E3 Day One Super Notes

WALL OF TEXT: E3 Xbox Showcase Bullet Points (As objectively as I can)

 XBOX FEATURES

• Xbox One "Game Preview" - Early Access for Xbox... I'm sorry console fans. I never wished this evil upon you. You're going to be SO mad playing Early Access games... I'm calling it right now. Just wait. Winter's coming.

• Xbox One Backwards Compatibility - This is good. I know a lot of console gamers want to go back to old games. (I personally think going back to old games is a waste of time for me now since I've played so much, but I can realize the value here)

• Xbox Elite Wireless Controller - This looks amazing. Swappable components and Windows/Xbox compatibility. Sign me up.

NEW GAMES

• Recore - No gameplay shown from Metroid Prime creators. Cinematic looks nice. Holding off on opinion until gameplay.

• Halo 5 - Halo/shooter game. More rehashed gameplay that will sell by the boatload. Console shooter fans will gobble it up, I won't bother. It'll be successful.

• Fallout 4 - FPS-RPG. Again. Will have mods. Mods are going to be a good addition. This game will be good, I'm not too worried. You get Fallout 3 free with Fallout 4... does this matter now? Why haven't you played Fallout 3 yet?

• Plants vs. Zombies: GW2 - Third-Person Action. This game needs some serious additions to it's content. It's a fun concept/core gameplay, but it gets stale fast. They'll need better matchmaking and more things to do. Also need to have better base customization options.

• Dark Souls 3 - Hardcore Third-Person Action-RPG. Another game of rehashed content. Not super excited, but I'm sure I'll play it and have a decent time. It's not going to be a groundbreaker.

• Ashen - Adventure. Looks pretty. Not a game that's piqued my interest, but it might be ok.

• Cuphead - 2D Sidescroll Action. This actually looks new and fun. Old school Disney art with modern action/platformer gameplay. Looks great.

• Ion - FPS Survival Game? The new space DayZ Xbox MMO from Dean "Rocket" Hall. Is this another game he'll pump into Early Access, then abandon to work on something else again? Stay tuned.

• Rare Collection: Another pack of old games to play on a new system. I think this has some great titles in it and it'll sell decently. Again, old games = I won't bother.

• Rise of The Tomb Raider - Adventure. I hope it'll be as good/better than the first game. Crystal Dynamics did a really good job of rebooting this IP.

• Sea of Thieves - Third-Person Action-RPG? Rare's new pirate multiplayer game for Xbox One. Not really sure on how the gameplay works, so I'll abstain from saying anything other than "it looks pretty."

• Minecraft Hololens - Creative. This looks bananas. If they can get the functionality even semi-close to how it looks on stage, this will be nuts. Hologram minecraft on my coffee table? Yes please.

• Gears of War: Ultimate Edition - Third-person Shooter. Boring. They HAD to bring out a couple "dude-bro" titles I guess. "You can play it at 1080p 60 fps now!" Sorry consoles, I have to pull the PCMASTERRACE card here... why wasn't it able to do that before? Not a selling point, in my opinion.

• Gears of War 4 - Third-person Shooter. The trailer was SO DARK. Couldn't really see much of anything other than ANOTHER game that just rehashes old game design to pump out another title that they know will sell. Bored.

• Divinity: Original Sin - Turn-based RPG. Shown after the showcase, this game will be AWESOME for console players. This is one of the best games I have played in the past year and is loads of fun with a friend.

Bethesda Notes:

• Fallout 4 will be a good game. It'll be a game that keeps a lot of game systems that work, and it'll iterate on that successful formula and have a better game.

• Doom looks boring. I'm so tired of just shooters for the sake of being shooters. 

• Dishonored 2 will be ok. It's one of the those games that I'll blow through once, and be done with forever. It'll be probably 20 hrs-ish of enjoyment, then I'll never touch it again.

• Elder Scrolls Card Game: Boring. I hate card games on computer.

• I'm currently playing Fallout Shelter even though I know it's a builder-esque mobile game... what's wrong with me.

E3 EA Notes:

• Need for Speed: Racing. "Heroes of today's car culture." What.  Open world is good.  Racing and getting chased by cops.  IRL cinematics going to in-game graphics that looks real-ish.  Graphics look pretty good, frame-rate is not great.  I wish the camera would pull back more in racing games, but I feel like they do this because of people with small screens.

• Star Wars: The Old Republic - Really? TOR Expansion?  Blur cinematics look great, but the MMO still isn't good enough.  The story is really good in this game... but MMO's are about social tools and end-game content.  TOR just isn't good enough in these regards.

• Unravel - "Do more than just entertain."  Puzzle-platformer.  Looks like a cutesy-artsy kind of game.  Might be a one-time playthrough.  Physics-based 3D platforming that looks good.

• Plants vs Zombies: GW2 - Nobody's clapping for the zombie dancing to Danger Zone on stage.  Womp womp EA.  "Plants are on the attack."  So you just get to defend as zombies now?  Ugh.  Not enough so far...  Seems to be arcade-y fun.  First game wasn't bad... just not better than other options that are available.  Vid linked up above.

• EA Sports - I can't even comment normally on any of these games.  Sports games are fun if you're into sports, but it's boring if you're not.

• NBA Live 16 - Face scan tech again.  Looks pretty close to this guy, so we'll see how accurate it actually is at launch.  Lots of customization for your character.  Can really place yourself in the game.

• Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes - Mobile SW game.... UGH. 

• Minions Paradise - A minion mobile game?  +2 Ugh.  Builder/pay 2 win game.  Kids will spend too much of their parents money on this game.

• FIFA 16 - It'll be another soccer game.  I feel like these sports games have people that still have a negative stigma about video games... playing video games.  Women's teams are in the game now.  This guy keeps bragging about Pele being on stage with him... Nobody in America cares.

• Mirror's Edge - No clue, they showed a pretty trailer, then went straight to Madden.

• Madden - Not even worth watching.  Interactive fantasy football.  D&D for people that hate nerds.

• Star Wars: Battlefront - They catered to people's nostalgia filters with stories of childhood Star Wars memories.  Gameplay looks pretty good with lots going on BUT actual gameplay never looks like this in any of the battlefield games.  Instead of lots of events being spread out over a battlefield, it's always just one cluster of death that slowly moves back and forth.  Maybe some capture points get hit on the side occasionally... but it's never as spread out as the gameplay trailer would have you believe.  Is it just me, or does the Hoth battle map look tiny.  It looks like someone was told verbally about the Hoth battle but didn't watch the movie.

E3 Ubisoft Notes:

• TheFracturedButWhole - Turn-based RPG - From the makers of South Park. Superhero themed. Sounds amazing.

• For Honor - 4v4 Moba - Looks like Dynasty Warriors moba that's grittier... I'd play it.

• Trials Fusion Awesome Level Max Turbo Etc. - Stunt game - This'll be a fun arcade-y game. Looks alright.

• The Division - 3rd Person Shooter/RPG - The graphic downgrade from the first announcement... holy cow. This looks nothing like what it was supposed to look like. I've heard a lot of bad things about the development of this game... So I don't have high hopes. I wanted it to be good... but it won't be. Sad panda.

• Anno 2205 - Real Time Strategy - I loved the previous game. I'm sure this game will be excellent for fans of strategy. These games are all about balancing your economy in-game and it's super fun.

• Just Dance 2016 - Dance game - Can play with just a mobile device. Just Dance Streaming... meh. I guess this is another game that gets less stereotypical gamers into games.  This video is cringe.

• Rainbow Six: Siege - Tactical Shooter - Isn't this game already out on PC? This game is alright... but most people got tired of it after the first week of playing.

• Trackmania - Racing/Creative Game - These are fun games, but they're not good enough to compete with the other racing titles. It's arcade-y and fun with friends... but it doesn't keep you hooked for very long.

• Assassin's Creed: Syndicate - 3rd Person Action - I'm a sucker for Assassin's Creed. IV was the last good one... but I'll keep playing these for the meta-story.

• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands - 4 Player Co-op 3rd Person Shooter - Open world. I'll have to see how this game ends up if we can see ACTUAL gameplay. Always have to take E3 presentations with a grain of salt.

E3 Sony Notes #remake:

• Last Guardian - 3D Puzzle Platformer - Looks beautiful and everyone was tearing up for the guardian.  We'll see how the gameplay pans out.

• Horizon: Zero Dawn - 3rd Person Action Shooter - In the future... after humanity has been mostly wiped out by machines and it looks pretty sick.  Machine animal things... I dig it.

• Hitman - 3rd Person Stealth Action - Hitman is old news for me.  I'm not super excited unless they REALLY surprise us and do something new.

• Dreams - Creative - By the LittleBigPlanet team...  No clue what this is.  It almost looks like a creative tool to make beautiful cinematics... not sure how the gameplay will work.

• Destiny: The Taken King - Destiny's a good game.  More content is always good.  Not super exciting though.

• Firewatch - Adventure Survival - Seems interesting.  Survival game for PS4.  Looks like good writing... I'll stick with my PC survival titles...

• Final Fantasy VII Remake - RPG - I know fanboys are super hyped about this.  I couldn't care less.  Play new games.  Expand your horizons.

• Shenmue 3 - This looks pretty cool.  It was weird that they're plugging a Kickstarter and not just funding the game if they really believe in it.  Is that a red flag to anyone else?

• World of Final Fantasy - RPG - World of WarFinal Fantasy?  This could be ok.  Looks cute, but not up my alley.

• Call of Duty Black Ops 3 - FPS - Dude.  Bro.  (Co-op could be fun)

• Uncharted 4 - Adventure - Looked pretty good.  Seemed very similar to the previous Uncharted game, but those are great.  So it'll be good stuff.

Join me tomorrow!

E3 Ubisoft Notes

E3 Ubisoft Notes:

TheFracturedButWhole - Turn-based RPG - From the makers of South Park. Superhero themed. Sounds amazing.

For Honor - 4v4 Moba - Looks like Dynasty Warriors moba that's grittier... I'd play it.

Trials Fusion Awesome Level Max Turbo Etc. - Stunt game - This'll be a fun arcade-y game. Looks alright.

The Division - 3rd Person Shooter/RPG - The graphic downgrade from the first announcement... holy cow. This looks nothing like what it was supposed to look like. I've heard a lot of bad things about the development of this game... So I don't have high hopes. I wanted it to be good... but it won't be. Sad panda.

Anno 2025 - Real Time Strategy - I loved the previous game. I'm sure this game will be excellent for fans of strategy. These games are all about balancing your economy in-game and it's super fun.

Just Dance 2016 - Dance game - Can play with just a mobile device. Just Dance Streaming... meh. I guess this is another game that gets less stereotypical gamers into games.

Rainbow Six: Siege - Tactical Shooter - Isn't this game already out on PC? This game is alright... but most people got tired of it after the first week of playing.

Trackmania - Racing/Creative Game - These are fun games, but they're not good enough to compete with the other racing titles. It's arcade-y and fun with friends... but it doesn't keep you hooked for very long.

Assassin's Creed: Syndicate - 3rd Person Action - I'm a sucker for Assassin's Creed. IV was the last good one... but I'll keep playing these for the meta-story.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands - 4 Player Co-op 3rd Person Shooter - Open world. I'll have to see how this game ends up if we can see ACTUAL gameplay. Always have to take E3 presentations with a grain of salt.

E3 Sony Notes

E3 Sony Notes #remake

Last Guardian - 3D Puzzle Platformer - Looks beautiful and everyone was tearing up for the guardian.  We'll see how the gameplay pans out.

Horizon: Zero Dawn - 3rd Person Action Shooter - In the future... after humanity has been mostly wiped out by machines and it looks pretty sick.  Machine animal things... I dig it.

Hitman - 3rd Person Stealth Action - Hitman is old news for me.  I'm not super excited unless they REALLY surprise us and do something new.

Dreams - Creative - By the LittleBigPlanet team...  No clue what this is.  It almost looks like a creative tool to make beautiful cinematics... not sure how the gameplay will work.

Destiny: The Taken King - Destiny's a good game.  More content is always good.  Not super exciting though.

Firewatch - Adventure Survival - Seems interesting.  Survival game for PS4.  Looks like good writing... I'll stick with my PC survival titles...

Final Fantasy VII Remake - RPG - I know fanboys are super hyped about this.  I couldn't care less.  Play new games.  Expand your horizons.

Shenmue 3 - This looks pretty cool.  It was weird that they're plugging a Kickstarter and not just funding the game if they really believe in it.  Is that a red flag to anyone else?

World of Final Fantasy - RPG - World of WarFinal Fantasy?  This could be ok.  Looks cute, but not up my alley.

Call of Duty Black Ops 3 - FPS - Dude.  Bro.  (Co-op could be fun)

Uncharted 4 - Adventure - Looked pretty good.  Seemed very similar to the previous Uncharted game, but those are great.  So it'll be good stuff.

Join me tomorrow!

E3 EA Notes

E3 EA Notes

• Need for Speed: Racing. "Heroes of today's car culture." What.  Open world is good.  Racing and getting chased by cops.  IRL cinematics going to in-game graphics that looks real-ish.  Graphics look pretty good, frame-rate is not great.  I wish the camera would pull back more in racing games, but I feel like they do this because of people with small screens.
• Star Wars: The Old Republic - Really? TOR Expansion?  Blur cinematics look great, but the MMO still isn't good enough.  The story is really good in this game... but MMO's are about social tools and end-game content.  TOR just isn't good enough in these regards.
• Unravel - "Do more than just entertain."  Puzzle-platformer.  Looks like a cutesy-artsy kind of game.  Might be a one-time playthrough.  Physics-based 3D platforming that looks good.
• Plants vs Zombies: GW2 - Nobody's clapping for the zombie dancing to Danger Zone on stage.  Womp womp EA.  "Plants are on the attack."  So you just get to defend as zombies now?  Ugh.  Not enough so far...  Seems to be arcade-y fun.  First game wasn't bad... just not better than other options that are available.
• EA Sports - I can't even comment normally on any of these games.  Sports games are fun if you're into sports, but it's boring if you're not.
• NBA Live 16 - Face scan tech again.  Looks pretty close to this guy, so we'll see how accurate it actually is at launch.  Lots of customization for your character.  Can really place yourself in the game.
• Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes - Mobile SW game.... UGH. 
• Minions Paradise - A minion mobile game?  +2 Ugh.  Builder/pay 2 win game.  Kids will spend too much of their parents money on this game.
• FIFA 16 - It'll be another soccer game.  I feel like these sports games have people that still have a negative stigma about video games... playing video games.  Women's teams are in the game now.  This guy keeps bragging about Pele being on stage with him... Nobody in America cares.
• Mirror's Edge - No clue, they showed a pretty trailer, then went straight to Madden.
• Madden - Not even worth watching.  Fantasy football.  D&D for people that hate nerds.
• Star Wars: Battlefront - They catered to people's nostalgia filters with stories of childhood Star Wars memories.  Gameplay looks pretty good with lots going on BUT actual gameplay never looks like this in any of the battlefield games.  Instead of lots of events being spread out over a battlefield, it's always just one cluster of death that slowly moves back and forth.  Maybe some capture points get hit on the side occasionally... but it's never as spread out as the gameplay trailer would have you believe.  Is it just me, or does the Hoth battle map look tiny.  It looks like someone was told verbally about the Hoth battle but didn't watch the movie.

E3: Xbox Showcase and Bethesda Notes

WALL OF TEXT: E3 Xbox Showcase Bullet Points (As objectively as I can)

 XBOX FEATURES

• Xbox One "Game Preview" - Early Access for Xbox... I'm sorry console fans. I never wished this evil upon you. You're going to be SO mad playing Early Access games... I'm calling it right now. Just wait. Winter's coming.
• Xbox One Backwards Compatibility - This is good. I know a lot of console gamers want to go back to old games. (I personally think going back to old games is a waste of time for me now since I've played so much, but I can realize the value here)
• Xbox Elite Wireless Controller - This looks amazing. Swappable components and Windows/Xbox compatibility. Sign me up.

NEW GAMES

• Recore - No gameplay shown from Metroid Prime creators. Cinematic looks nice. Holding off on opinion until gameplay.
• Halo 5 - Halo/shooter game. More rehashed gameplay that will sell by the boatload. Console shooter fans will gobble it up, I won't bother. It'll be successful.
• Fallout 4 - FPS-RPG. Again. Will have mods. Mods are going to be a good addition. This game will be good, I'm not too worried. You get Fallout 3 free with Fallout 4... does this matter now? Why haven't you played Fallout 3 yet?
• Plants vs. Zombies: GW2 - Third-Person Action. This game needs some serious additions to it's content. It's a fun concept/core gameplay, but it gets stale fast. They'll need better matchmaking and more things to do. Also need to have better base customization options.
• Dark Souls 3 - Hardcore Third-Person Action-RPG. Another game of rehashed content. Not super excited, but I'm sure I'll play it and have a decent time. It's not going to be a groundbreaker.
• Ashen - Adventure. Looks pretty. Not a game that's piqued my interest, but it might be ok.
• Cuphead - 2D Sidescroll Action. This actually looks new and fun. Old school Disney art with modern action/platformer gameplay. Looks great.
• Ion - FPS Survival Game? The new space DayZ Xbox MMO from Dean "Rocket" Hall. Is this another game he'll pump into Early Access, then abandon to work on something else again? Stay tuned.
• Rare Collection: Another pack of old games to play on a new system. I think this has some great titles in it and it'll sell decently. Again, old games = I won't bother.
• Rise of The Tomb Raider - Adventure. I hope it'll be as good/better than the first game. Crystal Dynamics did a really good job of rebooting this IP.
• Sea of Thieves - Third-Person Action-RPG? Rare's new pirate multiplayer game for Xbox One. Not really sure on how the gameplay works, so I'll abstain from saying anything other than "it looks pretty."
• Minecraft Hololens - Creative. This looks bananas. If they can get the functionality even semi-close to how it looks on stage, this will be nuts. Hologram minecraft on my coffee table? Yes please.
• Gears of War: Ultimate Edition - Third-person Shooter. Boring. They HAD to bring out a couple "dude-bro" titles I guess. "You can play it at 1080p 60 fps now!" Sorry consoles, I have to pull the PCMASTERRACE card here... why wasn't it able to do that before? Not a selling point, in my opinion.
• Gears of War 4 - Third-person Shooter. The trailer was SO DARK. Couldn't really see much of anything other than ANOTHER game that just rehashes old game design to pump out another title that they know will sell. Bored.
• Divinity: Original Sin - Turn-based RPG. Shown after the showcase, this game will be AWESOME for console players. This is one of the best games I have played in the past year and is loads of fun with a friend.

Bethesda Notes:

• Fallout 4 will be a good game. It'll be a game that keeps a lot of game systems that work, and it'll iterate on that successful formula and have a better game.
• Doom looks boring. I'm so tired of just shooters for the sake of being shooters. 
• Dishonored 2 will be ok. It's one of the those games that I'll blow through once, and be done with forever. It'll be probably 20 hrs-ish of enjoyment, then I'll never touch it again.
• Elder Scrolls Card Game: Boring. I hate card games on computer.
• I'm currently playing Fallout Shelter even though I know it's a builder-esque mobile game... what's wrong with me.

Dungeon Defenders 2 - Why I Care About An Early Access Title

I think this game is finally headed in the right direction.

After a tumultuous beginning, Dungeon Defenders 2 is on the right track.  It started out as a MOBA title that I felt was very lackluster.  Luckily they changed back to their bread-and-butter game design of being a successful tower defense game with heavy RPG elements.

A lot of people are turned off by the game's free-to-play elements, but I don't feel that concern is warranted right now.  Let's go over the main game systems/features that exist in the game right now.

• RPG Leveling Character Progression
• Vertical Loot Progression (Several tiers/rarities of gear)
• Tower Defense style gameplay defending waves of enemies.
• Four different classes for variety, each with their own defenses and abilities.
• Pets that level up/help attack.
• Premium Currency Costumes/Skins
• Many different levels, including one boss encounter.
• Two difficulties currently present.

If you look at the bullet points, it's a pretty solid game so far.  In order to beat the boss level on the hardest difficulty, you have to have played for anywhere between 30-70 hours.  That time depends on if you had a friend help boost your character and gear.

I loved the first game, it had more content than I could ever accomplish.  I don't think I ever was able to solo the last level of the expansion content by myself on the hardest difficulty.

These games have had a cute art style that appeals to the more casual player, but gameplay elements that cater to the more hardcore.

This new patch for the early access has added the pet system, costumes, and the first boss, and I'm very excited to see what gets added to this game to see if it can become equal or better than the first title.

I'm out of time to write more right now, but I'll be back for a more in-depth post about Dungeon Defenders 2.

We're Doing It Wrong

We’re doing it wrong.

As an avid game enthusiast, I really believe that my fellow consumers and the companies that we consume from, often get confused with our expectations of the game products that we acquire.

The internet is, of course, a rampant cesspool of negativity and “comments.” I only describe “comments” with quotations because they’re hardly worth mentioning when they didn’t even require a brain synapse to fire to develop them. 

With that in mind, I like to analyze the critiques of games that develop over time, and compare them with my own notes about the recent releases to get a better feel for the market and the consumers that inhabit it.

This post is split into two sections, one for the game companies and one for the consumers.  Feel free to read both if you'd like to glean a better understanding of how I feel about the industry.

Developers/Game Companies

I’ve developed some strong beliefs when it comes to games and which business models they choose to follow.

The Rules of Game Costs:

If you think of your game as a product and your goal is to make a game in a specific way for a specific audience, then you should have a set one-time price on your game.

If you view your game as an on-going test of game evolution and feature creep, then you should go for a subscription model.

If you view your game as a core ideal that should be played by everyone BUT you want to monetize it, then go for a micro-transaction model.

Micro-transactions come with some additional rules.  This is where we venture into the dreaded “Don’t make a game Pay to Win” topic.

If you are going to use microtransactions, then determine how they are being implemented.

When the game is complete, but you’d like to add gameplay to it…

Determine the average amount of time spent playing until your games’ end state and compare that with the total cost of your game.  Then use that to determine the price of your DLC by comparison. 

For example:  If I buy a sixty dollar game that takes me twenty hours to beat, then I could expect a five hour DLC to cost fifteen dollars.  Obviously giving more gameplay to your consumer for a lower price always increases demand, but this should be used to determine the maximum cost of the content.

When your game is continually being developed and you set a price point of FREE…

Determine the things you can add to your game that would enhance the player’s experience without changing the core gameplay.  Re-skins of in-game assets are really popular, or just cosmetic things in general.  Why not add pets that just follow you around and look cute?  Never discount the things that might seem just like trivial addons.  They might be the most appealing to one section of your audience.

Consumers

If you skimmed over that last section then you understand where the development should be aimed.  A lot of companies and games are confused and even fail because they didn’t follow my idea of the rules of game costs.

We should cater our expectations to how the game is priced.

The Complete Product

If you purchase a game for a one-time price, you should expect to get a certain amount of enjoyment out of it, and it should be as bug-free as possible. 

I usually equate a sixty dollar game with about twenty hours of gameplay to be worth it.  I only developed this metric from the cost of going out to dinner and/or a movie.  Obviously, a lower price = less time enjoyed, etc.  Some people have their own algorithms, that’s just mine.

However, even though I have my own method of determining worth, I expect a game that has a set price without additional costs to be as complete of a product as possible.  I’ll be lenient if there’s an errant bug here and there, but anything game-breaking is unacceptable.

The Subscription

The subscription based game is a different beast.  I’ll give a little more leniency for bugs and errors.  I still will use my value metric to determine if the initial release of the gameplay was good enough, but it depends on the price.  Subscription based games can require an initial game purchase cost (i.e. World of Warcraft) or they can be a free-to-play model that is enhanced by a subscription (Airmech, War Thunder, etc.)  This game should be viewed as a service.  You need to keep improving and adding to it in order to make it worth the monthly fee.

The game should be worth the initial investment.  If it has a high price, I expect a lot of gameplay out of the base price.  If it’s free, I expect to be convinced that the gameplay is worth subscribing to.

Then after you determine if it was worth the price of engagement, you look at how it’s developing on a month-to-month basis.

Are the companies actively improving the game?  Are they actively adding content?  Is that content improving your gameplay experience?  Or is it not worth the investment?

Regular updates and content releases are usually the sign of a healthy studio that has a good plan of action, so that makes me feel better about the product that I’m investing time into.

The Micro-transaction

The core gameplay should be engaging.  I strongly believe that the game should get you to it’s intended play-state as fast as possible.

What I mean by that is this…  The game should have to playing the intended game experience as quickly as possible.  As a player, you should be able to see the vision immediately, or very quickly. 

One example of this kind of moment was my recent play session in Cities: Skylines.  It’s not a free-to-play title, but bear with me.  I had played the most recent release of SimCity, so I had certain expectations of how the game should pan out.  Within five minutes of playing, I was able to place pipes for my sewage and water, power lines for my citizens, and watched it all come to life and the population began moving into my fledgling city.  I remember calling my girlfriend over to check it out, and we watched as one of my citizens got into his car parked on the street by his house, drive to work, park, and enter the building. 

I immediately understood the depth and the core gameplay aspects of the game.

We should expect games to pull us in, but also that they’re not complete.  We should expect the game to ask us for money at some point.  Unless it’s a game made by a non-profit, we should expect the game to monetize in some way.  (Or a student project… you get the point.)

We should also expect the free-to-play games to have mechanisms in place to keep from “richer people” getting an advantage over “poorer people.”  The Pay to Win model is an ugly one that can get your game thrown into the bin of shovelware.  There can be many ways to do this, but it’s up to the developers to determine the gameplay experience, and I’m sure there’s more inventive ways to prevent this from happening that even I haven’t seen yet.

For a TL;DR version:

We should cater our expectations of games to the way that they’re priced.  Different pricing models should mean different things for the developers and the consumers.

We often get upset by our expectations of games and feel the need to express these in a variety of formats, but we should take a minute to consider if our complaint is valid, or if it’s just a waste of our concern.