• stankmut@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      I agree with you, but using Final Fantasy XIV is a weak example. Steam is one of the smallest platforms it’s on, with most PC players using the non-steam launcher.

      As an MMO, it also has the benefit of players being able to see a ton of other people when they log in and the fan base talks about it enough that you never get that “whatever happened to that game” feeling.

      Honestly, I think it’s that last thing that drives most of the dead game talk. Some games come out with tons of hype and then you stop hearing about it as much. Instead of looking up what’s going on, people just assume it flopped and no one plays anymore. Or it’s a game they wish had failed and by saying dead game they are trying to will that belief into existence, depends on the context.

    • Gamma@beehaw.org
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      5 months ago

      Palworld had a big update at the end of June too, brought back a bunch of players

    • Evotech@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Ffxiv is cross play with steam, standalone launcher, PS5, PS4 etc. As another guy said, steam users is probably the smallest share of players

  • William@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    I think it’s mainly trolls that post “dead game” on games that are essentially (or wholly) single player. If you’ve got a live service game that people are saying “dead game”, then you should worry. Otherwise, ignore the trolls.

  • Prunebutt@slrpnk.net
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    5 months ago

    No one’s pushing anybody to do anything. The dead game discourse is about keeping art alive and preserving a freedom to choose what to play.

    Edit: Wow. Weird way to phrase things. A “dead” game is something you’ll never be aple to play again (like The Crew). This guy is talking about “abandoned” games.

    • WalrusDragonOnABike [they/them]@lemmy.today
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      5 months ago

      “Dead game” in this context refers to games that have low active player count. The obsession with active player count and daily player count is countered by things like daily log-in rewards that turn games into jobs.

      • Prunebutt@slrpnk.net
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        5 months ago

        Yeah, I’ve seen it in the article. But there’s currently a campaign going on that’s concerned with truly dead games. Calling a game which had a drop in player count “dead” is IMHO counterproductive, since it muddles the water for the current campaign.

        • Umbrias@beehaw.org
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          5 months ago

          “dead game” isnt owned by that movement and it has nothing to do with the article. “oh my bad” would have sufficed, blaming the article for your misinterpretation of the headline is silly

          • Prunebutt@slrpnk.net
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            5 months ago

            The campaign is called “stop killing games”.

            And palworld isn’t dead. Youecan still play it.

    • Gamma@beehaw.org
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      5 months ago

      People have been calling low player count games “dead games” faaaaaar longer than Ross’s campaign as been around. It’s so common it has a know your meme page! Your use is in the top description, but the origin and more popular use of the term is definitely referring to player counts

  • Gamma@beehaw.org
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    5 months ago

    It’s not too surprising that people obsess over player counts when most of the news about how well games are doing is based on the metric.

    They’re right though, gamers are way too eager to call any low player count game dead when really it’s the casual community having their fill of the latest content update.

    One game I think handled daily rewards decently (after a decade of making it a chore) is Destiny 2. They used to have daily bounties at every vendor, now it’s just a handful and there’s a weekly “pathfinder” with branching goals, completing it lets you start another but since the rewards drop off it doesn’t feel like you’re missing out by not playing.

  • slazer2au@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    It is one of those games you come back to after several months and a couple major patches.