If you've ever wished to feel a real sense of existential, tech-driven terror, this has been a great month for you. At DICE 2010, Jesse Schell envisioned a world where all of our daily activities might be tied into an endless series of point-based metagames. Today, Cracked.com's 5 Creepy Ways Games are Trying to Get you Addicted examines similar ground, but without Schell's bizarre optimism.
Cracked's essay deals with the same sort of stuff many designers have been decrying for years -- namely, that games like World of Warcraft are less interested in providing meaningful experiences than they are turning players into mindless addicts who don't realize they're being manipulated -- but if you have a hard time listening to Jon Blow talk at you for an hour, Cracked's always-efficient "legitimate information plus boob jokes divided by list organization" formula should nicely put things into perspective.
Read it here. As for me, I'm torn between feeling (A) immense pride that I never got into World of Warcraft, and (B) crushing fear that it's only going to become more and more profitable to treat the player like a junkie.
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Contest:
3:00 PM on 03.08.2010
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This is exactly why I no longer play WoW. And to think, there are people who cheer for MORE of this (on that game especially) because they think that makes the game "challenging". Yes, apparently, time consumption = challenge!
Fail.
Oh well. Videogames are just something I do for fun, they're not my life. Frankly if they sucked enough to not play, I'd just be better off!
I mean, if we're getting points awarded to us from HMO's or the government, couldn't that be a source of legitimately positive social change? Couldn't that make people healthier? Or even kinder? If we master the art of leveraging these systems to manipulate behavior, couldn't we reduce destructive behavior?
Borderlands, now, THAT is a game with constant rewarding that feeds addiction. Completely understandable.
And why shouldn't they make you play for as long as possible? Regular games are single transactions. They get your money, you get a game. Stuff like this though, they have to keep you hooked or you stop paying. Of course, one could argue that for the price of a new game, they could play WoW for four months and get much more play experience out of it, and I'm sure that's debatable...but at least with my new game, I'll always be able to play it no matter how shallow it is.
These are the kind of truths when viewed in their daily context, and insulated by adjacent gaming or social experiences, don't look like much to be concerned about; simply life quality issues/choices. But when presented in such a way, or WORSE, to know that there are those out there employed and educated in behavioural sciences that actively apply that knowledge to, essentially, ENSNARING people in isolated environments that produce something-like reward, well.. yes, that terrifies me.
It just seems like to agree with that article, you're doing nothing less than sympathizing with that 'The Only Thing I Know' jackass's problem.
You're right, the slow removal of free will via an all seeing nanny state eye sounds awesome. I can't wait until we all have no souls whatsoever. Hailage to the motherland.
Heck, why wait for digital social frameworks to do it for us? Why don't we all just get lobotomies? I mean that ought to reduce destructive behavior.
It's very easy to reduce any one of these things to just content or the time you might dedicate to partaking, but how easy is it to really quantify which of these is superlatively BETTER than the others, at the same fifteen dollar pricetag?
It may only be an approximate two hours, but I love me the movie theater experience. Just the same, I enjoy having protected sex and fifteen dollars could get me a LOT of that (willing partners available).
Value is such a tricky thing.
(I apologize if that sounded like an argument or counter. It was more along the lines of you triggering this thing in my head that I wanted to say.)
Since when have HMO's or the Government ever been "a source of legitimately positive social change". You ask, "If we master the art of leveraging these systems..." when you really should be asking "when they master the art of leveraging these systems...". Odds are you and me will not be consulted on these matters.
This isn't a study. No research was conducted. It is a man's opinion. Any right-thinking individual, while capable of seeing the merit in musings such as this, knows full well it is unsubstantiated.
i dont play mmo's for half an year, and dont plan on playing them in the near future simply cause there is nothing interesting atm, ill definitely check out the new wow expansion when it comes out.
with that said, i dont think any other video game has given me more enjoyment as well as despair and boredom as Lineage 2 for example, and WoW to some degree.
plus, i think anyone who doesnt try MMO's cause he is are afraid of getting addicted is flat out retarded.
I some times get the impression that people take MMO's as a bigger "threat" than alcohol and the likes for example, which is absolutely hilarious.
I should have clarified. I do think there are some terrifying aspects to this proposed future. I no way do I think it's nearly as orwellian or dystopian as Uber seems to, but I suspect he was simply using hyperbole to prove a point. Well played, sir.
Without trying to make commentary on the way our government or our health care systems are run, I was just trying to say that at some level, they (supposedly) have our best interests in mind. A few of the examples Jesse Schell brings up (did you guys even watch that video?) are legitimately positive things. You could earn points for using public transportation instead of driving. Points for taking the stairs instead of the elevator. That kind of thing.
By no means am I trying to argue that the concept of our behavior being so easily manipulated is a comfortable one, I'm just saying that as a tool, it could be used to improve society.
Step two - create WOW accounts for them all
Step three - make them farm day and night
Step four - ???
Step five - PROFIT!
Oh I saw the video. I'm just saying, I'm pretty sure you got bonus points for taking public transportation back in Mussolini's Italy.
Like the whole "replacement" thing. There's a sim factor and an economic sim factor that are at play here. In real life if I keep using a tool, it degrades and I will eventually need to replace it.
More often than not, the degradation of your tool is just from the result of use, its not some evil plot devised by the manufacturer to make buy new tools, its just the way things are.
And if Johnny Warrior keeps on swinging that sword, he's eventually going to have to take it to the blacksmith and repair it or he's going to buy a new one. He may keep a spare around just to keep working longer.
Guess what happens in auction-driven economy that as a big resale market and nothing ever degrades? Rapid deflation. Think Gamestop and the most recent Madden game, its the perfect example. These games haven't really seen anything in the way of degradation and now the retailer has to sell them somehow, so they get steep cut in price.
This is the law of supply and demand. When supply exceeds demand, you have to make cuts.
Does degradation make you want to keep with keeping your character in the money? Perhaps, but there are games where you could also BE the blacksmith, just like you could learn to keep your tools in shape.
So I'm just gonna take this story as some scare tactic to keep people off MMOs. Some publishers fear MMOs just like James Cameron fears you staying at home playing MW2 rather than seeing his new, stupid movie. They showed plenty of examples of how OFFLINE games can be every bit as addictive and have these elements, and with no social/economic factor driving them, pardon me if I find that just a little more depraved.
The people that spend real life money for virtual widgets on eBay, though, I've never understood those people.
From my point of view, its about getting my money's worth. I don't hate Dragon Age, but I certainly don't love it. Mirror's Edge was $10 so the fact that I haven't played it much after I bought it doesn't bug me so much.
I wonder though, why the fuck do I still go to the video game aisle everytime I'm at Target? I have a backlog that includes the following:
Mass Effect 2
Wii Punch Out!
Silent Hill Shattered Memories
The Saboteur
Deadly Premonition
The Legend Of Zelda: The Spirit Tracks
Uncharted 2
MGS4
ICO
Beyond Good & Evil
Yet I'm trying to force myself through Dragon Age first. Should I just abandon Dragon Age? I'm also very interested in trying out one of these Permadeath playthroughs of Far Cry 2. I don't have that game though, I'd have to buy it.
If I were you, I'd sell the game or put it up on Goozex to minimize my losses, and start spending time doing something I really enjoyed. Life is too short to spend pushing yourself to finish games that don't excite you, just because you plunked down the money on them.
But I have a feeling that not everybody wants to make a game like that. And as hard as it is to publish a game, especially for the independent developers, there's always people making the games they want.
That isn't to say that there won't be more of these shitty flat experiences, it's just that the future won't be as bleak as some are making it out to be.
"Why bother making a 1-5 list for what is essentially a single point?"
Cracked pretty much always write their features like that, it is also explained by the author as being similar to short levels in games (he cites New Super Mario Bros. Wii):
"By the way, this is the same reason a person who wouldn't normally read a 3,000-word article on the Internet will happily read it if it's split up into list form. Are you ignoring boobies to read this? I've done my job!"
It may not be the best way to write an essay on the subject but as far as getting your point across on an internet comedy website it works very well.
The author of that post has written quite a few articles on games, from what I recall he does a better job than most game journlolists.
^This^, a thousand times over.
If you are normal, MMO's are fine. If you are a fucking retard, you will be an MMO-addicted retard. I'm sick of seeing the entire industry talking shit about MMO's as if they are the ones to blame for idiots who stop feeding their child to feed their virtual one.
Shame on you for fanning the flames, Anthony.
Pretty much I stopped playing WoW in the early endgame. That is when I would take a break and re-roll on another server later. I stopped playing it when it quit delivering new content and become the same old raid again and again and again. I hated how WoW was specifically designed to waste my time, spreading actual gameplay elements as far apart as it could get away with. But I really liked the battlegrounds and hope to play those again someday.
Seriously, though, while I have a lot of problems with WoW, the core game mechanics are not one of them. There is far more depth and balance to the classes and encounters than any other single-player RPG I have ever played.
Furthermore, Blizzard is only making the game better and better. Questing in Northrend feels like there's an actual narrative, that things are actually happening. You're not gathering 15 Tabulk hooves, you're ascending an enormous frozen spire by hookshot-ting your way from dragon to dragon to plead with a deity at the top. You're not searching for Mankrik's wife, you're assaulting and claiming the Shadow Vault for the Knights of the Ebon Blade. Hell, just even the Death Knight starting zone is incredible, and that only lasts a couple hours.
And bosses and encounters are incredibly unique and creative, whether it's doing the "Safety Dance" at Heigan, manning a Demolisher and tanking on Flame Leviathan in tank warfare, or fighting the opposite faction in an honest-to-goodness airship pirate battle.
Blizzard is also making the game more approachable and interesting. It's incredibly easy to gear up for the newest tier and start playing with your guild -- no need to grind prior tiers, no attunements, no nothing. Gear is also moving away from being ridiculously convoluted stat bundles to being simple but depthy. (For example, in the future, gear with procs or interesting attributes are going to be common, making "upgrades" less objective and more playstyle based, like a gear version of talent abilities and attributes.)
The things I don't like are the "grinding" elements. I don't like being told downing boss after boss, week after week, is the best way to gear and have fun at the game. I don't mind redoing instances occasionally (for the same reasons I don't mind replaying L4D campaigns, or playing Dustbowl for the umpteenth time), but I just don't like how incredibly much I have to do it.
Ironically, it's the vocal fanbase that would be the first to resist any move towards making the game more fun and less of a time sink, AKA "catering to the casuals". Hmm, where have I heard that phrase in the console space...
All that said, my WoW account is currently frozen. I don't play when I don't feel there's anything fun to do. (No, I refuse to invest time in weekly raids with my fail-guild.) I'll definitely renew for Cataclysm, when all the shitty starting areas that so many people in this thread have mentioned they gave up on will be completely redone and redesigned to match (or succeed) the quality of Northrend's quests.
Everything the article says is perfectly sound and worthy of attention... But I would argue that some people like being supposedly "exploited" -- to have a more consistent, regular space of activity (such as an MMO). I've taken several 6+ month breaks since I began (3 or 4) playing WoW, and have become increasingly less "hardcore" about it each time I quit and resubscribe. Thing is, I still do like the game, but I'll admit its lost its luster quite a bit since the time I first played... Not necessarily because the game has changed so much, but because I have merely found other spaces of gaming that seem more entertaining after all the time I've spent playing WoW.
See creature with abysmal AI. Click buttons on your HUD in a certain order (the same for 90% of creatures) until creature dies with nearly no skill or thought required. Repeat for all eternity.