But therein lies the rub. For example, some gaming mediums need marginalization. For example I DM a FR Campaign (3rd ed) and whilst I will not turn away someone interested in the game, I will expect a level of co-operation with other player characters and myself dming whilst they play.chuckwendig said:You're conflating "learning the rules of a game" with "creating the effort necessary to get the game to a stable starting point."PaulH said:Games for you seem to be a cheap thrill ... but would you also take the same attitude to picking up a new sport you've never had the chance to invest physical effort in like tennis or fishing? How about billiards?
All require patience, all require organization, all require time, all require effort. This culture of instant gratification in gaming reduces the complexity of experiencing videogames as a medium for the exchange of ideas and art. You're not helping the fact with your incessant diatribe against problems for which my personal experience informs me is but a base defamatory attack on a cultural medium that is both fallacious and grievous.
Learning how to fish = learning how to play a game.
Learning how to fish does not *require* building your own rod, your own pond, troubleshooting the reel, adjusting pH levels, updating the fish drivers, or any other hundred errors.
I go buy a rod and some bait, I can start to fish. Maybe not well, but I can fish. I don't have to study the discipline. I don't have to be a rabid hobbyist. I can just... fish.
And, I can choose to master the discipline if I want to.
But I can do it as a beginner without worry.
PC gaming is difficult for the amateur, average gamer. It's becoming increasingly marginalized, and I suspect some actually *like* that it's marginalized.
-- Chuck
The same could be said for pc gamers.
Whilst I like all others prefer a well coded, well programmed, well thought out game design I do not also blame the medium itself for providing physical and cerebral challenges due to the continual evolution of the community. For one I believe it adds to the experience, not detracts. For example ... mods. That alone sells me to PCs.
I create strong boundaries between 'DLC' and 'Mods'. Whilst both are shared by the internet, one is definitively PC and the other is an amalgam of console and PC. Both are welcome (to an extent) but it's an amazing, thought provoking social commentary one can find in downloading a Neverwinter Nights mod that someone created. Someone who laboured for no pay to create what they thought people would enjoy.
Whilst many are not worthy of your time, whilst paid DLC needs to adopt a level of professionalism and market appeal to actually sell, but there have been classic examples of someone who puts in 100s of hours of work and redefines your experience of a game.
Consoles to me are like static gaming constructs. If interactivity and change are the aspect of videogames that elevate it to digital art, then one can't also shirk the understanding that PCs then embody this idea of art better than consoles could ever do so.
There is also the embodiment of the ever changing physical constraints to create a virtual existence. Gaming consoles are just persistent, pcs are reactionary. There is added appeal in this as well.