Are FPS's dumbing down gamers?

[Makeshift Koala]

This may be from my own personal experiences... but do you think that modern first person shooters are dumbing down gamers?
I have 3 examples of this.

The first example is my brother (aged 14) playing mass effect. i had told him to play it as he didnt know what game to play and i loved the game. i leave him to play it for 1 hour and come back to see him playing call of duty world at war. i ask him 'why did you stop?' he replied 'i got to the part where your on the spaceship and you have to tell the pilot to bring us into dock or something.. and i got lost on the ship so i gave up' this suprised me as the normandy isnt exactly the most complicated place to navigate through. He is an avid call of duty player and is usually used to being carried along on a leash through a level me thinks... and i was his age when i played mass effect, so it cant be the fact that its just a confusing game can it?

The second example is my friend who just started playing the orange box and i told him to start the half life games. (yes i know its an fps, but i like to think its the thinking mans fps)The next day I ask him how far he got.. and he said 'i dunno.. i got out of the train station place and was outside.. then i got lost.. so i gave up and went to play call of duty'. im not blaming call of duty at all.. its just a coincedence that thats what they went to play.

Third example (and my personal favourite) is when another of my friends was playing fallout 3... some time after he bought it and started it, he called me and asked 'ok.. ive been outside rivet city for 20 minutes and i havent a clue how to get onto the bleedin' thing!' This amused/disapointed to no end, so i hung up on him. Also a Call of Duty player.
Now im not sure if this is an actual problem, or my friends are just complete morons... but i couldnt help pin it on the obvious connection between them all.. first person shooters..
Discuss
PS: this is also my first ever thread post.. so.. eh.. be nice =P

 

[Amarok]

Call of Duty doesn't make idiots, idiots play Call of Duty


(To justify that previous statement; that's not to say that everybody who plays CoD is an idiot. But let's face it, it's got like 15,000,000,000,000 players. A lot of 'em are gonna be idiots)

Also, Half Life isn't *that* much of a thinking man's fps. You can play through it pretty mindlessly if you're so inclined.

 

[Cliff_m85]

I argue that most people play games to get away from strenuous thinking.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

This may be from my own personal experiences... but do you think that modern first person shooters are dumbing down gamers?
I have 3 examples of this.

The first example is my brother (aged 14) playing mass effect. i had told him to play it as he didnt know what game to play and i loved the game. i leave him to play it for 1 hour and come back to see him playing call of duty world at war. i ask him 'why did you stop?' he replied 'i got to the part where your on the spaceship and you have to tell the pilot to bring us into dock or something.. and i got lost on the ship so i gave up' this suprised me as the normandy isnt exactly the most complicated place to navigate through. He is an avid call of duty player and is usually used to being carried along on a leash through a level me thinks... and i was his age when i played mass effect, so it cant be the fact that its just a confusing game can it?

The second example is my friend who just started playing the orange box and i told him to start the half life games. (yes i know its an fps, but i like to think its the thinking mans fps)The next day I ask him how far he got.. and he said 'i dunno.. i got out of the train station place and was outside.. then i got lost.. so i gave up and went to play call of duty'. im not blaming call of duty at all.. its just a coincedence that thats what they went to play.

Third example (and my personal favourite) is when another of my friends was playing fallout 3... some time after he bought it and started it, he called me and asked 'ok.. ive been outside rivet city for 20 minutes and i havent a clue how to get onto the bleedin' thing!' This amused/disapointed to no end, so i hung up on him. Also a Call of Duty player.
Now im not sure if this is an actual problem, or my friends are just complete morons... but i couldnt help pin it on the obvious connection between them all.. first person shooters..
Discuss
PS: this is also my first ever thread post.. so.. eh.. be nice =P

I think you're friends are idiots not to offend you but this might be less of a problem with CoD and FPS more with some very very mainstream taking people through the levels by their noses.

As a lot of games that are quite mainstream do that now yes there are exceptions but they usually aren't too hard to navigate in.

 

[Cherry Cola]

I think your pals are just idiots (No offense)

FPS don't dumb down gamers. Sure, if you play enough FPS games with the same cliché's you might be confused when they aren't present in another game, but that is more of developing a habit to an easy-to-follow setting rather than actually becoming dumber.

 

[Space Spoons]

I wouldn't say FPS's are dumbing down gamers. I'd say it's more likely a case of them not raising the standards of gamers. A gamer growing up in the age of Call of Duty might find a more complex game like Mass Effect or Half-Life to be daunting, but it isn't because Call of Duty made them dumb; it's because playing Call of Duty simply doesn't prepare you for playing games like Mass Effect or Half-Life. It's just not on the level of those games, and what's more, it doesn't try to be. Now, whether or not Call of Duty should be trying to emulate Mass Effect or Half-Life is another discussion altogether. The point is, if all you play is Call of Duty, going to anything else is going to induce a pretty massive dose of culture shock.

In any case, it seems like the gamers of that particular mindset are fairly young. As they get older and start broadening their horizons, it seems likely that they'll be able to move beyond Call of Duty onto more cerebral fare.

 

[GamingAwesome1]

Call of Duty doesn't make idiots. Idiots are just attracted to Call of Duty, because in all fairness CoD isn't exactly the most complex game. Anything of higher standards confuses what they're used to.

 

[rokkolpo]

many exclusive fps gamers are morons anyway.

 

[Vault boy Eddie]

FPS's aren't dumbing down games, consoles are. I own both a PS3 and an 360 so any comments about me being biased can go fly a kite.

 

[Gigaguy64]

I think your pals are just idiots (No offense)

FPS don't dumb down gamers. Sure, if you play enough FPS games with the same cliché's you might be confused when they aren't present in another game, but that is more of developing a habit to an easy-to-follow setting rather than actually becoming dumber.

Couldn't of said it better.

One might argue that FPS's are made to be simple, now of course the ones like Fallout or Metroid Prime do require critical thinking for the most part, when i want to play an FPS's its mostly because i dont want to think, i just want to play something simple and fun.

 

[Caligulove]

I hear what youre saying. But I wouldn't always blame the genre for this. Some people just have low attention spans and need things happening all the time.

And at the same time, I find myself going through different moods of what I want to play. One day I might want to play something like CoD or Halo, and then the next day I'll feel more like sneaking around with some Splinter Cell- slower paced and more patience. Then I'll feel like playing Mass Effect or KotOR for the massive amounts of story on display there.

But then I guess I am a gamer that likes to play different games, and rarely plays the same game for more than a couple of days before I need to play something else.
Everyone doesn't have the same idea in their head when they want to play a video game, for entertainment or otherwise...

 

[Chipperz]

I spent bloody ages trying to get off the Normandy first time - I assumed that because you always start at the back, the exit was near the back. Actually, I've done all three of those things.

I spent bloody ages after the train station assuming that because Barney was helping you, he'd have given you a pass to somewhere in City 17. I also assumed that the Combine would be smart enough to block off an obvious side alley that gets you out of the major checkpoint hub.

Rivet City? Sweet Jesus H. Rastafari I could not find that button for love nor money! I actually almost killed myself several times swimming round the entire thing looking for an underwater entrance! My main problem with the concept of an extending drawbridge was that most stuff you can stand on in Fallout 3 is fixed in place.

I actually had more problems with those three areas because I overthought them. Where does that fit in with your little theory?

 

[Pyro Paul]

any game which has the 'hide in a corner and suck your thumb' as a healing method is basically dumbing down the gaming community as it throws out any and all tactical and stratigic thinking. in all honosty, the removal of the health bar has really lowered the average attention span of players in those games.

playing games like Left 4 Dead, half life, FEAR and so forth where i have to scower for health, and avoid getting hit as, and take my time as to not take as much damage. this slows the game down, forces me to think, and makes me more patient. games like Gears of War, Halo, Call of duty, all of which have the 'hide n Heal' mechanic are more instant gratification, they force players to not think but rather react which ultimatly dumbs them down.

 

[OmegaXIII]

It's the other way around - as most in this thread have already remarked upon. This is not limited to games, the same is true in everything because the less intelligent of our number will flock to simpler things simple because it provides something that they are able to do and thus benefit from. Who can honestly say that they haven't chosen a subject because it was within their realms of knowledge rather than something that would provide a challenge to learn.

Furthermore i find myself bothered by how elitist commenting on this sounds. The points are valid, but ehhh...

Also it seems pretty likely you're not trying to troll but given that CoD was mentioned in all three examples I'm a little concerned this thread could quickly become flame bait.

 

[DrunkWithPower]

This is actually a fun topic. It brings me to a point, why do we play video games? Mindless fun or brain racking challenge. I enjoy both equally. As far as your question goes, it's not making them dumb, it's just their way of being entertained.

 

[OmegaXIII]

This is actually a fun topic. It brings me to a point, why do we play video games? Mindless fun or brain racking challenge. I enjoy both equally. As far as your question goes, it's make making them dumb, it's just their way of being entertained.

Entirely depends on my mood sometimes i get the urge to blow shit up, other times i want to think about said shit before blowing it up. It's kinda like films, sometimes a love a film where i can deposit my brain outside and pick it up afterwards. Ah, Commando how i love thee.

 

[Spinwhiz]

Well, FPS multiplayer is pretty simple. Aim and shoot at those that aren't on your team.

The RPG's you described take time and some brain work. If a person isn't used to putting in that kind of time to a quest (or questing at all), then they ditch it and go for the quick "pick up and play" type of games.

It doesn't mean anyone is dumb, it just depends on what they like.