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I don't agree with "Factorio is like work". The grind is no different to me than playing Diablo. It feels like a comparison that programmers love to tout becaus

by Kiro 2y ago

I don't agree with "Factorio is like work". The grind is no different to me than playing Diablo. It feels like a comparison that programmers love to tout because it makes for a memeable and relatable story but at its core it's just like any other gameplay loop.

bugfix 2y ago
To me, it starts to feel like work when I have to rebuild large parts of my factory because I didn't leave enough space to expand. This process feels exactly like having to refactor a bad codebase (where you feel the urge to just start from scratch). If you plan your build properly, you can avoid this, but it takes a few runs to learn the best strategies.
- bicx 2y ago
  Factorio makes me realize that I don’t really like solving problems for the sake of solving problems (or optimization, for that matter). I like solving them for a tangible reason or because I I’m making someone’s life better. Problem solving and optimizing in Factorio is different than a grind in some game like Diablo. That sort of grind uses a completely different part of your brain (movement and in-the-moment decision making), and I find that I need that kind of change after a week of real-life problem solving. I imagine people who gravitate to Factorio are probably better problem solvers and optimizers than me because that’s what they truly enjoy for its own sake.
- throwaway84678 2y ago
  I think the new expansion helps a lot with the rebuild issue, since you're expected to have have many different bases on different planets instead of just one big base.
- seoulmetro 2y ago
  You actually don't have to rebuild anything in Factorio. That's your personal decision.
  - fragmede 2y ago
    I mean, theoretically...
talldayo 2y ago
> The grind is no different to me than playing Diablo. On the surface, I guess. But Diablo is a game about dungeon crawling and Factorio is a game where you make the dungeon. You aren't looking for good loot rolls to make your character better in Factorio, you're trying to reassemble the pieces of a poorly-designed infrastructure network to make it efficient enough for your goals. Really there are so many types of programming that Factorio's proximity to your day-to-day work will vary on the field. If you are a frontend web designer, then Factorio will probably feel pretty fresh and novel to you. If you're an SRE/SWE that rips apart musty codebases to see what's salvageable, Factorio's loop of refreshing and optimizing can feel eerily similar in some respects.
herpdyderp 2y ago
I’ve always been a little miffed with the comparison to programming. I love Factorio because it’s the only survival-craft game I’ve played that doesn’t devolve into an inventory management game. The game scales with your gameplay.
hot_gril 2y ago
Diablo felt like work the time I played it

by Kiro 2y ago

bugfix 2y ago

To me, it starts to feel like work when I have to rebuild large parts of my factory because I didn't leave enough space to expand. This process feels exactly like having to refactor a bad codebase (where you feel the urge to just start from scratch). If you plan your build properly, you can avoid this, but it takes a few runs to learn the best strategies.

bicx 2y ago
Factorio makes me realize that I don’t really like solving problems for the sake of solving problems (or optimization, for that matter). I like solving them for a tangible reason or because I I’m making someone’s life better. Problem solving and optimizing in Factorio is different than a grind in some game like Diablo. That sort of grind uses a completely different part of your brain (movement and in-the-moment decision making), and I find that I need that kind of change after a week of real-life problem solving. I imagine people who gravitate to Factorio are probably better problem solvers and optimizers than me because that’s what they truly enjoy for its own sake.
throwaway84678 2y ago
I think the new expansion helps a lot with the rebuild issue, since you're expected to have have many different bases on different planets instead of just one big base.
seoulmetro 2y ago
You actually don't have to rebuild anything in Factorio. That's your personal decision.
- fragmede 2y ago
  I mean, theoretically...

talldayo 2y ago

> The grind is no different to me than playing Diablo. On the surface, I guess. But Diablo is a game about dungeon crawling and Factorio is a game where you make the dungeon. You aren't looking for good loot rolls to make your character better in Factorio, you're trying to reassemble the pieces of a poorly-designed infrastructure network to make it efficient enough for your goals. Really there are so many types of programming that Factorio's proximity to your day-to-day work will vary on the field. If you are a frontend web designer, then Factorio will probably feel pretty fresh and novel to you. If you're an SRE/SWE that rips apart musty codebases to see what's salvageable, Factorio's loop of refreshing and optimizing can feel eerily similar in some respects.

herpdyderp 2y ago

I’ve always been a little miffed with the comparison to programming. I love Factorio because it’s the only survival-craft game I’ve played that doesn’t devolve into an inventory management game. The game scales with your gameplay.

hot_gril 2y ago

Diablo felt like work the time I played it