Crispy™ Is Discussing Games Nowadays More Fun Than Playing Them?

[StaticSpine]

Being a gamer for more than 30 years my thoughts nowadays:

1. Not many games to be excited about, most of the time you've already seen all that, you're jaded
2. You value your time more the older you get to tolerate slop (most of the games hugely overstay their welcome)
3. Discussing games is usually more thought-provoking than playing them because you see other people's perspectives
4. I see several people here who either do not play new games or do not play games anymore at all, though still post

I might've been afraid to admit this several years ago, but now I understand discussing games is at least as fun as playing them, maybe even more fun.

 

[Losus4]

Internet use in general incurs a greater dopamine feedback loop than any game cam hope to match, thus we have a situation in which yes—discussing games in more rewarding than playing them, as well as watching youtube essays or let's plays. You often see people say they don't know which game to play, but what they really mean is that they cannot find a game that is more stimulating than the aforementioned community aspects.

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

Discussing games is usually more thought-provoking than playing them because you see other people's perspectives

Good luck finding a post with an actual perspective. Most of the time it's "I loved X, while Y wasn't to my taste". No value, meaningless posts, written by wastes of human skin. I like elaborate opinions, but they're rare.

 

[MakenBro]

No.
Discussing games is even faggier than playing them.

 

[Infinitron]

I see several people here who either do not play new games or do not play games anymore at all, though still post

It's a problem with the concept of a video game forum. It's a time-consuming hobby, and any moment that you're posting on the forum is one where you're not playing games. So over time, the community on such a forum becomes defined by the users who don't like playing games as much.

 

[Fedora Master]

Depends on where you're discussing them.

Here, where I can call people retarded nigger apes for playing Infinislop it's great. Reddit and Resetera? Not so much.

 

[Fedora Master]

I see several people here who either do not play new games or do not play games anymore at all, though still post

It's a problem with the concept of a video game forum. Any moment that you're posting on the forum is one where you're not playing games. So over time, the community on such a forum becomes defined by the users who don't like playing games as much.

Shut up you retarded nigger ape

 

[Falksi]

Personally, I love playing old games, but love hating on new slop too.

I'm not entrenched in my POV either, if a new game comes out and it's great I'll say I like it. Skald, some of the Yakuza games, Bard's Tale 4 DC...some rare modern games I've thoroughly enjoyed and will say so too, even if there's a hate-trend on them.

But when modern games contain genuine shite, and are overhyped to fuck (which 90% of them are), then yep I really enjoy tearing them to bits. I want to see good games again, and that's only ever gonna happen if slop gets ripped to shreds and sells badly. The same with historic revisionism, it's a blight on gaming too and needs kicking into touch.

Feeling part of that movement is therapeutic.

And that's the beauty of PCs & the forum format isn't it, you can game and chat. I tend to boot up a game, play it for 30-60 min, then drop out for 10-15 min to chat a bit before going back to it. It helps keeps things fresh.

 

[Maxie]

Being a gamer for more than 30 years my thoughts nowadays:

1. Not many games to be excited about, most of the time you've already seen all that, you're jaded
2. You value your time more the older you get to tolerate slop (most of the games hugely overstay their welcome)
3. Discussing games is usually more thought-provoking than playing them because you see other people's perspectives
4. I see several people here who either do not play new games or do not play games anymore at all, though still post

I might've been afraid to admit this several years ago, but now I understand discussing games is at least as fun as playing them, maybe even more fun.

Lionising 'discussing games' in lieu of actually playing them promotes actual brainrot as your opinions become more and more abstract and divorced not only from what's actually on the market but also from what the 'classic' games you still played back in the day were all about. Commonly seen on this forum with PST, which grows into fantastical shapes far beyond what's actually in the game and what quality of gameplay it offers.

 

[Maxie]

And that's the beauty of PCs & the forum format isn't it, you can game and chat. I tend to boot up a game, play it for 30-60 min, then drop out for 10-15 min to chat a bit before going back to it. It helps keeps things fresh.

You've fucked up your brain chemistry.

 

[StaticSpine]

I see several people here who either do not play new games or do not play games anymore at all, though still post

It's a time-consuming hobby, and any moment that you're posting on the forum is one where you're not playing games.

Well, that's exactly why I left Codex 4 years ago, I thought I'd play more games. But it didn't play out well.
I lost a thing I liked (discussing games) and felt obliged to play more games, which I did not necessarily like that much. My will to play games at any given moment was the same all the time.

So what I could (and should) do instead was continue discussing games here and finding great games (which I really did on Codex) here as well but cut down on playing mediocre games just for the sake of playing.

 

[Axel_am]

Just play better games niggah.

 

[rumSaint]

Just play what interests you. Discussing games devolved into identity politics. Everywhere, muh woke, muh inclusivity.

 

[Blutwurstritter]

Discussing games is usually more thought-provoking than playing them because you see other people's perspectives

Good luck finding a post with an actual perspective. Most of the time it's "I loved X, while Y wasn't to my taste". No value, meaningless posts, written by wastes of human skin. I like elaborate opinions, but they're rare.

So you love elobarte opions, while posts without perspective are not to your taste. Groundbreaking.

 

[mondblut]

Always has been.

The real games is friends faggots we made along the way told to STFU and GTFO on the forums.

 

[mondblut]

Lionising 'discussing games' in lieu of actually playing them promotes actual brainrot as your opinions become more and more abstract and divorced not only from what's actually on the market but also from what the 'classic' games you still played back in the day were all about.

Nonsense. Visualising the platonic ideal is far superior to wasting one's time on its subpar and impure material manifestations.

 

[Maxie]

Lionising 'discussing games' in lieu of actually playing them promotes actual brainrot as your opinions become more and more abstract and divorced not only from what's actually on the market but also from what the 'classic' games you still played back in the day were all about.

Nonsense. Visualising the platonic ideal is far superior to wasting one's time on its subpar and impure material manifestations.

In the same way jerking off to platonic ideals is better than actually raping somebody. Get a grip incel.

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

Discussing games is usually more thought-provoking than playing them because you see other people's perspectives

Good luck finding a post with an actual perspective. Most of the time it's "I loved X, while Y wasn't to my taste". No value, meaningless posts, written by wastes of human skin. I like elaborate opinions, but they're rare.

So you love elobarte opions, while posts without perspective are not to your taste. Groundbreaking.

I saw this post coming, but didn't seriously think anyone would complain. Some things don't require an explanation; in this case the word "like" is a shortcut to say the obvious - that elaborate opinions complement the work itself by exposing aspects you haven't considered. I hope you understood this and are just taking the piss.

 

[d1r]

Just replay old games niggah.

 

[spectre]

"Discussing" a video game has two necessary prerequisites, people taking part need to have played the game, otherwise it's just some form of a perverse intellectual wank,
and the people who have not played the game at least need to have some sort of intention to play it, or have some basic curiosity about it. Otherwise, what's the point really?
Trolling, yeah, but trolling isn't discussing.

Now, in this day and age this comes with two sets of problems, as far as I am concerned. With railroaded games, there's usually nothing to discuss, or rather not a lot of value
to be gained from another guy's input since it pretty much boils down do de gustibus non est disputandum.
You need to be able to get past that to have any sort of meaningful talk, although it needs to be said that entertainment media doesn't require any further
justification than "I liked it/didn't like it." It's a bit like discussing movies. Pointless with dilettantes, it takes people with perspective to make the conversation enjoyable.

This leads to the second problem, if the game's experience is extremely curated, there's often almost no difference between playing the game and watching it on youtube.
Hence, we get to a paradoxical place where it is in fact possible to not play a game at all and have all kinds of opinions about it.

I've enjoyed two kinds of discussions about video games. One is discussing strategies, which is basically sharing the process of learning the game with others.
It approaches the game as a problem for which you're searching a solution. The problem with these discussions today is the internet's obsession with "meta" -
getting the one and perfect solution, at which point the discussion ceases, and I think this frame of mind really kills the enjoyment in the process.
It's rare to find games that don't succumb to this, having more than one kosher/approved way of doing things, and I would treasure those.

Another type of discussion is where you share stories about the game and other folks would actually give a damn about those.
As years go by, it's rare to get sufficiently immersed to spark that sort of need. It still happens every now and then, but when it stops this will be my cue to find another hobby.

 

[Red Rogue]

I think you're on to something OP. I had a phase where I was on Twitter talking about the video game industry and news for at least an hour per day, but often sitting and playing games felt less fun than it used to.
My suspicion is that being "connected" causes the problem. I do believe forums are less of a culprit, because they're less conducive to quick hit dopamine scrolling like a social media app.

Being aware of, and especially taking part in the "zeitgeist" is probably a big contributor.
"I bought Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth during the winter sale but Like A Dragon Pirate Yakuza just came out and everybody is talking about that so I don't feel like playing Infinite Wealth" or any other similar hypothetical example is something I see frequently.

Anecdotally, at least, I've noticed I feel less anxious and brain scattered when I decrease my time in gaming communities or consuming content like podcasts or Youtube videos.

 

[v1c70r14]

I see several people here who either do not play new games or do not play games anymore at all, though still post

It's a problem with the concept of a video game forum. It's a time-consuming hobby, and any moment that you're posting on the forum is one where you're not playing games. So over time, the community on such a forum becomes defined by the users who don't like playing games as much.

And they say jews aren't self-aware.

 

[spectre]

Social media do weird shit to your brain, but that's not a surprise. You get all sorts of anxieties and FOMO. You should fight it cause I believe this can actually kill your enjoyment of gaming.
Now, the social part of discussing games is undeniable. We do it to get this sense of participating in a culture which is a basic need.
Though this is still different with us, forum dwelling weirdos, with our 1000 hours spent on map painting in HoI, compared to normies discussing their recent AAA.

However, the bane of the times is there are new games popping up every day and they are more available than ever.
The time between clicking "buy" to "play game" on steam (or from clicking the magnet link, to install/unzip, to play game if you swing that way) can measured in minutes.
For better or worse, some of the magic of bringing a boxed game home is gone now, but IMO the real threat is the constant need to keep up with the new thing,
because theoretically speaking it's easier than ever. And yet, our brains can only properly process things at their own pace.

 

[Lucumo]

Now, the social part of discussing games is undeniable. We do it to get this sense of participating in a culture which is a basic need.

For better or worse, some of the magic of bringing a boxed game home is gone now, but IMO the real threat is the constant need to keep up with the new thing,
because theoretically speaking it's easier than ever.

Is it though? Whenever I see that I get the feeling it's more of an American + Americanized thing. Where I'm from, we didn't discuss any movies or games or whatever. Even in elementary school, when probably every boy watched DBZ, we didn't discuss episodes, characters etc. Defining oneself via entertainment media is completely alien to me.

 

[Machocruz]

Discussing games is better than playing 90% of them. But playing the 10% is better than discussing any games.