I’ve always found myself bouncing off hard on “make your own fun” type games like Minecraft or the newer Zeldas. This extends to any type of game that has no clear goals or motivators.
Turns out I’m just an extrinsically motivated gamer. For me, it’s about the destination, not the journey. I enjoy games that keep me going with rewards promised at each step of the way. When given the choice to be creative with the tools I’m given, I’ll just find the most efficient way of getting it done.
I’d like to hear what type of gamers y’all are. What type of games bring you joy?
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It’s gotta be a mix of both. If there aren’t frivolous side tasks I can do, a game feels empty to me, but without a primary set of goals, it feels aimless. Games that combine the two are my white whale. I want to defeat the big evil with fishing minigames and trading quests.
I agree, but there is definitely a limit to the degree of frivolous side quests. I’m playing TotK here and there, and some of the quests/objectives are basically punishment. I liked the koroks in BotW, but a lot of the new ones can fuck right off.
I too am enjoying AC Valhalla, lol.
ah man, ive given up on AC a while back, is Valhalla worth the time? I was under the impression they were all mostly the same with a different coat of paint
I’d say there’s roughly two different AC “vibes”: Pre-Origins and Post-Origins (Origins is the Egypt one). Pre-Egypt is still very assasin focused. While you can bruteforce your way through, it’s very clearly not the intended way, and it’s a lot harder than doing the stealth stuff. Post-Egypt is far more openworld, choice focussed. You can still play the Assassin, but because they need to allow many different gameplay styles (including ramboing in), levels/areas aren’t quite as tightly designed for cool assassin type stuff.
Both versions are good in their own right, but it’s really important to come in with the right expectations. Both sets are somewhat similar to other games in their group, with little switch ups.
Basically it depends on what your issue was with AC. Even if they are a little same-y, the gameplay is (can) be very fun, and as a history fan, there’s simply no other franchise that’s tackled so many different eras in such an immersive way.
Finally, my purely subjective recommendations for a “new-comer” would be:
- The game whose era interests you most
- If you like openworld action RPGs, Odyssey. A fun filled journey with a lot of worthwhile things to do
- If you want a solid assassin game, Syndicate. At least from a gameplay and engine perspective, it perfected the formula
It’s worth the time to me, but I can definitely understand why others might not feel the same. Personally, I don’t love the Viking “honour and glory” theme but I do like the zany “mystery” side quests and the overall game structure. As for whether it’s a rinse-and-repeat of previous games… yeah, it is, in most meaningful ways. Since Origins, they’ve relied on a lot of the same mechanisms, but that’s not a deal breaker to me. I like (modern) AC because of the visual polish and atmosphere, not necessarily unique gameplay. Odyssey was my favourite of the “new” gen of AC games, and I think Valhalla made a lot of tangible improvements to the mechanics and gameplay loops since that title.
“Extrinsically motivated” games I like: I’ll play it once, beat it, play a bit of post game, drop it.
“Intrinsically motivated” games I like: make my own stupid-ass goal, spend dozens and dozens of hours on it, finally do the stupid thing, progressed 1% further through the game, get bored, drop it, but then I pick it up again thinking about doing another stupid-ass thing.
any game with a story
Minecraft, Terraria, Factorio, Satisfactory, Rimworld, Starbound…
I almost exclusively play games where I can set my own goals, or do my own thing, or experiment. I also gravitate towards immersive games. I assume that means I’m more intrinsic?
I really don’t like games that treat leveling as an obstacle to the “real game.”. Makes it seem pointless.
Time played: 400 hours. Completion percentage: 15%
extremely intrinsically motivated. give me a world with stuff in it, not goals
I’m extrinsically motivated, but my definition of “extrinsic” is pretty loose. I’ll do things that aren’t necessary to beat the game (I don’t even need the game to be “beatable”). As long as I’m finishing something and getting a reward for it, I’m content.
I’m having a great time doing side content in Tears of the Kingdom: completing as many shrines and side quests as I can, hoarding materials for armor upgrades, etc. Those are optional objectives that you can truly complete. However, I don’t spend much time experimenting with Ultrahand.
Similarly in Minecraft, I liked accumulating resources in survival mode, but I bounced off of creative mode.
EDIT: apparently my Lemmy app went haywire and posted this about 8 times. Very sorry.
I love good stories. For me, the atmosphere and plot are vital. It feels like after work I just don’t have enough time and mental capacity to put a lot of effort in a video game, therefore I avoid things like Minecraft or the whole survival genre, even though I used to enjoy that kind of stuff when I was a teenager.
I don’t think I fit either side of this dichotomy (though if forced to pick would choose extrinsically), as I love a good story but am very much about the journey and not just the destination.
If I had to guess, the limits of development scope and the resulting limits on worlds being believably reactive means a lot of people are going to see themselves as extrinsically motivated, with the big exception being people that just love building things in sandboxes. Intrinsic motivators would be much easier to come across if more avenues of interaction felt fleshed out but for some rare exceptions.
I’m largely extrinsically motivated. I always have high hopes of 100%-ing games, but I find once all the quests are done, my enthusiasm for going out and wandering and finding the last things drops off precipitously. Even if I’m not following the storyline and have wandered off to explore, I still feel the need for some ultimate promise of more story to come.
@bijuice I recall when achievements were still kinda new and weird a little game called viva pinata. While it was a creative sandbox of sorts, the achievements essentially guided you to get ‘everything’ the game had to offer, and it ended up being one of the only ‘monster catching’ games I actually finished completely and loved.
I think that’s probably the way to do it. Freedom to do what you want, but a guide to encourage you to do most of it.
I really liked VP. I’m guessing it wouldn’t hold up like I remember it, but I low key hope for a new entry someday
@frank ya the. Second one really wasn’t as good somehow to me. But with the cozy game trend atm it feels like a new entry would do well.
All of you intrinsically motivated gamers. Have you heard of our lord and savior, Bob? Have you played eve online?
One of the most complex, brutal, make your own fun games I’ve ever played. On and off for 16 years and I still suck at it.
I have played Eve. I log in every few months or so to do a little exploration.
@DaSaw @lenninscjay I played with a buddy we made a plan to get “rich” we bought the omega subscription got the big miner ship and things where going well then the “coolness” wore off games kinda boring unless you can make your own fun 24/7
I’ve always been a slow-to-start gamer. I’ve really for to ease into games. I remember when I first played FFX, I just kept playing the beginning over and over because I didn’t realize there was a save feature, and everytime more of the story got revealed, my thought was, “how much more game could there possibly be?”
Minecraft was great until I had mastered the mechanics, and then looked further to see what the point of all that learning was. Turns out there was no point.
I guess I’m saying that I love the sandbox until I’ve learned to be efficient in the sandbox, then I want something to do with the efficiency I’ve gained. If the game asks too much of me from the start without giving me a chance to slowly learn (Apex, COD, etc.), I’m out. If there’s no goal after I’ve learned, I’m out.
I just left D2 after 5 years only because the only thing left for me to do in the game was PvP, and I’m never going to be good enough at PvP because there is not enough time for me to git gud.
Intrinsically, definitely. Minecraft, Dwarf Fortress, RimWorld, Victoria 2, and etc.
When I was young I would spend hours taking photographs or randomly roaming around in GTA San Andreas, it was a nice break from reality to just be free. As I grow old, I find myself actually enjoying good narrative without painfully complex mechanics like Minecraft, and I presume TotK. Back then I would skip the missions and just fool around, now i would follow the missions and in the process fool around only after i get comfortable with the game world and setting.
I most like sandbox games that allow me to do the journey my way. I very rarely do anything the optimal way.
Often if I am playing a linear game people will get frustrated with my because I’ll pass on a better weapon because I like the one I currently have. They say take that sword it’s better but I’m not playing the game to reach the end. I don’t care if a better weapon makes it easier I want a cool sword that fits my playstyle and that I have fun using.
Definitely exstrinsicly. I do play open world games (and (J)RPGs) and while I do attempt side quests etc, it rarely holds my attention in the same way as the main story, if there is one. If there isn’t one I’ll usually get bored pretty quickly.
