21–30 of 174 posts
“It is the most boring, long-winded, repetitive, condescending, infantile bullshit we’ve ever seen.” After a few more invectives, he posed a question: “Do people find comfort in tedious, bureaucratic, pandering authoritarianism?” Apparently so!
It's interesting how New Horizons adds many quality-of-life features to streamline gameplay...but still deliberately keeps some of the monotony present in the game design two decades ago on the GameCube. Adding a "weight" to repetitive actions has been a controversial game design principle. It implicitly makes good/efficient actions more rewarding, but there has to be a balance.
Most every game is on some level about wasting time. Good games make wasting time enjoyable.
I stumbled upon this article a while ago which attempts to argue that former idea to absurdity, it's very well written. I disagree with almost the whole thing, but it was fun to see someone disconnect themselves so far from the simple, real time engagement of a playing a video game. It's an entirely valid way to look at games, but it's just a very shallow view on games as a medium. He even accidentally discovers the real reasons why we play games as he works hard to make his case on the gameplay-as-work idea. Full respect to the author, and I'm sure they knew exactly how contrarian they were being.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/10/dont-...
Some of my favourite quotes:
>"That’s the big problem with video games: To enjoy them, you have to play them."
> "Game-play—the work of working a game—is fundamentally irritating"
> "And like all labor, the best way to get it done is to farm it out to others. Let the memers honk their geese so you don’t have to."
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> the Animal Crossing franchise has sold over 30 million units. https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Crossing The inequality is legitimate.
That's 30 million units over like 20 years and many titles vs one indie game tho
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most every game is on some level about wasting time. Good games make wasting time enjoyable.
Edit: Oh boy, I didn't even realise TFA was written by the same guy. I hadn't read it yet, no wonder it's bringing up the same discussions. /endEdit I stumbled upon this article a while ago which attempts to argue that former idea to absurdity, it's very well written. I disagree with almost the whole thing, but it was fun to see someone disconnect themselves so far from the simple, real time engagement of a playing a…
at some level almost all games could be reduced to a version of cookie clicker
good games keep players actively looking for a new meta by tweaking and adding content, similar to the everchanging running of a business
It is a rather poor game all things considered. Stardew valley is far better. On the whole, the one thing they needed to nail is co-op, and that is probably the thing they did the worst on. The game features are limited, villager interaction is inane, the items are repetitive, the goals non-existent. I understand the simple joy of a no-pressure game, but without a meaningful reward loop of any kind, the whole thing s…
stardew valley is one guy's attempt to make the best possible harvest moon, which is a game, i would say, of the same genre as animal crossing, broadly speaking, in the same way as -- i don't know -- mechwarrior and virtual on. the way i think of animal crossing is: take a few microgames from warioware, set it in a jrpg town, and give the player their own doll house. it isn't deep, but that's an observation, not nece…
Thanks for the memories. Time to find some mecha games!
Why does he go on and on about whether the game accurately represents modern life? It seems like this misses the point of games in general, and a game for pre-teens about talking animals specifically.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Edit: Oh boy, I didn't even realise TFA was written by the same guy. I hadn't read it yet, no wonder it's bringing up the same discussions. /endEdit I stumbled upon this article a while ago which attempts to argue that former idea to absurdity, it's very well written. I disagree with almost the whole thing, but it was fun to see someone disconnect themselves so far from the simple, real time engagement of a playing a…
games are a grind everyone thats ever played an mmo knows flipping specific builds/leveled accounts using botting software is some of the most common middle schoolers first money making enterprise at some level almost all games could be reduced to a version of cookie clicker good games keep players actively looking for a new meta by tweaking and adding content, similar to the everchanging running of a business
The grind is the least fun part of the game, but also why you keep coming back.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most every game is on some level about wasting time. Good games make wasting time enjoyable.
Edit: Oh boy, I didn't even realise TFA was written by the same guy. I hadn't read it yet, no wonder it's bringing up the same discussions. /endEdit I stumbled upon this article a while ago which attempts to argue that former idea to absurdity, it's very well written. I disagree with almost the whole thing, but it was fun to see someone disconnect themselves so far from the simple, real time engagement of a playing a…
Yes, Ian Bogost is a respected game designer and developer.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Edit: Oh boy, I didn't even realise TFA was written by the same guy. I hadn't read it yet, no wonder it's bringing up the same discussions. /endEdit I stumbled upon this article a while ago which attempts to argue that former idea to absurdity, it's very well written. I disagree with almost the whole thing, but it was fun to see someone disconnect themselves so far from the simple, real time engagement of a playing a…
games are a grind everyone thats ever played an mmo knows flipping specific builds/leveled accounts using botting software is some of the most common middle schoolers first money making enterprise at some level almost all games could be reduced to a version of cookie clicker good games keep players actively looking for a new meta by tweaking and adding content, similar to the everchanging running of a business
I can think of some interesting counterexamples: in games like Minecraft and Factorio, you create something and are left with an interesting artifact you've designed. In MMOs, you're often left with new friendships.
But I'd be lying if I said I played those games primarily for those outcomes. It feels like each of those games still have some core meat that's shared with cookie clicker, and those other things that come out of it are somehow secondary in my short-term choice to play the game.