has anyone seen the latest penny arcade posts? i was wondering what you all think? why do you play games? i personally play the games for the new experiences. but gabe and tycho both pontificate extremely well in their most recent post, and it made me think. so yeah, heres the link if you guys want it. http://www.penny-arcade.com/
why do you play video games
- Thread starter josh797
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It's funny you made this thread, because I read that page on PA and immediately went to this website to make this exact post as my first post at The Escapist because I thought I finally had something worthy of discussion here. Oh well, lol.
It's true that everybody plays games for slightly different reasons, though I think there's some common threads that unite us. The community, for example, keeps a lot of people playing, especially with MMORPGs (though I think all online games have this aspect to a certain degree). I have dedicated the vast majority of my gaming time to the Unreal Tournament series, and a lot of that attachment has to do with the people I'm used to playing with. Let me back up and try to answer the question more coherently.
When I first started gaming, what got me interested was simply the excitement and action - the challenge of the game mechanics and the desire to see the hilarious/impossible stuff that could happen in a game world.
Now that I've been playing longer and become more accustomed to the whole experience, there are two main factors: The aforementioned community aspect, and something more important, the only thing that can keep me interested in any activity for any length of time: personal improvement. UT has a gigantic learning curve and there are amazingly good people who play it, so it provides an almost endless challenge. Take this within a community that I enjoy being a part of (for the most part heh) and you have the main components that have held my interest in UT over a long period of time.
I still play singleplayer games once in awhile, and the only thing that really matters to me in an SP game is a story. I read a LOT, and I think games have a huge untapped potential as a medium to develop characters and communicate a story. The singleplayer games I select/enjoy are therefore the ones that have strong components of narrative and character development (I love Bioware!). I enjoy seeing the art and concepts presented in a game too, but that alone isn't enough to capture my interest.
So I guess I have a variety of reasons. And the base reason I game at all, of course, is that I have nothing better to do in my free time.
It's true that everybody plays games for slightly different reasons, though I think there's some common threads that unite us. The community, for example, keeps a lot of people playing, especially with MMORPGs (though I think all online games have this aspect to a certain degree). I have dedicated the vast majority of my gaming time to the Unreal Tournament series, and a lot of that attachment has to do with the people I'm used to playing with. Let me back up and try to answer the question more coherently.
When I first started gaming, what got me interested was simply the excitement and action - the challenge of the game mechanics and the desire to see the hilarious/impossible stuff that could happen in a game world.
Now that I've been playing longer and become more accustomed to the whole experience, there are two main factors: The aforementioned community aspect, and something more important, the only thing that can keep me interested in any activity for any length of time: personal improvement. UT has a gigantic learning curve and there are amazingly good people who play it, so it provides an almost endless challenge. Take this within a community that I enjoy being a part of (for the most part heh) and you have the main components that have held my interest in UT over a long period of time.
I still play singleplayer games once in awhile, and the only thing that really matters to me in an SP game is a story. I read a LOT, and I think games have a huge untapped potential as a medium to develop characters and communicate a story. The singleplayer games I select/enjoy are therefore the ones that have strong components of narrative and character development (I love Bioware!). I enjoy seeing the art and concepts presented in a game too, but that alone isn't enough to capture my interest.
So I guess I have a variety of reasons. And the base reason I game at all, of course, is that I have nothing better to do in my free time.
I play games instead of, say, watching TV (I don't even own a receiver). I expect a challenging and stimulating experience to make me less bored. Games are pure escapism for me. If they manage to convey something to me, or inspire me to think about something, that's a bonus of course.
I'm certainly in the "conduit of fantasy" category mentioned on PA. I'm not a very competitive gamer at all.
So, in short, I think games are fun!
I'm certainly in the "conduit of fantasy" category mentioned on PA. I'm not a very competitive gamer at all.
So, in short, I think games are fun!
