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This is a Problem

This entry was posted on 1/7/2009 11:55 AM and is filed under Games.

I just read an opinion piece about Fallout 3. The author initially disliked the game because she missed all the 'loot' a player can pick up in Oblivion (created by the same developer, Bethesada, and considered a template for the new Fallout game). She began to get into game more once she realized the 'treasures' of the environment where the setting and stories of those who lived in it. Which all sounds good, but she had this to say about finding those treasures:

"...in a recording a father left behind for his daughter, or the long-abandoned journals of a group trying to rebuild their lives on a tiny farm. Not quite as compelling as a ring that doubles your armor class or a crossbow that does fire damage, perhaps, but satisfying in its own way."

Not quite as compelling as a ring? Or a crossbow? Seriously?!? I reread the article a couple times because my brain was sure she must have written that in jest, but there is no sarcasm there. Am I so alone as someone who finds the lives of people more interesting than objects, even those that grant powers? Think of it this way, the above is like someone saying that the film Armegeddon is more compelling than the character-driven Pulp Fiction because it features more explosions and eye candy. This viewpoint confuses and astounds me.

And scares me as well. Because at the end of the day, if players are more interested in things than people, then that's what will sell in games. You can't tell people they are wrong and expect them to be interested in what you like. So if this is a common viewpoint among the majority of gamers, things do not bode well for the types of games I like play and would like to see evolve.

-Jason

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2/4/2009 12:58 PM Erik Hanson wrote:
I've always generally been more a fan of exploring the story and the game world, but I've come to understand that loot and character development (e.g., systems of XP and leveling) are fairly common reasons some players enjoy RPGs. I don't think it's really covered in the "New Taxonomy of Gamers," (http://insultswordfighting.blogspot.com/2008/01/new-taxonomy-of-gamers-table-of.html) but those on our (admittedly more pretentious) side often this of this as an orthographic issue: What most would spell "role-playing," some seem to think of as "roll-playing."

I can't really fault someone for using RPGs as a way to indulge in power fantasies, since I use them to indulge potentially escapist daydreams that are not entirely dissimilar.

I'm not writing clearly here.

Some people play RPGs because they feel pulled towards the ideas of gaining power. Others like the puzzle of "speccing" a character to be optimally powerful. Still others play to experience the game's story, characters, or game-world. All three are playing to escape reality to a different world with different dynamics, and often to escape themselves and instead inhabit the mind or body of someone else. Even though I may feel that playing with the intent of learning and exploring makes me a better person, I still ultimately must admit that I am, in fact, running away from the world in which I still need to do my laundry.

I started to think that the real difference is that there is a psychological danger in using a game character's power and prestige as a vicarious source of self-esteem. That's a problem some MMO players face. At the same time, though, I can certainly imagine someone getting obsessed with virtual worlds to such an extent that it becomes a detriment to his or her actual physical health (even if it's just bedsores from sitting down for days on end.)
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1. 2/4/2009 3:13 PM Jason Seip wrote:
  Hi Erik,
  
  I agree about the compulsion to collect and improve stats. I don't often play RPGs (haven't ever gotten into MMOs) but I was playing a free RPG called "Fate" to kill time at my girlfriend's place the other day, and found it really hard to pull myself away from the game. I wanted to find better items, improve my character's skill level, and complete questions, and had a really hard time putting the game down. It's weird, because now that I'm not playing the game I have little urge to return to it. Yet I know if I start it up again I'll be playing for hours.
  
  -Jason
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2/4/2009 3:17 PM Jason wrote:
Oops, I meant "complete quests" not "complete questions."

-Jason
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2/4/2009 3:59 PM Erik Hanson wrote:
Sometimes it's just really refreshing to feel like you're making progress in something.
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