The PC gamer- A dying breed?

The general modern view of PC gaming is- It's dying. Sadly, this is reasonably true; we try and blame the companies, yelling at them, saying that they don't give PC gamers all the goodies that console games get. And it's fairly easy to understand why-
PC gamers are total douche-bags.
We need to help change this; PC gamers are killing the industry. I will start with piracy and move onto community.
Piracy-
We all know what it is; download a song of Limewire, torrent Call of Duty 4.
But we never realise what we are actually doing...and that is "Stealing". Yes, it's easy, yes; it's free. We all know it's illegal, and most of us don't care. Though; we should.
Let's say...your a game developer; you design a game (For the sake of argument, that game will be called "The Zone"). You have designed "The Zone" to be a user-friendly game, it's a free roam FPS with over 40 different online modes! Greatly revolutionary, high end DX11 graphics, but not too high, you want your game to run on alot of machines without upgrade and you have even added Joystick, Gamepad and Controller compatibility! You have taken the opinions of 1000's of gamers, asked them what THEY wanted, and delivered. You know what will happen if you release the game on PC only?
You will probably loose money; alot of money, the game will be torrented to the end of time. All your hard effort; reading through countless requests, hiring the right people to design a game that runs well with no glitches.
But it will be publicly and easily STOLEN from you.
So what do you do next time you make a game? You release it on the X-Box 360- The pc gamers can rot for all you care.

Sound familiar?

Call of Duty.
Call of Duty 1 and 2- Both PC. Ported to console.
Call of Duty 3- ONLY console. (Yes, it was for anti-piracy reasons)
Call of Duty 4- Primary PC, Console Port.
Call of Duty 5- Primary Console, PC port.
Call of Duty MW2- Primary Console, quick and simple PC port. *Hence why dedicated servers weren't in original release*

Call of Duty has always been trying to find ways to MAKE money. PC gamers just keep stealing them for singleplayer funs, then waiting till they find a CD key to play on-line.
Yet we keep stealing them?!
Spore was supposed to be the biggest game release EVER. They promised Unlimited online content, and a HUGE multiplayer base- but it got torrented SOOO much, they ran out of money and couldn't deliver.

Now.
Community-
This is where Cheese Ninja Warriors wants to push forward-
The PC gaming community is just as bad as any console community; but there is a difference, we have every chance to make it something very, very strong.
PC gaming is considered by many PC gamers to be the "Elite" of gaming, better than consoles etc. etc.
You hear it everywhere online in-game. If someone is doing poorly or is Ub3r failing, some dickface will say something along the lines of "GO play Halo fag!" or "Go back to your Xbox you loser fanboy" etc.etc.etc.
For some reason, it is impossible for the person to say "Good try! Better luck next time mate!" or "Dear Sir/Madamn, I enjoyed our gaming experience here today, yes, I have bested you in battle, however I hope your will remains strong and you continue to strive for ultimate success" (Though, that might be abit extreme).

The simple problem is; no-one makes the beginner gamers feel welcome or accepted. The Clan's out there all try aim for Victory in-game and the highest Kd/R, though very few will ever boast in saying something along the lines of "Play for the fun of it" or "It's just a video game- enjoy it MUTHAFUCKER" (Again, the latter may be extreme).

The root of the problem- PC gaming "Elites"
Xbox and PS3 is not the same case..it has it's Pro's and everything; but beginning players or "not-so-good" gamers are not criticized or insulted as much as PC.

So.
The issues that CnW9 hopes will one day be resolved for PC gaming-
Piracy- It's killing us all, stop torrenting games; save up the $80 and buy a new game; oorr, save up $20 and buy an older game; big deal if it isn't the worlds greatest graphics; your buy the game to enjoy it, not to stare at it like a work of art. And hey; if you don't have the cash; go half's with a mate- spend $50 each and get yourself a brand new game, each have their own turn in playing it.
Community- We are not "elites" we are guys/girls at the seats of a computer. We should be here to have a good time and hope that everyone else is having a good time. The Kd/r should come second.

Obviously; these are not the only issues, we also have the problem of "GRAFIKS OMG".
People are boycotting Alan Wake- alot of people. Why?
It doesn't have the best graphics ever. Someone took a screenshot! THE ROLLER BAR ON A TRUCK, IS PIXELATED.
The story is amazing; the gameplay is supposed to be incredible. But stuff this game- it doesn't look as good as Crysis.
We are continuously impressed with shiny graphics and insane things of that sort- why? Who knows. If all game developers stuck to a certain, decent level of graphics; people would be more inclined to PC gaming; not requiring them to buy a new $1000 system every year; instead spend $1000 one year, then about $300 a year in upgrades to keep up.
Im sure the developers wouldn't mind. Hell; tweak an engine a little bit and use a completely different storyline, game play style *Source anyone?*. Gamers will froth it! Developers save a fortune!
But it can't happen, because too many people think that because a game's graphics are abit behind, the game is instantly terrible.

I think we all need to seriously rethink why and how we play PC games.
Me for example- I am no-longer downloading games. The furthest extent of "piracy" I will do, is borrow a friends game. The developers still made money from that. (I'm hopefully going to cut this out though...)

Yes, game developers are very wealthy; but they do not exist to serve our needs; they exist as a company, and if we want them to serve our needs; they kinda need money. If you know of a good game, don't download it illegally- Pay the $80 and get the disk; or pay the $40 and download it from Steam of X-fire.

So come on guys, let's be beneficial PC gamers- Help the market, save the community.

----------
James
(CnW9 Jerms)- Board of Director- Cheese Ninja Warriors


(Excuse the disgusting structure, spelling and grammar of this "Article", I wrote it in a free period at school...no chance to check over it much, more of a rant than anything; buy you catch my dift.)

Save The Dying Breed!!!

This is why i like ubisoft, they make the game so you cant Pirate it, they "hide" a file the game wont run without, it doesnt pop up saying it didnt copy. Perfect idea.

Completely agree with everything you've said here, and personally think we as a community should support PC gaming, and push to keep it alive as well as push the beginner/not so good gamers, to stick to it.

The whole skill gap issue is espically noticeable in the RTS genre, many people such as myself have almost given up on random online battles, i cant improve my style when i get completely decimated by every other player and then abused for it , doesnt encourage players to stay. DOTA on warcraft 3 is a prime example of this issue.

LOL, i have played DOTA a couple times with some friends
i like the mod



BUT Yeah Online some guys are Dicks, my sratergies make me look average, Build a 'shell', protect it hard, have back up troops hiding


simple