EA Exec: "Our Games Are Too Hard To Learn"

[Kramer5150]

Interesting....I wonder if this will cause other devs to follow suit and decide the same.

EA Exec: "Our Games Are Too Hard To Learn"

Plus, Shadow of Mordor director says he thinks we'll see more and more games with RPG systems in the future.

Tonight at the D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas, Electronic Arts chief creative officer Richard Hilleman spoke about how video games today are often too hard to learn for new players.

"Our games are actually still too hard to learn," Hilleman said during during an on-stage interview with other developers. "The average player probably spends two hours to learn how to play the most basic game."


"And asking for two hours of somebody's time--most of our customers, between their normal family lives...to find two contiguous hours to concentrate on learning how to play a video game is a big ask," he added.


Hilleman's comments came in response to a statement from interviewer Pete Holmes, the comedian, who said he would prefer that controller layouts and button maps stay the same for future installments in established series and even across franchises.


Also on-stage for the interview was Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor design director Michael de Plater, who said he thinks we'll see more and game games adopt RPG systems in the future.


"Every game is an RPG now," he said. "You wouldn't make a game without progression and levels and XP. And I think every game is going to be a social game...good ideas propagate."

[LambertandHam]

Re: EA Exec: "Our Games Are Too Hard To Learn"

I'm fine with them offering tweaked/simplifying control schemes if you still leave the normal options in game. Hopefully things like Mass Effect 3's "Story Mode" option in difficulty, where the game played itself except for alerting you to story choices doesn't become the norm.

[Chizzypoof]

Re: EA Exec: "Our Games Are Too Hard To Learn"

I enjoy mastering a game. DCS A-10 warthog literally took two hours to learn how to turn the aircraft on let alone flying the thing. There is something satisfying when everything just clicks after learning something. Hilleman underestimates the drive/OCD that gamers have when learning how to play. That same drive pushes most of us to take the time to master it.

But I also think there needs to be a balance with some titles. Some games are overly complicated for the sake of having options. The heavy RPG elements and unlocks on different genres kind of cause the steep learning curve. Every two hours you unlock something new that changes your gameplay experience. Or better yet a new balance patch changes everything you've known for the last two months. Finding a sweet spot between unlocking stuff and balanced progression could also be good for gaming.

[mgoblue]

Re: EA Exec: "Our Games Are Too Hard To Learn"

I enjoy mastering a game. DCS A-10 warthog literally took two hours to learn how to turn the aircraft on let alone flying the thing. There is something satisfying when everything just clicks after learning something. Hilleman underestimates the drive/OCD that gamers have when learning how to play. That same drive pushes most of us to take the time to master it.

But I also think there needs to be a balance with some titles. Some games are overly complicated for the sake of having options. The heavy RPG elements and unlocks on different genres kind of cause the steep learning curve. Every two hours you unlock something new that changes your gameplay experience. Or better yet a new balance patch changes everything you've known for the last two months. Finding a sweet spot between unlocking stuff and balanced progression could also be good for gaming.

I would agree, but also say that a game that's so hard to learn like the ARMA simulation series makes more people less likely to try it, and therefore less sales. It's a fine line for sure.

[Armor and Sword]

Re: EA Exec: "Our Games Are Too Hard To Learn"

The wussification of the USA has now creeped it's way into console video gaming.

Dear lord. What are coming to. Let's just dumb down everything.

Could you imagine kids today trying to play NES Ninja Gaiden? No saves, 3 lives. You die you begin the level all over again.

Anyway.

[FreshFocus]

Re: EA Exec: "Our Games Are Too Hard To Learn"

The wussification of the USA has now creeped it's way into console video gaming.

Dear lord. What are coming to. Let's just dumb down everything.

Could you imagine kids today trying to play NES Ninja Gaiden? No saves, 3 lives. You die you begin the level all over again.

Anyway.

These comments are so damn annoying and pathetic you and others are when you make statements like these.

[Feared]

Re: EA Exec: "Our Games Are Too Hard To Learn"

I think there's a fine line within this topic, and sometimes we need to step back and differentiate that Learning Curve and The Core Game play difficulty, can be mutually exclusive entities.

I doubt many people want to play a game that requires, 2 hours just to learn how to control your character/vehicle, and wipe/restart their File Twenty times in order to go anywhere. That to me indicates poor game design, in 2015 we want smooth controls, and seamless gameplay mechanics, and difficulty should scale as you progress.

However for a game to have staying power it's Core gameplay must be finely tuned, and balanced. A game that is so dumbed down, and simple that anyone can achieve the highest achievements, upgrades without any degree of difficulty just seems pointless, as anything more than a casual time waster. It's like the trope of making a boss so easy that it just falls over and hands you the rewards as the player enters the encounter. Serious gamers don't want that.


For me I've been gaming for 10+ years now, I know what to expect from a controls/layout standpoint in FPS games, and RPGs. I don't need a guide to tell me how to play those, but at the same time there is a certain difficulty curve I like to see in my games that make me have to earn the achievements within it... and that's the fine line that I think developers need to constantly balance to draw in new players / keep veteran gamers interested in their games.

[LambertandHam]

Re: EA Exec: "Our Games Are Too Hard To Learn"

I think there's a fine line within this topic, and sometimes we need to step back and differentiate that Learning Curve and The Core Game play difficulty, can be mutually exclusive entities.

I doubt many people want to play a game that requires, 2 hours just to learn how to control your character/vehicle, and wipe/restart their File Twenty times in order to go anywhere. That to me indicates poor game design, in 2015 we want smooth controls, and seamless gameplay mechanics, and difficulty should scale as you progress.

However for a game to have staying power it's Core gameplay must be finely tuned, and balanced. A game that is so dumbed down, and simple that anyone can achieve the highest achievements, upgrades without any degree of difficulty just seems pointless, as anything more than a casual time waster. It's like the trope of making a boss so easy that it just falls over and hands you the rewards as the player enters the encounter. Serious gamers don't want that.


For me I've been gaming for 10+ years now, I know what to expect from a controls/layout standpoint in FPS games, and RPGs. I don't need a guide to tell me how to play those, but at the same time there is a certain difficulty curve I like to see in my games that make me have to earn the achievements within it... and that's the fine line that I think developers need to constantly balance to draw in new players / keep veteran gamers interested in their games.

Agreed. I do think though that mastery of game mechanics or learning of game mechanics outside of controls often makes games fall into the the "Too Hard to Learn" camp. I've run into it trying to get friends into the Dark Souls series and Total War series where certain mechanics or learning curves cause a "Well, I'm done with this game" moment.

[Mizzou24]

Re: EA Exec: "Our Games Are Too Hard To Learn"

Demon souls and dark souls were very annoying other than that I've never really been frustrated with a game and picked it up with ease. I don't understand how games are too hard to learn when almost every game has a tutorial as soon as U start with what each thing does... I mean it doesn't take much brains to figure it out after 5 minutes more less 2 hours.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bakan723]

Re: EA Exec: "Our Games Are Too Hard To Learn"

LOL.....apparently even pressing A for awesome is too hard now.

[Tyrant8RDFL]

Re: EA Exec: "Our Games Are Too Hard To Learn"

Im not sure if that the case in regards with games being to difficult, but I do like the idea of keeping the controll scheme the same.

I really hate it when sports franchises keep changing the control scheme.

[TheDutchDad]

Re: EA Exec: "Our Games Are Too Hard To Learn"

The wussification of the USA has now creeped it's way into console video gaming.

Dear lord. What are coming to. Let's just dumb down everything.

Could you imagine kids today trying to play NES Ninja Gaiden? No saves, 3 lives. You die you begin the level all over again.

Anyway.

I agree there is a wussification of America in a much grander more important than video game difficulty going on, but I agree to some extent with this Exec.

Those with families, kids, etc only have a few hours a day if that to play. Games today have become tedious at times to master.

And Ninja Gaiden? How many buttons did you need to learn then? Nothing like today, plus all the options in todays games. I don't see the comparison.

Granted, I have gone back and played some games that I used to play as a kid using N64 ROMS, etc, on my PC, and some of them were more difficult than I remember, but I played the crap out of them then.

[TheDutchDad]

Re: EA Exec: "Our Games Are Too Hard To Learn"

...also, I'm not sure he really means "pushing A is too hard now."

Look at games like AC, or FC, or any game like that. I even have trouble remembering what the heck does what at times early on in games. I recently went two weeks between playing my game save on AC and FC and had to sort of re-accustom myself to what I was doing. I feel like I miss more in these games cause I have to spend time learning it rather than playing it.

[Sandman42]

Re: EA Exec: "Our Games Are Too Hard To Learn"

Oh, so more overly long tutorial sequences now? This is why I've fallen off on most AAA games. It takes 3-4 hours of playing a game until it fully unlocks everything. Compare Far Cry 2 with 3 and 4. 2 let you jump right in and go anywhere in the world and do anything you wanted. 3 and 4 bar areas from you until you complete certain missions.

Give me games like Spelunky, Binding of Isaac, and Darkest Dungeon where I can jump in immediately and learn for myself and don't have to deal with 3 hours of tutorials before the game gets going.

[TheDutchDad]

Re: EA Exec: "Our Games Are Too Hard To Learn"

Oh, so more overly long tutorial sequences now? This is why I've fallen off on most AAA games. It takes 3-4 hours of playing a game until it fully unlocks everything. Compare Far Cry 2 with 3 and 4. 2 let you jump right in and go anywhere in the world and do anything you wanted. 3 and 4 bar areas from you until you complete certain missions.

Give me games like Spelunky, Binding of Isaac, and Darkest Dungeon where I can jump in immediately and learn for myself and don't have to deal with 3 hours of tutorials before the game gets going.

Pretty much. I love the depth to many games these days. FC, AC, GTA, all very deep games, and I love games that are completely open to you from the get go. Skyrim awesome for that reason.

But some have become cumbersome.