Current state of Game making

[eluadyl]

I don't know if you guys are familiar with linux and it's community but anyway, there's an ongoing difference of opinion among users about software functionality. Some claim that diverse functionality in software creates confusion, while others actually want their software to have a lot of functions even if it makes it look a little complex. Lastly Linus made this statement:

"This 'users are idiots, and are confused by functionality' mentality
of Gnome is a disease. If you think your users are idiots, only idiots
will use it."

I think there's a similar trend going on in the gaming industry for quite some time now. What do you think? I guess this line of thought has a lot to do with the current state of B.Net.

[ArcherofAiur]

I like how when I log on to battlenet it takes my hand and gently explains just what I need to get my prestigous spectre achievment.

"Now you need 5 of these. And here is the button*. Ok stay calm you can get through this."


*which of course just takes you to the multiplayer section of the same interface which already has a button right above it and doesnt even change the race

[sandwich_bird]

Moved to off-topic. Please keep the threads strictly related to Starcraft 2 in the Starcraft 2 section. Everything else that is only related to starcraft indirectly should go in off-topic. Thanks.

[minerals]

But nobody reads Off-Topic

[eluadyl]

But nobody reads Off-Topic

Thanks for the sympathy I don't complain though, it really looks a little off topic

[sandwich_bird]

But nobody reads Off-Topic

Well you guys better start reading it! At least the thread is not in the BW section.

[Nicol Bolas]

Some claim that diverse functionality in software creates confusion, while others actually want their software to have a lot of functions even if it makes it look a little complex.

Both of these sides are idiots. Good UI design does not have to mean removing features. It is simply a matter of presenting to the user features that they want to use, and then putting the rest in reasonable places that are out of immediate sight.

However, the "we don't care about how the UI looks" people are the bigger idiots. This is a cop-out; what they really want is for their bad UI to be a barrier of entry. That way, new users have to go through the exact same crap that they had to go through. This ensures that new users are few and far between, as well as ensuring that the new users are obsessive shutins like them.

Look at Linus's statement as a great example. Most people just want stuff that works. You put toast in a toaster and push the leaver down; the toast pops up a few minutes later, toasted. You put things in a refrigerator, and in a few hours, they come out cold. It isn't that these people are idiots; it's that they don't want to invest the weeks and weeks of effort into becoming a computer expert just to use their computers.

And quite frankly, why should they have to?

[eluadyl]

Both of these sides are idiots. Good UI design does not have to mean removing features. It is simply a matter of presenting to the user features that they want to use, and then putting the rest in reasonable places that are out of immediate sight.

However, the "we don't care about how the UI looks" people are the bigger idiots. This is a cop-out; what they really want is for their bad UI to be a barrier of entry. That way, new users have to go through the exact same crap that they had to go through. This ensures that new users are few and far between, as well as ensuring that the new users are obsessive shutins like them.

Look at Linus's statement as a great example. Most people just want stuff that works. You put toast in a toaster and push the leaver down; the toast pops up a few minutes later, toasted. You put things in a refrigerator, and in a few hours, they come out cold. It isn't that these people are idiots; it's that they don't want to invest the weeks and weeks of effort into becoming a computer expert just to use their computers.

And quite frankly, why should they have to?

A bit harsh but you're quite right. It's one of the results of what I call the 'nerd attitude'. They expect everybody to be nerds or gtfo.
Same could be said about the L2S, L2P types.