Poll: The 'Let's Play' phenomenon and the future of your purchases

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

This is a thread I wanted to make a while ago, but I kept getting sidetrack. However, this response in the Sacrificing Your Game in the altar of streamlining [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.404059-Sacrificing-your-game-in-the-altar-of-streamlining] thread made me finally type this out.

OT: can i say final fantasy please? They turned into games that play themselves . I'll admit that i still buy their games ( even the bad ones * cough * FFX-2 , FFXIII-2, FFT advance *cough* ), but not for the gameplay , soley for the story . However their fall from grace make me sad since i've supported them since the original Final fantasy .

There are plenty of games nowadays that really don't seem interesting to me gameplay wise, but the story just makes me want to be apart of it. games like Baston, I Am Alive (just to see what the fuss is about), or Any number of Sam and Max games that play the same through every play through or similar to another game that it doesn't make me budget around it in my head. And there are other games that are so much like a Movie experience (Heavy Rain) that I really can't see myself paying big money for a one off experience.

I've turned to Let's Plays. And I've enjoyed some stories immensely. I see the game play, and I was right, I wouldn't want to slog through it, but there are some stories that are interesting to me. And then there are some really horrible games that the Let's Players make even better by their disgust of it (Heavy Rain again).

So, my fellow Escapists, have you found a way to sate some of your gaming itches just through Let's Plays? Do you now sort your games from 'Buy, Buy on sale, Rent, Borrow, or Just Watch the Let's Play'? Or do you find the experience deeply unsatisfying and would you rather just play a potentially bad game in your perspective?

 

[hazabaza1]

Honestly, Let's Plays have become more about the player for me, not the game. Even so, I'll rarely watch an LP for a game I want to play, unless it's just to get a feel for the gameplay mechanics or get into the community a bit more.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Depends on the game. Lets say I like the story of a game, but hate the actual game mechanics, I'd much rather watch a lets play than play the actual game.

Then again, lets plays for me are more about the people playing the game than the game itself. I can watch pretty much any lets play by Matt, Pat, and Woolie from Best Friends Play, and be incredibly entertained by it.

 

[synobal]

I like let's plays prior to making a purchase just to get a sense of what the game is like. The only time I've watched a let's play specifically to avoid a purchase is the Halo series and that only because I'm a PC gamer and I cannot get the entire trilogy +halo 4 on the PC. So no I don't really think let's plays hurt sales. In my mind they can only help them.

 

[BrotherRool]

Playing a game is almost 100% of the time a noticeably better experience than watching the game and in particular with story-based games, you can screw yourself over by watching it instead of playing (providing it's well designed). People who have watched LP's of The Walking Dead, Spec Ops and Katawa Shoujo (read LP's?) have cheated themselves out of something amazing and it's not without coincidence that a lot of the people who watched an LP of TWD were struggling to figure out what all the fuss was about.

Games do some really subtle narrative tricks. The act of playing changes you to I, will entirely changes the way you receive a story. Someone who watched the Walking Dead LP will talk about the time Lee had to choose who gets food and who doesn't. People who played it will talk about the time I chose who got food and who didn't.

For the former it seems a little cliche and overemphasised. They'll argue and debate over whether the Player made the correct choice and what they would have done. The latter will talk about the wracking sense of guilt and how they were still unsure if they'd made the right decision.

The core basis of JRPGs is being able to look back and realising how far you've come and the way the journey and events of the game have literally grown you. And you can't get that if you haven't made the journey

a Movie experience (Heavy Rain) that I really can't see myself paying big money for a one off experience.

Of all of them this game proves my point the most. Because the story of Heavy Rain sucks. Completely utterly sucks. Secondary school students could and do write better stories. There are a bajillion plot holes, nothing makes emotive sense, the universe is weird and schizophrenic.


And yet even Yahtzee couldn't bring himself to pan the game. The story-based game with no gameplay and crud story. And that's because until you've drunk the orange juice, you don't know what that game feels like.


I'm not saying you get a bad experience out of an LP. I'm saying you get an entirely different experience than the one the people who played it got, and if they game has been designed well, then it should be designed for the experience the LPer received.



If you've got no interest in playing a game or the game isn't particularly spoiler heavy they can be a nice thing to do though.


(EDIT: Realised that the quote might be taken wrong. Only quoted because it happened to mention the game that more perfectly illustrates than any other thing that the experiences of Playing and Watching are actually entirely different and will leave you with entirely different opinions on how good something was. Wasn't trying to knock you for LP watching habits or anything. Since you weren't going to buy Heavy Rain in any scenario, watching an LP can't exactly spoil anything =D. But in Heavy Rains case watching an LP shows you a really bad story which is not what you happen to get playing it, so if you don't buy it, I wouldn't recommend wasting time watching an LP of this particular game either. None of the plot threads are resolved or go anywhere. Although you won't feel betrayed by a certain twist either which is a plus)

 

[scorptatious]

It's funny really, some LP'ers actually got me to buy certain games. I was watching HCBailly's FFVIII playthrough, and he mentioned some pretty cool stuff about FFIX, so, I decided to get the game.

And to this day, thanks to one LP of Haunting Ground, I would like to purchase the game myself if I can ever find a copy for cheap.

 

[Revnak_v1legacy]

It depends. Thanks to a Let's Play I am following about MGS Peacewalker, I will probably get the game if it ever comes out on something I own. I really want to get Fortune Street after having watched a Let's Play of it. There are other games which I decided I definitely don't want after having watched a Let's Play of them, like FF 13-2. The trick is making a game worth playing.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

People who have watched LP's of The Walking Dead, Spec Ops and Katawa Shoujo (read LP's?) have cheated themselves out of something amazing and it's not without coincidence that a lot of the people who watched an LP of TWD were struggling to figure out what all the fuss was about.

People talk about watching the Walking Dead Let's Play, and it's so atypical that a Let's Play of it would certainly be cheating's one self. Katawa Shoujo and games like that could never be Let's Play Material for me. Again, especially not the Walking dead. These games are about choices. Out of everyone I know who played the Walking Dead, no one has ever played the same game as me. Even down to the little things.

Spoiler

Like if you chose to keep your arm or not. I NEVER understood anyone who decided to chop it off. You spent hours seeing that every bite is fatal and it will always turn you into a zombie. You become dizzy and pass out because the virus already infected you. Keep every asset you have and mow down those fucking zombies like you're the CEO of Fuck Them Up Industries. The biggest argument I had with a person over the game is someone who chose to chop off Lee's arm, but had a virtually identical playthrough as I did.

But games like most of the Metal Gears where every experience will be the same. Where you have no free will (story wise, not if you did a kill-less playthrough or not). Where you're moving the avatar from A to B and the main reason is the story... well, maybe I don't like how you move the avatar from A to B. But I do dig the story. A Let's Play can suit me fine there.

And no worries about the Heavy Rain thing. You brought up some really good points and it made me ponder, even if it wasn't where I was going. It now bears thinking about.

Honestly, Let's Plays have become more about the player for me, not the game. Even so, I'll rarely watch an LP for a game I want to play, unless it's just to get a feel for the gameplay mechanics or get into the community a bit more.

... you didn't mention Rising Superstar Liam. They will come for you. The fury shall be terrible and swift.

 

[StriderShinryu]

There are certainly times where Let's Plays have made me actually go out and buy a game (NorthernLion's Binding of Isaac and Dark Souls, as well as Epic Name Bro's DS coverage, for a couple of examples), But there are also definitely cases where watching a LP has more than sated my desire to play the game (Silent Hill Downpour and Legend of Grimrock, for instance).

Currently I'm watching a LP of the new Tomb Raider done by WoodenPotatoes. I probably still will buy the game at some point when the price goes down but, for now, watching the LP is definitely giving me enough of the experience that I find myself craving.

 

[Terrible Opinions]

Let's just put it this way: there was no fucking way in hell I was actually going to finish Drakengard on my own [http://lparchive.org/Drakengard/].

 

[Gottesstrafe]

Depends on the game. Lets say I like the story of a game, but hate the actual game mechanics, I'd much rather watch a lets play than play the actual game.

Then again, lets plays for me are more about the people playing the game than the game itself. I can watch pretty much any lets play by Matt, Pat, and Woolie from Best Friends Play, and be incredibly entertained by it.

Ditto. They made Heavy Rain and Silent Hill Downpour more palatable, and genuinely psyched me up for Revengeance when it came out. Too bad they stopped their MGS4 one though...

 

[King Aragorn]

I don't really decide from Let's Play's to decide or not, as one member here said, it's more about the person holding the controller/keyboard and mouse for me than what he's playing, I generally watch them after I bought/finished a game, to see other people experiencing it.

Even then, I stopped watching many playthroughs after early 2011. I just..lost interest, I guess.

 

[SpAc3man]

I watch LPs mainly for the humour of the commentator and secondly to check out a game I am interested in. It is quite a good way to deciding on a purchase.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

There are some games that I've simply relied on a Let's Play of. The Walking Dead is a good example. I have no interest in point and click adventures from a gameplay perspective, but the story seemed pretty cool, so I watched an LP of it and enjoyed it that way.

Then there is the issue of money. Video games are expensive as fuck, so there's no way I'm going to buy all, or even most of the ones I'm interested in. So again, LP's let me enjoy the game that way.

Then there is just simply watching LP's because you enjoy the LPer or you're simply interested to see how someone else would play a game. That factors as well.

The poll option I went with is "Depends: If it was a really good story, but I didn't like the game mechanics" simply because of The Walking Dead example.

 

[Zhukov]

Yes, but not how you're describing.

I watch LPs of games that I'm vaguely curious about but not interested enough to actually buy or play.

Also, of games where I'm interested in the cutscenes but utterly uninterested in the gameplay (eg. Heart of the Swarm).

 

[Eliwood10]

I've watched one LP specifically for the game's story, and that was Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep (it was more of a walkthrough without commentary, though). I wasn't going to shill out the money for a PSP and the one game I was interested in on that device.

All other LPs I watch are for the commentators mostly, and sometimes to check out games I'm interested in. There are quite a few games I bought because of an LP.

 

[MPerce]

I mostly watch Let's Play's for the entertainment of that specific player. It does occasionally help sell a game to me (Achievement Hunter's Trials Evolution video single-handedly convinced me to download that game), but my favorite games to see a Let's Play of are the ones I've played before. I like seeing how other people respond to a game compared to me.

 

[Nexxis]

Honestly, Let's Plays have become more about the player for me, not the game. Even so, I'll rarely watch an LP for a game I want to play, unless it's just to get a feel for the gameplay mechanics or get into the community a bit more.

Same here. I mostly watch LPs for the person doing the LP, especially if they can make me laugh. However, I have made some purchase decisions based on LPs. It usually involves games that I had reservations about and wanted to see it in action, or a game that looks interesting to play in the LP. I've bought games like "Little Inferno" and "Plants vs Zombies" because the gameplay looked interesting.

I'll also watch LPs for games that I'm interested in but can't play for some reason or another. Stuff like "Amnesia" or the Dead Space franchise. I like those games, but I can't handle the jump-scares very well. I prefer to be a spectator on those games. Recently, I've been watching Starcraft 2 LPs because I'm interested in the story and none of the gameplay.