Why We Play: Part 2


Opinion
Why we play games part 2; The ideal self
By Josiah Sapp
Everyone has something about themselves they would want to change. Whether it be physical, emotional or psychological there are pieces of ourselves that we wish could be different. On the flipside, we all have strengths that we can confidently claim as familiar territory. In the world of entertainment, pieces of content (movies, shows, games, books) are designed from the ground up to grab the attention of the widest group possible. Every show you watch or game you play, has a roster of characters that you may or may not identify with. The ones you don’t identify with tend to be the characters you care less about and aren’t worried if they’ll make it to another season or sequel. However, the characters we do identify with are the ones that we root for and are moved to tears when they make a heroic sacrifice. Why do we care so much about fictional characters? We know they’re not real and that we’re never going to meet them but we care nonetheless. In the world of video games, that sense of identification is what drives players.
Back in 2011, there was a significant study done by the the Association of Phycology about why people spend so much time in video games. Armed with hundreds of test subjects, the researchers went into the study assuming that people played games to “distract” themselves from their everyday lives and stress. While distraction plays a part in gaming, the study found that it’s not always the main factor. The research showed that players found a sense of fulfillment and “a game can be more fun when you get to act out and be like your ideal self”. Along with seeing yourself in a game, most gamers find a game rewarding when their actual identity and their ideal identity overlapped within the game. They saw themselves initially in a character but were more satisfied when that character acted in a way that they’ve always wanted to. The most astonishing thing about this is that the players came out of the study feeling more confident about themselves and had an overall better view of who they are.
Humans are relational by nature. We need connection to other people or (in video games) to fictional characters. Think back to your childhood for a moment. What characters were you attached to? Batman or Superman? Wonderwoman or Sailor Moon? Optimus Prime or Ninja Turtles? For me, I looked up to Spider-Man. Tremendously intelligent and always used his wit to outsmart the bad guys. Yeah he had super spider powers but his ability to come out on top of any situation while always cracking a joke stood out to me. Heroic and funny? Perfect combo in my opinion. As I grew up, I naturally latched onto video games like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon. Both funny and wacky heroic characters with loads of adventures to enjoy. I related to those games and had the most fun with those characters because I saw bits of myself in them and parts that I wanted to be.
Mass Effect character roster
People play video games because they often provide an experience that’s impossible and we get to see ideal pieces of our identity within the characters we interact with. There are choices in the Mass Effect series that I’d never want to make in real life. They often have life or death consequences determining the fate of a character you love or puts an entire species at risk. They put you in situations where you see yourself in not only the main character but the side characters as well. Depending on the decisions made earlier in the game, all characters are expendable. Why does it matter that fake characters live or die? Why do we place value on these people? Bioware (makers of Mass Effect) have a real knack for pulling the players into empathy and sympathy for their characters. We wish to do something for someone’s situation and in video games, we have that chance! We are given control over scenarios that play out in front of us. We’re not just watching something unfold but are experiencing the consequences of heroic actions or mistakes. Those actions are attached to how we see ourselves and how we want to be. Your ideal self shines through when given the chance to act fulfilling the third reason why we play games. Accomplishment.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Difficulty

Image
 Opinion Difficult video games: The resurgence of punishing gameplay  By Josiah Sapp     Games are fun right? They’re made to be enjoyed by an individual, a collective group or an entire community. People play games for all kinds of reasons. High score chase, a means to relax, or even to escape into a whole other world. Recently, however, a specific style of gaming has emerged over the past few years and it’s not the kind that first catch your attention. Difficult games have been on the rise and there are no signs of slowing down this community. These aren’t just difficult titles. They’re punishing. Brutal. So frustratingly hard that it will have you question why you’re playing it even after you’ve tried the same task for hours. Why do gamers put themselves through this torture? The history of challenging games is in our DNA and in the genealogy of game design.  Dragon's Lair Death Screen     Pick out an...
Read more

Player Retention

Image
Opinion Mods not microtransactions: How to keep players engaged. By Josiah Sapp     Players invest a lot of their time and money in games that they believe in. We want the best experience for the investment. Developers and publishers make a living because we spend money on their product and spend time in their creation. It’s a highly competitive market and the tactics are cut throat. If a studio isn’t on top of the gaming trends, they get shut down or reallocated elsewhere. That’s why we get stories like Visceral studios being disbanded and their projects getting canceled. What they were working on, in theory, wasn’t being developed in line with future trends of the marketplace. Studios want their customers to return to their game while spending money on extra content. The avenue in which developers have achieved this retention and spending is through paid DLC and microtransactions to varying degrees of success. It seems, however, that all games are doome...
Read more

Why We Game: Part 1

Image
Opinion Why we play games; Experiencing the impossible. By Josiah Sapp     I find it interesting to step back and to not only observe the world around me but to also ask why the world is the way it is. What compels people to do what they do? What are all the ways we communicate with each other? Why are cultural norms different across countries? It’s fun and enlightening to ask big questions but the answers aren’t always what they first appear to be. This post starts a three week journey into one of those big questions. Why do we play games? The answer to that question is varied and broad. It depends on all manner of factors including age, race, culture, lifestyle, and gender to name a few. In recent years, researchers have found that there’s a lot that goes on in our brains when we play video games.     In a brief description, gaming is a form of entertainment. A type of media that people pay for and consume much like movies, mu...
Read more