The Relevance of Player Abstinence

[scar3crow]

Not that kind. I am speaking of Completists and being compelled by the presence of unexplored regions, unkilled monsters, and the incomplete list of secrets unveiled.

What do you think of gameplay involving a larger goal than the standard game means - that being pushing buttons and killing stuff - where the goal truly is the ends.

The obvious example of this is Stealth Quake, and also SpeedRunning where the means are the ends. FrikaC and Asaki's QExpo06 mods come to mind as well. Any thoughts on this? Ideas on how to expand it?

I myself tend to not leave a level until I've killed every monster and found every secret and have no questions left. In Diablo I don't leave an area until all of the map is revealed and I've consumed every precious amount of XP (but in that case, the XP is the means with which to attain the ends of the boss fight to reach the next Act).

How about player's abstaining from typical actions to better complete an action that is not merely exiting the level?

[Urre]

Your last scentence didn't make sense to me, what do you mean by adstaining from typical actions? What are these "typical" actions?

Generally speaking, there are very few games nowadays which don't have a greater purpose than the fun of shooting things. Most games do this by being story-driven. Even though it's a completely lame way to make a game more purposeful, it still counts, as there is a goal beyond every other level. It's lame because it makes you feel like you're playing a game in a book, where the story goes on in one direction no matter what you do, or perhaps a movie where you only get to take part of the action-scenes. And don't start about Mass Effect or Baldurs Gate or what have you.

I've personally always preferred games which don't have a greater purpose, because my attention span is so limited, alongside with my limited time for games, all the immersion or reason the developers are trying to build up is lost on me. Be it the story, or character development ala Diablo, or item(gem) collecting ala Spyro the Dragon, I find such things mostly a nuisance. It's weird though, how Diablo1 & 2 still are some of my favorite games. You can't beat the high of going up a level, or finding another set piece... Ooh, and lets not forget how awesome Zelda games are with their hearts!

It's amazing how contradicting I can be in a single paragraph. What was the question again?

[scar3crow]

[zxcvb]

I'm usually amazed by new fps games, because the developers of these new fps come up with amazing excuses for you to go around running and shooting stuff. They may pull emotional strings, make you think the situation needs it, or promise you money and glory, but they usually get it right. I have to admit, I like fps games, the story-driven ones, because it gives me the opportunity to be in the action sequences of the story, but getting killed and repeating a save game usually kills all inmersion, so it's really just an arcade run and gun.

From what I get you all prefer games with no other purpose than to beat the clock and get points. Kinda like wolf3d.
________

[scar3crow]

[Urre]

Why do you keep saying "abstinence"? Doesn't that mean the same as saying no to stuff like alcohol, drugs and sex?

EDIT: having looked things up, apparently it also means not being able to say no... That's just weird!

[zxcvb]

[r00k]

[Dr. Shadowborg]