Comments on: Different types of fun, and is SC2 really doomed?

By: spinks

spinks — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 11:02:55 +0000

I don’t think she has F2P facebook games in mind when she’s talking about best sellers. Although it might be that they do offer more than one type of fun which isn’t obvious to non players. eg. I think they do feel quite meaningful when you are caught up in them because they are persistant(ish) worlds.

By: spinks

spinks — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 11:01:34 +0000

I haven’t played it but WoT sounds quite casual friendly and is popular with people I know who do play casually. Does it have a hardcore arena team type format too?

By: Parapijonis

Parapijonis — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 10:01:08 +0000

WoT – matches are fast: 5-15min.; no ladder; most players have ~49% winrate; random 15 vs 15 or premade vs premade.
And even with 10k battles I still have what to learn (tactics, places on maps to go, places to shot,…). There is no limit.
How categorize WoT?

By: Stabs

Stabs — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 07:52:49 +0000

I think a few of the people quoted are somewhat off-base. First Neodestiny seems to be firmly of the “everyone likes what I like” persuasion. Human psychology doesn’t really change when one moves across media and humans have engrossed themselves in intensely competitive activities for thousands of years. Nothing you can do in SC2 matches the competitiveness of, say, boxing or poker.

“She also posits that the most successful, best selling games offer at least three of these ‘keys’ to players”

Aren’t two of the top sellers Patience and Farmville, which offer easy fun and not any of the others? (If you’ll allow that Farmville for most players is not social -the Friends requests go to people you’ve no intention of ever communicating with).

Regarding the harshness of the community I’m sure that the rudeness and verbal aggression is the flipside of competitiveness and not easily separable from it. It’s very much the same in top flight football where players and managers constantly needle and psych each other. In fact my sister was a very good tennis player and dropped out because of how nasty the junior circuit was. When people really want to win they usually stop being nice.

By: Stabs

Stabs — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 07:44:06 +0000

You’d be very welcome in my corp but it’s null sec and a little harsh for a new person. I know some people say it’s ok to come immediately out to null sec when you start but that assumes a) you don’t mind dying a lot b) you don’t mind flying small ships, essentially being a zergling.

Alternatively there are some very good teaching high sec alliances like Eve University and Red v Blue.

I think though you need quite a strong desire to play Eve in order to grow to love it, it’s an acquired taste. But it’s ever such a good game once you get into it, so much so that most other games feel somewhat shallow.

By: Everblue

Everblue — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 09:43:25 +0000

I’d be interested to know the percentage of people who buy SC2 but never play (say) 20 1v1 games online. I had great fun for two years playing and watching 1v1 online.

Yes there’s some abuse – but hardly any to be honest – unless you are arrogant or abusive yourself then it’s almost non-existant. Abuse when you win is more common, but much easier to deal with!

There is, however, a “hump” of those early games where you basically lose every game because you have no idea what you are doing and are scared to leave your base. I guess a lot of people must quit during that period.

By: spinks

spinks — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 05:48:35 +0000

One of the things I really like about his list is that he includes immersion. And for me that’s a big part of the appeal of MMOs. Not that I’m a hardcore RPer but I like that I play a character in another world.

But you’re right, it’s interesting that the griefer mindset that needs to dominate others isn’t really addressed here. (Maybe they don’t like ‘bullying fun’).

By: spinks

spinks — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 05:47:03 +0000

I wonder how much is because people like winning, and how much is because they hate losing. I mean, MMO communities have a way of making people feel like ‘a loser’ if they are new, or learning, or fail at something.

By: Doone W.

Doone W. — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 05:39:12 +0000

I subscribe to EVE once a year and inevitably unsubscribe. It just takes too much time to build things up and its too easy to lose it. I just dont have the time for EVE, but most importantly I haven’t had a good corporation in years. Thats probably got more to do with my gaming schedule though than anything else.

By: Doone W.

Doone W. — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 05:37:54 +0000

I think theres a great point here.

Winning for the sake of winning …I always say that the fun is in the doing of things. Games walk all over, around, under, and flat out erase that line between doing and being. There are days when I just want to play a game on easy mode — my mind wants to relax and enjoy less thinking. There are days when I turn on SC2 and put it on Brutal, knowing I will lose but that the challenge will be engaging and therefore fun.

Brain engagement. We dont often hear people mention this when talking about fun and I think this is at the heart of what it is.