Bhagpuss commented on yesterday's post about walkthroughs and solved games that "following guides are just more fun", to which I snarkily replied that "are you really playing the game, though?"
That little exchange kept rolling around in my head all night, and I decided to delve deeper into it, because I don't think I was right to simply dismiss Bhagpuss' point.*
In my response, I likened following a walkthrough or merely utilizing the optimized meta to playing connect-the-dots or watching a movie or television series, but upon reflection I don't believe it's just that.
A game is active entertainment. No matter anything else, if you're playing a game of any sort, you're choosing to engage with it. While we can also choose to engage in more passive forms of entertainment, such as watching television, you still have to interact with the game. AI hasn't progressed to the point where it plays the game for you**, so that mere act of physical interaction raises it above the level of watching reruns of MASH.***
However, the operative word isn't 'active' per se, it's 'entertainment'.
Yes, I went there. From the movie Gladiator (via Tenor).
I forgot to ask that basic question: "Are you having fun?" Or maybe a better one is "What is your goal?"
While the former question is the one most people ask, maybe your goal isn't to have fun at all. Let me explain.
***
Walkthroughs are very common in teaching. They provide students with a process to understand a concept with known starting and ending points, and if you get stuck during homework or a test you can fall back to that walkthrough as a guide to help you work through your issues. For example, my Advanced Lab 1 and 2 classes in Physics at UD relied heavily upon you as a student to study and reproduce journal articles, then write up the results as a formal 10-20 page lab report.**** My third lab experiment was provided to me by the professor showing me the lab equipment and the basic design, handing me the requisite journal article, and then said "Now, go and reproduce The Photoelectric Effect."
While some lab experiments are more simplistic than others, they are all walkthroughs. However, I would argue that "entertainment" isn't the typical reason why people utilize them. Yes, there are those who find it fun --and I'm one of them-- but the primary reason why they exist is for instruction and understanding.
Likewise, walkthroughs are found in various other sporting and hobbies. They provide a basis for understanding, a learn-by-doing methodology, and a foundation to build upon. I'm thinking of the karate-do kata that the kids (and my wife) used to perform for their karate class, and you get the idea.
I recognize this kata from their classes.
From the standpoint of games, for some people walkthroughs are the best way to learn to play the game. They provide you with the understanding of the logic behind the game, where the pain points are, and how to solve the problems presented.
***
So, assuming that the answer to "What is your goal?" is to have fun or be entertained, then we can proceed to "Are you having fun?"
That answer is completely on you. If by "having fun" you go do your own thing, then go do it. If to have fun you follow a walkthrough or the meta, then do that too.
However, that doesn't mean that people won't judge you because of what you do. People are people, and I've found over the years that the people who love to say "I won't judge you" often are judging you, just not out loud. And yes, I'm guilty of that too. I'm not going to deny that.
If people react negatively to you for not following what they perceive is the "correct" way of playing, don't be surprised. But it also needs to be said that you don't have to yield to their pressure. If they want you to play a specific way and if it's a requirement for your participation with them, then you have to decide whether it's more important to play your way or play with those other people. If others can't respect you for the way you want to play a game, I think there's your answer.
So for me, "having fun" means doing my own thing, trying to puzzle out answers on my own, and not utilizing walkthroughs or a published "best method". To those who use those because they've got other things to do, such as raiding, then that's fine. You do you.
*Yes, I realize it's my blog and I can do what I want with it, but I try to avoid being an asshole.
**It could be argued that botting software for MMOs is rapidly approaching this tipping point.
***Even then, it must be said there are greater and lesser degrees of engagement while watching television or a movie. If you're in a movie theater watching a movie, the crowd can be more engaged than if you're watching alone at home. The same thing goes for the shared experience of watching a sporting event in a bar or a stadium; you may not be playing the sport itself, but you're engaged with the shared experience of watching and cheering on the participating teams.
****I've told this story before, but I'll mention it again. The night before all of our Advanced Lab 1 lab reports were due, I was working on one of my last lab reports when I somehow nuked the floppy disk my lab reports were on. I had to scramble and rewrite 4 lab reports, a total of 80 pages worth, over the course of 8 hours. I somehow managed to finish it in time, my memories of that caffeine and terror fueled night are pretty hazy.
I think the big difference between your experience and mine, these days at least, is that even though you often write about leveling your characters in WoW mostly solo, you still interact with other players frequently as you do it. You report talking to in-game friends about what you're doing, doing dungeons with parties and sometimes you mention sharing quests with another player. Any choice you make about how to play the game is potentially open to scrutiny, which makes your stance on the topic very reasonable - for you.
I haven't played an MMORPG like that for years and even when I was doing anything like it, it was in GW2, which has metas but also has systems and mechanics that strongly support non-meta choices. In fact, if you limit your social play to dynamic events, it will be very hard for anyone to know what you're doing or how you're doing it. The last time I played a game where someone would be in a position to assess my performance and give me notes would probably have been at least a dozen years ago, probably more like fifteen.
In the last five years or so, what I've mostly played have been single-player games, open-world RPGs or survival sandboxes that play like single-player games even if there are other people around and MMORPGs with such small populations that they might as well be single-player games. And even in games where I could interact with other people I mostly choose not to.
Consequently, I'm in the habit of playing all games as though I was the only one there, so it would literally never occur to me to make any choices at all based on what someone else might read into them. On the rare occasions that I do end up in a group with someone (It does happen once in a while.) the chances of me ever seeing them again are infinitesimal so even then I don't much think about whether I'm doing well or badly (Although obviously I always like to do well for the sake of doing well.)
That gives me a very different perspective on things like "the meta" or "good DPS" . They seem about as relevant to me as raid content or PvP in most MMORPGs. Not going to do it; don't pay attention to it. As for walkthroughs, I apply the same logic I do in adventure games - I don't look stuff up until not looking it up makes playing not fun any more, then I look up what I need immediately. I don't find being stuck on a puzzle fun and I don't find wandering around for hours looking for an NPC or a ground-spawn fun either.
I did once but that was when I was a lot more idealistic than I am now and also a lot better at convincing myself I was having fun when I knew deep down I wasn't.
That is pretty much spot on for your current view on things, yes. I am curious as to whether you interact with people on Wuthering Waves or not, because it certainly seems to be popular enough.
When it comes to MMOs and group content, I do feel that you have a social responsibility to do your homework unless everyone has already agreed to you experimenting on their time. That said, I also feel strongly that knowing the meta and the baselines allows you to go off-script in ways that improve your experience. For example, when I last played WoW, the talent options often had you pick between an active cooldown or a passive buff, with the former being like 2% more DPS overall. I hated keeping track of active cooldowns in raid fights, so I felt comfortable going with passives wherever possible knowing the difference was so small.
Plus, not for nothing, knowing the meta and rotation and boss moves is one thing. Executing them successfully in real-time is another thing entirely.
For single-player games, I generally avoid walkthroughs. Like you, discovery and self-optimization is practically the whole game for me. At the same time, I have less and less patience for designs that seemingly penalize you for not having advanced knowledge of the game. For example, in Stardew Valley, I'm OK with figuring out on my own which crops have the highest profit ratios, despite that absolutely being known information on the internet. Conversely, I was NOT okay with finding out that I could not complete the Community Center for another whole year because I didn't save one piece of X or Y Spring crop.
I think the big difference between your experience and mine, these days at least, is that even though you often write about leveling your characters in WoW mostly solo, you still interact with other players frequently as you do it. You report talking to in-game friends about what you're doing, doing dungeons with parties and sometimes you mention sharing quests with another player. Any choice you make about how to play the game is potentially open to scrutiny, which makes your stance on the topic very reasonable - for you.
ReplyDeleteI haven't played an MMORPG like that for years and even when I was doing anything like it, it was in GW2, which has metas but also has systems and mechanics that strongly support non-meta choices. In fact, if you limit your social play to dynamic events, it will be very hard for anyone to know what you're doing or how you're doing it. The last time I played a game where someone would be in a position to assess my performance and give me notes would probably have been at least a dozen years ago, probably more like fifteen.
In the last five years or so, what I've mostly played have been single-player games, open-world RPGs or survival sandboxes that play like single-player games even if there are other people around and MMORPGs with such small populations that they might as well be single-player games. And even in games where I could interact with other people I mostly choose not to.
Consequently, I'm in the habit of playing all games as though I was the only one there, so it would literally never occur to me to make any choices at all based on what someone else might read into them. On the rare occasions that I do end up in a group with someone (It does happen once in a while.) the chances of me ever seeing them again are infinitesimal so even then I don't much think about whether I'm doing well or badly (Although obviously I always like to do well for the sake of doing well.)
That gives me a very different perspective on things like "the meta" or "good DPS" . They seem about as relevant to me as raid content or PvP in most MMORPGs. Not going to do it; don't pay attention to it. As for walkthroughs, I apply the same logic I do in adventure games - I don't look stuff up until not looking it up makes playing not fun any more, then I look up what I need immediately. I don't find being stuck on a puzzle fun and I don't find wandering around for hours looking for an NPC or a ground-spawn fun either.
I did once but that was when I was a lot more idealistic than I am now and also a lot better at convincing myself I was having fun when I knew deep down I wasn't.
That is pretty much spot on for your current view on things, yes. I am curious as to whether you interact with people on Wuthering Waves or not, because it certainly seems to be popular enough.
Delete"Are you really cooking, if you follow a recipe?"
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to MMOs and group content, I do feel that you have a social responsibility to do your homework unless everyone has already agreed to you experimenting on their time. That said, I also feel strongly that knowing the meta and the baselines allows you to go off-script in ways that improve your experience. For example, when I last played WoW, the talent options often had you pick between an active cooldown or a passive buff, with the former being like 2% more DPS overall. I hated keeping track of active cooldowns in raid fights, so I felt comfortable going with passives wherever possible knowing the difference was so small.
Plus, not for nothing, knowing the meta and rotation and boss moves is one thing. Executing them successfully in real-time is another thing entirely.
For single-player games, I generally avoid walkthroughs. Like you, discovery and self-optimization is practically the whole game for me. At the same time, I have less and less patience for designs that seemingly penalize you for not having advanced knowledge of the game. For example, in Stardew Valley, I'm OK with figuring out on my own which crops have the highest profit ratios, despite that absolutely being known information on the internet. Conversely, I was NOT okay with finding out that I could not complete the Community Center for another whole year because I didn't save one piece of X or Y Spring crop.