Email: Gamers don’t read manuals anymore

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/103765-Kids-Cant-Handle-Old-School-RPGs-Anymore

A college professor had his students play Ultima IV and they found the game too difficult to play because not one of them read the manual.  On the one hand, I never read manuals anymore because game’s tend to be easy enough to figure things out on my own.  On the other hand, when I track down older games on Amazon I make sure the game comes with a manual because I know they can be difficult to play without help.  I’m really not sure what to take away from this.  Are games easier now, or are they just more accessible?  Have gamers become used to the hand holding of games so they don’t need a manual or have the games been dumbed down so that the manual isn’t need? Or is it something else entirely? What are your thoughts on this Sean?

I don’t think it is indicative of gamers not reading manuals at all. Rather, it is indicative of two things:

1) The consumer experience of Ultima IV was not properly presented.

2) It is a college class. It is considered ‘work’. And who is going to take a video game class seriously. Kids don’t take real classes seriously let alone anything like a video game class. Kids don’t read textbooks so of course they aren’t going to read any documentation.

With 1, a big part of the experience of Ultima was the jewel box with the cloth map and all the other assorted things in it to draw you into the world. A pdf does not replicate this. The reason why Richard Garriot chose the publisher for Ultima II because they were the only ones willing to provide a cloth map. So it is integral to the experience.

With Ultima, you can spend much time with the stuff in the box before you even start the game.

P.S. Did you know there is a Sean Malstrom on Facebook? He’s not claiming to be you but the name is spelled the same.

It’s news to me.