I have played video games my whole life, but almost exclusively single-player experiences, usually deep and long RPGs (where "size" and "time to finish" are universally presented as positive features, which....). I have always had the relationship with gaming that I have with giant novels or series (Game of Thrones, Wheel of Time) where it's a fully personal immersion into another universe that I learn in great detail. Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, Pokemon, and Morrowind were my early and forever introductions and loves here. This also scratches the project manager side of my brain in terms of managing inventories and maximizing leveling.
But that story and immersion needs to respect me and my time too- when it becomes checklists, icons, tasks to do that don't feed either the written or emergent story that I am experiencing.... I'll leave it to your part 2.
I am always fascinated by the overall term of "gaming" or "gamer" and how I'm essentially interacting with a completely different piece of art in an opposite way than someone that, e.g., plays an online loot shooter nightly with friends, or logs onto a competitive sport game to play competitive matches online.
Thanks so much for sharing your perspective on this. It's always great to hear how other people's experiences with video games converge and diverge from mine. I totally agree that at their best video games are such a unique and delightful immersion into another world that's so enticing and fun and rewarding and hard to get any other way. At their best games are on par with/better than a good TV show, novel, or movie in my opinion My experience with good games like Red Dead and Horizon was very much this was- that my curiosity, patience, and passion for the world was met 10x with content that rewarded this. Plus, finding ways to put my stamp on the gameplay via my brain, planning an ambush or combat encounter just so, is always immensely satisfying when the game is sophisticated and open-ended enough to reward that. I do recall trying to be stealthy in Red Dead a few times, only to learn that this approach was comically out of place for the world/gameplay-- much better suited to a game like Tsushima. A good gamer knows themselves and the game!
You are in for a good time in Part 2, without spoiling Friday's post too much. I cover 2 examples of bad gameplay design from Ubisoft that check all of the bad boxes you're alluding to like sidequest fatigue, too many icons, and distraction overwhelm.
To your last point, it's super true. I'm always pleasantly surprised to learn who plays games, which ones, and how. There's now SUCH diversity of content out there, from my style of open world sandbox game to mass market chum like Call of Duty or Fortnite or niche indie games that I'm not savvy enough to know about. In part 3 I get into the diversity of styles of games and also ways of relating to gaming in general- should be a satisfying conclusion for all of these themes. :)
I have played video games my whole life, but almost exclusively single-player experiences, usually deep and long RPGs (where "size" and "time to finish" are universally presented as positive features, which....). I have always had the relationship with gaming that I have with giant novels or series (Game of Thrones, Wheel of Time) where it's a fully personal immersion into another universe that I learn in great detail. Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, Pokemon, and Morrowind were my early and forever introductions and loves here. This also scratches the project manager side of my brain in terms of managing inventories and maximizing leveling.
But that story and immersion needs to respect me and my time too- when it becomes checklists, icons, tasks to do that don't feed either the written or emergent story that I am experiencing.... I'll leave it to your part 2.
I am always fascinated by the overall term of "gaming" or "gamer" and how I'm essentially interacting with a completely different piece of art in an opposite way than someone that, e.g., plays an online loot shooter nightly with friends, or logs onto a competitive sport game to play competitive matches online.
Thanks so much for sharing your perspective on this. It's always great to hear how other people's experiences with video games converge and diverge from mine. I totally agree that at their best video games are such a unique and delightful immersion into another world that's so enticing and fun and rewarding and hard to get any other way. At their best games are on par with/better than a good TV show, novel, or movie in my opinion My experience with good games like Red Dead and Horizon was very much this was- that my curiosity, patience, and passion for the world was met 10x with content that rewarded this. Plus, finding ways to put my stamp on the gameplay via my brain, planning an ambush or combat encounter just so, is always immensely satisfying when the game is sophisticated and open-ended enough to reward that. I do recall trying to be stealthy in Red Dead a few times, only to learn that this approach was comically out of place for the world/gameplay-- much better suited to a game like Tsushima. A good gamer knows themselves and the game!
You are in for a good time in Part 2, without spoiling Friday's post too much. I cover 2 examples of bad gameplay design from Ubisoft that check all of the bad boxes you're alluding to like sidequest fatigue, too many icons, and distraction overwhelm.
To your last point, it's super true. I'm always pleasantly surprised to learn who plays games, which ones, and how. There's now SUCH diversity of content out there, from my style of open world sandbox game to mass market chum like Call of Duty or Fortnite or niche indie games that I'm not savvy enough to know about. In part 3 I get into the diversity of styles of games and also ways of relating to gaming in general- should be a satisfying conclusion for all of these themes. :)