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What do you want to see in the future?

  • Technical Innovation in video games(graphics, gameplay, etc)

    Votes: 19 57.6%
  • Community integration (community run servers, greater modding capability, more Indie development)

    Votes: 6 18.2%
  • I have a different vision/opinion

    Votes: 8 24.2%

Where do you want the future of gaming to go?

1K views 33 replies 13 participants last post by  Saiyansnake 
#1 ·
Hello. Today, I want to discuss what defines "progress" and in particular, what you want to see in gaming.There are many different opinions and I want to hear them all.

In my opinion I see two major trends in the gaming community.
Camp 1:
The people who want to see the technical and gameplay aspects of video games pushed. Engines like CryEngine and Frostbite 3 are innovation and ultimately what drive gaming forward. The ones who want to see their hardware pushed, or hardware optimization improved, or the ones who want truly multi-threaded games and optimized engines. There are many different aspects and visions of "technical progression."

Of course, another spectrum of this camp is the one that respects gameplay, and insist that it has to improve in parallel to the technical aspects of the game. Games like ArmA and DayZ help push "Realism" in gaming, while innovative titles like Portal, Mass Effect, Fallout, etc push other boundaries; Open sandbox worlds, interesting gameplay, non-linear storylines, etc.

Camp 2:
The people who want to see the community aspect of gaming move forward. This is the e-sports and modding communities. These are the guys who want to grow gaming as a sport or as an acceptable hobby without the social stigma associated with it. A slightly different mindset is simple people who are personally invested in gaming or enjoy community made content. I am talking about competitive games like SCII, LoL, CS, etc.

On another side of this camp are those who are simply into the community of the game, or enjoy consuming the content that the community creates. Things like mods, guides, fanfiction, privately-runs servers, the friends, acquaintances, clans, etc. These are the modding teams of Total War, Skyrim, Source games, Racing simulators, etc.

Personally I see the merits of both camps, but I am far more interested in the community aspect. I love consuming and creating content by/for the community. I am an extremely avid fan of Total War mods and the eSports scene. Personally, I feel that this is the direction that gamers should push. However, there is a quandary to be found between these two different camps.

As Technical and Gameplay progression is pushed, the Community part inevitably dies. Note, that all major "eSport" and "moddable" games have been around for a very long time. This is telling, and we don't exactly see a huge community built around SniperElite or something similar. Now, I'm not trying to insult anyone, I realize that there are huge communities and mods built around Triple A titles like Crysis, ArmA(Yes I know DayZ is a mod
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), but I feel it pales in numbers and content when you compare it to giant communities like WoW, and SCII. There is simply an astronomical difference. We've all seen the massive technical modding wonders like and HD texture pack for Crysis3, or the Half Life 2 mod(which was recently in the news), but Rome: Total War has over 30 Total Conversion mods! Out of those 30, at least 14 I would rate as "extremely high quality."

Note though, that as games become more complicated, the amount of work required to successfully make a total conversion mod easily triples or quadruples in the amount. Less people are inclined to mod, or mods may take up to half a decade to complete!

New games and sequels also splinter the competitive community. Just look at CS. Many call GO garbage, others call CSS garbage, others say that 1.6 is outdated. It simply splinters the community too much or makes the transitions difficult.

This is why I feel that there are distinctly two visions of Video Games. Yes, there is a huge curve to both camps, but ideologically, there are distinctly two camps. You may not share my opinion, or you may and attribute yourself to one of these two visions. Please post below.

Note: My list and choices of games/examples is subjective but they are examples. I don't want to earn your ire, but I want to emphasize what I'm trying to say. You are entirely entitled to your opinion and welcome to disagree with me about the specific games or w.e. because that is not my point. My point is that you endorse mainly one of these two positions. You may claim that you have your own third opinion and I'm perfectly fine with that. Just keep your all-knowing ego in the back of your mind and try to present your argument in a calm, patient, and rational manner. ).
 
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#3 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by szeged View Post

if a game could have the graphics of crysis 3, without the gameplay behind it, that....that is what i want. I play crysis 3 when i feel like seeing some good graphics, but then i fall asleep shortly after.
Yes, I realize where you are coming from but my question is about what do you want to see in the future? Would you want a game that has amazing gameplay? Amazing graphics? Or do you see yourself as a competitive gamer? Perhaps you just want a game that has significant community content behind it?
 
#4 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by HanSomPa View Post

Yes, I realize where you are coming from but my question is about what do you want to see in the future? Would you want a game that has amazing gameplay? Amazing graphics? Or do you see yourself as a competitive gamer? Perhaps you just want a game that has significant community content behind it?
i want a game that can dethrone crysis 3 in the graphical department, i also want to see a game that brings the level of immersion that skyrim did
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#5 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by szeged View Post

i want a game that can dethrone crysis 3 in the graphical department, i also want to see a game that brings the level of immersion that skyrim did
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Do you think graphics are that important? What do you like about Skyrim and what in particular do you define as "immersion"?
 
#6 ·
I want it to not go down the dumbed down casualization road that it's currently going down. Almost every genre suffers from this: it's most obvious in shooters, as seen in Call of Duty and Battlefield. But it's also extremely obvious in RPGs, specifically The Witcher games, but it even shows in Dragon Age 2 (such dumbed down combat/leveling/talents) and Skyrim (removal of a ton of skills and defined classes). The horror genre was also defaced by games such as Dead Space and the newer FEAR games.

I'd like to see more innovative ideas in games, such as more creative storytelling (one good, recent example is Anna: Extended Edition) or gameplay that doesn't cater to 8 year olds (e.g., S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Misery 2.0 and Miasmata). Those are just some recent examples, Watch Dogs looks like another truly innovative game but time will tell if it delivers.

I also want to see RPGs make a comeback, since they seem to be on the decline. RPGs are just the biggest and greatest types of single player games with by far the most potential. More games need to adopt the storytelling and character development seen in Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and The Walking Dead, which are still unrivaled to this day. If more games would be targeted toward a more mature audience that wants substance and no mindless rehashes, I'd be a lot happier. The industry needs to make an attempt to draw such people to gaming.
 
#7 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by boredgunner View Post

I want it to not go down the dumbed down casualization road that it's currently going down. Almost every genre suffers from this: it's most obvious in shooters, as seen in Call of Duty and Battlefield. But it's also extremely obvious in RPGs, specifically The Witcher games, but it even shows in Dragon Age 2 (such dumbed down combat/leveling/talents) and Skyrim (removal of a ton of skills and defined classes). The horror genre was also defaced by games such as Dead Space and the newer FEAR games.

I'd like to see more innovative ideas in games, such as more creative storytelling (one good, recent example is Anna: Extended Edition) or gameplay that doesn't cater to 8 year olds (e.g., S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Misery 2.0 and Miasmata). Those are just some recent examples, Watch Dogs looks like another truly innovative game but time will tell if it delivers.

I also want to see RPGs make a comeback, since they seem to be on the decline. RPGs are just the biggest and greatest types of single player games with by far the most potential. More games need to adopt the storytelling and character development seen in Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and The Walking Dead, which are still unrivaled to this day. If more games would be targeted toward a more mature audience that wants substance and no mindless rehashes, I'd be a lot happier. The industry needs to make an attempt to draw such people to gaming.
i agree, im tired of seeing so many generic shooters like cod or bf3/4 hurp durp online mode with no actual story or anything, safe haven for 12 year olds on the internet really. i want more games like metro last light, 100% story driven 0 gameplay ruined by focus on multiplayer.

rpgs also need to stop being watered down by removing talents/combos/combat etc, i miss having acrobatics from oblivion in skyrim
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and yeah, good rpgs are getting harder and harder to find, probably because all the games like bf3 getting put in the spotlight.
 
#10 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ehpik View Post

I'd like to see gaming with an open world kind-of aspect. I think games like the Division and the Crew are going in the right direction for this; However, their success is going to be based on how the developers handle and maintain the game itself.
A lot of games are going open world now, mostly thanks to Skyrim which made it much more popular. The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk will be open world, the next Assassin's Creed game, Metal Gear Solid 5, they're really opening up Dragon Age: Inquisition, etc. It is nice that more games are going this route, even though nothing comes close to Bethesda's open world detail (except for FO:NV). It would be great to see a good open world game with a great story.
 
#13 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by boredgunner View Post

A lot of games are going open world now, mostly thanks to Skyrim which made it much more popular. The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk will be open world, the next Assassin's Creed game, Metal Gear Solid 5, they're really opening up Dragon Age: Inquisition, etc. It is nice that more games are going this route, even though nothing comes close to Bethesda's open world detail (except for FO:NV). It would be great to see a good open world game with a great story.
Thank goodness as well, nice change from all those shooters!
 
#14 ·
Well, I am a huge supporter of the innovation aspect of gaming. Mainly since i think that games already look awesome and the ammount of money that we put in to improve it just a little bit is quite a bit. Not to mention the only people that push that envelope are bigger develpers because of that money. This further slows the process since there are less minds working on that (in the grand scheme of things).

The innovation is where (for me) the greatest fun comes into play. Its great to be able to play a game that we know we love, after all we did it once, and we can sometimes replicate the results. However, its so much harder to find new and fun ways to further the genre. These games though are limited to lesser tech since their budgets are usually lower. But there are things like kickstarter to help with that.

Overall, I think that currently the medium is moving in the right direction. There are setbacks, sure. But ultimately the games that will define the current generation are still on the way. Community driven content is the best way to further this. :3
 
#15 ·
Sorry, haven't' check backed to my own thread for a while. Was busy working
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Quote:
Originally Posted by boredgunner View Post

I want it to not go down the dumbed down casualization road that it's currently going down. Almost every genre suffers from this: it's most obvious in shooters, as seen in Call of Duty and Battlefield. But it's also extremely obvious in RPGs, specifically The Witcher games, but it even shows in Dragon Age 2 (such dumbed down combat/leveling/talents) and Skyrim (removal of a ton of skills and defined classes). The horror genre was also defaced by games such as Dead Space and the newer FEAR games.
I do have to disagree with you here a bit. I believe that no matter how dumbed down a game is, it has it's place and value. What I'm more pissed about these days is the "throw away" attitude publishing studios have with their games nowdays. I'd prefer a game like SC:BW where it has a decade of support from Blizzard AND the community. I mean darn, I remember playing UMS maps like Vietnam Conflict, Diplo:Infinity on BW in 2010! I did not find the graphics off putting at all. Community driven campaigns and stories? Heck yes! Sign me up. It's like crack fanfiction. Free content. Now quality is not consistent, but the rare huge gems you find are well worth the search(imo).
Quote:
I also want to see RPGs make a comeback, since they seem to be on the decline. RPGs are just the biggest and greatest types of single player games with by far the most potential. More games need to adopt the storytelling and character development seen in Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and The Walking Dead, which are still unrivaled to this day. If more games would be targeted toward a more mature audience that wants substance and no mindless rehashes, I'd be a lot happier. The industry needs to make an attempt to draw such people to gaming.
I agree! I though Mass Effect was brilliant. I love that game.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ehpik View Post

I'd like to see gaming with an open world kind-of aspect. I think games like the Division and the Crew are going in the right direction for this; However, their success is going to be based on how the developers handle and maintain the game itself.
I agree. In my opinion though, a true open-space game will need years of support. None of those rehashes like GTA. Luckily, it seems that this is what's going to happen
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Hopefully they don't mean endless 60$ DLCs that add little to the main game. I'm fine with expansions, reasonably priced and and reasonably scheduled DLCs that don't scream cut content.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MuzicFreq View Post

I would have to say a collaboration of ideas from different devs come together to make and awesome engine that is optimized for both console and PC hardware with awesome visuals.
Stuff like this video is amazing to see for a step forward into the future of gaming.
That video looks pretty sick. +rep for find
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I am a big supporter of your position. Imo, the current level of immersion is excellent. Yes, we do need games like Crysis to push the envelope of "immersion," but that's what games like Crysis are for! In my opinion, everyone else needs to step back like you said, and start focusing on other aspects of gaming. Storytelling, open-world, etc.

To be fair though, I feel like the gaming world has done exactly that. The latest few triple A pc releases seem to prove that. Tomb Raider, Witcher, and Hitman don't really push any technological ground, but they are amazing stories and amazing games. I thoroughly enjoyed Watch Dogs and Tomb Raider. Best 80$ I spent lately.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ijnek View Post

The innovation is where (for me) the greatest fun comes into play. Its great to be able to play a game that we know we love, after all we did it once, and we can sometimes replicate the results. However, its so much harder to find new and fun ways to further the genre. These games though are limited to lesser tech since their budgets are usually lower. But there are things like kickstarter to help with that.

Overall, I think that currently the medium is moving in the right direction. There are setbacks, sure. But ultimately the games that will define the current generation are still on the way. Community driven content is the best way to further this. :3
Aye! I
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#18 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by HanSomPa View Post

I do have to disagree with you here a bit. I believe that no matter how dumbed down a game is, it has it's place and value.
They do, they belong on the Wii or Wii U or something. My problem is with such games taking over and becoming the dominant force in the industry, which happened already.
 
#19 ·
I just want to get away from this motion/touch fad as well as carbon copy sequels and paying for basic content every 6 months a la CoD and every EA game ever. I was always a big CoD fan but its gotten absurd. There are so many great old titles that could be rebooted by these companies that we haven't seen in 10+ years that I'd much rather see come back than another sequel. Nintendo especially, there are so many great N64 games that could be redone well that they could have made the Wii worth buying but I can't even give mine away.

Scale back on pushing graphics so much and improve realism. It's been 12 years, a second generation of consoles, and huge leaps in PC gaming technology since Red Faction came out but we haven't seen a game with such a destructive environment as it since outside of the series other than somewhat in Battlefield games. That's the biggest thing I'd like to see, real destructive environments. Not pre planned or staged destruction, but real destruction in multiplayer. That or catering to multiplayer again. I've been gaming since NES and I've never had more fun with it than playing N64 with my friends.
 
#20 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by uk80glue View Post

I just want to get away from this motion/touch fad as well as carbon copy sequels and paying for basic content every 6 months a la CoD and every EA game ever. I was always a big CoD fan but its gotten absurd. There are so many great old titles that could be rebooted by these companies that we haven't seen in 10+ years that I'd much rather see come back than another sequel. Nintendo especially, there are so many great N64 games that could be redone well that they could have made the Wii worth buying but I can't even give mine away.
I'd have to say that this is the case with a lot of games, not just CoD. I wouldn't say that CoD is the biggest culprit of it. In fact, for all the praise BF3 gets on this Forum, they have done exactly as CoD has in the past.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlefield_(series)

Look at how many iterations there are. Recently EA has switched to a DLC business model, which imo, is even worse. I absolutely hate DLCs because they rarely bring anything new. Content like guns, skins, and vehicles can simply be created by the player base. Moreover, we need to see actual gameplay improvements like we used to in Expansion packs back in 03-07.
Quote:
Scale back on pushing graphics so much and improve realism. It's been 12 years, a second generation of consoles, and huge leaps in PC gaming technology since Red Faction came out but we haven't seen a game with such a destructive environment as it since outside of the series other than somewhat in Battlefield games. That's the biggest thing I'd like to see, real destructive environments. Not pre planned or staged destruction, but real destruction in multiplayer. That or catering to multiplayer again. I've been gaming since NES and I've never had more fun with it than playing N64 with my friends.
I actually agree. Developers seem to think that multiplayer is the only way you can prolong a game's lifespan. Which is simply not true. You have to grow and support the community through modding tools, servers, consistent support, and content. This is how you retain your player base. It's sad to see this kind of focus go
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Quote:
Originally Posted by boredgunner View Post

They do, they belong on the Wii or Wii U or something. My problem is with such games taking over and becoming the dominant force in the industry, which happened already.
I'm not sure what you mean by dumbing down then. Controls are more simple and the environment is more immersive. It's a good thing. For those that want exploration, puzzles, mazes to find their way through.. well there is a market for that and the industry fills it. Yes, there are very few triple A titles that offer that kind of challenge in a game, but at the same time it's because the demand simply isn't there.
 
#23 ·
Where PC gamers are treated equally to console gamers AKA PC release at the same time of console.

I'm looking at you GTA V!!!!
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#24 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by HanSomPa View Post

I'd have to say that this is the case with a lot of games, not just CoD. I wouldn't say that CoD is the biggest culprit of it. In fact, for all the praise BF3 gets on this Forum, they have done exactly as CoD has in the past.
Oh I'm well aware, I just figured CoD is the biggest culprit of it right now. I mean BO2 just came out and they've already announced the next one.

I'd also like them to stop flip flopping on developers every other game. The Treyarch CoDs aren't anywhere near as good as the Activision ones, same thing with Fallout and how bad New Vegas was compared to 3 even though the story line was such a good idea.

I'd like to see EA lose their monopoly on sports games. Before they got sole rights to the NFL and NHL the ESPN games were great and competition was healthy. Plus I'll take Boomer over master of the obvious Madden any day.
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#25 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by HanSomPa View Post

I'm not sure what you mean by dumbing down then. Controls are more simple and the environment is more immersive. It's a good thing. For those that want exploration, puzzles, mazes to find their way through.. well there is a market for that and the industry fills it. Yes, there are very few triple A titles that offer that kind of challenge in a game, but at the same time it's because the demand simply isn't there.
I'm guessing you weren't a gamer 10 years ago or more? Or perhaps you don't play many games, or play very different games. Let's see:

RPGs: The Witcher series is the new thing. Compared to Dragon Age or any quality D&D RPG, it doesn't really have to be said how dumbed down overall gameplay mechanics are. There's only one class and one way to define your character, it's more like a normal action-adventure game with a leveling system shoehorned in. This leads to less replay value. Environment is much less immersive than real RPGs like Dragon Age, since the world is much more linear, much less detailed, and the player has much less influence over the world through choices and decisions. Character development is one-dimensional, storytelling is more linear than real RPGs. Dumbed down in every imaginable way. If this keeps up, RPGs will be another dead genre in a few years, save for indie RPGs.

Shooters: CoD/Battlefield era? Even compare BF3 to BF2 and you'll see the oversimplification. Or take it a step forward and compare them to the likes of Crysis/Crysis Wars, or Natural Selection 1 and 2. CoD/Battlefield and many of these other "dumbed down" casual games are designed so that anyone and their mother can just jump in and do well. Mainstream gaming wasn't like this before.

Horror: Mostly a dead genre, but people call Dead Space games horror games, when they're really just low quality corridor shooters. Once upon a time, horror games were known for well-written stories, amazing yet terrifying atmosphere, and challenging gameplay, but Dead Space provides none of those, not to mention no actual scares.

Many action/adventure games have turned into simple button mashers, like Batman. This oversimplified one-dimensional gameplay also leads to games being more repetitive. One of the things developers do to make their games appeal to mainstream audiences is take out options and choices, like choosing a class in an RPG, since little things like this overwhelm most gamers. I've also noticed that mainstream adventure games have gotten much more linear... compare the newest Zelda game to the older ones, or look at others like Uncharted. Thanks to Skyrim's influence however, this might be changing soon.

Like you said, the demand for more challenging, more thought-provoking, and more diverse games is not there, which is the problem I see in today's industry. Most people want their games to be the same thing; look at the CoD/Battlefield rehashes. They also don't want to have to think when playing them: they don't want a well written story, or any type of challenge whatsoever. They prefer it if the games do most of the work for them.

Games have also gotten extremely expensive to make, though that's due to publishers going with awful advertising campaigns and making it a necessity to hire well known voice actors. You have to know gaming is in a bad spot when developers are scared to use innovation or create new IPs.

It would be great if gaming was actually moving forward, so that's where I'd like to see the future of gaming to go. It would be awesome if real RPGs were more dominant, or if shooters like NS2/Crysis Wars and ArmA were more popular than CoD/Battlefield, or if horror made a bigger comeback, or if developers weren't scared to be innovative, and if developers actually focused on quality over quantity. But this won't happen, it looks like it will keep going downhill for now. At least I still have a ton of games to play.
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#26 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by boredgunner View Post

I'm guessing you weren't a gamer 10 years ago or more? Or perhaps you don't play many games, or play very different games. Let's see:

RPGs: The Witcher series is the new thing. Compared to Dragon Age or any quality D&D RPG, it doesn't really have to be said how dumbed down overall gameplay mechanics are. There's only one class and one way to define your character, it's more like a normal action-adventure game with a leveling system shoehorned in. This leads to less replay value. Environment is much less immersive than real RPGs like Dragon Age, since the world is much more linear, much less detailed, and the player has much less influence over the world through choices and decisions. Character development is one-dimensional, storytelling is more linear than real RPGs. Dumbed down in every imaginable way. If this keeps up, RPGs will be another dead genre in a few years, save for indie RPGs.
You can really see this in the Fable games. Fable 3 was extremely dumbed down compared to the original Fable (Not that the Fable series was much hard in the first place). Witcher 2 definitely wasn't a Neverwinter Nights or Baldurs Gate, maybe even Icewindale (although, I have to say, neither was Dragon Age). Hell, I remember Action games (like the Legacy of Kain series) having amazing stories, but then now you get stuff like the new Tomb Raider, which was graphically beautiful, but dumbed down so much, you could press a button to see where your objective is.

I'm not complaining, though, cause I noticed as I get older and rarely have time for many games, I learn to appreciate some of these dumbed down factors. Haha.
 
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