Any game that ships with 9 or 10 weapons, alt fire for all those weapons, even more complicated weapon firing modes for some of them (rocket launcher), a translocator, a hoverboard, etc.... its just begging to not be embraced by the majority of the "dumbed down" gaming playerbase right now.
Perhaps, but unfortunately they tried to make it so, by putting the user manual right into the game (all the instructions on how to play that constantly flash in your face, etc). So the folks who are able to get into such a game, feel like the game is talking down to them.
I think they would have been much better off with the old way of just having a few different models and 100 different skins, textures, etc.
Amen.
Finally, you have the technical issues which are a huge deal, in my opinion. 1) Lack of a linux support at launch (especially big deal for servers). 2) 0 percent mod support - you can't even MAKE a mod for UT3 yet... it doesn't support it. Not at all! For a game which has historically been carried by the mod community, this is a big BIG deal. 3) Horrible interface, game finder, stat tracking, etc.
I recently watched a dev diary from one of the guys at Epic... who said something about the "theory of thirds" where he talked about development with the idea that:
1) You keep 1/3rd of things the same that are the core of your game.
2) You introduce 1/3rd of things that are brand new.
3) You improve or tweak 1/3rd of the things that were already there.
It just seems to me that Epic got this all wrong and really wasn't in touch with its player/fanbase.
Yup, yup. Agreed 100%. And it's why I firmly believe that actual changes in the crew down there are required before we'll see what's needed.
My suggestions for Epic moving forward?
1) Get rid of the ego and realize that UT has had a good run. That being said, maybe its time to evolve UT as well.
That's true.
3) Epic pioneered the modding scene
That's actually not true. They did not pioneer the mod scene. There were certainly a lot of mods for the UT series, but they do not deserve any type of credit for 'pioneering' such a thing. Hell, our mod is older than Unreal.
In the end... the UT universe needs a makeover. It needs to embrace the new generation of PC gamers (what is left of them). In my opinion, it feels like Epic made UT3 a "transition to console gaming" game.
Well, maybe not embrace the "new generation of PC gamers". Maybe they need to say screw them, and keep making the game that got them here. Or... say screw the old fans and go a new Console route. But make up their mind. Same thing as the whole concept of the 'tournament'. Either bring that back, or change the darn name of the game. Just like Hourences said before the big forum crash..., UT needs to decide who the hell it is (or something to that effect, made sense when he said it).
What concerns me surprises me is the number of folks who are willing _yet again_ to blame the publisher (or even worse, the 'community'), instead of holding Epic responsible for dropping the ball. That's not going to get us better games. Though it would seem this time around those folks are not the majority, thankfully. Sometimes the truth has to hurt, in order for there to be progress.