ALL Game players should read these articles!!!!

I am not usually a huge fan of videogame editorials, but this guy has hit the nail on the head for gaming tendencies and why we play at all. Read these two articles and feel free to reflect in this link. I am in the same stage of life as the author so many of these points hit hard! Enjoy.



http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/08/28/playing-games-for-all-the-wrong-reasons



http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/08/06/why-video-games-matter

40 people read these and none had comments? This lays out why many of us are still playing Dark Souls after finishing the game dozens of times.

Its not that they are not of value its that I dont really know what to discuss about them. the first one pokes in a kinda awkward place. I know its true but recognising it is uncomfortable
the second one really got me with the moment when you stop seeing it as a game and start seeing it as mechanics. that moment is rather depressing but I am not sure I agree about its opinions of those that grew out of games. thank you for linking them though.

Can someone summarise the articles? I refuse to give IGN webpage hits.

Lol, thats a fair perspective wade touche' basically he points out (or at least says in his life) when he tends to play games ALOT its because he feels like he is lacking control in his own life, due to games nature of providing progress in exchange for time. which is not garunteed in real life
probably not the best summary but thats the general point

the second I'm not really sure how to summarise, anyone else?

(Damn you Ninja Dan!)
"Wade's comment"
^That is porbably one problem. Another is people want to see text here, not links. Also I dont know if guests views count as views (though i think they do). So dont be surprised you arent neccesarily getting responses.

I did happen to read the first one. I can see the truth in it, I have heard it before (especially the achievements thing). I think the idea is sound, but doesnt take into account enough factor to be 100% true. I know for myself the idea isnt very applicable to myself (sounds arrogant but its true).

Ah. well I can say it is applicable to me. at least some of the time. nasty spiral at times. but eh that was when I was little. I'm wiser now.... right? :roll:

Ah right, cheers.

dancash1808 wrote:Ah. well I can say it is applicable to me. at least some of the time. nasty spiral at times. but eh that was when I was little. I'm wiser now.... right? :roll:

Sure. I took a 10 year break from gaming to get my life and career going. I missed all of the snes, playstation, and most of the ps2 eras. I budget my playing time only at night, but have have found that games like Dark Souls tend to draw my attention deep into the night sometimes. The author never says the word addiction, but you are right in that it touches a subject that many don't want to face, but should. I fall into the gaming to relax category and have replaced late night tv with gaming, but games like Demons souls, Dark Souls, and Shin Megami Tensei can have a tendency to draw my attention deep into the night in a way TV never could. There are times where I have had to function on little sleep the whole next day because I lost track of time in a game. I also see people through my work that fall into the category of gaming to escape rather than working on their personal situations and I find that sad and uncomforting. I am also dealing with gaming from a parents perspective as I have kids that play and I don't want them to have these self destructive tendencies.

I posted these because I found them to be a good catalyst for self analyzing your own gaming tendencies. I have been doing that a lot lately and they just happen to be posed at the right time for me. I would have posted the whole articles, but I didn't think it would be proper to copy the author's text so I only posted the links. Please don't let that stop you from reading these though as they are very well written. He in no way says stop playing games, but suggest that you know why you do it and be able to recognize self-destructive behavior and curb it.

Haha. well here's something. It was protective for me not self destructive, as a kid I was in some pretty nasty situations I could not really do anything about. escapism was a bloody godsend frankly. sure less so when I was older but having somewhere to escape to back then was very very valuable.

I agree totally and the original legend of Zelda and Metroid (revolutions in gaming when they came out) gave me those needed escapes too. Adult life though has much less opportunity for those "escapes" and requires that you have the mental and physical tools to deal with real-life situations. I turned to sports for much of my outlet during my years away from gaming. Games today have become so enveloping that I can see why people can fall victim to many of these tendencies as I sometimes feel that I walk a tightrope above them. I do see that some people are not able to stay above it all and fall victim. One person I know lost their job and was indifferent to the situation because he had more time to play games. That is a problem. My kids primarily play the old nes games I grew up with (gotta love the wii virtual store). I think it is easier to put down the older games and walk a way for a bit. I took the summer off from Dark Souls because I thought I was spending too much time on it. That was tough because I really wanted to be in pvp, but I figured it was for the best. I also started working out and use this as a way to earn my game time for myself at night. If I work out I can play, if not, I don't. It sucks when your metabolism slows down and I have to do things like this to force myself to work out. Cheers.

college starts soon here... depending on how bad the work load is i may not play much of anything outside holidays... though i did schedual a lot of time during the week i can use to study so maybe weekends then... we'll see...

Damnit IGN, if you're going to write an article about me could you at least cut me a paycheck so maybe I won't have to escape my lousy position in life by playing so many video games?!?!?

@OP It's funny you mentioned what you did about working out. I had to give myself a similar ultimatum after months of playing Left 4 Dead instead of hitting the gym! You would think all that time running from zombies would keep a man in shape, but sadly, this was not the case.

Maybe they will come up with a Move version of a souls game at some point with motion controls like the skyward sword, but even better. Make it so you have to run in place to get anywhere and I can tell you there would be 1.3 million of us hooked fans that would be in tip top shape in no time lol. Imagine it, seeing someone sprint in place trying to get around someone for a pivot backstab;)

Haha but then I would be fatrolling all the time ;-; not to mention how awful motion controllers are! I learned my skills on a gamepad and I'll be damned if I'm changing

Yea Dan I'm old-school like that as well...have a Kinect & Wii just gathering dust!

When I want to exercise, I go to the gym. When I want to game, I plop my *** on the couch & grab a controller!

Never got a kinect but my mother was suckered in by the Wii and we now have one gathering dust not even plugged together (although I suppose I should try that supposedly amazing JRPG that apparently got released on there, xenogears or something)

Haha I avoid having to pay for my excersize dose by cycling back and forth from school in general.... gyms are expensive. and weird

I actually hate both articles because they are leading the question and making large assumptions about an individuals self control. They imply powerlessness and empower games in a way that dose not exist as well as point out obvious conclusions about the gaming experience guessed as self discovery and deep personal growth where in reality it is just giving into the false pretense of "powerlessness" when it comes to self-will. Powerlessness is a dangerous believe that oppresses an individual and removes personal responsibly.

It was more then apparent to me at the age of eight that video games where a form of escapism where the reward process were influenced solely by determination and persistence, where as in life there is not only hard work at play but also happenstance(I wouldn't have used the words when I was young but it was clear). This is an essential formula to what makes games fun and is fundamentally understood by most. I don't need a IGN editorial to condescending to me about such basal assumptions. Where I take offence from the first article is where the author consigns his irresponsibility on to the nature of gaming. This is not empowering people this is purely a concession of the author of personal apathy and a failure to accept responsibly as a grown adult.

The second article is also arbitrary because the same thing can be said of any form of art whether it be movies, literature, music or paint. To aggrandize video games above the rest is a serviced to the potency of these other mediums as well as video games. In coloration to the first article it serves no purpose but to further inflate the idea that games hold power over others in some sort of subconscious addictive way.

TL;DR: Article one is false because the issue is self-control no video games. Article two is just propaganda to support the authors hypothesis in the first article.

Btw: My friend just introduced me to these forums. I've been lurking and I'm loving DSwiki Forums already.



edit: sorry for the spelling and the run on sentences. I'm a bit dyslexic to proofreading my own post is rather difficult at times.

Drascoll wrote:I actually hate both articles because they are leading the question and making large assumptions about an individuals self control. They imply powerlessness and empower games in a way that dose not exist as well as point out obvious conclusions about the gaming experience guessed as self discovery and deep personal growth where in reality it is just giving into the false pretense of "powerlessness" when it comes to self-will. Powerlessness is a dangerous believe that oppresses an individual and removes personal responsibly.

It was more then apparent to me at the age of eight that video games where a form of escapism where the reward process were influenced solely by determination and persistence, where as in life there is not only hard work at play but also happenstance(I wouldn't have used the words when I was young but it was clear). This is an essential formula to what makes games fun and is fundamentally understood by most. I don't need a IGN editorial to condescending to me about such basal assumptions. Where I take offence from the first article is where the author consigns his irresponsibility on to the nature of gaming. This is not empowering people this is purely a concession of the author of personal apathy and a failure to accept responsibly as a grown adult.

The second article is also arbitrary because the same thing can be said of any form of art whether it be movies, literature, music or paint. To aggrandize video games above the rest is a serviced to the potency of these other mediums as well as video games. In coloration to the first article it serves no purpose but to further inflate the idea that games hold power over others in some sort of subconscious addictive way.

TL;DR: Article one is false because the issue is self-control no video games. Article two is just propaganda to support the authors hypothesis in the first article.

Btw: My friend just introduced me to these forums. I've been lurking and I'm loving DSwiki Forums already.



edit: sorry for the spelling and the run on sentences. I'm a bit dyslexic to proofreading my own post is rather difficult at times.

The author never uses the term powerlessness nor suggest it for everybody. He simply states that due to the interactive nature of video games they can draw you in easier and deeper than other forms of media. Some people don't have the ability to pry themselves away and that is a problem if they are ignoring real life duties and issues.

"All the good that games can do aside, what I have learned is that it’s important for gamers to understand their own motivations. I don’t believe anyone needs to stop playing video games, or necessarily even cut back. But everyone should strive to understand his or her own compulsions.

It’s important for gamers to have mastery of their own mind. Are you grinding out a level in World of Warcraft because you’re truly enjoying the experience, or are you doing it to replace missing feelings of self-worth that you don’t want to confront? Do you revel in your virtual successes to avoid the uncomfortable internal dialogue regarding your abandoned gym routine?"

I have seen this behavior so you can't convince me it doesn't exist. Not being confrontational, but a serious question here, how many hours a day do you play in an average week?