Hi, i just post this to you guys see were they fail and make it better! http://www.gametrailers.com/video/launch-trailer-dungeons/721947 http://apps.facebook.com/neverwinterheroes/
A good game designer play all genres in all platforms, don't say, oh its a facebook game that sucks dont play .... thats is ignorant. "Zynga valued more than EA" Because facebook games are poor? i don't think so... facebook games have some good mechanics.
I've been playing games for the best part of 40 years and in the main, I think Facebook games are designed less as games and more as Facebook spam. A good game should not tie you into subscribing to a service in order to play it. Also, I very much doubt that Jim Dunnigan, for example, needs to play much Mafia Wars.
Just to try to minimize on shouting . . . Ideally, no one taking game design as a serious profession would discuss it from ignorance. There are many things to dislike about the sorts of games that show up on Facebook, and it's easy to guess they will occur in the D&D game you linked. Facebook games draw you in because "everybody's doing it," and are often designed so that once you play a little you cannot possibly lose, and then to relieve the tedium they let you spend money on power-ups that make you not-lose more quickly and with flashier graphics. Most of those implementations don't work in a more traditional game, so we can expect they won't be in Card Hunter either. To explain what I mean . . . If that's true, then it's no surprise. Many Facebook games place "making money" above "spending said money on quality content." We discussed ways to make money over here, and I said this: It's like typing in a cheat code for a game that bores you, but developers like Zynga were smart enough to realize that customers will pay for those cheat codes. Especially so if, again, people are suckered in. Give everyone a flashy trailer? That's a good start. But then, well . . . a year ago, somebody did a thought experiment on If Mario Was Designed in 2010. It explains itself pretty darn well: This "Facebook spam" is somehow taken for granted as a "good idea" for games. However, it is only good for making money--not for having fun. Not to mention the fact that Facebook games, again, often place "making money" above "spending said money on quality content." Lemme quote myself one last time: Will the D&D game be a success? I don't know. Probably among casual gamers (i.e., those who don't want to try hard and don't want to lose). Card Hunter need only be a true, compelling CCG/RPG experience to tap into the large and hungry CCG audience, AND the large and hungry RPG audience, making for success far beyond that of a casual Facebook game. (Okay, whew, that was a massive post about Facebook. And it was only tangentially required. I'm just going to link to this if the issue comes up again.)
Theres a difference between 10 million moms playing farmville and 11million gamers playing call of duty. Zynga cornered a market on facebook games yes, but they are games hardcore gamers dont desire and as thus they suck. On the flip side im sure the facebook game players think what we play sucks so its all opinion. As such dont get me wrong, some developers put a lot of effort into their games reguardless on what platform and for that they should be given a pat on the back for at least trying =)
It also seems that Zynga are re-thinking their strategy vis a vis Facebook: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/10/12/zynga-steps-back-from-facebook/
^ Not surprising. All the stuff with Mafia Wars/Farmville etc was a trend, like posting obnoxious sparkly greeting cards on Myspace, or "Best of Internet" awards. They amused people for a time, and then they got bored and stopped playing as much, and then they started getting aggravated at their friends posting every time they got a pig. And when you get bored of Farmville, why move on to Cityville or Zooville or whatever? It's the same game with a different setting. It's the experience you just got bored of. Casual gaming is obviously something that's here to stay, but the exploitative Zynga strategy only worked because it was still new and shiny. Eventually the majority of people will know better and/or become more discerning.
I play it from time to time, but most facebook games seem to try to focus on grinding more then they do on content.
Yes, which will be nice for them if they're smart enough to actually have a forward thinking business plan instead of riding their dying wave to shore I'M LOOKING AT YOU HERE YELLOW PAGES. It's as good as its going to get for them, if they have any idea what they're doing they're reinvesting that capital in something besides cookie cutter facebook games. I doubt it though.
I think they'll end up with a Kongregate type site, but I also think they'll end up with Kongregate type revenues too.
I don't hate Neverwinter, I just don't expect it to go anywhere, unlike Cardhunter, where at the moment looks like one of those games that will feel more like playing cat and mouse with the enemies AND card dodging and weaving. Should be awesome.
