Quote:
Originally Posted by JosephC
Hard and punishing games do not always create a toxic community. I'll point you towards Dark Souls 1 and 2, where the game is extremely punishing and exceptionally difficult, and still enjoyed by millions of fans.
One needs to look no farther then DOTA/LOL to see what happens with a hard game that has a high penalty for failure. LOL is the most successful esports game to date, with over 3 million people watching the world championships and over $17 million in prize money, coupled with hundreds of smaller tournaments.
Unfortunately, comparing FRC to video games isn't exactly the best choice. You can choose not to play a certain game, and go play another one instead. The same thing applies to sports. You don't like basketball? Well there's football and soccer and baseball etc. etc. You can't say, "Oh I don't like Aerial Assist so I'm going to play Rebound Rumble instead."
There just simply isn't a parallel here.
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DS1 and DS2 are not really designed as a wide audience multiplayer game. They are good games but they aren't really designed to compete with your CoD/Battlefield/Halo/LOL type stuff which is designed as mass market distraction (Personal opinions about mass market games go here). See also Super Meat Boy (which is a great way of disposing of extra gamepads/monitors). I should have been more clear, hard/punishing games forcing players to work as teams were more what I was focusing on.
DOTA/LOL may be successful esports games because, when played well, they are phenomenal games. (There was a followup I was going to write about that topic). But they are not a good community.
Comparing FRC to video games is actually quite valid as they are both games designed to be played much the same as soccer/basketball (hockey is not a sport, it's a way of life thank you very much!). Many of the same tricks apply to FRC/FTC games as apply to any other multiplayer game designed for mass market. And, I CAN go play other games. If I don't like FRC I can go play Vex, or battlebots, or compete in the AVC, or IGVC, or any of a dozen other competitions for robots.
And for folks who think I'm being too harsh - There IS a followup to these posts talking about why 2014 is a good concept that does achieve a lot of FIRST's goals. I just need a little longer to think the topic through. I'm a firm believer in props where props are due.