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The Quiet Revolution of Animal Crossing

theatlantic.com

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Re: The Quiet Revolution of Animal Crossing

#41

Post by danbolt »

voz_ wrote: post #10

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…

I don't think any video game has a meaningful reward loop, and I say this as a game developer. What makes a game's loop good or not to me is if it provides a fulfilling relationship with its audience.

Re: The Quiet Revolution of Animal Crossing

#43

Post by dx87 »

dmix wrote: post #16
lawrenceyan wrote: post #11

It's kind of funny that they titled the article this way considering the fact that Animal Crossing is currently banned in China because people have been using it as a platform to stage the Hong Kong protests online [1]. I suppose it gives 'quiet revolution' a doubly apt connotation. [1]: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52269671

That resulted in a ban that will affect every game released in China. Games will have to start blocking any interaction between mainland Chinese and any ‘foreigner’: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22885892 This is part of the reversal of the great ‘Opening of China’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_economic_reform

Some gamers are so upset about it that they're reporting Steam to the CCP for listing Taiwan as a separate country. Seems pointless, but I guess they just want to watch the world burn, which is funny considering they're upset because they can't play a friendly game about being a good neighbor.

Re: The Quiet Revolution of Animal Crossing

#45

Post by dx87 »

mcphage wrote: post #29
ehnto wrote: post #22

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…

> Full respect to the author, and I'm sure they knew exactly how contrarian they were being. Yes, Ian Bogost is a respected game designer and developer.

Has he released anything that ever had any success? I just looked on his Wikipedia page, and it looks like he primarily does contract game development as a way to advertise for different political groups. Here's an excerpt from his his studio's website about the themes for some of his games.

airport security, consumer debt disaffected workers, pandemic flu tort reform, suburban errands data compression, the petroleum industry, the politics of nutrition food inspection, factory farming fast food franchise economics, chemical bonding, grass-roots outreach

Re: The Quiet Revolution of Animal Crossing

#46

Post by Polylactic_acid »

eqmvii wrote: post #37
dmix wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That resulted in a ban that will affect every game released in China. Games will have to start blocking any interaction between mainland Chinese and any ‘foreigner’: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22885892 This is part of the reversal of the great ‘Opening of China’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_economic_reform

Must make it tempting to have limited communication systems, like Magic the Gathering: Arena, where players can only choose from a handful of benign emotes.

There seems to a weird trend of attaching political references to video game characters / other in game things which makes it even harder to block all forms of protest.

Re: The Quiet Revolution of Animal Crossing

#47

Post by billfruit »

dmix wrote: post #16
lawrenceyan wrote: post #11

It's kind of funny that they titled the article this way considering the fact that Animal Crossing is currently banned in China because people have been using it as a platform to stage the Hong Kong protests online [1]. I suppose it gives 'quiet revolution' a doubly apt connotation. [1]: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52269671

That resulted in a ban that will affect every game released in China. Games will have to start blocking any interaction between mainland Chinese and any ‘foreigner’: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22885892 This is part of the reversal of the great ‘Opening of China’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_economic_reform

I feel that there is no reliable sources reporting on this, only a few vague statements laden with hyperbole.

Also till recently gaming consoles themselves weren't available in China as well.

Re: The Quiet Revolution of Animal Crossing

#48

Post by danbolt »

I've seen a lot of comments or responses from people saying that Animal Crossing's mechanics are unfulfilling or "pointless", but I think they're missing the spirit of what makes them enjoyable to a lot of people. I'm going to posit that a video game is the three following things, but you're welcome to disagree:

1) a player performs some sort of input into a game

2) the game responds with some sort of audiovisual phenomena in regards to that input

3) 1 and 2 are repeated, creating a relationship between the player and the game

I know a lot of people define video games as a series of choices or "states", but I think it's too strict as I don't think the appeal of video games is necessarily reduced to "a series of interesting decisions" as Will Wright puts it. I do think decision-making is a big part of a lot of games, but it doesn't explain the entertainment of situations like Revolver Ocelot torturing Snake in Metal Gear Solid, or groups of teenagers playing an easy Starcraft map against a computer player together. Animal Crossing is the same way too; the relationship the player has with the product is fulfilling, and that's what drives its appeal.

Re: The Quiet Revolution of Animal Crossing

#49

Post by arkades »

hi5eyes wrote: post #24
ehnto wrote: post #22

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

> games are a grind everyone thats ever played an mmo knows

You seriously need to expand your pool of games.

Re: The Quiet Revolution of Animal Crossing

#50

Post by Polylactic_acid »

rrmm wrote: post #13
minimaxir wrote: post #9

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.

Good games make you feel like the bottleneck. Being slow at something because you haven't worked it out or because your process is inefficient feels like rewarding gameplay because as you improve, your speed improves. Having to hammer the A button for 10 minutes to craft 10 of the same item doesn't make for rewarding gameplay.
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