eventually the larger movie studios catch on and follow suit. As long as the studio plans for it from the beginning then they should be fine budget wise.
As far as skiing goes the expense of getting into the sport keeps most social groups away. I bet they could reduce the cost of the skis, but the areas where ski communities are located are expensive also. So most social groups are going to be excluded unless there are wholesale changes to their business models.
Thx for your opinion also. Hope our differing views inspire someone to do something in the future.