3 ms·

> games that are no longer fun, but are now environments deliberately set up to trap users in their own Skinner Boxes, pulling levers and pushing buttons to ope

> games that are no longer fun, but are now environments deliberately set up to trap users in their own Skinner Boxes, pulling levers and pushing buttons to open loot boxes that slowly drain out their bank accounts Gamers will hate me for this, but I actually very much prefer some of the simple "Skinner box" puzzle and collection games that are out now to the shitty, twitchy, time-sink "hardcore" ones that came before that everyone loved so much. Give me Tsum Tsum, Yokai Watch Wibble Wobble, and Puzzle and Dragons any day over Counterstrike, WoW (though I spent plenty of time on both of those), or any of the FPS crapshows on the market right now that are basically just Counterstrike with better graphics. I'll happily spend my $60 over time while enjoying casual bite-sized gameplay on my schedule, rather than the intensity and practice that "real gamer" games require. I also fail to see WTF games have to do with the tech industry at all, it's a minuscule portion of the sector.

skybrian 9y ago
I agree with you about AAA games, but there are interesting indy games out there like Kerbal Space Program, Factorio, and Rimworld that (unfortunately) take some time to get into compared to casual games.
- zaarn 9y ago
  Kerbal Space Program doesn't take that much time. You can be smearing green goo over the launch pad in less than 4 minutes and basically everything after that is just an extension to "smear green goo over [thing in space]". Maybe even flying back home too.
openfuture 9y ago
I'd consider gamified things like facebook as 'games', the patterns employed are the same as those skinner box things.
exDM69 9y ago
I don't see the argument above as casual vs. hardcore or indie vs. AAA. It's about designing games primarily to empty your wallet with microtransactions rather than providing you with fun. Games that encourage addictive, even compulsive behavior that may seem fun for a while but will quickly turn you into a dopamine rat seeking for your next fix. If you're an addictive nature, which is whom the games industry are targeting with predatory practices. The whales that pay the bills.
falcolas 9y ago
Games are fairly inextricably linked with tech at this point in time. What devices do you play games on? What social platforms are many games tied tightly to? Also, minuscule is perhaps not the word to use, with Activision, EA and others reporting revenue figures in the billions.

skybrian 9y ago

I agree with you about AAA games, but there are interesting indy games out there like Kerbal Space Program, Factorio, and Rimworld that (unfortunately) take some time to get into compared to casual games.

zaarn 9y ago
Kerbal Space Program doesn't take that much time. You can be smearing green goo over the launch pad in less than 4 minutes and basically everything after that is just an extension to "smear green goo over [thing in space]". Maybe even flying back home too.

openfuture 9y ago

I'd consider gamified things like facebook as 'games', the patterns employed are the same as those skinner box things.

exDM69 9y ago

I don't see the argument above as casual vs. hardcore or indie vs. AAA. It's about designing games primarily to empty your wallet with microtransactions rather than providing you with fun. Games that encourage addictive, even compulsive behavior that may seem fun for a while but will quickly turn you into a dopamine rat seeking for your next fix. If you're an addictive nature, which is whom the games industry are targeting with predatory practices. The whales that pay the bills.

falcolas 9y ago

Games are fairly inextricably linked with tech at this point in time. What devices do you play games on? What social platforms are many games tied tightly to? Also, minuscule is perhaps not the word to use, with Activision, EA and others reporting revenue figures in the billions.