internetlad :
the ironic thing is, that the most popular games in the world (SC in asia, CS stateside) are so incredibly repetative (START ROUND/SEEK ENEMIES/DESTROY ENEMIES/GG, NEXT MAP)
So true (WoW.) You don't often see it at first, but suddenly you realise you're doing the same thing over and over again.
I found Far Cry 2 for example, to be one of the most repetitive, flawed games I've played in recent years. I just couldn't stand the way everything was so repetitive, right down to the way that you couldn't walk 5 feet down any road without being attacked by the nearest passer by...and that carried on in every area relentlessly, for the whole game (at least, until I got bored and decided to watch my window paint dry...)
Games need depth, choice and scale to remain interesting. I think the only reason why repetitive games like COD are interesting is because of the multiplayer aspect, because players will always find new ways to innovate and play the game. Every encounter is slightly (even marginally) different, and the tactics, and your response to them can change much more quickly than if you were playing with scripted bots. Also, there's something much more satisfying knowing that you just beat a real person, which sort of brings out a competitive quality in people which is extremely gratifying compared to single-player, and that competitive streak drives them to try harder, either buoyed by their success or stirred up by their failure. The games you listed are exactly the same.
In a way I think this is a bad thing, because it's conditioning people to only value things which they find most gratifying. A prime example is the World of Warcraft community. They clammer for more content because they find it so great, and then when they struggle to access it, they plea for an easier game which is more accessible at the same time missin out on the things that the majority see as redundant (lore, stories, added depth and secondary pursuits.) So the developer caters to that, reducing the importance of those things, when actually it was those things that made that game popular in the first place. Now that community is divided, the majority wanting flashy, thrilling, casual friendly content, and the minority wanting either that depth and value the game used to offer back, or at least harder, more challenging gameplay - as many WoW players would agree, the game is now going to pot (I think because of the mentality that was allowed to grow and fester until it consumed the customer base.)
Call me boring, but now I see fellow teenagers who have no morals, or no understanding of patience, effort and the value of a journey, all because they want to rush to the shiny reward at the end of it all, because they've previously garnered the best results from that formula. There's no value in hard work anymore, because it's 'boring', and it doesn't offer the instant gratification the subjects feel it 'should'. The WoW community often represents that in itself, and I see it every day. Things have to be easier, faster, simpler, so that people can be gratified sooner, and then that becomes the norm, and the next thing, they want that gratification even faster, and then faster, faster... It extends beyond games - it sort of pervades everything, from corporate decisions ("we won't make Crysis 2 PC orientated despite the reputation they helped us form, because they're the minority, and we want more money more quickly than justifies dealing with all that"......"perhaps we can do it afterwards as a side-thought?") to just every day people decisions ("I want sex at age 14 because I want to be a big boy/girl and it looks fun - I don't understand why the law asks me to be patient so clearly it must be wrong...derp.")
Personally, I think games are one of the main causes of this. What better way to educate people than by allowing them to make virtual choices inside a virtual world with no physical repercussions? Especially considering games are one of the major forms of media, spread among millions (maybe billions) worldwide. If one game holds a bad message, even if the developers don't perceive it as such (you can hardly call thrilling gameplay bad, even though I feel the effects of it can be psychologically negative as I outlined above) then it gets taken in by millions of players, even if it's just subconsciously. It almost reminds me of the subliminal messaging school children experienced in Nazi Germany (practising maths by calculating how many jews a bomb would kill) but I'm not going to go all X-Files on you on top of everything else I've spouted out in this post
Still, it's a point of interest at least, particularly if you're a sad, lonely, hyperbolic being such as me, who enjoys such activities as chess, waking to hear the morning bird song and counting power-cuplink ticks in your head (+1 to anyone who gets the reference.)
Haha, well I went overboard, and I didn't explain that half as well as I wanted to. I think I've managed to paradoxically succeed and fail at being a nerd at the same time :/ I am more or less normal, I promise.
Meh, might stir up some debate at least.
Think I'm gonna go to bed now
-Nih
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