[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] Who to design for?

[Michael Hartman]

Sean Howard wrote:
> Obviously, I've never read this report or know what their methods are, so
> I'll have to bow to your superior experience in this instance. But I treat
> it with suspicion based on my own experiences with casual gamers and the
> Sims, and I fear that the answer they arrived at is ultimately worthless.
> If you can't use that answer to predict the next big Sims game or to
> design it, what good does it do to have it? Great, you've explained
> yesterday, but what about tomorrow?

This is a 1 month+ old discussion, but I just read this and had to
wonder:

If these "casuals" did not learn about The Sims from their hardcore
gaming spouses, boyfriends, family, etc, then where did they learn about
it?

If "casuals" aren't learning about games from hardcore gamers, then
where do they learn about them?

The only time a game gets any significant mainstream press is when it is
already a titanic success.

So it would seem that simple logic coincides with the research findings
here.