PS5 has hints built into the interface (Gaming)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Tuesday, October 20, 2020, 20:12 (1276 days ago) @ Cody Miller
edited by Kermit, Tuesday, October 20, 2020, 20:28

Disclaimer: I say this as someone who spent a good part of the weekend looking at Braytech maps, so I guess I'm a hypocrite.

I'm not against the idea of hints or looking things up. Maybe the game is forcing you to do some kind of puzzle or challenge you have no desire to attempt yourself. Maybe you HAVE tried to do something yourself and are just hopelessly stuck, perhaps overlooking something that you'll never discover.

It's up to you to make that determination, because everyone is different, and a designer can't know where a given individual person will have trouble. Which is why it should be up to the player[/i] to seek out a hint, and not the developer's responsibility to give them one.

Games often involve challenge, and everyone has a different set point for what is too hard. People also want different things out of video games. At this point I feel like I have a good idea of what you look for. It's not exactly what I look for, but I share your concerns about making games "frictionless" and how this intersects with game design and ultimately affects the capacity for fun. Following an instruction manual doesn't usually get you into a flow state.

It's related to why I was against in-game raid matchmaking. To believe that that would routinely lead to a satisfying experience was to fundamentally misunderstand what the activity was intended to be and what it required.