• coffinwood@feddit.de
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    If Bethesda games are so mediocre, why are they so popular among players who love to put hundreds of hours into them? I can’t imagine them all playing total conversion mods.

    It’s become such a custom to poop on Bethesda for making “shallow”, “uninteresting” games that still everybody talks about. As if there weren’t enough real flaws in their games to give them heat for.

    • Cowbee@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      Because mediocrity and popularity go hand in hand, it’s the profit motive at work. Being largely inoffensive and generally palatable is profitable.

      • coffinwood@feddit.de
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        That’s not the definition of mediocrity. Trying to appeal to a bigger audience doesn’t make a game mediocre in the same way not every niche game has the potential of being a masterpiece just by not being that much likeable.

        Some games are popular and good.

        • Cowbee@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          What’s good and what’s popular do not necessarily align. Removing “complicated” features for the sake of mass appeal makes the game worse, but more profitable, much of the time.

          • coffinwood@feddit.de
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            Also not true. Complexity alone doesn’t make a good game / movie / book / piece of art. And lack thereof doesn’t make anything worse.

            Why is it that when many people like a thing because that thing appeals to masses, it’s automatically categorised as lower quality?

            Nobody seriously claimed Starfield to be the game of all games. It’s good. It’s fine. It’s not perfect. So what?