Why I think video gaming slowly became the most addictive entertainment media with no signs of stopping. What do lemmy users think of the subject?
Video games can be addictive time wasters, sure you can say that a gamer should just manage their time better. As someone who’s played some games from the last few years on various consoles, I can say some types of games are played more then others. so…
Why are games addictive? lets first start by looking at a game pong on the the Attari. A game with just paddles disguised as lines and dots bouncing back and forth. If a person is just playing the game alone against the cpu they’l more likely get bored playing quickly. While if they play with a friend it’s a more fulfilling experience and they might play it for hours. However, at some point they would move on from it but they wouldn’t have to they could keep playing their pong game as newer console would release, but as the game was just lines and dots, without their friends this game we then become played less as more and more people passed it by.
How do games create a single player experience to keep people playing without their friends? Lets look at pacman, if you have a game that recreates the experience of being somewhere, where you can move an onscreen character and interact in certian situations with said characters you would then potentially have one person hooked to your game playing solo.
This would work for awhile from the nes, to the snes to the n64 generations for gaming in regards to sells. Then the next step to hook players would be to mix single player with multiplayer, if the players ‘friends’ are playing it then they better be playing it too. The idea was that both players would had bought the game and practiced at their own houses solo. Think games like Super Smash Bros 64, Mortal Kombat, Mario Kart 64.
The next and second to last step to addict players is with online gaming. Bonus points if a game is online but has no split screen local multiplayer. Because if your friend gets the new game then you better get it too or feel left behind. Other thing about online gaming is it can addict solo players the worst. Typically these games will have you feeling good collecting exp points and the games currency winning each match. Making you keep wanting to play it day after day back to back at its worst.
last and final step to gaming addiction is vr, or virtual reality. While its still too early to say much about vr gaming, it brings a fake reality to the game universes, that players can enteract in with their physical hands. And they can physically turn around and look around envirorments. Gaming just keeps getting more addictive in nature.
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Idk, I wish I could enjoy video games again. I miss that. I haven’t been able to enjoy gaming since college.
Similar for me. I played them constantly as a kid. As an adult, I try to get into them now and then but they never seem to hold my interest anymore. They’ve lost their addictive quality for me.
I mostly play idle games nowadays and for me it is numbers go up and bigger numbers get bigger.
As someone who’s having a bit of difficulty finding great incremental games, would you mind giving aome recommendations?
Clicker heros is old school at this point but still a legendary experience
The best clicker on pc i ever played is NGU idle. On mobile i really liked exponenntial idle a lot
The ones I currently play are Melvor Idle, Idle Skilling, Stone Story, Idling to rule the gods and Legends of idleon. If you like somewhat more complex Idler i’d recomment Idling to rule the gods and Legends of idleon. Melvor idle is pretty simple. It is basicly Runesscape if it was a idle game. Idle skilling is simillar to clicker heroes kinda and Stone Story is just visualy interesting with its ascii art. I think all of them are at least worth a try. Idling to rule the gods is the one I played probably the most. My current run is 5 or 6 years now.
Oh I forgot about Kittens game. Pretty good too if even some times a little repetetive though + Home quest. Both are city building idlers if you are interested in such games as well.
I game to avoid my crippling depression and mask it with by not climbing up the competitive ladders. The feeling of winning one round after you lost 2 in a row is one thing that keeps me going. I do it for the Dopamine, the achievement progress and the battle pass that sometimes isn’t worth it.
Depression + feelings of dopamine issues could be adhd, ever get checked?
I’ve got autism, not sure if it’s adhd though
Who diagnosed and when were you diagnosed? If diagnosed as a teen or adult, your even more likely to have both.
From the NLM
According to the scientific literature, 50 to 70% of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) also present with comorbid attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
You can even find higher percentages cited from less sciency sources.
I got diagnosed at 19 so maybe, who knows.
If you don’t see someone for it (symptoms, like depression) you really should. Take care of yourself, I know it’s not fun, trust me I am learning how to do it myself. But in the end it will payoff.
Whatever your dealing with won’t get any easier as you get older, take it from me.
For me it’s the sense of progression. I cognitively know it’s meaningless progression but emotionally I still feel value out of that artificial progression. Like I’ve achieved something. In addition to that it’s freeing in that it’s the most objectively fair setting(I suppose this is less true in modern games than it used to be sadly) in a game it doesn’t matter who you are or what your reality is, it doesn’t exist there. No problems from your real life have to exist there so that escapism can be a very addictive coping mechanism.
One thing that I’ve noticed is that back in the day, if you played a game enough, you either beat it, and quit playing it, or you got stuck and quit playing it.
Now, DLC, matchmaking, and monthly events add years of replayability to games. As long as there’s another battlepass to complete and holiday themed costumes to collect, there’s ALWAYS one more thing to do/collect/buy.
I do it because most of the time I literally have nothing else to do due to my current situation. It’s either play the ps5, pc, or watch TV. There’s literally nothing else for me to do other than work which is the reason why I game so much. And, on the other hand, I do it to escape my mundane life. For example, in ff7 I’m part of a group looking to save the world from evil corporations. In Starfield I’m a space explorer discovering new things and seeing g new sights and people. In real life, I sit, draw, and write all day showing people going on adventures and doing amazing things. Honestly, if my current situation was better, I’d be traveling, doing cool stuff with friends, seeing the world. I wouldn’t game so much. But until things change I’m stuck in an endless loop.
It depends on the type of game. RPGs and immersive sons are great for escapism. Action games/shooters are cathartic. Sims can be great for exercising problem solving skills (and can also be a power trip). Sandboxes for creativity. Strategy games for harder problem solving (and power tripping).
i don’t play games any more (at least, hardly), but these are the things i’ve learned about my preferences in games over the years, especially the ones that i played a LOT.
in rpg/rts games: early-game bugs that unlock any infinite resource. SOLVED skill trees or level systems that i can read then try different configurations. customizable bots are nice, too.
in rts/fps: solid, fully unlocked multiplayer with custom maps. lan gaming with no DRM so i can pitch a disc to my friends and we all install and play is great, but ubiquitous cracks are also fine. scriptable interfaces for combat tricks like the 4-shot glock in CS1.6 add an extra level of panache for me.
fighting games: solid controls, definable keys. also, combos that can be executed without timing: let me just input all the keys in the right order. also, please include a full-unlock cheatcode.
platformers/beatemups: let me run-and-gun. walljumps and double jumps are cool. if you want to throw in a few extra moves or let me build up to an ultimate, that’s cool, but i would like some control over which skills i pick up. having a co-op on these adds a lot of fun.
puzzle games: don’t make them. also, don’t put puzzles in any of the other game types. puzzles suck. fuck puzzles.
also, i don’t really give afuck about the story, even in the rpgs. i just wanna build out a character. if you can build up some interesting lore around MY quest to learn every skill/get all the equipment, that’s fine.
I play with friends. It is out hang out time. That is the addictive part. I can’t play single player games at all, always get bored after couple of hours. Solo online games are pretty much the same.
Lots of things. But if I notice a game becoming addictive for me, I stop playing. I know too many addicts.
I stopped playing them. I used to do it for many hours/week but just quit cold turkey a year ago. There are more interesting things to do with a computer.
For me it’s typically something I can enjoy absent mindedly.
It could be an element of a game I can enjoy without thinking like a solid soundtrack or visuals but not feeling like “losing” is a lose is another thing.
I like being able to shut my brain off and that typically means a lack of story but still having some form of progression.
I don’t think technical innovations relating to realism and multiplayer are essential. One of my favorite games is Hotline Miami which features pixel graphics and while shooters like Call of Duty do have a satisfying gameplay loop I feel like I hit a wall with progression eventually.
Multiplayer and VR games can also require some extra setup which is a hurdle for a game being addictive to me.
Sound design and feedback. If it’s satisfying, I will chase that feeling for 40 hours.
It depends on many things for me. Right now I’m playing serious sam Siberia mayhem, which is actually really fun. It has smooth and fast based combat as well as swarms of difficult enemies. Highly story rich games are also fun to me, such as as metal gear rising: revengance.
