With net
neutrality being an issue at the moment, I'm reminded of the simple statements
of Nash Bozard who said that, without goodwill, we will abandon a company the
instant we are able. He was referring to
the abysmal business practices of ISPs and how they have frustrated and abused
their customers to the points where the instant they are not needed, their
customers will toss them aside. Well,
it's the same with game companies.
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| Shouldn't game companies do the same? |
Goodwill is
kind of an essential thing in this era of gaming, where prices are higher, income
is lower, and the options are much larger.
In the 80s and 90s, you had only a few options for play, namely
Nintendo, Sega, PC, or perhaps a third party console like the Turbo Grafx. But now, we have dozens of digital
distribution websites, 3 major consoles, 3 backlogs of consoles from the
previous generations, and not to mention handhelds. There are literally hundreds if not thousands
of games being released every month, in some way shape or form. So, with that many options, you have to hold
onto your fans with as much vigor as you can muster, not push them away or
squeeze them dry with shady business tactics.
Because a fan whom you have treated well will stick with you through
thick and thin. They'll forgive a few
botched experiments, so long as you let them know you respect and care about
their business.
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| The options we have here are staggering. |
A good
example of this is Nintendo. Nintendo
has made several unusual choices in gaming in the last decade or so. They released the Gamecube with a distinctly
child-like/toyish design, they made motion control a core part of the Wii and
the Wii U is meant to emulate tablet gaming.
These experimentations might push away core fans if not for the simple
fact that 90% of the time, when you buy a Nintendo game, you know you buy
quality. Nintendo may not french kiss
all their fans and they've made their share of mistakes, but in the age of
buggy launches, early access, and outright scams via Kickstarter or Steam, it's
refreshing to pick up a Mario or Zelda game and know that 1) it will work right
out of the box, no patches necessary, 2) it will be a high quality experience,
regardless of any experimentation, and 3) it will be accessible by almost
anyone. Fans love Nintendo because they
continue to give them quality, even if the games themselves sometimes seem to
repeat. More than that, Nintendo has
also generated a pseudo culture around itself, where it appears friendly,
offering fans rewards via the Nintendo Club and basically making themselves
seem approachable.
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| You bought a Nintendo game? Come on up and pick your reward! |
On the
other hand, let's look at Steam, of late.
Steam used to be a great example of a company that understood and
generated goodwill with its customers. They
have frequent sales of their games and until about 2011-2012, the products
released on Steam were of proven quality.
They could have bugs or patches, but they were still strong, enjoyable
games that were well worth the money.
However, recently, Steam has started to become unstable. They have released a glut of shovelware
titles onto their marketplace, which, with this new influx of trash, has become
harder to navigate to find the quality items, their early access releases have
no quality control so a game can be for sale at full price that is effectively
broken or released as a scam to take money, and their attempt at getting new,
innovative products through Greenlight has been a rather depressing failure,
with some games being inspiring, such as Octodad, Bunny Must Die, or La-Mulana,
while other releases have been appalling disasters, such as Guise of the Wolf
which is laughably bad in every way and Kingdom Rush, which was so bugged upon
release that it was unwinnable past level 3.
Worse, when you start abusing your customers like this, policies that
you've implemented that weren't a big deal before start becoming more apparent. The sometimes intrusive, sometimes not DRM
Steam uses to both protect your games, but also monitor you, the no refund
policy under most circumstances, and the abusable comment and review systems
are only a few. When compared to GoG,
which will offer refunds if your game does not work, which frequently gives out
free, classic games, and which still uses a high level of quality control,
coupled with DRM free titles, Steam starts to seem less and less reliable. And if they continue, they may lose many of their
regular customers to GoG, Desura, or Green Man Gaming.
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| Oh, Steam...what have you been letting into your inner circle? |
Now, let's
look at one of the worst. EA. EA has frequently screwed over its customers
with DRM through online passes, released buggy games, such as Simcity, which
was unplayable offline at all and unplayable online for the first few weeks,
and forced players to register with their online service Origin if they want
access to EA's games. These kinds of
policies push consumers away and have been lampooned by people far wittier than
me(See Yahtzee Croshaw or Jim Sterling.)
The sad truth is that EA doesn't value its customers. Apologists might argue otherwise, but EA sees
them as a way of making a quick profit and will do anything to get more money,
such as including micro-transactions in a full price game, forcing DRM to try
and shut out pirates, and releasing games too early in order to gain some quick
profits. They may be pretty big, but EA
has also dealt with a lot of controversy.
Lawsuits over Battlefield 4, the outcry and hilarious media disaster
that was Simcity, piracy STILL happening despite their best efforts to force
consumers to prove their loyalty, etc.
If these continue, EA will lose customers...they've already been losing
customers. A franchise players love will
only care a company so far.
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| Need I say more about EA? |
My point
with this is to try and emphasize the obvious.
If a company abuses its customers, even if the abuse is something as
minor as releasing a buggy game that lacks polish, then they are risking losing
them. You have to engender goodwill in
your consumers if you want them to be loyal.
Elder Scrolls fans have cried foul of Bethesda on many occasions because of the
bugs, but mostly forgive the series because of how deep, enjoyable, and
moddable it is. Elder Scrolls Online has
pushed that, requiring a sixty dollar commitment, a fifteen dollar further
commitment if they want to play the game at all after buying it, and the option
of using real money to buy things like horses.
They have cast aside a lot of goodwill there. Likewise, Konami and Kojima productions are
risking reprisal when Metal Gear Solid 5 gets released due to their $40 demo
sold under the title, Metal Gear Solid 5 Ground Zeroes. Sales may be strong now, but the internet
remembers...the internet remembers and it does not always forgive.
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| 75 dollar entry fee...was Elder Scrolls Online worth it? Goodwill, wasted, needlessly. |
Even
companies like Nintendo need to be aware of how they COULD be engendering more
goodwill. Mother fans would bow down and
welcome their new god, Nintendo, if they announced the release of Mother
3. RPG fans the world over and nostalgia
buffs would flock to the Wii U if cult hits like Rygar, Terranigma, and other
titles would grace the Virtual Console.
And Nintendo isn't above mistakes either...the Retro Remix games they
have released is dangling dangerously close to cash in, with links to the
Virtual Console to buy the full version of the sample game that you can play.
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| I've got my eye on you, Nintendo... |
In the age
of dwindling sales, game companies need, more than ever, to be willing to bow
their heads, take a little bit of a pay cut here and there, and say to their
fans, "Thank you for sticking with us." The truth is, we don't have as much money,
but we do have more games and more options for buying and playing them. Hell, it's at the point where we don't even
need to pay games, since something like Hearthstone or Loadout are free to play
with no required buy in.
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| 100% free to play. |
So, what
can companies do to let gamers know they care?
Well, first, they can be straight with them. Be honest if you're having problems. Don't hide it and push your buggy game onto
the market. Say you need more time...say
it might not be up to snuff...gamers will respect you more for being honest
than for trying to pretend things are okay when they're clearly not.
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| A little honesty might have made this less painful, Gearbox... |
Next,
companies can talk to gamers like people.
Communicate not corporation to consumer, but gamer to gamer or developer
to gamer. One thing Kickstarter does well
is it allows the creators of games to directly talk with and engage their fans
in updates and comments. It wouldn't be
that hard to implement for anyone who's bought a game digitally. No cryptic salesman bull crap, but just talk
like a normal person. Hell, even a
regular podcast would do wonders for PR.
Another
good way to engender goodwill is freebies that aren't just being held back or
that aren't just shovelware. Think about
what would happen if Sega gave a Steam gift code to one of their titles on
Steam, like Beyond Oasis, Vectorman, or the Sonic games, with each new purchase
of a current game. Fans might not use
them...but they might. They'd remember
that a good game was given to them, even if it was old. And what does that cost Sega? Nothing.
It's a digital game made years ago.
There's no real overhead. Extras
in game packages that AREN'T collector's editions also work well with
this. Soundtracks, figurines, posters,
anything that makes a gamer feel like they're getting more than their money's
worth is smart and a good way to engender goodwill.
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| Still awesome years later, an easy way to earn kudos points with gamers. Give it to them for free. |
Probably
the best way to make gamers love you?
Listen to them and give them what they want. Not in terms of game design I mean, since
then we'd get more and more Call of Duty Clones, but for example, many Konami
fans miss Suikoden or the Metroidvania style Castlevania games. So, give them one. If you can't make a new Suikoden game, for
whatever reason, make the older ones more accessible. Suikoden 2 is STILL awaiting release on the
PSN...if it had been released 4 years ago, when the service was getting going,
Konami would have been heaped with praise.
Now, we're just praying it doesn't get cancelled. And these games? Yeah, you might take a little loss on them at
first, but think about all the people you will hold onto because you said,
"We listen and we care."
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| C'mon, Konami, stop dragging your feet... |
The smaller
things a game company can do to generate more goodwill is to not take advantage
of the goodwill they've already got.
See, goodwill is like money in a bank.
It accrues interest the longer you have it and don't spend it. If you keep getting goodwill, or even if you
just don't abuse that goodwill, it will deliver in spades. So, don't release buggy games if
possible. Don't force DRM. Don't make on disc DLC. Don't hold back content so you can release it
AS DLC. If you just release a game and
put your all into it, you'll earn goodwill...and even if you don't, you won't
squander it by abusing your consumers.
I just
wanted to write this up to remind people that sometimes, you need to play the
long game. Goodwill is like an
investment. You won't see an immediate
return on it, but if you want to retire...it's a good thing to have. It will keep making money even if you start
to stumble or lose your way because you have respected and stood by your fans
and they will, in turn, stand by you.
Companies need to take note, before it's too late. You might make your money now, but sooner
rather than later, your fans will abandon you when a new company, one that
respects or at least doesn't abuse its players as much, joins the scene. If you don't get people who will stand with
you...then you'll have no one to help you when it all comes crashing down.
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| Not even great Galactus can do it alone... |
Woe to him
that is alone when he falleth, for he hath not another to help him up.
- Ecclesiastes 4:10
