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I'm not entirely sure I agree with their overarching philosophy that games should never "make you feel upset at times". Obviously it should leave you with an ov

I'm not entirely sure I agree with their overarching philosophy that games should never "make you feel upset at times". Obviously it should leave you with an overall good feeling, which is something I think is attested to by it's popularity (unless their is a reward mechanism I'm missing here). And while the fact that this was played in an office context was addressed, I think they under attributed it's affect. I think there are two major problems that are addressed by moving this into a general public, MMO context: (1) Productivity Loss I mean, this can almost entirely be addressed to the context. The game exists only at work, and so you can only play it when you are supposed to be working. (2) Negative Effects of Friend/Work relationships I expect from people I've nurtured friendships and work relationships a certain amount of respect and loyalty. From a faceless internet foe, I expect nothing. I find the coddling attitude slightly frustrating, and I think that if video games are to be considered art, they need to be able to hurt us if they ever want to be able to lift us up. Art is a proxy for life experience, and in my opinion, good art leaves you changed. Obviously, it's bad if it leaves you with crippling depression or paranoia, but certainly some level of sadness and anxiety is critical for it to have any meaning. One thing, however, that I do think is important is knowing what you're getting yourself into. If I feel I'm in a certain head space where being deceived or betrayed in any context would result in me feeling particularly shitty, then I wouldn't want to play Diplomacy any more than I would want to watch Lynch's Eraserhead. In that respect, I feel like artists are a little responsible to represent the experiences that are commonly felt in the consumption of their art.

kazagistar 10y ago
It depends entirely on what kind of game you are making. There is clearly a market and demand for simple, fun, positive experiences. But there is also a massive market for games exactly like LoL and DotA and CS:GO, where a major part of the experience is failing, losing, feeling horrible about it, and then trying to do better next time. There is an urge for game designers to try to mitigate negative experiences, but in doing so, they make the game. You can't have the feeling of a competative game that ends in a crushing victory without the feeling of crushing defeat.

kazagistar 10y ago

It depends entirely on what kind of game you are making. There is clearly a market and demand for simple, fun, positive experiences. But there is also a massive market for games exactly like LoL and DotA and CS:GO, where a major part of the experience is failing, losing, feeling horrible about it, and then trying to do better next time. There is an urge for game designers to try to mitigate negative experiences, but in doing so, they make the game. You can't have the feeling of a competative game that ends in a crushing victory without the feeling of crushing defeat.