John Lucas and the polite forum discussion
Normally when you imagine a videogame forum, there are people who take sides, and arguments that happen everywhere. To the posters, it feels like politics supporting this cause or that game.
On the VG Chartz forum, a poster named John Lucas wrote a long post about the Wii U and how it worked. The thread he started is at 64 pages now, and does not seem ready to stop. There have been discussions, and even disagreements, but the posters continue to arrive, and even greet each other. The idea presented by John Lucas was fascinating, even more fascinating is that everyone is getting along. I decided to interview some of the posters to find out why they are still coming, and what they thought of the conversation.
John Lucas himself does not give you a short answer. If you ask him what his favorite game is, he will give you a long list of games he loves for every system he played (I will post that later). When he discusses things, his posts can reach academic paper length. Yet, he is always kind about who he debates with.
“Well in the thread you have mostly seen me & richardhutnik going back & forth or me & Gamerace going back & forth. Richard always promotes interesting arguments that compel me to respond & break down his logic. In fact, he was the first one I responded to on the thread. I was going to let the thread marinate a little bit before jumping in but he made me reply since I couldn't let his stance go unchallenged. I have enjoyed debating him on the thread & I hope our arguments stand up to the test of time. I believe this thread will be referenced all throughout the generation & it's good to see where people stood BEFORE history was made.
…
“I have personally private messaged Pemalite in respect for his especially civil arguments. He didn't seem to be argumentative for argument's sake (even though that's fun too). He came with a general viewpoint more to fill a knowledge gap than to win debate points.”
In fact others have noticed the way the debate has continued. Dr. EisDrachenJaegger has said he enjoyed watching the debates.
I was interested in how JL was framing his argument, when Gamerace came it was fun to see them debate further as he[gamerace] was poking around looking for holes or lapses in logic so he could shatter his[JL’s] argument. Then more and more people started chiming in and JL was able to consistently and effectively dismantle their proposed outlooks ... The whole situation reads a bit like an amusing narrative to me though. ( I did read every post in the thread after all, it'd have to keep me entertained enough to do that). I've not said much beyond the few times I decided to straight talk some sense into some of the debates going on, mainly due to the fact that gaming itself is an extremely turbulent industry, its not a kind one, not one so easy to get into either.
Well I think it's because it's something we believe in, not something of a competition between fans of other systems, but trying to let others see what Nintendo has to offer, in the end I think most of us have just ignored the trolls and flames, just bothered with the actual discussions. Heh, maybe if more people did that the internet would be a nicer place. People tend to not bother trolling when they can't get a reaction.
But what is his theory? John Lucas claims it came to him while watching the Microsoft E3 presentation.
What I wrote in my UNITY post truly came to me like a bolt of lightning. I had been confused about Nintendo's direction since 2011 when I understood them so completely in 2005 at the emergence of the Revolution. I couldn't figure out why they made the moves they did all of a sudden.
Because I was so tied to the promise of the Wii it made me blind to Nintendo's motivations.
..
Somehow all of that came to me at once when Microsoft had that conference for the XBox One at E3 2013. Like a bolt of lightning zapping through my mind. The first word I thought of was UNITY. Nintendo had a master plan to end the industry divide. Ironically Microsoft's actions with XBox One at E3 inspired me to see what was going on.
In the theory, he says that 3rd parties are rebellious children.
I talked about the 3rds being Mercenaries. They have no true ties to anybody & will be more reckless without oversight. That's why we see Microsoft do it what it did with the XBox One presentation at E3 2013. The 3rd party pushed that mess. Trying to gut the used game stores because they're scared they won't make their money back on these overblown game budgets that don't produce the necessary sales. This on-disc DLC garbage. The always-online insanity. This is 3rd party thinking. Sales for their games are not really increasing much over the 6th gen's totals overall while their development budgets are going up. They're panicking & getting greedy, getting antagonistic to the players who keep them in business. 3rd parties left to their own devices become irresponsible, reckless, & destructive. To themselves & the entire business altogether. They're short-term focused & short-sighted.
The motive is control. The 3rd parties don't like to be controlled. But when they run rampant without any regard for the long-term health of the gaming ECOLOGY they example why there needs to be control in the environment. The 1st party makes the platform while also making games for that platform. The 2nd party assists the 1st party in strengthening the platform by making games exclusively for it. The 3rd party just seeks to make the games & are not as a concerned about the platform per se. They're mercenaries. But without the platforms stabilizing & channeling game development the industry ecology starts to suffer. Which in turn makes all parties suffer.
A First Party is a parent, or adult.
This is why the 1st party is the most important. They have a responsibility to maintain the value of the overall business. They have to make sure retailers will stock their systems, that customers will accept their features, that supply is adequate, that product integrity is not in question.
The 3rd party only worries about selling their games & nothing else but how are they gonna sell the games if there's no viable platform to sell them on? The 2nd party understands this & assists the 1st party EXCLUSIVELY so they can sell their games too. The 3rd should also assist the platform even if not exclusively but today's 3rds in their rebellion seemed determined to wreck the platforms led by the strongest 1st party, Nintendo. Since the console business is ultimately Nintendo's this rebellion hurts the gaming ecology, damages the value for all in the gaming business.
How responsible is responsible? Well for example Nintendo President Satoru Iwata cuts his pay in half rather than cut his employees pay. And refuses to lay off staff on principle because it can kill worker morale, dedication, & loyalty knowing that don't have job security. His staff will put out their best games if they know the company will be in support of them.
The big key is that Nintendo is the parent of all videogames, the loving father, or great master of games. Working with Nintendo makes a better game, and both the 3rd party, and 1st make money.
And back to Resident Evil again. When Capcom decided to work with Nintendo & create Resident Evil remake, Resident Evil Zero & MORE IMPORTANTLY Resident Evil 4, the franchise got a creative boost. By the time we get to Resident Evil 6, so much of what made Resident Evil Resident Evil was lost. It sold well but is it really Resident Evil anymore or just some regular action game?
Therefor this open rebellion is hurting games, and as companies try to move away from Nintendo, the industry suffers. Not only that, Nintendo can survive without Third Parties because of how well their own games sell. Nintendo has the top ten best selling games of all time.
Nintendo jumped into the Wii U early because it would make Sony and Microsoft jump in early as well. Both of these companies have just barely started to make money off of their current systems. If they have to rush in to catch up with Nintendo, they will go broke.
The Twin consoles would then try to prove that more power equalled better gameplay, however the Wii had disproven this. In fact, more power meant the cost of making a game was more than the third party companies could handle. They will be forced to make smaller games, or go bankrupt.
What happens is a collapse of the other industry players. Dr. EisDrachenJaegger describes it as this.
Holiday 2013 Key Software gains the WiiU traction in various territories,particularly Japan.
Summer 2014 WiiU's userbase has grown rather size-ably, the system, builds a rapport with gamers and the like in the same manner as the 3DS did, various system improvements leave apprehension at the door for the most reproachful of folk
2015-2016, serious market share competition, various ploys and tactics displayed in attempts to sell games to the public (virtual reality, improved software, ect ) during this time microconsoles from the likes of Amazon(who I think have the highest chance of having the most successful product) and Google make an appearance but they don’t have long term stay in the game. A brief soiree in the ballad of gaming. Apple is somewhat bullish with their tablet/phone industry and challenging gaming even more. However the mobile Industry sees more egregious warning signs
Now in the 13-16 period, various disruptive events in gaming structure occurs, which put MS/Sony/PC market in compromising positions, only those best suited to adapt to it, persist. The PC market makes it through due to the steps they took to safeguard their set up but the structural issues are still there at heart.
2017 hits the fan. The industry bubble bursts,companies are forced to consolidate their resources and regroup,forming under the one most apt at managing their funds and in crafting games. So the industry now has to work together to ensure, it stays there, meanwhile Nintendo is instilling structure and method design into those they support. WiiU has an established userbase vs the situation with Last Gen(7th)/Current Gen(8th) legacies and they have their work cut out for them.
It goes down and rise like a Phoenix into a system of structure. so pricing models will definitely be different. you probably won’t be seeing any more console MMO's for a bit.
Basically they hit system reset on the gaming console and salvage what made gaming great, because that is the only way the consumers will stay with this industry and the only way it will stay relevant. With Nintendo being the shepherd and the WiiU/3DS being the last token of Hiroshi Yamauchi's legacy. He chalks this up to Nintendo's foresight, and business acumen.
John Lucas has had many detractors, but the ideas that He shows makes the viewers pay attention, and even offer their own theories. The thread on the forum has lasted over 60 pages, and will likely continue going from there.
Does John Lucas believe he has the answer? Yes. But he gives an insight on how he views people he disagrees with.
It's just a matter of respect. You have to think in your mind that the other person is just as valuable as you are. That while you may disagree with that person's conclusions you respect that he/she has his/her own mind & has used their reasoning to the best of their ability. And when they make a good point, you agree with them. It's not necessarily about winning the debate as much as it is seeking out truth.
One debater sees the bright side, the other debater sees the dark side. Both sides struggle through debate to figure out exactly where the picture really is. It may INDEED be a bright picture. It may INDEED be a dark picture. Or it may be somewhere in between. The debate is designed to sort all of that out. Like a strainer or sieve.
