Honestly... are we the problem?

Community General Discussion
1

I’ve had a thought recently after what I saw while hanging out at my gf’s place.

We were eating dinner with their fam and the young boy at the table asked his dad if he can play the gollum game after dinner, yknow the game that kinda looks bad and the gameplay is mediocre at best.

I heard it and asked about if it was in fact that gollum game, indeed it was. I refrained from any comments of course cause I’m not socially insane.

So after dinner we went back to the room and I thought nothing of it, when about half an hour later my gf asked me to heat up the warmth bottle for her, of course I did and in the process passed by the living room on the way to the kitchen, where I saw what cause me to have this question.

This boy was playing the gollum game and having an absolute blast, pure enjoyment, I ended up watching him play while the warmth bottle was heating up, and he told me about the story which makes no sense to me a lotr fan but he loved it, he enjoyed the mechanics even though he wasnt very good. And he had nothing but hte biggest smile on his face.

He was able to take something that for me or in general what i heard to be a complete loss or flop of a game and have more fun then I have seen anyone have in ages playing even some of the most impressive and smooth games.

Which is why I am genuinely wondering if maybe my lack of enjoyment of games is actually me, that childlike sense of not knowing but wanting to and just to see whats around every corner, yeah it doesnt make sense but it’s cool to experience it and just enjoying playing the game. Not for rank, not for any customization, not for any prize just getting to play the game more was enough for him. I’m not gonna lie I was jelous cause I remember havign that much fun, pure fun, but those days have long gone and now although I strive for it. My knowledge of things weighs it down.

i genuinely wish I could forget everything about WoW again, and about blizzard, I want to forget and start again.

So I ask what you guys might think of this, if we can keep it about WoW that’d be great but I do wonder if this is just gaming in general rn?

24 Likes
2

It’s definitely us. I’ve enjoyed many games over the years that most of the Steam reviews have been borderline abusive. This is why we have demo’s, I think.

6 Likes
3

I’m at work so I can’t type a long answer, but TLDR:

The problem is with our expectations in comparison to our existing experiences. We have played hundreds of games, and every new game we play is compared against them, both i terms of design as well as on technical performances. Small children do not have the experience we do, so for them everything new is “new” and “unique”.

10 Likes
4

Yep. We care too much about … everything? Especially what others think, and what others like, what others rate the game (or parts of the game). If we could just play what we like, instead of play what others say is best, that’d be a great initial step forward.

6 Likes
5

Yes we are sometimes the problem but there is also nothing wrong with looking at a game that was way to expensive in production and that just ist good and say that’s it’s not good.
But there is also nothing wrong with liking said game

6

That is true, sometimes there are games that just arent good from either production or just in general.

But this was more towards a factor that might be players being jadded, I think that’s the word for this.

1 Like
7

people are built differently and our mood changes from time to time and also according to age .it is a complex issue and might differ .

2 Likes
8

I’d say as a kid you’re just happy to play something the fact that he likes that atrocity is a bit weird tho :crazy_face: , but I remember playing those tiger electronics lcd games and various bad movie tie-in gameboy games and had a blast. Tastes refine and get better, back then I thought cotton eyed joe by rednex was an absolute banger and the peak of music.

2 Likes
9

Also a fair point, possible it’s jsut the refinement process.

But isn’t that also a bit weird, that we refine ourselves to have a smaller pallet to enjoy instead of optimizing our pallet to enjoy most of what we consume?

1 Like
10

I also have to admit I might be super biased against that game in particular.

My country threw so much money at that company to boost our gaming sector and they really did not deliver

1 Like
11

Personally I think it’s both the gamers themselves, and gaming companies responding to it. Gamers in general seem quite blasé and cynical these days if I compare it to the early days. And I think companies like Blizzard have made that worse with some of their choices. Or maybe it’s the other way around, to me it seems rather chicken and egg. But it doesn’t seem a positive relationship to me.

At the same time I think it’s still perfectly possible to just enjoy playing a game. To be immersed in it. To embrace the good and not take the bad too seriously. Fun and enjoyment should be a player’s focus and they should guard that themselves.

12

It would seem I have failed my charge to guard it, now I must find it once more to reinstate my duties.

But in all honesty you’re right imo, I believe the same way that players have developed, os have the companies, more singularly focused on a goal instead of earlier practises.

There is no one reason, like a web of connections built over many years of excitement and dissapointment.

2 Likes
13

I think it’s just normal to get more picky over time, cuz you always like to experience something new/better you haven’t seen before, but I personally still enjoy simpler things sometimes, there are plenty of things I like to go back to from my childhood.

1 Like
14

This is why I don’t want to have kids.

1 Like
15

Everything is datamined and review bombed before it has even released. It’s the internet’s fault.

7 Likes
16

What is wrong with Gollum game?

17

Absolutely true, I truly dislike datamining. It takes the excitement away from patch day entirely. What used to be “Oh hey what’s new?” is now “ahhh right that was this patch, welp time to look up a video on what to do exactly… oooh released two weeks ago, might be outdated hmm”

1 Like
18

Which is really sad, Daedalic was a great studio, I love all their Point&Clicks, but that project was way too big for them.

1 Like
19

They should have stuck with poki and his games that’s what they where known for

1 Like
20

I can’t relate.
I’m honest to a fault. If I don’t like something, I’m not going to pretend that I’m interested or anything. Not even for a child.

Yeah, it’s definitely a thing. It comes with knowledge and experience.
But sometimes I do still experience moments of pure enjoyment and such; it’s more rare (especially in gaming), but it does happen from time to time.

As for being harsh on games in general; I think it’s because we are investing our time and money into it and so it should be up to ‘our standards’ in general. Gaming as an adult just has different standards than it does as a child (not to mention that you as a person just change throughout the years and often get different interests and likes).

1 Like