Playing for 'fun' is still possible, it just seems harder (Destiny)

by Revenant1988 , How do I forum?, Thursday, December 07, 2023, 19:20 (143 days ago) @ ManKitten

The difference? Community content.

My grumpy old man soap box says that we've become a society of "I want everything, now, for free, and it has to be awesome." And if it doesn't check all those boxes, 5% of people go online and rage against it, then that's viewed as "everyone hates it"

Halo was different because there was no reward to earn. The reward was, playing it and having fun. Whether it's matchmaking or customs with friends. Then they added ranks, and you had a little number by your name. With that, a little bit of fun died and sweat began to form. The chase of seeing that number go up consumed us.

Fast forward to now and how often do you play a game just for the fun of it. And I'm genuinely asking that question! The games I play, I have fun playing them but the thing I'm playing for is "to unlock this mod" or "to complete this challenge". It's the chase of that gratification.

And if we aren't constantly being served a gratifying moment, well it's hot garbage on fire and there's no other option.

And our monkey brains LOVE it. All of modern gaming has simply become our version of a Boomer's slot machine in a casino. The lights go off, a sound chimes, and a 'lil dopamine gets released even when you lose. Just enough to keep you playing.

If it didn't work, it wouldn't sell. But it does. The model hasn't really changed fundamentally.

Arcade games had to be balanced in such a way that they are fun to play, but get you to keep spending quarters.
Home console gaming in theory made it cheaper but for every Super Mario or Sonic the Hedge Hog, there was an Atari ET or Superman 64. If you bought a shit game, that was it. If you bought a hit, well that was in your favor. Hours\days\years of entertaiment on that purchase, all the vendor can do is sell more units of the game, but once you have it they can't make more money off you. Darn!

Online gaming (minus that golden era of peer-to-peer) puts favor back to the Arcade, er, Studio\publisher... the Casino, as it were.

Doing anything, anywhere, feels like this these days.

It really does feel like some company somewhere is literally trying to make money off me every minute I actually exist.

Many gamers are spoiled brats these days, for sure. Yet, they\we keep perpetuating the cycle. No incentive to change, I guess. Remember when McDonalds was cheap? Still making billons off people.

When people say "vote with your wallet!" it's such a crock of shit, because clearly not enough people are actually doing that lol. They complain and keep spending.

THAT SAID....

I guess the main reason I wanted to reply to you is to agree\vent but to say that these days, when I do find time for gaming it really is for the pursuit of fun. I've been having a blast with MCC and Infinite and I chase nothing. Not a thing, except wanting to win the match. Yeah, I see the news about SBMM woes (for many games) and that gaming feels 'sweatier' has some truth to it (save us, Max Hobermen of the world) when you tune out all the in-game stores, cosmetics and hooplah, games are still fun. Playing with the right people helps. Or playing old favorites, like you'd eat a comfort meal.

If you can make it past the slot machines sometimes the Casino has a great kitchen.