The 'Am I missing something?' Syndrome.

[Flushfacker]

I was just reading the thread on 'have new games got boring' and it got me to thinking how I hear a lot of people saying now days how much they love games with expansive worlds where you make your own choices and in doing so change who your character is and the game world around you. couple of examples being Fallout 3 or Fable2. Added to this I have heard many people criticizing the linearity of the Half-Life series, now I know these are two different types of games but bear with me.

With the first type of games they constantly have you making choices often good evil or somewhere in-between, now my problem is this, for every choice I make in a game I can't help being pursued by this nagging feeling that in making that choice I have missed out on the other route I could have taken, and in doing so missed a cool item as a reward or some different cut-scene.

So basically my point is I prefer a game to be linear, so that I dont go insane thinking I have missed something great all the time, is this just me or are there any more out there? Do you prefer a game that gently pushes you down a good pre destined story or one that lets you do whatever the hell you want?

Oh and in b4 just play the game again and look at a guide. I hate replaying long assed games again and I'd hate to ruin a game with a guide.

 

[irishstormtrooper]

Personally, I like games that let you do almost whatever you want. There is a predetermined objective, but how you get there is up to you.

 

[wordsmith]

Fallout 3 was crap IMO. Conversely, I consider the HL series are some of the best games around. It's like comparing fighters to puzzlers. You're gonna have games of each genre that do it well, and games of each genre that do it badly.

I'd prefer a game that lets ME choose what my character does, I can't count the number of times when the annoying companion has done something stupid, and my character (in a cutscene) leaps to their aid. Fuck that, leave them to die, I'm out of here.

Just my $0.02

 

[Sissas]

I do like the choice-making thing but I tend to suffer from the "what am I missing" syndrome. I usually play the game one or two (or three) times more so I can cover some more options. Of course when we're talking about Fallout that would mean I'd spend about 2 years playing it - I'm a sidequest girl. I think sometimes the story gets lost in the middle of all the choices; that or the story is the same regardless of our choices what makes the fact that we can make them useless. In that sense I prefer a linear game with a really good story!

 

[Flushfacker]

It's like comparing fighters to puzzlers. You're gonna have games of each genre that do it well, and games of each genre that do it badly.

I hear you on that but don't take my examples to literally, they were just the ones that came into my head first. I guess my issue is with games that have you make a choice and after you make that choice, you miss out on other content unless you replay it from before you made that choice. (man thats a lot of choices in one sentence)

 

[Tech Team FTW!]

I loved roaming aimlessly through the wastes of Fallout 3.
I also enjoy a good linear story e.g. Most RTS's

 

[Sindre1]

I like both.
But when did linearity become a bad thing.
"I must say that I find this book to be way too linear."

 

[Flushfacker]

I like both.
But when did linearity become a bad thing.
"I must say that I find this book to be way too linear."

I don't think it's a bad thing at all, I have seen many people using it as a negative against Half-Life though 'oh it just sends you down one long corridor blah blah'

It also comes up a lot in the argument between JRPGs and WRPGs, but I'm not going down that path of fandom.

I loved roaming aimlessly through the wastes of Fallout 3.
I also enjoy a good linear story e.g. Most RTS's

RTS's have good stories now?! Think I may have to start playing them again, yes its been a long time...

 

[Tech Team FTW!]

I loved roaming aimlessly through the wastes of Fallout 3.
I also enjoy a good linear story e.g. Most RTS's

RTS's have good stories now?! Think I may have to start playing them again, yes its been a long time...

Actually, most RTS's have terrible stories, I was just using them as an example of liniarity that has the potential to be good.

 

[Xpwn3ntial]

Personally, I like games that let you do almost whatever you want. There is a predetermined objective, but how you get there is up to you.

Seconded.

 

[Sindre1]

I like both.
But when did linearity become a bad thing.
"I must say that I find this book to be way too linear."

I don't think it's a bad thing at all, I have seen many people using it as a negative against Half-Life though 'oh it just sends you down one long corridor blah blah'

Thats just lame. Dont think anyone complains whenever someone walks down a corridor in a movie.
And the TV-series Doctor Who is all about running up and down them ;P

Just becose you have to push a few buttons that suddenly makes hallways the ultimate evil?
Bah! Humbug!

 

[Hot'n'steamy]

I often think that sandbox gaming is used as a substitution for a weak plot e.g. Farcry.

 

[RnAoDm]

I think sometimes the story gets lost in the middle of all the choices; that or the story is the same regardless of our choices what makes the fact that we can make them useless. In that sense I prefer a linear game with a really good story!

Games with choices and story that are less fun than exploring and sidequesting are annoying especially when the choices lead to nothing.

I like both linear and sandbox games, but there are some of both type i will get bored of extremely fast and others i can play start to finish with all my available spare time.

 

[Flushfacker]

I loved roaming aimlessly through the wastes of Fallout 3.
I also enjoy a good linear story e.g. Most RTS's

RTS's have good stories now?! Think I may have to start playing them again, yes its been a long time...

Actually, most RTS's have terrible stories, I was just using them as an example of liniarity that has the potential to be good.

Awww you totally got my hopes up there, I thought 'an RTS with more than one layer? This is something I must try' Then I started thinking of that old 'Commandos' game for some reason, damn that was classic. I now want to play that again.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

Making interesting choices is at the core of good strategy type games. If you don't wonder what would have happened if you had taken the other choice then it isn't a properly interesting choice.

You can argue that games like Half Life don't need a strategy layer but it could add something to that sort of game if Valve wanted to do something different.

A couple of action games that do this really well are the Way of the Samurai games. The games can be finished in one sitting but you can make choices that lead you down completely different paths or down variations of one path. You can explore a different possibility in every game.

 

[headshotcatcher]

I often think that sandbox gaming is used as a substitution for a weak plot e.g. Farcry.

It's not a weak plot in FarCry 2, just incredibly bad storytelling and sudden side switching. Not to mention the repetetive missions.

I like both.
But when did linearity become a bad thing.
"I must say that I find this book to be way too linear."

I don't think it's a bad thing at all, I have seen many people using it as a negative against Half-Life though 'oh it just sends you down one long corridor blah blah'

It also comes up a lot in the argument between JRPGs and WRPGs, but I'm not going down that path of fandom.

I loved roaming aimlessly through the wastes of Fallout 3.
I also enjoy a good linear story e.g. Most RTS's

RTS's have good stories now?! Think I may have to start playing them again, yes its been a long time...

Company of Heroes has a very decent plot (if you don't mind it being the mindless WW2 story #78492). Especially the story telling is done in a special way.

 

[Uncompetative]

I do like the choice-making thing but I tend to suffer from the "what am I missing" syndrome. I usually play the game one or two (or three) times more so I can cover some more options. Of course when we're talking about Fallout that would mean I'd spend about 2 years playing it - I'm a sidequest girl. I think sometimes the story gets lost in the middle of all the choices; that or the story is the same regardless of our choices what makes the fact that we can make them useless. In that sense I prefer a linear game with a really good story!

The "what am I missing" syndrome is a symptom. New games are boring, partly because they take themselves too seriously and have 'stories', but mainly because people play them for too long. The culture of consumption has changed from the early days of the hardcore arcade. Back then, vendors would make games compelling and challenging for economic reasons. Now the pressure to stimulate the player over the course of 30 seconds, so that they keep putting in coins to continue, has been removed. Paying up-front for the entire game to repeatedly replay as many times as you wish should have encouraged developers to add depth, variety and value for money, unfortunately, most of the budget for this 'below the surface' gameplay has been squandered on 'superficial' presentation (graphics, orchestral soundtrack and celebrity voice actors). Selling the game through video previews and magazine screenshots seems more important than making a game with re-playability and depth. It doesn't help that all but a few of the magazines trade an undeservedly favorable hype for an exclusive preview.

Bottom-line: You wouldn't be so concerned with what you were potentially overlooking if the game threw interesting, fresh, challenges at you each time you played it. I have no great problem with games having (emergent) stories. I do have a problem with stories having games. The best way to avoid the latter is to have non-linearity in open-worlds, but this approach will fail on its own (by succumbing to the 'dilemma of choice'), unless developers cultivate the former: complex, artificially intelligent autonomous systems of NPCs that interact with each other (not just you) and which generate character-developing 'quests' which the system contrives to reinforce the all-encompassing "theme".

 

[Vash108]

I am not a huge Sandbox game fan. I usually enjoy a more well crafted story to follow, like reading a good book or watching a movie.

 

[sms_117b]

I enjoy both in moderation.

Oblivion and Fallout 3 I spent hours hiking around finding random paces as I slowly made my way through the story, almost treating the main story as a side quest to exploration and self preservation.

But if the main story in a linear game is good, for me it's better than a film or a book, I let myself get completely immersed in the story rather than the world and in most cases will play it until I can't keep my eyes open.

 

[headshotcatcher]

Erm the several story and moral choices are there for you to play the game again but take another path. Have you never realised that?