How PC gamers can be heard (hint: not by threats of piracy)PC gamers are outspoken... to a fault. Every bit of news about the industry is followed by shrill threats of piracy and ineffective boycotts. Ars Technica speaks to those in the industry whose job it is to deal with complaints, and explains how to get your voice heard in a way that actually leads to action.By Ben KucheraHave you ever met a PC gamer in person? Your experiences may be different than mine, but they tend to resemble normal human beings. Some may even live in your very home. Most of my friends are PC gamers, and they buy their games, have fun playing online, and go about their lives. None of them resemble the skulking, insane caricatures seen in chat rooms, gaming blogs, and comments on the Internet.Those foul beasts writhe and spit at the slightest provocation. "That's why I pirate your games!" one may howl at a company when faced with a demo that has been pushed back an hour or two. "PC gaming is dying! Sign my petition! I'm boycotting you!" another may shriek at a company that didn't deliver the exact online experience they were hoping for. The question is a simple one: what are these people trying to prove? What do they think they're changing?Why this is a problemThis is an issue because in many cases, there are tangible steps companies could take to make gamers happier. Foster some discussion about why content is being held back. Ensure the PC experience as open and malleable as possible. Keep your dedicated community close, and make sure they're happy. The problem is, when the first response to any real or imagined slight is threats of piracy and hate, why would you want to engage with these people?"You need to know it, because nobody else is going to tell you: you guys sound like Goddamned subway vagrants," Jerry "Tycho" Holkins wrote in a Penny Arcade newspost. "Of course when you speak exclusively to each other, it all sounds so reasonable. It'll be reasonable when you all board the bus... and when you douse yourself with gasoline and immolate yourself in front of the offices of Infinity Ward, one assumes this will be reasonable also."The problem is that the presumed anonymity of Internet can bring out the worst in people. We decided to speak to a few people in the industry and explore how you can make yourself heard... without making yourself easy to ignore.Discussion leads to positive change"Active, passionate communities have never been shy about telling teams and companies what they like and dislike. It's actually a good thing. We've seen really positive changes to games made as a result." We talked with Christian Svensson, the Vice-President of Strategic Planning at Capcom. He's also a board member of the PC Gaming Alliance. Capcom, through its Unity blog and numerous events open to the public, has long engaged its fans directly. He agreed to talk with us on the subject after some harrying on our part; this is topic people treat with some care. Who wants to say that the audience for their games can seem slightly insane in their complaints and demands?Svensson brought up changes made to Team Fortress 2 and the decision to offer the add-on content to Resident Evil 5 as a digital release in North America as things influenced by direct communication with gamers. "There are several projects we've done that wouldn't have existed, or directions we've taken in our games that never would have happened, without listening to that feedback," he told Ars. "There's dozens of good examples around the industry. Vocal communities engaging with smart teams and creative companies in constructive ways have incredible power."The key word in the prior sentence is 'constructive.' I know that I'm a lot more receptive to feedback from fans when someone tells me what they are looking to spend money on... and it's not in a post that is ALL CAPS!" The trick, Svensson says, is to explain what you'd be willing to support with your money, not what would cause you to turn a game down. Talk about what you love to see, not what you hate. "[Companies] tend to respond better to 'how can I generate more' discussions rather than 'how can I retain what I should/would have generated,'" he explained.Svensson pointed out that there is a way to present this data that will make it easier to get the changes the community would like enacted... and it's not by telling everyone how few people will buy the game if a hated feature isn't taken out or changed. "It is much easier to have a discussion like 'I'd like to make these changes that have XYZ costs associated with them in order to raise our forecasts by $PDQ based upon fan feedback (and where $PDQ is some percentage higher than $XYZ)." What doesn't work? Telling the people who control the purse strings that they have to pay to make changes or they'll lose customers. "Regardless of whether it is appropriate to do so, those that control the purse strings are often not moved [by that argument]," Svensson said."So, while I certainly understand and respect the passion and conviction of some fans, threatening to pirate or not buy a game isn't likely to provide the ammunition a team needs to affect the changes that the community is asking for."Especially when it's so often a lieThere is that now-famous image of the Steam group for the Modern Warfare 2 boycott... filled with people playing their copies of Modern Warfare 2. I took part in a podcast about the issues involved with Modern Warfare 2 with the people who first broke the story of the lack of dedicated servers, and to our chagrin we found that all but one of us had purchased the game. The problem with threatening to not buy a game is that everyone knows you will probably buy the game after all.Randy Stude is the President of the PC Gaming Alliance, and is also Director of Intel's Gaming Program Office. I've spoken to him a few times in the past; this is someone who lives and breathes PC gaming and realizes there are plenty of fish in the sea. "There is some bad news about a popular PC game right now, but I believe that PC gamers will wholeheartedly put their energy into a new franchise that supports the gameplay, modifications, anti-cheat, dedicated and large server match play that we know and love about this platform," he told Ars. In other words, stick to your guns, don't buy the games that don't give you want you want, and reward those that do. A nasty comment on a website won't change things. Your money certainly can."Like the Internet, video streaming, online gaming, social networks, blogs, and Twitter... the PC moves on. PC Gaming is still the most innovative, highest quality, breakthrough-technology-driven platform in the world," he told us. People are making money on the platform, and Stude points out that only 40 percent of revenue from PC Games would equal the entirety of software revenue from one of the major consoles."The business of gaming on the PC is evolving and some old players will reinvent to keep pace while others will stay focused on the old way of doing things—or worse draw closer to the console model—and cease to be relevant in this marketplace," Stude said. This creates an opportunity for gamers: by buying the games that give us what we want, and sticking to our guns on those decisions, we can shape where the industry goes. Publishers pay attention to sales and positive feedback, not to threats or piracy.So what can you do?The easiest thing you can do is to vote with your dollar. Companies don't listen to what you say, they watch to what you do; the loudest complaint doesn't matter if you go ahead and purchase the game. Tell companies what they can do to earn your money instead of threatening them with losing it.Threatening anyone with a criminal act doesn't get anything done. If you convince everyone you're a pirate, you remove yourself from the conversation completely. Why make yourself so easily ignored?You can also join the Entertainment Consumers Association to keep up with current events in gaming and stay organized with the greater community. "Prior to ECA, consumers didn't have a conduit with which to speak to the industry in general, or rights holders in particular. So we're in a transitory process at present, ramping-up our membership, getting the word out about the org and educating consumers on the various issue areas in which they can become involved," ECA President Hal Halpin told Ars. "As we do that, I'd hope that we'll see less of the extremist—and often anonymous—ranting and raving online, which is counterproductive and tends to give folks on the other side of the table justification for marginalizing their argument." Halpin argued for more disclosure in the use of Digital Rights Management in games, and for a standardized End User Licensing Agreement during the Federal Trade Commission's Summit on the matter. This is a man who can help to get things done.PC gamers make a lot of noise online, but the amount of concrete action pales in comparison. By spending less time organizing public boycotts and more time simply buying good games, by choosing not to fly the Jolly Roger and changing the discussion to things publishers can do to earn your money, by organizing in a real way and criticizing productively, you can make things better for PC gaming.Change won't begin in the comments of this story, or in any review.
