The potential creativity of developers is being stunted by "angry entitled fans who look to be contrarian," said Josh Olin, community manager at Call of Duty: Black Ops developer Treyarch.
The potential creativity of developers is being stunted by "angry entitled fans who look to be contrarian," said Josh Olin, community manager at Call of Duty: Black Ops developer Treyarch. In an interview with Nowgamer, Olin stated that this contrarian attitude among some gamers is holding creativity and innovation back. "Too many developers who try new things are getting burned by 'pundits' and angry entitled fans who look to be contrarian, sometimes simply for the sake of being contrarian," said Olin. "The only thing this attitude aims to achieve is stunt that creativity and innovation even further, which is something that no rational gamer looking to be entertained would want to do." Olin did acknowledge that "The fundamentals of what Call of Duty is hasn’t changed for years -- and it would be a mistake to mess that winning formula up in any way." However, he made the point that this foundation should be allowed to evolve with "new experiences." "I think the social culture of video games is moving in a more negative direction as technology and social media continues to grow," he noted. "Rather than growing with it, the trend seems to be devolving. More and more gamers seem to forget what this industry is all about." Olin's comments come after UK Consumer group Gamers' Voice reported publisher Activision to the UK Fair Trade Office, claiming that glitches in the PlayStation 3 and PC versions of Call of Duty: Black Ops are in breach of the Sale of Goods Act 1979. Whether there is a stifling of creatively or not, this did not stop Call of Duty: Black Ops from shifting 8.4 million units in the first month of release, making it the best selling game in 2010 in both the US and UK.
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