I used to enjoy playing the majority of video games. Once upon a time, I could sit down and play a game like Call of Duty and experience the emotion we call "fun." Yet, over the last five years, I find myself becoming inexplicably bored with just about everything I spend $50 or more dollars on. By bored, I mean after twenty minutes of gameplay, I no longer have any inclination to continue. Usually, I'll hear about a game that's receiving rave 9.0 or betters reviews, buy the game, and then yawn after five minutes.
I remember I couldn't get past the first mission of Gears of War 3.
These days, I'm thinking my boredom isn't as inexplicable as I previous thought. I think what's happened is that my brain demands to be stimulated in a way that only indie games really seem to be allowing for. I must've spent a hundred+ hours in Mount and Blade: Warband.
I believe games can be challenging on two different levels; reflexive and mental, and sometimes a combination of the both.
After being called a "noob" for the thousandth time, I've determined that I'll never be a very good reflexive gamer. I'll never pull off the headshots or land the super, finishing-ultra combo level V in some fighting game. But what's more is that I don't really want to. I've found that games that don't give me a feeling of empowerment or growth are games I can't play past a few minutes. I think that's why I'm so drawn to Strategy, 4X, or even complex RPG games. The last AAA title I enjoyed was Skyrim.
I love games that leave a large degree of the fun in my own hands, as well as allow me to grow in the way I please. That's why Fallen Enchantress appeals to me, as well as Skyrim. I like feeling that there are many paths and options to take, many things to customize and tweak, which is also why Mincecraft, neither strategy nor RPG, is another game I have enjoyed greatly.
I have had an overactive imagination since I was a child, and so leading back to my opening statement, I believe that once I was awakened to the indy world, I haven't been able to enjoy mainstream titles like I used to. For some reason, killing someone in a video game just doesn't mean as much to me anymore if my character/army/base/civilization doesn't grow from it in some way.
There are those who take great pleasure in shooting thousands of soldiers down in Call of Duty. yet it's meaningless to me without an EXP bar.
Anyone else like this?
Big fish, not whale*
Get your myths right or you could cause another crusade.
That's what you get, hitching a ride with a cucumber, grape, and gourd.
It's a fish in the old testament, but I think it's referred to as a whale in the new by jesus...I know way too much about this shit for being an atheist.
WTF does a carpenter know about fish?
What indies and smaller companies have done, they haven't made me less able to enjoy mainstream titles, but they have me less able to tolerate monetization crap for most games. Some forms of monetization I'm ok with- I'm a customization freak when it comes to my fighting games- I paid $15 for the VF5 customization mode, I'll pay for mini-expansions that add content, but I just won't tolerate horse armor, or Capcom customization.
The indies can't get away with low-value DLC, and since indies are a viable alternative, I don't need to take it from the AAA guys. I play less AAA stuff than I ever did before, but it's not so much that the games are inferior, it's that they are an inferior value compared to the best smaller budget games, with the exception of fighters (my favorite genre, though I'm getting too long in the tooth to be competitive in them these days)
Agreed, For the big boys run by bankers, and corporate executive joe's it is all about business. They don't give a damn what the title is about, or if the game even works as long as it brings in cash.... RIGHT NOW! SELL. SELL. SELL.
Bioware doesn't exist anymore from my point of view. They were "swallowed by the whale". Look at what happened to their games before, and after they were bought out. Mass Effect was an exception, but faltered at 3. Dragon Age is a glaring example. Now the failing MMO The Old Republic. Which is WoW with freaking laser beams, and light sabers. An example of a game produced by a marketing executive that knew nothing about making games is Warhammer Online. Another rinse, and repeat of WoW with all the worst parts of it.
What i am seeing now are many new indie companys stepping up, and saying NO to this. Its even bringing Chris Roberts out of retirement. Indies are in the business of making money too. However they are artisans as well. Like how company's like Bioware, and Relic were in their beginnings. They want to make their games their way. Without some stuffed shirt breathing down their neck saying no you cant do this, or that. If they fail, then they fail. That is the nature of the business. However if they do succeed then their new game is the next big thing.
I think it was a huge mistake for Bioware to sell out. They stand as the shining example of "This could happen to YOU".
Yeah yeah, big companies bad, EA is evil.
The fact of the matter is, these large companies are making money hand over fist. You want to blame someone? Blame the other consumers. Blame capitolism. Blame democracy. The fact is, people like you and I are a minority. We aren't going to make someone rich, because the games we love, most people hate. It's tempting to be an elitist about it and say it's because we're smarter and better and whatever else, but it is what it is. But don't lie to yourself, these game producing companies didn't used to be somehow 'pure of heart'. They were out to make money. We used to be a market share worth going after. Now we're not.
Video games used to be a smaller market. The fact is, people like their interactive movies. They like to press X to win. People want to pick up a game and play it for 10-20 minutes, then go do something else. They're not the nerds we were (or still are ) who will sit and learn a complex game, and play it for 2-4 hour stretches.
We are a big enough niche to keep Stardock in business, and other indies, but not big enough for the big names to care about, because their next Call of DoTheSameThingAgain is going to sell. Because Mom and Dad know that you liked the last 7, so they can get you that for Christmas this year. You'll be so surprised. And heaven forbid you don't have the newest Madden game - the players change every year, you know!
I'm not saying making money is evil, I'm saying that the way the AAA guys have to make money makes their games less enjoyable for me, because I've been around the block enough now to know I'm being ripped off.
Of course the game company's both Indie, and the "Evil Empire's" are out to make money. That is the whole point of doing it. Its the ethics, the general lack of ingenuity, and the shoddy releases of new games that are being questioned. The mindless masses are partly to blame for this by buying into these crappy games without researching them first. Then they get all pissed off when something is broken, or bug ridden, and EA hands them the "Oh Well, I don't know what to tell you. Well get around to fixing it in a few years" line.
From my point of view a "Computer Game" should be fun. Yet challenging. As in challenging to the mind. As well as satisfying in the point of it being "something different", Something creative that hasn't been done before. Instead of a rinse, and repeat of ten titles before it in a different package. If you want a 10-20 minute run, and gun game then that is fine. Go play it a console. Yes, We are "Elitist". Guilty as charged. We demand better from our games. Hence why we have these "Niche Genres", and this little bitch session.
Hey, I'm with you on that. I don't generally go for the mainstream snore fests. All I'm saying is it's not some evil empire shoving crappy games down our throat. It's the evil general gaming public, saying "Please EA! Make snorefest 2013! I'll pre-order it if you include girls in skimpy outfits!"
I'm an elitist too. But I'll admit it for what it is, so I'm not suprised that we aren't catered to much, since we are a niche market.
Agreed, sort of. Depends on the board game. Like Twilight Imperium III, I could play that every week(4 is 6-8 hours, 5-8 players is 8 hours+, usually around 10), but popular games like Pandemic bore the shit out of me. So I guess its just like computer games. And other people can be really irritating so there's a lot to be said for solitary gaming.
Regardless, boardgamegeek is very worth checking out.
That only makes sense. I haven't tried Pandemic. I prefer games like Indonesia, Imperial, Chicago Express, Container... big time money-making games.
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