Am I the only one noticing this?

[EternalSpark]

I was gonna post it in one of the existing threads, but figure it would take it off-topic.

On this forum and others, I've heard a lot of about-faces on Spore. They say its too cartoony, that it's not X but Y, that kind of thing.

To you I ask - why? Why were preview things loved, but the more thats released, the less the positivity on gamer forums?

My guess? Spore is a EA / Maxis game, and EA and Maxis haven't exactly pleased many die-hard or hard-core gamers with their products. EA is considered some form of Satan, while Maxis not only made The Sims (which appealed to pretty much everyone except the hard-core gamer), but also decided that most of its Sim games will have the same design aesthetic.

Thus, my hypothesis: regardless of time or initial love, the probability that an EA / Maxis game will be disliked by diehard gamers becomes 1.

So what would you say is the cause? Am I overthinking and doing it too early?

[Heraclitus]

This is true, but you are forgeting that hardcore gamers have good reason to dislike their games, since EA / Maxis behave consistently.


Also I would point out that the dislike of Spore is much less than I would expect considering the released material and the lenght of development.

[Solver]

Part of the reason why that dislike is less is that, in a way, Spore is the antithesis of most EA/Maxis releases. Yes, it still looks like more of a toy than a game perhaps and looks like it's geared to casual players. However, Spore is ambitious. Very much so - games this ambitious come up maybe once in a few years. And EA games are rarely ambitious - for the most part, they have their sports games, which are essentially updated rosters and small additions every year, and the endless Sims expansions from Maxis.

Spore doesn't seem to follow that pattern. Whether it succeeds or fails overall, it's surely an ambitious game, they deserve respect for that alone.

[Heraclitus]

Solver summed it up nicley.

[lord of the mark]

er wait a minute.

all the sims expansion arent ambitious, true.

The original game was though. Who expected it to succeed like it did? Or to succeed at all?

Similarly the original Simcity was ambitious too, perhaps less so than the Sims. Though the series IS respected by hardcore gamers - well hardcore strategy gamers at any rate. Recall again, that Sid Meiers asserts it was a major inspiration for Civ.

I suppose people are jaded with Wright, cause of where the Sims went. There is also the increasing hints that the more hardcore game segments, the tribe and civilization level, wont be very hardcore at all.

Now that could be a GOOD thing in a larger sense - taking Sims players who buy Spore to make pretty creatures, and hooking them on basic RTS and (heaven help us) civ scale TBS gameplay - so that they move on to more genuinely hard core offerings in those genres - but the immediate reaction is OMG another casual game for casuals.

[Heraclitus]

I think LotM is right here, I have always wanted Spore to be a succes, since it would encourage new players which might like the civization or galactic phase to eventualy pick up civ or galciv. The question is will it be popular enought to do this in meaningfull numbers?

[Solver]

I was talking about what most EA / Maxis games are like. Surely Sims was a very ambitious game, but the original was released way back in 2000. Since then there has been nothing ambitious about the whole Sim series - but now SimEverything/Spore is highly ambitious.

Yeah, I'd also be very surprised if the later stages are actually hardcore but the game can be good without that. As long as it's a good blend of the styles and each stage is fun, even if simple, it'll be good enough to play.

[Heraclitus]

Originally posted by Solver
I was talking about what most EA / Maxis games are like. Surely Sims was a very ambitious game, but the original was released way back in 2000. Since then there has been nothing ambitious about the whole Sim series - but now SimEverything/Spore is highly ambitious.

Yeah, I'd also be very surprised if the later stages are actually hardcore but the game can be good without that. As long as it's a good blend of the styles and each stage is fun, even if simple, it'll be good enough to play.

QFT