You make a good point. I think World of Warcraft could benefit from focusing less on feel good/efficient user play and more from things that goad people into participation. They recent had a "Zombie Plague" hit the world back in October. While it was awesome and really forced people to deal with a dynamic situation, many users complained that they werent' able to do what ever they had planned to get accomplished that night in their play routine.
Putting the user through some strife, I think, is going to be valuable to progressing the possibilities of fun and immerssion in games.
Putting the user through some strife, I think, is going to be valuable to progressing the possibilities of fun and immerssion in games.
"I'll hammer your buttons... HARD."
Heavens, what a coincidence! Your mother said exactly the same thing to me only last night! Perhaps it is a family trait?
Heavens, what a coincidence! Your mother said exactly the same thing to me only last night! Perhaps it is a family trait?
Heh. Moving on...
@Tubatic:
I'm torn. I don't think I feel the same way about MMOs; when I spend that much time in a fictional world, I definitely want everything in the interface to work as smoothly and efficiently as possible. I more or less want it to disappear. I have problems with Warcraft, but mine are somewhat at odds with yours; when I quit playing it last time (which, I should point out, was over a year ago, so it may have changed), it was mainly because the game was forcing me to find the fun far more than I wanted it to. I've never played an MMO that I've loved for an extended period, but Warcraft is still better than the others I've played, so you can imagine how I feel about those.
Single-player, though? Definitely. The thing that happens in Fallout 3 when you turn in Mr. Burke solidified my love for the game, and that definitely wasn't a feel-good moment.
I'm actually working on another post regarding MMOs. Look for it soon.
@Tubatic:
I'm torn. I don't think I feel the same way about MMOs; when I spend that much time in a fictional world, I definitely want everything in the interface to work as smoothly and efficiently as possible. I more or less want it to disappear. I have problems with Warcraft, but mine are somewhat at odds with yours; when I quit playing it last time (which, I should point out, was over a year ago, so it may have changed), it was mainly because the game was forcing me to find the fun far more than I wanted it to. I've never played an MMO that I've loved for an extended period, but Warcraft is still better than the others I've played, so you can imagine how I feel about those.
Single-player, though? Definitely. The thing that happens in Fallout 3 when you turn in Mr. Burke solidified my love for the game, and that definitely wasn't a feel-good moment.
I'm actually working on another post regarding MMOs. Look for it soon.
A fair point made. I agree that good, meaty story is severely lacking from the overall spread of games developed, and I must further agree that it's gamers are largely to blame. Game developers are businesses first and artists second, unfortunately. They give the people what they want-- and what sells. Plus, we gamers like to reset from our last save if something goes a different way than we'd like.
I will point to 'time traveling' in Animal Crossing as an example. Consequences be damned, people cheat the game and the imposed 'reality' to get the outcome they want, or to speed up the process. Resetti keeps you somewhat honest, but not nearly honest enough.
We, the gamers, are at fault for this lack of 'literary' devices in our hobby of choice. If we demand good story and more a more 'realistic' action/consequence structure, I think that developers would respond.
I will point to 'time traveling' in Animal Crossing as an example. Consequences be damned, people cheat the game and the imposed 'reality' to get the outcome they want, or to speed up the process. Resetti keeps you somewhat honest, but not nearly honest enough.
We, the gamers, are at fault for this lack of 'literary' devices in our hobby of choice. If we demand good story and more a more 'realistic' action/consequence structure, I think that developers would respond.
A fair point made. I agree that good, meaty story is severely lacking from the overall spread of games developed, and I must further agree that it's gamers who are largely to blame. Game developers are businesses first and artists second, unfortunately. They give the people what they want-- and what sells. Plus, we gamers like to reset from our last save if something goes a different way than we'd like.
I will point to 'time traveling' in Animal Crossing as an example. Consequences be damned, people cheat the game and the imposed 'reality' to get the outcome they want, or to speed up the process. Resetti keeps you somewhat honest, but not nearly honest enough.
We, the gamers, are at fault for this lack of 'literary' devices in our hobby of choice. If we demand good story and more a more 'realistic' action/consequence structure, I think that developers would respond.
I will point to 'time traveling' in Animal Crossing as an example. Consequences be damned, people cheat the game and the imposed 'reality' to get the outcome they want, or to speed up the process. Resetti keeps you somewhat honest, but not nearly honest enough.
We, the gamers, are at fault for this lack of 'literary' devices in our hobby of choice. If we demand good story and more a more 'realistic' action/consequence structure, I think that developers would respond.
I would really love to see a game that does what you said with Aeris, that would be an excellent moment in a game. But I don't think developers would never do it, in fact it seems like something like what Peter Moleneaux would put into Fable or something. I think that we will see more moments like what you're talking about in games in the future, but there is a hesitation in making the player feel negative emotions out there. Look at the whole battle over the controls of RE5. Some people wouldn't even want to experience that authentic moment of frustration and fear that kicks in when your character has to physically stop to reload.

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