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Please, Sir. Can I have..?

11/16/2012

5 Comments

 
Picture
Anyone who knows me knows that I am prone to a certain unique style of... polemic. I get a bit ranty from time to time. It's usually on a subject nobody cares about ("Why is 'bling' in the dictionary? People will claim it's valid in Scrabble!") or for amusement ("Brussel Sprouts were never intended for human consumption, but were reserved for the 10th circle of hell where they are used to punish the souls of people whose lives involved too little cabbage in their diet.").

I am also aware that it is 'bad form' to rant in a blog. Or even be negative about anything. Amanda Palmer says so, so it must be true. But...

When did it become acceptable for non-reviewers to ask developers for free games? While a great many things are free, some are not. This is called economics. It's what ensures we can all eat, drink, and remain relatively free of disease.

It is not acceptable to go into Starbucks and beg for free coffee. One can't tap on the window of Gap and point - first at a fetching pair of pantaloons and then at oneself - and expect the goods to be handed over. Furthermore, people begging in the streets do not do it wearing a Northface jacket, brand new Nike trainers while playing a Nintendo 3DS XL. 

There will be those who say: "Ah, but you have to understand - an iPhone game isn't like a coffee. It's a punt. An unknown quantity. Customers don't know if what they're buying is of value until they've bought it, so you can understand their caution. And a lot of games are crap."

Valid - but that's a different point. That's a point about pricing. I can see why uncertainty of value is the engine of the 'race to the bottom'. I agree that this is a good reason for many developers to go F2P, or at least present a free demo. We need to minimise barriers to entry and do our utmost to ensure that customers feel comfortable via pricing, representative demos, good reputation and reliable branding.

But I'm pretty sure no economist thinks that customers have the right to free luxury goods - especially where costs are involved (where goods are necessities, it's a different story, and taxation is there to ease the burden on those who genuinely can't pay for the basics).
 
But none of this explains customers simultaneously saying:

"Your work is worth zero to me"
and
"But I want it, and have the right to have it. So give it to me."

Perhaps they view themselves as desperate victims of... oh, I don't know, 'I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here' poisoning, or 'X-Factor Syndrome' or something. But I suspect they - bafflingly - regard themselves as poor.

If you're experiencing real poverty, you'll have my sympathies and those of most people. But, you can't plead poverty when engaged in buying luxury goods, whose very use is predicated on owning a nice expensive electronic device.

It's silly and insulting.

Anyway - enough said. I'm off to shake my fist at some dubstep.

5 Comments
swampf0etus link
11/15/2012 07:17:58 pm

OK, point taken, but will you please write Flaboo 2 and can I have it for free?

Reply
Geoff
11/16/2012 12:51:32 pm

Non-reviewers are given free access to movies, music, books and so on all the time before or at release to give word of mouth a little kick from the regular guy. Beyond that, no, it's not cool.

Reply
Shelley Trazkovich M.D. link
12/9/2012 02:46:38 am

I totally agree with you article and above comments points, including humor, except I would add that some non profits could have these luxury items donated but not have any budget for purchasing games. I'm talking about about organizations that are helping suffering people,bpatients or clients or whichever is the word of the time. Still, the game prices are usually very cheap for ios games.
The reason that I speak up is that there are ill people who suffer greatly and immersive games can be great for gettings ones mind off of ones pain and other symptoms -symptoms that can make surviving quite a challenge

Reply
Shelley Trazkovich M.D. link
12/9/2012 02:53:05 am

I would have said more but keyboard stopped working
Add to above comment:

Immersive games can be great tool in helping one tolerate the usually intolerable state, so please consider the non profits that help ill or disabled patients. They may have some luxury items but not the means to buy the games. Thank you.

Reply
Dene link
12/9/2012 06:09:57 am

An interesting point. Requests for goods as a charitable donation is probably a candidate for a 'third category'. My wife worked in NPOs for years, so I'm quite familiar with them.

At the same time, there's a considerable difference between asking for a donation to a certificated charitable organisation and an
individual deciding that he has decided to become one all by himself, with himself as both the campaigner, fund-raiser and beneficiary. I mean... that surely makes him a Kickstarter project?

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    Fluttermind’s director, Dene Carter, is a games industry veteran of over 25 years, and co-founder of Big Blue Box Studios, creators of the Fable franchise for the XBox and XBox 360.

    Dene takes great pride in doing every aspect of game-creation entirely by himself. Nobody knows why.

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