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

[Sean Howard]

"Tess Snider" <malkyne at gmail.com> wrote:
> Word-of-mouth (and shoulder surfing) was definitely what made The Sims
> successful.  The "hardcore element" expressed itself in many different
> ways.

Word of mouth, sure, but not from the hardcore. In my case, I'm the only
gamer in my family. I'm not a hardcore gamer, but I do buy many, many,
many games. I did not buy the Sims. I did not play the Sims. My wife,
sister, and parents all played the Sims without a single word of
encouragement from me - and I know they were not hanging out in mailing
lists and gaming forums, nor were the cavorting with known hardcore
gamers.

The Sims had a LOT of media coverage, much like Spore is getting or like
the Wii already had, and people who don't play games are seeing these
things from non-hardcore, non-gaming outlets. And I don't think you will
be able to say that the entertainment editor for the New York Times is a
hardcore gamer.

Hardcore gamers are early adopters, but just because they get their first
does not mean that we know about games because of them. There's always
some reporter who doesn't know crap about games covering the E3, or some
focus on the family group causing a stink about some violent game, or some
tv show (or three) mentions Guitar Hero. The hardcore element is far too
quick to grab the credit for everything that is good and popular about
gaming.

-- 
Sean Howard