Why 'dead game' needs to die
The eagerness to declare games dead is a corrosive and persistent meme.
Figured it was pretty relevant to the frequent discussions here. Brace for steam charts!
Is ED dead yet? PC Gamer op-ed about 'this game is dead' talk
- Thread starter Ian Skippy
- Start date
Figured it was pretty relevant to the frequent discussions here. Brace for steam charts!
Nope.
Noone says the game is dead. Everyone here still plays or played for a significant time in the past. You can tell from the depth and accuracy of what people say.
If you distill the doom its more that "frontier something frontier, the next patch has to suck because the last 4 did".
With a dose of "they didn't buy me drinks and i don't make money of social media so i don't have to turn a blind eye".
Yes if they prove otherwise, we will certainly pay them for their efforts.
EDIT: Before you call me on on it.. the last 7. Not 4 sorry. What? I didn't have a problem with powerplay or multcrew or engineers.
If you distill the doom its more that "frontier something frontier, the next patch has to suck because the last 4 did".
With a dose of "they didn't buy me drinks and i don't make money of social media so i don't have to turn a blind eye".
Yes if they prove otherwise, we will certainly pay them for their efforts.
EDIT: Before you call me on on it.. the last 7. Not 4 sorry. What? I didn't have a problem with powerplay or multcrew or engineers.
A slight spin on the title of that article, I actually hate it when "dead games" DO die. Two of my favorite games, MAG and Paragon, literally died when the company pulled the plug on the servers. Sure, they may not have been super-popular games, but I really loved both of them, and I invested serious time in my skill and equipment trees (not to mention learning maps and strategies and all of that). Those games were taken from me way too soon... 
Come on, we've all been on these forums, you know that's not true.
As far as I'm concerned, games don't die until their servers are turned off.
It's happened with a few games I rather liked over the years. Recent examples would be the Diablo-clone (made by some of the people behind Diablo 2), Marvel Heroes, which shut down extremely fast after the license was withdrawn by some soul less megacorp starting with the letter D, and ending in "isney".
Another would be a cool little turn-based strategy game called Atlas Reactor, which had a cool twist on the idea of turn based multiplayer strategy. The parent company got bought out, and admittedly they should probably have focused on creating more map types, rather than releasing more heroes for the game. But for what it was worth, it was a fun and free little game that I liked for when I only had half an hour or so to play a game with some friends.
[edit: Grammar is difficult.]
It's happened with a few games I rather liked over the years. Recent examples would be the Diablo-clone (made by some of the people behind Diablo 2), Marvel Heroes, which shut down extremely fast after the license was withdrawn by some soul less megacorp starting with the letter D, and ending in "isney".
Another would be a cool little turn-based strategy game called Atlas Reactor, which had a cool twist on the idea of turn based multiplayer strategy. The parent company got bought out, and admittedly they should probably have focused on creating more map types, rather than releasing more heroes for the game. But for what it was worth, it was a fun and free little game that I liked for when I only had half an hour or so to play a game with some friends.
[edit: Grammar is difficult.]
As with most games, there are definitely some people on these forums and other social media channels that won't be happy until ED is dead, just so they can say "I told you so!"
And, of course, there are those "content creators" who personally benefit from spreading angsty doom and gloom.
And, of course, there are those "content creators" who personally benefit from spreading angsty doom and gloom.
Even that doesn't necessarily spell death. Look at games like Battlefield 2 and other online games that are kept alive on fan-funded servers.
True enough. I consider those games resurrected, however. And I'm glad it happens.
I too loved MAG. I actually went to the UK launch of it which was a sequence of Eurogamer vs IGN reader death matches followed by EG & IGN combined effort against the developers (in the US). They knew their game well based on the KDRsA slight spin on the title of that article, I actually hate it when "dead games" DO die. Two of my favorite games, MAG and Paragon, literally died when the company pulled the plug on the servers. Sure, they may not have been super-popular games, but I really loved both of them, and I invested serious time in my skill and equipment trees (not to mention learning maps and strategies and all of that). Those games were taken from me way too soon...
On Topic: I think it is just a modern cultural phenomenon exacerbated by the anonymity of online posting: people attack things that they don't like and "dead game" is just part of it. Same holds true for pretty much anything where people have a choice and therefore can take sides.
Not a great article imho and a bit hypocritical from the author. Because they posted a joke on Twitter, he calls them "the edgy, Gen Z-baiting KFC brand account" (coming from a bastion of journalism like PcGamer, lol).
And a few paragraphs later he tells us that SC2 is dead because it's not a big part of Blizzcon, although there are still eSports leagues and tournaments being played. So which one is it?
As usual there are unreasonable people on both sides. Yes, some people like to call games 'dead' out of spite and love to use a slow month's steam numbers as evidence. And on the other hand we have people who completely dismiss any kind of (reasonable) criticism as invalid since there is at least one person still playing.
And a few paragraphs later he tells us that SC2 is dead because it's not a big part of Blizzcon, although there are still eSports leagues and tournaments being played. So which one is it?
As usual there are unreasonable people on both sides. Yes, some people like to call games 'dead' out of spite and love to use a slow month's steam numbers as evidence. And on the other hand we have people who completely dismiss any kind of (reasonable) criticism as invalid since there is at least one person still playing.
Yeah, I think it's great when a community comes together to keep a game going.True enough. I consider those games resurrected, however. And I'm glad it happens.
I thought a game being dead was just a figure of speech of declining player numbers, and by direct extension disapproval of what the developers have done / are doing with it going forward.
A game is only literally dead when the servers shut off or its universally disliked, ie blanket negative steam reviews.
A smaller example would be carriers, it was absolutely dead as launched. But after the changes, its only partially dead. And to keep going, if there was no upkeep costs at all like the other ships, they would be fully alive!
Elite is unique compared to other online games in that you don't need to wait for other players to play. Many games "are dead" when it takes 30+ minutes for matchmaking to take place due to low numbers. CQC might be considered dead, at least on the consoles, despite the servers still supporting it.
The irony is that there will be no-one left to say it to.
Quite right. By its nature elite can exist as a zombie.
The mainstream pvpers left a while back right after the double whammy of engineers and unfixed cheating?
the dead meme's are annoying and hypocritical, ie going to an active forum where a given game is discussed to proclaim its deadness. Having a community, regardless of public opinion, is alive. also to Duck's point some features do die, but a game can live on. I still play Assassins' Creed Unity from time to time, and that game has so many dead or non functioning features its insane. but the story line and bustling streets are still there. And then there's the original Battlefield 1942, which fantastic, but now completely removed from EA games site, I think I have some grandfathered download i can get but none of my friends can download it since they didn't pick it up before it was removed so that one is dead dead.