By Novril / February 1, 2012
Seth Killian: “Beginner gems are for beginners. We’re not trying to make this a noob friendly game; we’re just trying to extend that hand. We’re trying to minimize the barriers to entry as much as possible.”
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2012/02/seth-killian-competitive-gaming-and-the-value-of-gems/
No one really thinks those petty gems will ruin the game.
The problem that troubles people is much deeper than that: that the game’s mechanics are designed specifically to cater to false impressions held by casual players, rather than correcting these impressions and providing a solid game for players to uncover naturally.
Noob point of view: “The Auto Throw Escape gem is a great way to get into the game!”
Experienced point of view: “The Auto Throw Escape gem is a horrible way to get into the game! It teaches you bad habits, as you are playing a ‘fake’ version of a game. The same holds true for every ‘easy mode’ in other games. These things just don’t get results, they only waste the naive noob’s time!” (Also, think of how many noobs may have quit Tekken just because they were given the false impression that they should memorize and use the entirety of the move list to do well, for example.)
Noob POV: “Holy shit, 50 characters! This game is worth my money!”
Experienced POV: “The number of characters means nothing if some of them end up playing the same way, only better than others. I’d rather have 8 well-designed characters which get more attention, than 50 poorly-designed characters which get less attention.”
Noob POV: “It’s good that the gems are there, so different players of the same character could play differently.”
Experienced POV: “Being able to play the same character in many different and effective ways is not something that should come from some outside gimmick, but from the way the character itself is built.”
Noob POV: “Thank you Capcom for presenting a bold new direction of customization to the genre!”
Experienced POV: “Where were you when the Arcana Heart series did it better in every possible way, dumbass?”
Noob POV: “This is 2012! We need more online modes!”
Experienced POV: “This is 2012! We need a good netcode! Who cares about the modes if everything is laggy anyway?”
This approach is why so many veteran players are bitching that games are going backwards instead of forward. When you check out a game, think if it’s various features were added to make it appear better, or to make it actually be better.