Comments on: Two Brief Programming Notes

By: CmdrSlack

CmdrSlack — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:06:54 +0000

So this is emergent behavior? If so, I am currently selling comment replies for $5 each.

By: Doug

Doug — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:55:40 +0000

You know, Lum complained about us posting too much but I have never been so engaged in a discussion before. All in all I think his lack of posting has made me take a hard look at what I play and why I play it as opposed to just looking at the next update and not bothering to get into a drawn out discussion.

@Lum

It’s like we’re keeping your blog warm while you are away. We’re generating our own content!

By: Gx1080

Gx1080 — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 02:57:45 +0000

They are really good non-interactive cinematics. Just saying.

By: geldonyetich

geldonyetich — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:43:57 +0000

If it’s a Square-Enix game, they spend about 5 hours in non-interactive cinematics dinging.

By: Guy

Guy — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:33:33 +0000

If a lone player levels in an offline world, do they actually “ding”?

By: geldonyetich

geldonyetich — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:09:17 +0000

I’ve been there. Lately, my philosophy has shifted more along the lines of thinking that what I get out of games is entertainment.

If a game isn’t really entertaining me (perhaps because I no longer give a damn about virtual achievement knowing its just a bunch of 1s and 0s on a computer somewhere which will soon be made obsolete when the next expansion comes out or I move on to another MMORPG) then the game isn’t performing the role in my life that games are there to perform.

Worse, if I consider entertainment from along the lines of Raph’s Theory of Fun, where a sense of fun is actually learning going on, I’m afraid that playing a game which fun will actually make me stupider over the long run.

When you’ve been playing a game long enough that the goal is to sit there and accumulate, not dodge the enemies’ attacks, not use the terrain to your advantage, not strategize, basically sit there and soak damage and hammer out a predictable pattern of hot keys because to do anything else would be considered exploiting, then you’re being trained not to play a game at all.

I’ve actually noticed this behavior in me if I’ve been playing a MMORPG a lot lately and then move on to another game. I won’t try to play that game intelligently, e.g. think of ways to play the game better, because I’m too used to the idea of a game in which there are no ways to play it better, by design, to level the playing field. The “persistence>skill” model is a genuine brain killer.

So, in terms of time investment, I’m feel I’m probably wasting my time a whole lot less playing something genuinely entertaining but without a persistent space than I am playing something mind-numbingly boring but with a persistent space.

But I still see some appeal in a persistent space. It does make you feel a certain sense of creation to know that your efforts in a game are actually producing a sense of progress (even if it is an illusion). To these ends, I’ve been experimenting with a game that can be both a dynamic (as opposed to the usual static – nothing ever changes) persistent game world and interactive in a way a game should be interactive.

By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:05:07 +0000

When I play offline games I get this overwhelming feeling that I am actually wasting my time. With an MMO I feel as though I am progressing for some reason even though it appears that every five years I quit my MMO and begin a new one. Both are a waste of time, but at least one of them is long term waste, much like a liberal arts degree but without the excessive cost.

By: geldonyetich

geldonyetich — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:32:11 +0000

You’re more a diehard MMORPG fan than me if “what’s available” is nothing but games of that genre.

By: Hatch

Hatch — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:06:15 +0000

I do agree with that as well. On the other hand we’ve been squeezing oranges to get orange juice for some time and still have to do it. Sometimes you just have to work with what’s available.

By: Guy

Guy — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:02:15 +0000

“However, so long as people keep voting with their dollars for mediocre grinds, that’s exactly what MMORPG developers will keep delivering. That you’re paying somebody to play the game for you so you can continue to send the wrong signals to game developers is… well, what would you call that?”

I have to say Geldo your crusading makes a lot more sense once you make that point.