Battlefield Heroes is for the "Frustrated Restricteds"
Posted by Chris on Saturday, June 28th, 2008 at 1:31 pm under Battlefield, Computer, Electronic Arts, Game Companies, Game Platforms, Games
Marketing did a fine job with Battlefield: Bad Company, and moving forward they’ve got their work cut out for them with Battlefield Heroes. DICE executive producer Ben Cousins gave some insight into the market they’ll be targeting with Heroes, which they call the “frustrated restricteds.”
“So who is Battlefield Heroes for? The marketing guys love to come up with snappy titles for market segments. The market segment they came up with for us was ‘frustrated restricteds’ – people who really want to play full games, and aspire to be gamers,” Cousins said during his keynote at GDC Paris, reports GI.biz.
“But they’re restricted in some way, and this makes them frustrated. Maybe they’re restricted by money, time or skill?
“For example, a 15 year-old boy who can’t afford a PS3 – he’s desperate to play Call of Duty, but can’t afford the console. Maybe a 30-35 year-old guy who is a new dad, who used to play games, but is restricted by time. Or maybe a new gamer who loves the idea of playing games but heard that all people who play multiplayer games are really skilled.”
I hardly fit into any of those categories, and I’m still interested in playing Heroes. And I’m hardly the only one who fits that bill, so won’t all of us self-proclaimed hardcore gamers throw off the curve for the people Cousins is referring to? It’ll be interesting to see how DICE handles that aspect of the matchmaking process.
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June 28th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
i would also like to see how they will target hardcore gamers
June 28th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
I don't think they can without invalidating all those other types of "restricted" gamers
June 28th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Whatever, this game blows.
June 28th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
I do believe that the development team stated there would be a scaled match set-up, so that you would not be up against someone who had the 'uber leet' skills we're probably thinking of. That suggests that there are two levels to this game; the 'lower tier' for those of the above, and the upper and 'hardcore' tier for those who are gamers. At the end of the day, they're producing a game and have so far done quite well to get it to appeal to many people.
June 28th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
It's free to get into, so it's barrier to entry to try out is non-existent. If the expectations are kept in check, it could surprise. Assuming the game is respectable, if *hardcore* gamers look at it as an occasional escape from their more serious endeavors, it may appeal to them in that way. Maybe I'm wrong, but I have a feeling if the serious gamers dive into it like every other shooter they may be disappointed.
The matching making is based on the level of your character, I believe. I presume, like a mmo, you'll have a mix of good and not-so-good players at all levels. At least people who are higher level will know how to play the game. I assume the higher level players will have unlocked abilities a lower level player wouldn't have, so an uber low level player may be seriously disadvantaged if up against a lame high level player.
I like TF2, which has an animated style and doesn't take itself too seriously. It will be interesting to see how this turns out given Dice's experience in online multiplayer. Most serious gamers will hate on it, just for being different and trying to appeal to the greater masses because it's *free*.
June 29th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
This is just EAs response to Quake Live, just like Battlefield 2142 was the response to Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.
Everybody be hatin' on id Software.
June 29th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Nebuer.
You do realize that 2142 and BF2 came out WAY before Quake Wars?
July 1st, 2008 at 6:11 pm
I'm hardcore and I'm sure I will enjoy it!