Gullible woke with a start. He’d barely slept all night. Today was the day. An exciting and ambitious new entertainment product was going to be released, and Gullible had been waiting for this day for years. A trusted Developer was about to unleash their newest product, The Ball and Stick.
At the gracious behest of the developers of this new product, Gullible had participated in multiple technical and proof of concept programs while the product was in creation. He felt part of it all, an Insider.
At the time, Gullible knew that even though The Ball and Stick was simple in its concept and content at the time, it was in it testing phase, and components had been stripped back so as to preserve the greater experience.
But no longer.
Today was the day that The Ball and Stick would be released in its full glory. Gullible recalled all the awesome and transparent advertising and media that went on prior to release. The great and quirky trailers, the hints of content and intrigue and the suppressed, tongue in cheek answers from The Developers regarding what players could do with The Ball and Stick.
Gullible already had The Ball and Stick delivered and in the box ready to go, but wasn’t allowed to open it until this very day.
Now was the time! He tore open the packaging and pulled out The Ball and Stick in all it’s…..glory?
This Ball and Stick looked remarkably similar to The Ball and Stick in the technical tests.
“But never mind” he thought,”I’ve just started playing with it, I’m sure there will be more to do down the track”.
Gullible played for a while, and then a little longer. Sometimes the Ball and Stick looked weird, or started floating into the air. Other times, The Ball and Stick didn’t work at all. But Gullible persevered; he understood launch day gremlins got the best of any developer.
Gullible waited for his content. He waited, and played a bit and waited a bit more. There was no content to be found.
It really was just the same old Ball and Stick, with a few minor additions. There were some skins you could add to The Ball and Stick, but they didn’t really do much, and took hours of playing with The Ball and Stick to even acquire. Gullible was disappointed, and concerned.
So he took to the internet.
The Ball and Stick had a website where you could talk to other Ball and Stick enthusiasts, and Gullible made a post regarding his concerns;
“Where is all the other content?” asked Gullible.
“Where are all the cool things the developers showed in the trailers?” asked another.
“What is there to do with The Ball and Stick?” asked a third.
…
“SHUT UP!” Responded the Die Hard Enthusiasts.
“You don’t understand The Ball and Stick” they screamed.
“Go and play with something else” Shrieked they.
“The developers promised more things to do with The Ball and Stick in the future” they whined “Don’t be so entitled!”
“You’re supposed to make your own fun with The Ball and Stick” they instructed “It’s not the developer’s fault that you have no imagination!”
Gullible was dismayed. He had waited a long time for this product. It held such promise. It really was a pretty Ball and Stick, it looked great! Not only that, but Gullible had paid a large ransom for The Ball and Stick. He felt cheated.
Gullible knew it wasn’t the Die Hard Enthusiasts fault that they were yelling. He knew that they also felt cheated, and that they had spent so much time in the technical stages doing the same thing over and over again, only to do the same things when The Ball and Stick was released. He knew how great it was for The Developers to sit back and allow the community to fight and tussle over The Ball and Stick, and allow The Die Hard Enthusiasts to argue for them. They were in denial, and it wasn’t their fault.
Gullible knew it was also his own fault. He knew that the current practices of modern product developers were deceitful, and were designed only to make The Publisher of the product money at all costs. He knew The Developers were at the heel of The Publisher, and didn’t want to make their masters angry!
But mostly, Gullible was disappointed. The Developer of Ball and Stick held so much promise, the early versions of the Product looked brilliant and dazzling. The Developers appeared to be a shining beacon amid a churning black sea.
But alas, The Developer had snuffed their faction specific lantern acquired at a specific level with said faction. They were nowhere to be seen, and no one had heard from them.
“There is more content coming in major updates” a ghostly voice whispered “We are focusing on a great game experience at launch” it wailed.
“Never mind” thought Gullible, he was happy to go and play Monster Hunter: World.
Now that is a content rich product!
