Tedium is a cheap way to make games longer. Maybe the guy in this article takes advantage of that. Independently, there are players that enjoy repeating difficult sequences, to an extent, while they gear up to do the next part right. Punishing style of games existing isn't a bad thing. What the guy in TFA is saying is unreasonable on its face. He insists that MORE players enjoy the type of game he is making. He's complaining that other people making their games better is making his look worse.
Having a massively unfair/poorly designed game fuck you up constantly is going to be miserable regardless. But a fair game you can improve every time you fuck up.
Having to repeat an easy and tedious portion of a game to attempt the difficult portion isn't a matter of how difficult a game is, it's a matter of how punishing a game is.
One of Yahtzee's principles of game design was to get the player back into gameplay as soon as possible after failure. Gameplay, not "the game."
Tedium is a cheap way to make games longer. Maybe the guy in this article takes advantage of that. Independently, there are players that enjoy repeating difficult sequences, to an extent, while they gear up to do the next part right. Punishing style of games existing isn't a bad thing. What the guy in TFA is saying is unreasonable on its face. He insists that MORE players enjoy the type of game he is making. He's complaining that other people making their games better is making his look worse.
And, more to the point, how fair or unfair it is.
Having a massively unfair/poorly designed game fuck you up constantly is going to be miserable regardless. But a fair game you can improve every time you fuck up.
Soulsbro in shambles right now.