I find that entertainment is only interesting if I don't see the tricks that are manipulating me. As soon as I can tell what psycological buttons are being pressed I'll disengage.
This generally means I make it 1-2 episodes into a tv show and 1-2 hours into a game.
Some things are outside those rules though. A good story (book, movie or show) will capture your attention, not manipulate you into watching it.
Similarly a good game can actually be enjoyable.
Or maybe with those, its just that they are built cleverly enough that I can't perceive the manipulation.
3 years ago
But that's interesting. I wonder if it isn't the media but is rather my ties to 'self'. Imagine a person without the ability to place themselves into the world of another, who is incapable of pretending to be someone else. For that person a game would have to be satisfying to play on a moment by moment level - story, character progression and cosmetics are all meaningless.
But that would suggest that books vs movies/shows would be similar, and they're not. I enjoy reading, but I don't enjoy movies. Perhaps again it's a human-relatability thing: In a book you are told a persons internal state and thoughts. In a movie all you have are opaque automata.
I shall have to consider this · 3 years ago
@mcoffin: yeah, all games. No genre exempt. After about an hour suspension of disbelief breaks and I'm a fleshy human staring at a screen where imaginary characters do imaginary things.
At that point I see the graphical flares that exist to direct a players focus, and the timed delays that encourage the user to anticipate reward. I see the places where skill is required to be developed through time, and the areas where randomness is used to hook in an activity (uncertain reward).
The list of games I have sunk more than a few hours into is probably <15 with many of those being played in the same room as others via LAN or hotseat. · 3 years ago
Does the same thing happen to you with more competitively-focused multiplayer games? I've had similar experiences with single-player stuff, so I've gotten myself pigeon-holed in to (usually) only enjoying multiplayer-focused experiences. · 3 years ago