I applaud Bioware for the general idea of the bazaar, but the method could be improved. The current iteration rewards those willing to spend (what I feel is) a ridiculous amount of time online farming link-clicks and waiting with bated breath for the next challenge question(s). The latter is a cute idea, and at least rewards the creative or dedicated fan. The former is a fairly transparent marketing ploy that in no way rewards a member of the community for being a member of the community; it rewards them for being tenacious. While this can be an admirable quality in itself, I don't see how it has anything to do with the community, or the games. It's a gimmick, and an obnoxious one at that.
In the future, I'd like to see more community-building opportunities, or ways for players/members to showcase their creativity, or utilize their knowledge of the games. Of course, I realize there's only so much Bioware can do when there's potentially thousands of community member entries to sift through. Obviously, hands-off methods are easier (and cheaper).
But, I won't be one to complain and not offer some alternative, so here are my suggestions:
1. What about all those mod-builders? Shouldn't they recieve a little something? I imagine a hands-off voting system could be easily implemented: The highest voted mods/mod utilties/etc. has the winner recieving X points.
2. If Bioware is looking for extra marketing opportunities, tap the community in a somewhat more meaningful way: Offer contests for fresh ideas. I'm sure there's some amazing ideas for ME/DA-franchise related ARGs (Alternate Reality Games; check out "i love bees" on wikipedia) floating around the community somwhere, not to mention artists, writers, and so on who could supply essentially cheap marketing solutions. Granted, there are some legal issues there, but I have faith Bioware could hammer something out. Either a panel of judges could award points, or another hands-off voting system could be implemented.
3. Remember those old scavenger hunts? There's amazing bits of design and conversation snippets that I see players gloss over in the games all the time. What better way to vindicate the artists and writers than to supply players a list of things to find in the games, or offer a series of clues to find something in particular. The answers could be sent by private message/tweet/whatever, by a certain time period, with only so many slots available so by the time the answer becomes public, all those who wouldn't have done the work won't get a free ride.
4. In a similar vein to the above, hardcore fan questionaires. A great place to ask all those obnoxious questions only those of us who have played the game 3+ times would know. Yet another fairly hands-off method.
5. Points for well-voted fan-material (art, stories, and so on). I imagine inappropriate material could be easily disqualified.
I'm sure there are better ways to implement these, but really, the list goes on... I'd really like to see ways for those that are active on the forums and in the community (obviously not myself, given my lol 1 post count) to be meaningfully rewarded for supporting Bioware's various franchises. Granted, the merit of the games speak for themselves, but no artist wants to see their work unenjoyed (and there's that whole making money thing). Players/community members are important. I'm sure there are better ways of showing that than asking me to sprinkle an advertisement link across the web like perfumed rose petals and hope the masses are feeling generous (and amenable to my floral selection).
Edit: Mm. Proofreading iz gud.
Modifié par tigriscaesius, 08 avril 2010 - 01:30 .
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