Reply to: "A Few Teenagers Discussing Video Game Immersion, Acting Weird, and Getting Off Topic"

Okay,

Eric here. I’d just like to add to what was orally discussed.

Ahmad mentioned how, in ‘Shadow of the Colossus’, about one-fourth of the environment was used to progress through the game while the remaining three-fourths were left for the player to explore. I enjoy games like that, where it isn’t a necessity to explore the environment; however, I still want my exploring to amount to something. In Ahmad’s case, he enjoyed finding picturesque environments – for me, I hope to find some hidden quest, treasure, or elite mob. One of the reasons I enjoyed playing ‘Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past’ on Super Nintendo so many years ago was because exploring the environment meant finding many hidden treasures – equipment or quarter hearts – that weren’t necessary for vanquishing Ganon and his minions but sure made it easier, or more fun. I believe ‘World of Warcraft’ and other MMORPGs would benefit from improving their non-quest related environment. In the areas of WoW that I’ve quested in (far from all), most or the entire map was discovered by following the quest chain. They did have quite a few non-quest related elite mobs but for the amount of effort it took to take them down, they didn’t drop squat. In all the MMORPGs I’ve played – beside ‘Tibia’ – there was never much room for random exploring so I assume it just doesn’t fit well into the MMORPG play-style.

The main discussion of the broadcast was on how games immerse you in their environment (basically what we value in a game?). Everyone is immersed for different reasons – for me, I’m more immersed in games that stand out for good game play verses games with well laid out lore/stories, NPC interactions, etc. Give me a fifty dollars and I’ll probably buy a ‘World of Warcraft’ subscription just for the PvP, a subscription to ‘Tactics Arena’, or attempt to bribe Centerfleet to put ‘Wormhole’ back online. Luckily for me, many of the games I enjoy happen to score well in all categories [imho] (game play, emotional attachment, etc). These games happen to be ‘World of Warcraft’, ‘Halo’, ‘Mass Effect 2’ (the ending is \,,/,), ‘Half-Life series’, etc. Two games that drew my attention for reasons other than game play but failed so hard game-play-wise that I quit within ten minutes of starting are ‘SW Clone Wars: Republic Heroes’ and ‘Mass Effect 1’ (I made the mistake of playing ME2 first).

I’d like to go into more detail about what I like in the games I play (and what type of game play I enjoy specifically) but my fingers are getting tired so I’ll save that for later.

There are a few things that were slightly off topic that I’d like to touch on. I agree with Oliver’s feeling of what true and false difficulties are. Having to jump from platform to platform with shitty controls in ‘SW Clone Wars: Republic Heroes’ is false difficulty. Having to magically know when an enemy is going to attack you from behind so you quickly tap your dodge roll on the harder difficulties in ‘Bayonetta’ because the camera angle is horrid is false difficulty. Basically, if it comes off as exceedingly difficult for a pointless task (former) and just unfair (latter), then it is amounts to increasing the false difficulty of the game.

Last but not least, the gang touched on moments that evoked emotion. I’ll have to draw on ‘World of Warcraft’ and ‘Mass Effect 2’. My fingers are bleeding from all this typing, so I’ll just paste two youtube videos – one for WoW and the other for ME2.

***Spoiler Warning***

1) WoW: Halls of Reflection, 5-man Instance (Horde Version)

– For those who’d rather read: The champions who proved themselves in the Argent Tournament are now assaulting the Frozen Halls. The Banshee Queen, Sylvannas Windrunner, and five champions of the Horde (including you) have formed an elite squad, entering the Frozen Halls via an alternative entrance, attempting to undo the scourge covertly while the Argent Crusade distracts the Lich King’s main forces. As you progress through the Frozen Halls, your party bests a gnome death knight who tells you Frostmourne, the Lich King’s sword, is left unguarded in the Halls of Reflection – right before Scourge Lord Tyrannus slays him for betraying the scourge. The video begins with your party entering the Halls of Reflection and finding Frostmourne… however… the gnome lied… it isn’t unguarded. --- When I first ran this and got to the end... I was like "WTF???" and I prayed more than ever that my hunter's feign death skill would work...

2) Mass Effect 2 Ending (Renegade)

– You’ve destroyed a Reaper and you make your EPIC escape. I’m just lost for words for this ending >_>” it just oozes epicness… makes you feel like a hero. You’ve won this battle and now you await the war! The cinematography and music are just so well done for this ending \,,/,! Just seeing the fleet of enemies makes me feel like yelling: “BRING IT ON B*TCHES!!!”

***Spoiler Ending***

Till next time,

Eric Fernandes