Poll: Have gamers lost touch with "playing for fun?"

[moretimethansense]

One important thing that few of you seem to consider, how exactly do you define "fun"?

"Fun" is very subjective, what may be "fun" for one may simply infuriaate another, for example:
What I find to be entertaining is not in fact victory, it is however the intensity of the climax, to use fighting games as an example I much prefer to win a battle by the skin of my teeth or even by accident.

In bullet hell games I absolutely love not being able to beat it, I find the fact that despite my best efforts and fast reflexes I am usually slaughtered in seconds to be hillarious, I find half the "fun" to be realising just how fucked I am as 93% of the screen is now filled with glowing death.
I enjoy losing by the smallest of margins, to be almost exactly as enjoyable as winning by them.
And yet I know people that if they lose at the last second or lose repeatedly they will throw the controller to the floor and refuse to play the game ever again, what we find to be "fun" is very much subjective, and nobody has the right to say what is or is not "fun" as though there were some sciantific scale of "fun" available, there simply isn't.

 

[EternalFacepalm]

Gamers today plays to measure dicks.

This.

 

[mjcabooseblu]

The official goal of a poster in a topic such as this isn't to get the OP to concede that they're wrong; as he has aptly demonstrated, he will never do so. The real goal is to wait until he's too ashamed to come back.

 

[GraveeKing]

It's no longer playing for fun.
It's playing for hats.
For 'EXP' to 'prestige'
and god knows what else and as much as I hate to say it - the reason for NOT playing for fun is because winning IS fun - especially when it's hard like in team fortress 2 to get hats you don't just simply buy, days of playing and saving up finally to get a hat - it can be fun to most and just shows off your work and patience, hence having fun doing so.

So it's nothing to worry about, I'm still more worried about the Combustible Lemons!

 

[Odbarc]

What's worse than an opponent who doesn't learn and constantly sets himself up to lose the same way is when their stupid strategies are winning and you can't stop them despite 100% guarantee of predicting it.
I'd sooner get bored with my opponents and nerfing my own attempts and doing 'stupid shit' such as picking at them with the weakest moves or easiest to defend/avoid/block/counter and try winning that way.

Ever play Street Fighter using only the light attacks?

 

[TriGGeR_HaPPy]

I've never gone the random choice that people feel the need to include in their poll for reasons that are beyond me (especially since all they do is lead to a poll that doesn't actually portray the right results)... But I could just not stay away from "Combustible Lemons". They simply sound like the best thing ever, whatever the context.

OT: I think a lot of players have, yea. But I don't think it's anything to worry about, they really do have fun doing what they do.

 

[Joshimodo]

Y'see, I've always played for fun.

However, I find challenge fun. I play to win, but only if it's fun to get to the win. Steamrolling newbies is not fun (although there are moments that are hilarious due to stupidity). Getting slaughtered or glitched to death is not fun.

Fighting an equal or slightly better opponent with no inherent imbalance in a game IS fun. The tension, the mental battle, the intense gunfights and moments of deathly silence, the teamwork, jokes and communication. All fun.

I don't really care if I lose if the match was challenging and me and my team were beaten fair and square, outplayed via skill, coordination and teamwork.

Unfortunately, people who play to win are 90% of the time 13 year-olds who glitch, mod or otherwise cheat, because winning is all that matters, not HOW you win. Annoying.


I don't care about experience points, prestige or any of that shit. I like stats to some degree, mainly to keep track of how I'm doing and if I can improve, and where.



EDIT: Just to clarify, that's for versus multiplayer. I play other games for other sources of fun, such as exploration, amusement, etc.

 

[Bobbity]

Yeah. I can't name the last genuinely fun game I played. Escapism or challenge seems to be the reason we play video games these days, and while that's not a bad thing, it's a little bit sad.

/edit
We also play to unlock shit - skinner box technique - and that is bad.

 

[BanthaFodder]

yeah, it sucks...

"I refuse to play the Wii because it's games are for kids."
Misses out on: Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, Brawl, others

"This FPS is unrealistic. The guns don't even jam every 5 seconds, you can still move after being shot, and sniper rifles are 100% accurate and don't need to be calibrated according to wind direction and such."
Misses out on: pretty much any FPS that doesn't involve you getting shot at, if you want to be really literal. but basically any FPS that takes liberties to make multiplayer even remotely playable.

people are too wrapped up in what's realistic, or deep, or cutting edge. yeah, Mario Galaxy is a Mario platformer. standard stuff. but it's FUN. a gamer looks at a game like Mario Galaxy, for example, and sees another quality game from Nintendo that can appeal to both kids and adults. a tool looks at the same game and sees "another kids' game".

 

[Netrigan]

"I play the game (, and then I learn it)."

This is what my room mate said as he played Mortal Kombat. I'm watching him and some friends play Mortal Kombat's campaign mode, and I suggested (after getting their asses handed to them quite a few times) that maybe they should go into training mode, get a second controller, and learn some new moves/combos instead of button mashing and spamming. But apparently, getting frustrated and using the same approach is their idea of "fun." They say they like to "learn in the heat of battle" but all they're really doing is learning a few attacks/combos and then using those few moves over and over and over...

This kind of narrow-minded thinking upsets me a little. It seems that they aren't playing the game... they're just winning (or losing, mostly); in other words, it's a competition and winning is all that matters. While I've come to expect that from anonymous people playing competitively online, it's kind of hard to deal with now that it's in my face. What's even scarier is that there's no ranking/scoreboard to spur these guys on.

What about you, Escapists? Do you feel that gamers in general, or even some of the gamers around you, have lost touch with "playing for fun" and adopting "playing to win"? What ever happened to playing for fun?

Wait, let me get this straight... they're jumping in the game, having a blast, and you're annoyed that they're not doing their homework, working hard, and learning how to play the game properly.

Lot of people (myself included) play the single player campaign to experience it. It's not about learning how to master a Portal puzzle in the fewest steps possible or pulling off a flawless victory or mastering that tricky rocket jump... it's about seeing what the game designers throw at me and enjoying the ride. To me, that's playing the game. It's a work of entertainment, there is no right way to enjoy it.

 

[Death God]

I think most people are all worrying over games not being taken seriously enough, that they are sacrificing fun in the process. When I play Left 4 Dead on multiplayer, I don't pick up practical weapons like my team mates. They are off getting pipe bombs or machine guns, and here I am picking up the guitar and beating the tank with it. They are mad that I'm not taking it seriously enough and here I am laughing as I beat the jesus out of zombies hearing the guitar "twang" as it hits them. A game isn't worth playing if it isn't fun and people are focusing only on story and graphics. Don't get me wrong, I love a good storyline and graphics are always good but I love myself a good button smasher game.

 

[razelas]

The official goal of a poster in a topic such as this isn't to get the OP to concede that they're wrong; as he has aptly demonstrated, he will never do so. The real goal is to wait until he's too ashamed to come back.

Wtf man.

Saying that someone is right or wrong here is like asking who won the San Fransisco earthquake.

 

[Zenn3k]

I'm trying less to care about winning and just trying to have fun.

Its hard because I've always been a really competitive person, what annoys me is people who are assholes when they win. Those guys can go to hell. Yeah, fine, you killed me, I really don't care about how leet you are, prick.

 

[razelas]

"I play the game (, and then I learn it)."

This is what my room mate said as he played Mortal Kombat. I'm watching him and some friends play Mortal Kombat's campaign mode, and I suggested (after getting their asses handed to them quite a few times) that maybe they should go into training mode, get a second controller, and learn some new moves/combos instead of button mashing and spamming. But apparently, getting frustrated and using the same approach is their idea of "fun." They say they like to "learn in the heat of battle" but all they're really doing is learning a few attacks/combos and then using those few moves over and over and over...

This kind of narrow-minded thinking upsets me a little. It seems that they aren't playing the game... they're just winning (or losing, mostly); in other words, it's a competition and winning is all that matters. While I've come to expect that from anonymous people playing competitively online, it's kind of hard to deal with now that it's in my face. What's even scarier is that there's no ranking/scoreboard to spur these guys on.

What about you, Escapists? Do you feel that gamers in general, or even some of the gamers around you, have lost touch with "playing for fun" and adopting "playing to win"? What ever happened to playing for fun?

Wait, let me get this straight... they're jumping in the game, having a blast, and you're annoyed that they're not doing their homework, working hard, and learning how to play the game properly.

What I suggested was a compromise between the pressure to win and the opportunity to learn. Please tell me how rejecting that without consideration is not closed-minded.

I suggested playing together in practice so they can still have their "learning in the heat of the battle" without feeling pressured to spam and button mash to victory.

That's why it's closed-minded.

Bullshit. Playing the game their way isn't being close-minded. Also, maybe consider the fact that whereas you went to learn combos and lost a lot (by your own admission!) they were spamming and losing a lot, but HAVING FUN! Little skill required for great entertainment? They're clearly doing something right.

What I suggested was a compromise between the pressure to win and the opportunity to learn. Please tell me how rejecting that without consideration is not closed-minded.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

I still play games for fun, but some people have adapted to playing to win and others... well... I dunno. What do you call those people that say a game is shit because its graphics aren't up to the level of Crysis? I know a ton of people said Bulletstorm was bad because it had "5 year old graphics" (aka, their computer was too shitty to run it on higher settings).

 

[Shadowtek]

Especially in FPSs, people have lost touch of "Fun". The people that play for fun are constantly ridiculed and verbally assaulted while being called "Noob" amongst other names. They are also frequently kicked from servers because the admins think that they are griefing other players and and cant play. This isnt the truth, that are just playing in a more "fun" style that generally irritates the very serious gamers.

 

[Kohake]

Having been a "tourney fag"(which I to some extent still am) I don't think more and more people are "playing to win". Time and time again do I hear that HoN is a "serious" game for "hardcore" people who "play to win". It's almost assumed that 99% of the HoN community is "playing to win", but how many do you think actually go the extra mile? Would they sit up all night practicing alone in the dark to perfect their play style? Do they train emotion control to perform well under pressure? Do they keep track of exact numbers and use knowledge to gain every small edge possible?

Most don't. They aren't "playing to win", they just, as previously stated by RiouChan, "measure dicks". And for some reason it's very important to have the biggest dick.

That's what's bothering me. It's not that people try harder and harder to win, it's that people think it's so important. Me? I've had training schedules and sometimes spent up to 10 hour straight training, and I don't even consider myself "serious".(partially because I haven't done it in years) I care about winning. A LOT. But it's not because I'm trying to win some dick comparison, and when I do win it's not like I try to rub it in the face of the people I just beat. I'd rather give them tips on how to improve.

So guess what I feel when a class mates taunt another because they "owned" them in a video game, even though neither of them have the dedication to beat me at any game I play... Yeah, it makes me sad. It's great that they can feel good about themselves, but being all smug about it is just stupid.

 

[DaHero]

Miltiplayer killed fun in games, now all there is anymore is "OMG must play to win! and if I can't win, hack!"

 

[Ericb]

Well I find myself playing more for the experience than pure fun, but that's a different kind of enjoyment.

As have I ever since I started playing games. Though "fun" sadly walked the road that the term "art" have after the post-modernists crapped all over it.