Archive: 2 posts

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I had an idea last night that could be really cool, but it's kind of out there so I want to see what the community thinks. The release of the Hansel and Gretelbot level series with Mm's "stamp of approval" on it got me thinking. Mm has created a whole new genre of gaming here, so it stands to reason that the future of the LBP community and it's relationship to Mm and the game is somewhat unknown. So with that in mind, I had an idea for what could possibly come next. What if Mm continued to "endorse" user-created "level packs" (from here on I'll call them "games". It is a platform for games, after all.) by not just making an announcement and telling everyone to go play them, but by making these games a form of DLC. You're probably thinking, "Why in the world would I pay for user-created levels when there's a bazillion of them available to me at the click of a button?" Well here's the rub. These Mm-endorsed, user-created games could be filled with prize bubbles containing new Mm-created content. Much like how they've released DLC in the past, except for now you're playing through user-created games to collect new, Mm-created content. (stickers, materials, objects, etc.) The idea here would be that the creator would get a small percentage of the money generated from this DLC. Some people spend months and months on their creations, and it really shows. And if you think about it, we're using the same tools as the people at Mm who create the story levels. (granted, they do more than just sit around and create levels, but the act of creating a level is so similar that I think a monetary reward for the creator shouldn't be out of the question.) A few caveats here: The bar would have to INCREDIBLY high when it comes to selecting these games. Also, considering how often Mm releases new DLC, these user-created games we pay for would be few and far between, which I think would be a good thing. You see on these forums that people are already getting groups together to make their games. Before long we're gonna start seeing more and more "level series" that rival even some of the other 5-10 dollar games on PSN. Heck, I see comments like, "This is better than X game I bought for my iPhone." all the time on the Mm Picks levels. There would be a ton of kinks to iron out for sure, but I could see this turning LBP and the Play, Create, Share genre into something else entirely.

2011-03-09 20:22:00 Author: ccapel Posts: 100

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Hmm... I see where you're going with this, and to be honest... there seem to be a few people who would agree with you that this might be an interesting direction to go (judging from past similar discussions). I think what the real problem here would be is to try and convince many of us just how this would be a good aspect of the game to change. I have mixed feelings on the Hansel_Gretelbot project. My main issue with the project was that I don't think it was explained to us or presented in a way that was completely accurate or coherent. I was under a certain impression (from reading the original post and replies from the creators themselves) that things "went down" between them and Mm to get this project done in a certain way. I'll admit that this may have been my own fault for misreading or misinterpreting those posts, but I was really under the impression that this project was being worked on more closely with Mm, and that Mm would be "guiding them along", offering help, tips, QC'ing the levels, and giving the team an experienced coordinator with whom to liase with in order to really try and pull something together that was on par with the stuff that Mm produces. After playing through the levels, this simply didn't seem to be the case in my opinion... and resulted in my being disappointed and feeling badly that the team might have really been left on their own to do more than what seemed to be fair of Mm to be asking of them to try to do. By that I mean trying to assemble a fairly large team of creators to replicate the results of a professional working environment of artists and a developement team. Don't get me wrong... the series was a great "test" and much seemed to be learned from it. Each and every one of those levels has something good to offer on it's own, but unlike Mm created content... it just didn't have that cohesive and tightly woven feel that professional levels and games have. I don't blame the team at all... I actually think this was a fail on Mm's part and that it was far too early to be asking any of these creators to adventure into a project like this.. especially given that none of them had a solid working understanding of the new tools or time with them under their belts, that they were working with a horribly bug-rittled beta version, and that none of them were even in the same building (nevermind time zone). I'm only bringing all that up for one reason really... to point out that Mm's stamp of approval isn't really worth much to me where this kind of creative endeavour is concerned. I think Mm had quite a big brainfart on this one actually, and I don't fully trust that they really thought any of the process through. That being said, I certainly would be more than apprehensive about paying for anything they endorse that doesn't emanate directly from their studio's any more. Ultimately though, I'm just not interested in paying to play levels by people who don't do this for a living under the roof of a controlled environment with all the proper steps in place. I'm also really against people coming up with new ways for large companies to sell more product to us, and that's because we have become a "consumerist society" which is ultimately really bad for this planet and the minds of the people growing into it. If Mm want to hire these folks and pay them a decent wage for their time and efforts that might be one thing... but to just give them a percentage for piggybacking on their work in order to sell their DLC and not put the work into the levels themselves(?)... never. I was honestly quite ticked (as many people were) when I found out that the GOTY edition had exclusive levels made by the community on it. It felt like a complete slap in my face as both a loyal fan and loyal purchaser of DLC, that they would release the same game to those who had never played it and give them exclusive access to content created by other community members. To know that they didn't really give a hoot that I was unable to play these levels unless I went out and dropped another chunk of money for the same game, and that people were now also getting free DLC that I payed my hard earned cash for was simply wrong of them in my opinion... and has since made me slightly leary of both Mm and SONY. Actually, that's not entirely true... SONY have been screwing us for years and making bad decisions, so I've always been leary of them. There are similar threads here on the forum discussing the idea of "Pay To Play" and the idea just doesn't seem to be one that's being embraced well by the community. I'll say what I said there... the only way I think any community member would stand to make money in any fair sense would be to set up some sort of donation system. The idea would be that if I go play your level and love it so much or am so impressed by the fact that you gave me a usefull and well made prize instead of a wooden door you took 38 seconds to make out of Green Styrene and stickered pink... that I would have the option of leaving a small monetary donation in some sort of PayPal account to say thanks and let you know I appreciate your hard work and talents. Other than that... I can't ever see anyone in the community embracing the idea of creators making money off of this game. It simply goes against everything this game stands for. "Play, Create, Share" have become 3 of the most powerful words in this community and no one seems to be interested in changing that or tryng to fix something that just isn't broken. Don't get me wrong, I see that your intentions are good and that you are looking for ways to improve on the system and the game, and possibly find a way to ensure that this game's future is secure... but I simply don't think it's a necessary step to take or even start thinking about. I think this game's powerful attractive qualities of being able to enjoy user created content for free, and to know that Mm cares about continuing to generate quality DLC and do their best to get rid of all the bugs is what makes it so successful. That, and the community who do their best to keep things on an even playing ground for everyone and try to live up to Mm's standards and their motto of Play, Create, Share. Those are my thoughts anyways. Cheers!

2011-03-10 07:12:00 Author: Rustbukkit Posts: 1737

Posts: 1077139    Threads: 69970    Members: 9661    Archive-Date: 2019-01-19

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