R P G A M E R . C O M   -   E D I T O R I A L S

A Final Word

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Philip Bloom
STAFF EDITORIALIST

This is a bit late and for that I apologize, but hopefully getting this off the boards and directly onto the Editorials front page will help in reducing the number of these editorials that appear from time to time. In the previous editorial, there was a mention on how the hollywoodization of RPGs was affecting their quality and how corporations actively try to keep the little creative geniuses down. I have to admit, it paints a pretty funny picture. Imagine, a glimpse inside a CEO's room...

"Eh? What's that you say? You got a creative new game you want to make? Bah humbug, we can't let that happen. That might make us some profit! We got to keep the little guy down! Artistic merit?" The CEO turns to puff on his cigar before spitting into his gold clad urn. "Who cares? Now let's get making Generic Extreme Fantasy Twenty Nine! And remember to smack the developers in the face with the money we made from selling out!"

Kinda absurd, no? Let's get a few things straight. Companies exist to unify a group of people in to attain a profit. Money: it's what they are after. Whose money, you might ask? Our money. And we give it to them. They aren't intelligent beings. They're run by millions of hungry stock owners, each wanting their extra few dollars per share. They can't afford to be very artistic and risky. They'll take the safe bet over the long run almost every time because we, the consumers, show them that that is the way they make the most money. A sequel to a Final Fantasy is guarenteed profit for Square, even if they end up doing a mediocre job on it. Electronic Arts, one of the biggest publishers in America and the world, thrives off of almost nothing but licensed games made to be high production value copies of the experience the movie or book originally garnered. They're even quite open about this, some of their PR representatives having noted in speeches to academia that part of their design goals are in fact the lack of creativity, though worded slightly more politically correct. Who tells them that this is the way that they should run their company? We do.

It's our duty as consumers to decide what we want made. We have the money. We are the real funds that game developers depend on. Every time we buy a crappy game and then its crappy sequel, we've justified the approach that spending extra time, energy, and risk to go the extra mile creating something great is a foolish waste of effort. We've shown them that another company can put out half the effort and capital and make a good profit off of it, so why should they be breaking their backs trying to go the extra mile? The companies are hungry for success and profit, but it is our decision which games succeed. So I'd like to ask folks to think the next time they buy a game. Heck, return the games you've gotten recently that were crap. You want to send them a sign? Tell them not to make crappy games? Send the message to their pocket books. It's the only voice they really listen to at the end of the day. If ten million people are willing to buy a game that they like, then there is room for that company to succeed. The companies listen to this. If they can produce tripe that you don't enjoy and you continue paying them 60 bucks per copy of the tripe, then they will continue to produce tripe. The game industry is at its best when people buy games that they like and snub games that they don't.

Liquid, a member of RPGamer's forums, is a particular example of the type of gamer that really gets what he wants. Whenever a game is produced that he really likes, no matter how obscure, he doesn't ignore his own influence. He posts verbosely on why folks should get it and actively tries to encourage spending money on the developers that are making the types of games he wants to play. If he doesn't like a game? He's just as verbal in his dislike. This is good! This is the way it should be. If you really hate the games coming out at the moment, do something about it. Do something with your dollar. Don't blame the company for servicing the three to four million who decided that they rock the house. We provide the profit behind the games and it is high time more of us took responsibility for that.