Why do we continue to play video games – sometimes long after we have ceased having fun doing so? That is a subject Julie is exploring a bit for a “piece” she is writing for Virgin Worlds. However it did lead us to ponder over a related area…
For those of you who have not played Fallen Earth (and shame on you for at least not trying it) the game is set in post apocalyptic Arizona, circa 150 years in the future. The game is divided into three sectors (so far). All of the pundits of conventional Fallen Earth wisdom bid us abjure any thought of taking anything but melee skills when we started out in sector 1. By sector 2 Julie found that this would leave her in a seriously detrimental condition without any sort of balancing factors.
Every game we have ever played has had its share of pundits of pedagogy, those theocrats of theoreticians…those who claim there is one way to play a game and no other.
Many is the time that we here on the No Prisoners, No Mercy team have run up against players in pugs (Something in which no one here ever intends to indulge ourselves again unless it is the four legged kind) who insist they know how to play your class better than we do. Even in games where there are no classes, the theorists will concentrate on the exact arrangements of skills without which you are told to consider yourself a “Sub-par” player. These are the same prima donnas of gaming who insist that no one will group with us if we do not play a given game the way they do – to which we have two replies, both of which begin with the phrase “Thank God”.
Thank God…
That we won’t be picked for some anonymous group of pug (pick up group) participants who will treat us as if we are single handedly at fault for all that is wrong with the game we play and the world; to include the state of the economy, the disappearance of Amelia Erhart, and are, in fact, the third gunman on the grassy knoll. This is one group that we won’t miss, unless it is to say that our collective aim is off.
Thank God…
Thank God for groups like The Older Gamers (there are 14000 of us) that are the progenitors of guilds, clans, and supergroups that form player communities. These are communities that not only cross the boundries of games but that we can actually (GASP!) trust and with whom we can have fun playing. And that leads us to the reason why we occassionally abjure the conventional wisdom of gaming pundits and play the way we want to…
Because its fun.
See you online
The No Prisoners, No Mercy Team
I’m sure the feeling is mutual. Wouldn’t you be as upset if a member of your favorite sports team just jogged at the field and not even made an effort to catch the ball/puck/whatever? Or if he did catch it, he simply passed it along to the general direction of the goal?
It all boils down to the definition of fun. Fun to an achiever is not the same thing as fun is to a socializer. Or a killer. Or an explorer. Troubles arise when game mechanics force these people with wildly differing goals together. They’ll try to drag the group into the direction they want until the group breaks.
What games need are better matchmaking systems. While one could relatively easily build one based on performance (like Arena ratings), a better solution could be one based on reputation and social networking. After each group, everyone in it would grade everyone else. The grading could be as simple as a thumbs-up and thumbs-down, signifying whether you’d like to play with that player again or not. When the game tries to decide which player to include in your pick-up group, it’ll first check whether players who you’ve personally liked are available. Then the people they’ve liked and so on. With time, the game would get a general idea of the cliques that exist, and you’d never see an achiever in your pick-up group again.
I am not sure which “feeling” to which you are referring when you say “the feeling is mutual” – however the age old idea of someone having to play a game a particular way to suit another person simply for the “good of the group” doesn’t hold any more water than a leaky bucket. While it may be true that some players simply enjoy the struggle to achieve against all odds, if that struggle comes at the expense of my enjoyment that is where the line in the sand is drawn.
You didn’t like playing with them, they didn’t like playing with you.
I agree completely.
But currently, your playstyle comes at the expense of their enjoyment as well. Both would be happier if the matchmaking system kept you separate.