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I am slowly recognizing what I don't like about modern gaming.

[-] gratux 57 points 1 month ago

streamlining

you mean instead of playing the game, i could pay you to not play the game i'm playing instead?

sign me up

[-] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago

I have this same mindset and it's great because it results in 0 temptation to spend money on game progression or items. If I'm playing a game where it feels like spending money like that is the only way to have fun with it, I just drop the game.

Actually, I don't even really bother with any games that I understand to have p2w aspects or any mtx that aren't just cosmetic.

[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

If I’m playing a game where it feels like spending money like that is the only way to have fun with it, I just drop the game.

A big part of the "hook" in GACHA and other whale-hunting games is the initial hook of a fun and engaging setup. Genshin Impact and Sword of Convallaria both stick out to me as initially very fun and captivating games. They draw you in with the cut scenes and ramp up the curve like a normal open world JRPG.

But the longer you play, the more you start tripping over resource requirements and timers on abilities and the need to do "daily" activities that involve logging on every day. All of this is fun in the early cycles but feels more and more like work by the later stages of the game. Dungeons start looking more and more basic - big empty rooms with a bunch of respawns in the center. Fights feel more contingent on having a bigger number than any kind of strategy or skill.

If you've played older traditional JRPGs before, it'll start feeling weird because you know you should be expecting the game to pick up towards a dramatic conclusion after 100 hours of play. But these games just... go on forever. There's no payoff. You get tired and bored and you leave.

But if you haven't played older traditional JRPGs, you're just falling into this skinner box of induced anxiety. The game becomes habit-forming. The induced reflex to trigger a feature or use a power that's increasingly paywalled encourages you to open your (parent's) wallet.

Actually, I don’t even really bother with any games that I understand to have p2w aspects or any mtx that aren’t just cosmetic.

There's a networking effect to a lot of these games. Up front, you're strongly encouraged to get your friends to join in. And friends playing a game together can have enormous staying power. I know people who have been running the same D&D game for 20 years (literally the same characters and world, going on into the level 200+ range as they just crank those numbers higher). I know a couple that's been doing WoW for their entire relationship - they started playing when they started dating and now they've got their ten-year-old son along for the ride.

I think part of what gives these games staying power is that they don't require you to empty your savings account to participate. But I think its naive to discount the addictive power of a community space you're comfortable socializing in.

These places are predatory. I can't discount them just because I'm not one of the ones that got eaten.

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[-] spongeborgcubepants@lemmy.world 43 points 1 month ago

That would certainly give me a sense of pride and accomplishment.

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[-] 58008@lemmy.world 42 points 1 month ago

I know OP is joking (at least I hope he is), but it reminded me of this thread about Soulslikes:

https://old.reddit.com/r/truegaming/comments/oc1w7g/separating_difficulty_from_drudgery_or_why/

Time-wasting respawns/progress loss seems like a very blunt tool with which to motivate the player to keep playing. It's some 1988 arcade coin-op shit that we really ought to leave in the past.

[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 26 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Time-wasting respawns/progress loss seems like a very blunt tool with which to motivate the player to keep playing.

Tried playing a game of tennis with my friends. 0, 15, 30, 40, Point. Then if you're two scores ahead the game resets. Wtf! Why did the game reset? I was 30-40 and now I'm back to 0? I should be allowed to keep my 30 into the next game.

Now I'm being induced into playing more tennis! I hate this.

And tennis has so few maps! Almost everywhere I go is concrete. Very luck to find a clay court anywhere. You need to buy the DLC to find grass, and only if you're really lucky.

Its repetitive. Its exhausting. The rules barely make sense. And the match-making is completely fucked. I'm either playing people I trounce or getting my ass handed to me almost every time I go to a court.

I think I'm going to try and pick up chess instead. Does anyone know how I can upgrade my pawns to queens, though?

[-] frayedpickles@lemmy.cafe 6 points 1 month ago

So your claim is souls likes are more like tennis than say, Fortnite is.

[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

Fortnite is just baseball with extra steps

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[-] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

It's a very funny comment but also tennis is only the gameplay of tennis. People don't play tennis because they Iike the story so much lmao

[-] Masamune@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

Go for ping pong if you want to get roped in because of the plot.

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[-] PraiseTheSoup@lemm.ee 4 points 1 month ago

People don't play dark souls for the story either. We are there for the gameplay.

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[-] tetris11@lemmy.ml 19 points 1 month ago

It's not quite the same though, souls still keeps the items you dropped, its just up to you to retrieve them.

You can't claim you climbed a mountain, if each time you fell you just resumed from where you lost grip. Falling and reclimbing with renewed tenacity means that when you finally conquer the mountain, the view is all the more sweeter for the huge experience you've gained along the way.

[-] gedhrel@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago

You can't claim you climbed a mountain, if each time you fell you just resumed from where you lost grip.

Sure you can; it's called redpointing.

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[-] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 month ago

You can’t claim you climbed a mountain, if each time you fell you just resumed from where you lost grip.

Well, good thing games are better than real life. Or they would be worthless.

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[-] filcuk@lemmy.zip 15 points 1 month ago

It can be the only way to punish people in certain games.
If there's no punishment for failure, there's no reason to respect any dangers the game presents.
In Minecraft, what should happen if you walk north for an hour and die? If you respawn with your inventory, why not just do that again and die as a quick way to get back? Why even bother with equipment or food at that point? Suddenly, half the game mechanics have lost their meaning, and there's a lot less to do for the player.

[-] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

If the punishment for failure is wasting time, then I'm just going to play something else.

Games are supposed to be enjoyable.

[-] semperverus@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

For millions of people, having to try again when you die IS enjoyable. Many people don't like being treated like a baby and have everything handed to them, they want to earn it.

Being sent back to try again is not wasting time, its giving the player the opportunity to learn and grow.

Video games are the only medium where someone can be denied progress based on their skill. That is their major draw. If you don't like this, you probably don't like video games and I recommend you try movies and books instead of trying to turn video games into them.

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[-] LaLuzDelSol@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago

I think soulslikes are appealing to a certain type of player. Personally I love Dark Souls it's my favorite game.

But I like playing with stakes. I remember stumbling around in the forest, down to my last scrap of health, with no more heals, desperately trying to reach the next bonfire. That for me is fun. Is it frustrating to lose your progress? Sure. But the only "penalty" is you have to try again or change your approach and try something else. And really, is being forced to replay a section inherently punishing? If the game itself is fun, you should still be having fun fighting and exploring even if you aren't progressing.

[-] abbadon420@lemm.ee 31 points 1 month ago

Green Mario and Metroid

I'm triggered!!

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[-] BeigeAgenda@lemmy.ca 16 points 1 month ago

Recently I re-played Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 on an emulator and did not feel ashamed by making save points everywhere to avoid re-playing the levels, I had time for that as a kid.

[-] wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 month ago

I get the urge, but I wouldn't reccomend doing that on any of the later Wario Land games. They're puzzle platformers, so (especially in 2 and 3) the punishment for messing up is the short window of time it takes to get back to the start of the puzzle.

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[-] Freefall@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago

A game is something that has a goal within certain bounds/rules. You accept that when you play and tedium isn't relivent except as maybe a thing you don't like, just like you might not like how a piece feels or character looks or a particular rule.

A toy is something you play with for "fun".

I think people that want a toy accidentally start playing a game then get upset that it isnt a toy.

[-] Ajen@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Why can't/shouldn't a game be both? Plenty of games have easy modes and cheat consoles.

[-] Freefall@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

They CAN be, but they are not obligated to be.

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[-] son_named_bort@lemmy.world 13 points 1 month ago

Kids have it too easy. Back in my day we did it the hard way! (using Game Genie)

[-] AeonFelis@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago

"Green Mario" because the kind of people who have these ideas should fear his true name.

[-] tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 month ago
[-] twice_hatch@midwest.social 7 points 1 month ago

What if Metroid and Zelda were girls

[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 13 points 1 month ago
[-] samus12345@lemm.ee 4 points 1 month ago

Despite my username, I like her much better in the badass armor.

[-] renzev@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago

I'd go as far as to even implement a 1-Up mushroom cash-shop, $1 for five 1-Ups

Anon invents arcade cabinets

[-] Makeshift@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 month ago

Thanks I hate it

[-] lime@feddit.nu 10 points 1 month ago

dark souls would still benefit from difficulty settings

[-] Adm_Drummer@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

The difficulty settings are your stats. Literally.

Depending on your build and your personal skill level the game becomes easy or hard. The souls games are notoriously difficult because people don't have the attention span to learn boss patterns and want to kill every other enemy they see. The game punishes arrogance and forces you to figure out the mechanics yourself.

Once you get a hang of it the games become really easy. Not even joking. I have a harder time playing Space Marine 2 than I do Dark Souls.

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[-] driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 9 points 1 month ago

It would be like 1us for 500 coins, and a pack of 5 life-up mushrooms for 450 coins.

[-] alekwithak@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago

During COVID I beat smb1 for the first time. On Switch. Where you could rewind 😓

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[-] SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org 7 points 1 month ago

It's okay not to like Super Mario. You don't need to try and "fix" it.

[-] twice_hatch@midwest.social 7 points 1 month ago

I think it was a joke

[-] echodot@feddit.uk 6 points 1 month ago

I used to play this game when I was like 10 I don't remember it being particularly frustrating it wasn't easy but I don't remember it being impossibly difficult.

[-] Freefall@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

Don't forget to add mounts and pets.

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[-] qyron@sopuli.xyz 6 points 1 month ago

Is this for real or am I too tired to understand the point of the text?

[-] loaExMachina@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 month ago

I'm genuinely not sure wether or not the first text is sarcastic, but I'm certain the reply is.

[-] proctor1432@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

So many comments about how it is meant to artificially extend gameplay, or motivate the player to continue.

Could it not be as simple as the game cartridge only holds 1MB of game data max, and restarting the level from 0 when you die uses less valuable storage space?

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[-] paultimate14@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I know this is a sarcastic troll post but some QoL improvements can actually help old bad games. Like Save States.

And yes, Super Mario Bros was always bad. I never understood how it got so popular, even when I was a kid in the early 90's.

[-] kipo@lemm.ee 5 points 1 month ago

I don’t think it’s fair to say Super Mario Bros. was always bad. People played the heck out of it when it released. One could argue that’s because it was bundled with the system, but I believe the consensus is that it is considered one of the best games of its time. It’s probably one of the top 3 NES games still played today. It is legendary.

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[-] buzz86us@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

I use save states fuck that paywall BS

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this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2025
643 points (100.0% liked)

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