Researchers Say Too Much Freedom Causes Unhappiness

[weirdee]

I don't think people should really take it personally.....studies have been pointing towards this for ages. It's basically an instinct; people who make a decision are on average more receptive to make further decisions that reinforce this initial position, and are more committed to it than if they had not made a hard choice on the matter. Being aware of this, however, will allow a certain degree of additional control if you choose to use that knowledge to evaluate your actions.

But as an above poster notes, just because we know of a likely outcome doesn't necessarily mean we should blindly adhere to a harmful philosophy based on it.

Addendum: people have been known to consider themselves in support of something that SOUNDS nice, but in reality pick options which do not necessarily reflect this stance since they have other underlying priorities, and many other people have reacted similarly to this information with the same claims, but may not actually consistently follow them. Think about what you say, and what you do...

 

[SuperSuperSuperGuy]

I dunno, man. I'd be more comfortable with, to use the photography example, being able to change my choice. If I could redo my decision, there are no real consequences to keep one and send away the other.

I love being able to switch classes on the fly. That way, I'm not tied down to a particular role or skill set and I'm free to seek out whichever abilities I want and find out what suits me best. And if something new comes along, I can adapt to it. If I'm locked into a particular class, I'm more likely to regret my decision, since there are situations in which another class would be more useful than my current one. Then I say to myself "What if that situation becomes common eventually? Then this class would suck!" and it would make me feel anxious. There are consequences for committing to a particular class over another, and I don't like consequences.

I'm probably the exception, though. I don't have a problem with that. I like freedom. I like it very much.

 

[DkLnBr]

From the headline I thought this was going to be some government propaganda to try and trick us in to giving up more rights.

Same here! It sounded like something out of a dystopian future, or like the study was conducted by North Korea. But as for the main issue, I find that does happen to me. Not so much changing class, but in open sandbox games I can never advance the plot because I'm always worried i'll miss some easter egg or side quest. Does that count?

 

[Hero of Lime]

This is probably why I have no interest in Grand Theft Auto for example, I don't care about having a big sandbox to play a game in. I want the freedom to explore for sure, I just don't like being overwhelmed with hundreds of things to do that won't leave a big impact on me. Quality over quantity please!

 

[Lyvric]

I enjoy respecing, redesigning, playing and tweaking. I think this is more of understanding how to balance this aspect of your game with others. Extra credits is doing an awesome series on the matter of choices in games:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/the-feeling-of-agency

 

[Deathfish15]

Oh how much I love this article and the research behind it. I've always hated games that offer race/class changes, something far off worse. Those are character defining decisions that need to be cemented in the fact that they cannot change. This goes same for story decisions such as a Faction chosen.


Another thing that I look at is GW2's set to per-character WvW ranks. I enjoy that they're not account bound in that they help push the player towards a single character to progress with (it's like making the decision for them, without really doing so).

 

[chikusho]

I find the opposite to be true. If I can't go back and change some skill points I've spent I end up feeling bad because I'm not able to optimize to a new set of circumstances. Like the mistake cost me the opportunity to be excellent.

While the psychological phenomenon exists, I hardly think it applies to games the way that is presented here..

 

[Strazdas]

I dont go back on my deicisions. i play every game in "iron man" mode. whatever i do, no return. I create my own "no turning point". this is becuase i promise i gave to myself to do it, as a long time ago, i had freedom and chose everything. in the end it consumed me. so i said no more and sticked to my guns. ive been happier for it.
This is also why i love achievements. its a goal, i ahve to work to, doing specific thing, so lets just go out and do that. in comparison to "i have 50 ways to do this what should i do"

Pffft -J problems. It's good to be an INTP.

I diasgree. I am an INTP and i wish i wasnt. Life would be so much simple and happier if i were dumber too.

there's a very thin line between "i can do anything!" and "i dont have time to do everything so i need to quit my dayjob...".

fixed that for you

 

[piinyouri]

I can remember being in my high school art class when my teacher told me this.
And I agree, in my experience it's held true. Too many choices can stifle creativity.

 

[hiei82]

Too much freedom causes unhappiness? Where have I heard that before...

Spoiler: OH YEAH!

I think the take away from this is that science supports Loki's claims about freedom. Yeah... that's definitely the take away.

 

[KOMega]

I think it depends on how decisive the person is, but for the most part, I can believe this.

It will affect you less if you are really decisive because you impose the "live with your choices" thing onto yourself instead of depending on the system to do it for you. But not everyone is like that and those that are are only like that to varying degrees.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

I mean I kinda disagree with respecing as part of this, just because I've found myself in situations in games where I put a bunch of points into something I thought would be useful and then ended up never being used outside of 1 or 2 isolated incidents. I actually started fallout 3 over completely after a good 20 or so hours because I specd out my character badly, and strait up quit new vegas for the same reason because I was much farther in. In borderlands I think I've respec'd once but knowing that I can at any time gives me a HUUUUGE sense of comfort.

I think the solution to this potential problem is not putting the player in the micromanaging mindset in the first place. On any RPG where you put a bunch of time into making your character, how much time did you spend adjusting the nose shape and the eyeball spacing, and how satisfied were you with it afterwards? Now compare that to the hair. "Here's a bunch of styles, pick the one you like the best." It's a simple, bold choice that you can make and move on with it. It's the same way with skill points. You're going to be much more confident in your choice of "Run fast" vs "turn invisible" than you are with "2% increased critical strike chance" vs "lock-picking speed slightly increased"

 

[Mikeyfell]

Well duh...

Imagine somebody gave you a free pair of shoes. You'd be happy right?
Or at least marginally more happy than before receiving the gift.

Now imagine someone showed you 10 different pairs of shoes and said you can choose which one you want for free...
now you have to make a decision. You have to weigh the pros and cons of every different pair, you have to be really critical eliminating shoes you know you won't want.
And then after you choose you're never quite sure that you made the right decision. and that doubt will follow you to your grave!

So yeah freedom kinda sucks

 

[MammothBlade]

Pffft -J problems. It's good to be an INTP.

I diasgree. I am an INTP and i wish i wasnt. Life would be so much simple and happier if i were dumber too.

I guess I was applying it to games specifically. In this case, it means the ability/freedom to experiment with different strategies, builds, and so on.

Though, it's good that you're happy with your self-enforced "ironman mode".

Also, having some sort of guidance and grounding is not the same as not having freedom.

 

[MammothBlade]

Also, it's not so much "too much freedom", as too much flexibility and no real consequence to one's choices.

With freedom of choice comes the responsibility to make the right decision.

Have you ever regretted a choice in your past that couldn't be reversed? Sure you have. Perhaps regretting to take one career path over another, or not asking someone out on a date. People regret and feel saddened by bad, reversible decisions too. Or maybe that sort of regret is a modern phenomenon. Since there is more flexibility in career paths, education, and relationships than there once was, I guess that would make sense.

 

[ThreeName]

This has been known in psychological circles for ages. Never seen it applied to games, though.

Also, people seem to be having a bit of trouble with the whole "too much" concept.

 

[Drejer43]

I thought this was going to be a article about how democracy is making us sad and what we really want is a dictatorship with caste systems

 

[Denizen]

This goes back to correlation does not imply causality, in research terms and phrases.

What's a huge problem here is that this research data is used in general terms which is why it only applies to video games when it's used loosely, like so many other problems with games today - people use a loose basis to say games are one certain way when it's got no basis at all.

The main issue I've seen that people complain about is that they're afraid they picked the wrong thing and while that's a understandable issue, it actually has to do with the fundamental human response of, "The grass is always greener on the other side." No matter how well you made your class work, you're always going to wonder if you made the right choice and the results you get will skew your view of things.

If you're doing too well, you might not worry as much but that either means you built a legitimately powerful character by luck or know-how; or, the devs forgot and just haven't nerfed that build. Unfortunately, most times I've seen that nerfing happens because the people who see your character as the greener grass (if you know what I mean).

If you're doing average or poorly, you'll be convinced that you made some wrong decisions - if not all wrong - but it's also possible that you might not be skilled yet or knowledgeable enough in that build you created. Perhaps it handled differently than you expected. If none of those reasons for your build doing average or poorly apply, the devs forgot to buff it, or just haven't buffed it yet.

I really hope this doesn't become a huge misconception because freedom in games, especially character building choices add tons of depth and replay value to a game - something that's already so precious and highly discarded today. However, despite that, it's not mandatory. It's only good when it's done right, and I can't stress that enough. This is why I can understand when people are frustrated in games with skill/talent/feat trees, but it's usually the above reasons that are involved and/or when the character building aspect doesn't function like it should. Maybe it doesn't reward properly for the builds they make, it doesn't allow for unique customization (item-specific, terrain specific, etc), and most importantly, it's intuitive enough for dependable builds and yet advanced enough for enthusiasts.

Spoiler: After Thought

Also I'm a bit confused the guy chose diablo II to base his argument, sure it didn't fully reset or let that option always be there, but diablo II is one of the biggest examples of character building done right. There were potent builds, item-specific builds, balanced builds, build builds, and so on. There's replay value, and then there's replay value done right.