How much choice do you really think you have, Cody?

by General Vagueness , The Vault of Sass, Sunday, April 07, 2013, 16:42 (4247 days ago) @ Cody Miller

A lot of people actually really suck at creating their own goals. It is much easier to adopt one. That's not 'obedience' because in games you can still fully choose not to do it.

Again, in real life we call folks who have no goals or are unable to form goals 'losers'. Why do we not tolerate it in life, but suddenly do in leisure activity?

Firstly, I'd say they have trouble getting themselves motivated, and I might try to help them. Secondly, why do we tolerate shooting people's faces off in video games when we don't in real life?

Too often, yes, it is not presented by developers or seen by players as a choice to adopt the goals or not. They seem coerced too heavily. Too often, the goals they provide are not interesting.

But the goals are there, ready and waiting for you. You can choose to adopt them, and you can end up having fun during the pursuit of it.

It is a sacrifice in the initial intrinsic motivation to be able to provide more activity to more people. People who, because they didn't even realise that those goals could be constructed, might have left the game otherwise.

If they don't realize it, and they leave the game, they are not the type of people who would want to take on these challenges in the first place. It's like the saying in advertising - "If you see it, then it's for you".

I feel like there's an assumption, maybe more than one, behind you saying that, and I don't know if it's true. Also I haven't heard that saying before so maybe you should say what it means or what it means to you.

Besides, you really think all your gaming goals are wholly self-directed? You didn't invent speed running, Cody. You merely adopted it. Remember Twin Galaxies? You're so obedient to others Cody. And you didn't even get the reward! Did you end up having fun doing it anyway? Do you look back on it as a worthwhile accomplishment? No? Are you a robot?

There is a huge difference between adopting goals created by people who love the game, goals which net you no reward other than the fun of doing them, and adopting the goals of the developers who want to keep you playing / paying which reward using in game means.

So SLASO in Halo is fine but plain Legendary is horrible? Also, developers can't love their own games?