The Sims Online Backlash Backlash
from the the-pendulum-swings dept
The cycles of hype and anti-hype are speeding up these days. There was a ton of hype concerning the Sims Online, and when Electronic Arts announced recently that the game hadn't necessarily lived up to its initial expectations plenty of people started calling it a failure. Now, Jimmy Guterman is trashing the anti-hype around the Sims Online, complaining that people haven't given it enough time. The article sounds like it was written by someone who was involved in creating the game: "no, no, just wait, it'll get better... really". He does have a point, though, that online communities do take time to grow. However, generally speaking online communities founded around a lot of hype have a lot of difficulty growing - because the hype almost works against them. The hype comes across as fake - and most successful online communities that I've been involved with have thrived by remaining a little off the beaten trail. People want to feel like they're part of something cool and exclusive - not an over-marketed place that everyone else already knows about. Online communities tend to grow organically, almost by accident. Guterman may be right, and it may succeed eventually, but I think it's a much tougher climb at this point.
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