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12/3/2015 4:55:35 PM
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Excellent post. You inspired me to go ahead and buy the book [i]Getting Gamers: The Psychology of Video Games and Their Impact on the People who Play Them. [/i] It was just published in October, and for a lot of us, may illuminate what we [i]feel [/i]about Destiny - and gaming - but don't quite know how to articulate. You do an excellent job of articulating your argument here, btw.
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Once you've read it, will you do a book review comparing it to Destiny on here?
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Edited by Silvurphlame: 12/3/2015 11:25:05 PMJust read the blurb on Amazon. Very interesting. I like how it seems the author isn't specifically bashing video games, but rather trying to look at the whole forest without getting lost in any particular trees. I might just have to put that on my Christmas list.
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Exactly. The psychology of video games - both in their design and the psychological effects on players - is a fascinating area of study. I was just telling my wife the other night, that if I went back to grad school, I would love to study the psychology of video games.
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Edited by Silvurphlame: 12/4/2015 12:32:41 AMIn another life I (as former Psych major) would have loved to do a dissertation on one or more aspects video game psychology. Destiny has been an interesting experience for me. I started playing it while working part time (in a field totally unrelated to psychology, lol) so the grind wasn't as apparent/frustrating to me. I went through "forever 29" as I didn't have a robust enough friends list to get into the Vault. But the game as a whole was still new enough that I enjoyed playing, running strikes (even if it was repeating the small number of available ones, collecting exotics… I actually enjoyed Dark Below, when I began to raid for the first time. The "newness" lasted until just before House of Wolves, by which point I was working full time and necessarily playing much less. House of Wolves was great at first, but wore a bit. I was playing significantly less before TTK came out. TTK seemed really cool, right up until I realized infusion and Light Score was just RNGesus and Light Level all over again. Still played for a while, but this last month or so? No more newness. All grind. Zero motivation. Now with a full 40 a week and overtime, just don't have time for a second job. Which is the kind of commitment required to really do Destiny. I came back for Iron Banner because my brother, who still plays, specifically invited me to join his fireteam. After Iron Banana? Nothing, zero motivation. Can't see that changing without a drastic change to Destiny and I don't feel that will happen. Not that it strictly [i]needs[/i] to. That's Bungie's decision. But I've just moved on. I don't want to play Destiny any more. I want to [i]want[/i] to play, if you get my meaning, I just don't currently want to. I got a little over a year out of it so I'll never claim I wanted my money, but the thrill is gone. Time to move on for me.
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Agreed. I've suspected my desire to play Destiny is now some kind of addiction - because of the way I feel about it, how other people behave in it, and treat other people. They actually act like junkies who are after their next fix. I'm not actually joking - so much bitterness, so many arguments with friends.
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Edited by Silvurphlame: 12/3/2015 11:28:21 PM[quote]how other people behave in it, and treat other people. They actually act like junkies who are after their next fix. I'm not actually joking - so much bitterness, so many arguments with friends.[/quote] Junkie behavior and/or treating a video game like it's your damn job, explains sooo much of the grumpiness and flat out bad behavior I've seen from players. They reach a point where it isn't fun simply to play, but only to win, and only if they get the loot.
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So true. The addiction is real, and it's quite fascinating.
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It's a choice. If you aren't having fun, then why play? Could it be that the addiction is that players actually enjoy the game? Are these same people influenced by the posts here and on Reddit? What I find fascinating is how quickly the player community accepts certain weapons, or armor, or ablities, or even rolls are the only ones to have becuase they read it on Reddit? I play with the weapons I enjoy, for vanilla Destiny it was a legendary scout rifle, A.1F19X-Ryl. It was my first non-exotic with the firefly perk and it kicked butt into TDB. I was stoked to be able to infuse it and keep using it. It sits in my vault now, and I will never get rid of it. My TTK replacement is the Dead Orbit scout rifle, Hung Jury SR4.
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The addiction is that the manipulation of your reward system makes you play the game despite not really enjoying it any more. The human psyche is complex: You will notice when you stop really liking something and need a change. The bad thing about an addiction, and the stimuli Bungie gives with Destiny is, that it will override the impulses you are getting to break off and do something more healthy and fulfilling.
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Edited by Razzupaltuff: 12/3/2015 5:04:24 PMThanks. The problem Destiny poses is increased by Destiny so shamelessly replacing content and quality with psychological tricks to hook players to a lackluster product. The way players get hooked to it is in no relation to what the product is offering to them. Nobody would probably waste another thought on it if Destiny truly would be a fantastic game (the game us Destiny players were made to believe it would be during its beta stage and before it got published).
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Absolutely.
