1) TBS and Sequalitus
I've been on the Moo3 forums, and I see the same comments and pervasiveness as I did on the CivIII forums. The problem is with sequals. The TBS genre has seen mostly sequals and it is killing the entire genre. The problem is that the popular games (Civ2, Moo) were simple and easy to get into and easily addictive. To entice the players of these old games, the sequal makers attempt to add features, which make these games complex. They say look, it is just like your games, but with more stuff!! This 'stuff' usually isn't integrated seemlessly and adds a lot of complexity. This results in a loss of the simple pleasure of these original games.
2) The Rise of RPGs
Can it be? People actually want stories in their games?! Heaven forbid
! It was only a matter of time, right? While some just want to 'shoot stuff' and this is the basis of multiplayer, a lot of people want an engaging story for their single player exploits. Diablo started us on this trend by combining great action with rpg elements. This was continued (and perhaps perfected) with Deus-Ex. Now stories and levels are gaining sway even in traditional real time strategy series, such as Warcraft III. Is it only a matter of time before RPG elements invade every popular game? Not to mention the great popularity of true CRPGs themselves. Baldur's Gate series, Fallout series, Arcanum, Deus-Ex, and most strikingly in the present, Morrowind have all been successful. Who'd have thunk it?
I've been on the Moo3 forums, and I see the same comments and pervasiveness as I did on the CivIII forums. The problem is with sequals. The TBS genre has seen mostly sequals and it is killing the entire genre. The problem is that the popular games (Civ2, Moo) were simple and easy to get into and easily addictive. To entice the players of these old games, the sequal makers attempt to add features, which make these games complex. They say look, it is just like your games, but with more stuff!! This 'stuff' usually isn't integrated seemlessly and adds a lot of complexity. This results in a loss of the simple pleasure of these original games.
2) The Rise of RPGs
Can it be? People actually want stories in their games?! Heaven forbid

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