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I think the push for multiplayer games made me quit gaming about 10-15 years ago. It was only in the last couple years that the new Zelda games got me back into

I think the push for multiplayer games made me quit gaming about 10-15 years ago. It was only in the last couple years that the new Zelda games got me back into it, which are single player. I will sometimes play multiplayer games with my nephews, but would always prefer to play by myself. If I'm playing a game I want it to be fun and not stressful. When everything is a competition, it's stressful. There's not letting up, no lazy laps... you have to try to win. They often want me to play Minecraft with them. I "forget" to bring my laptop a lot. When I played Minecraft in the past it was always on peaceful and I'd just build stuff. It was a giant sandbox of digital legos for me, or I'd try and make weird stuff with redstone. They have all these monsters turned on, want to go into these boss battles, and they never give me any weapons (and disable my ability to get my own) so I just die over and over again trying to run from things with no defenses. It's awful. Half the time I just stop playing and stare the the screen, like wtf do you want me to do here... I'm sure the industry hates the idea that most people prefer single players games, because then they can't justify their online services, so they are incentivized to push multiplayer games and make people think that's what they like.

spacecadet 2y ago
LOL your nephews are trolls.
- al_borland 2y ago
  For sure... The one was being a jerk, so I was just threw it right back at him and started destroying the whole settlement he built. Emptying his chests into lava breaking down walls... to see how he likes playing with a griefer. It was somewhat effective.
  - jerf 2y ago
    Minecraft has the distinction of being the only game I've played with my kids where I still felt like a parent even in the game. It wasn't even just policing "bad behavior", sometimes I had to run around covering over the ravines so they wouldn't fall in, because then I had to go rescue them. Now they're older and I still had to sometimes go rescue them after they made an ill-considered journey without supplying well enough in advance. I'm not complaining per se. It's just interesting that the game is able to have that dynamic in it. They're older now, it's much less of an issue, but I still mandate that PvP stays off at all times. Though it is a useful lesson in the mechanics of escalation, I suppose. (Specifically, you always value harm to yourself more than you value harm to others, even your family, so when someone does "1" damage to you, you perceive it as "2", then you try to retaliate with "2" damage but they perceive it as "4" damage for the same reason, and now you're stuck in an escalating loop. There are ways out of this loop, of course, but it takes time. This rather simple model explains a rather distressing amount of international politics and history....)
    - al_borland 2y ago
      Knowing a couple commands, and having them switched on, can be helpful for the ravine issue. The /tp command can be used to teleport a player (your kid) to where your player is. My nephews of course would use this against me. I’d get away into a calm area and they’d teleport me right into the middle of hell.
screaminghawk 2y ago
I also gave up on multiplayer and casually playing on Nintendo Switch has got me back into it. For me, it's a skill issue. I'm just not as good as I used to be. I play games on easy now so that I can blast through it quickly. Otherwise I'll (have to) set the game down for a couple weeks and completely forget what was going on in the game. I have the complete opposite experience with Minecraft. My kids play peaceful flat land creative and it's the most boring thing to me. I'll take boss fights without weapons any day.
- al_borland 2y ago
  > I have the complete opposite experience with Minecraft. My kids play peaceful flat land creative and it's the most boring thing to me. I'll take boss fights without weapons any day. Flat land creative is boring. I agree with you there. I would use a normal world and explore it a bit, find a good spot to make my home, mine for materials, create a store room for all of stuff getting mined, make secret entrances that would trigger with pistons and stuff, things like that. I guess some people might find that boring too, but I found it pretty relaxing. Of course this was usually just something to do on the side, while something else was going on. As a singular focus I won't do it. I used to work a job with a lot of downtime, so it was perfect for that. Something to fill the time, but easy to pick up and put down as needed, and I could still keep an eye on what was going on at work to know if I needed to do something.

spacecadet 2y ago

LOL your nephews are trolls.

al_borland 2y ago
For sure... The one was being a jerk, so I was just threw it right back at him and started destroying the whole settlement he built. Emptying his chests into lava breaking down walls... to see how he likes playing with a griefer. It was somewhat effective.
- jerf 2y ago
  Minecraft has the distinction of being the only game I've played with my kids where I still felt like a parent even in the game. It wasn't even just policing "bad behavior", sometimes I had to run around covering over the ravines so they wouldn't fall in, because then I had to go rescue them. Now they're older and I still had to sometimes go rescue them after they made an ill-considered journey without supplying well enough in advance. I'm not complaining per se. It's just interesting that the game is able to have that dynamic in it. They're older now, it's much less of an issue, but I still mandate that PvP stays off at all times. Though it is a useful lesson in the mechanics of escalation, I suppose. (Specifically, you always value harm to yourself more than you value harm to others, even your family, so when someone does "1" damage to you, you perceive it as "2", then you try to retaliate with "2" damage but they perceive it as "4" damage for the same reason, and now you're stuck in an escalating loop. There are ways out of this loop, of course, but it takes time. This rather simple model explains a rather distressing amount of international politics and history....)
  - al_borland 2y ago
    Knowing a couple commands, and having them switched on, can be helpful for the ravine issue. The /tp command can be used to teleport a player (your kid) to where your player is. My nephews of course would use this against me. I’d get away into a calm area and they’d teleport me right into the middle of hell.

screaminghawk 2y ago

I also gave up on multiplayer and casually playing on Nintendo Switch has got me back into it. For me, it's a skill issue. I'm just not as good as I used to be. I play games on easy now so that I can blast through it quickly. Otherwise I'll (have to) set the game down for a couple weeks and completely forget what was going on in the game. I have the complete opposite experience with Minecraft. My kids play peaceful flat land creative and it's the most boring thing to me. I'll take boss fights without weapons any day.

al_borland 2y ago
> I have the complete opposite experience with Minecraft. My kids play peaceful flat land creative and it's the most boring thing to me. I'll take boss fights without weapons any day. Flat land creative is boring. I agree with you there. I would use a normal world and explore it a bit, find a good spot to make my home, mine for materials, create a store room for all of stuff getting mined, make secret entrances that would trigger with pistons and stuff, things like that. I guess some people might find that boring too, but I found it pretty relaxing. Of course this was usually just something to do on the side, while something else was going on. As a singular focus I won't do it. I used to work a job with a lot of downtime, so it was perfect for that. Something to fill the time, but easy to pick up and put down as needed, and I could still keep an eye on what was going on at work to know if I needed to do something.