DC Universe Online went free-to-play a week or two ago. Now I'm not a huge DC fan, but I do love comic books and superheroes... so I figured it was time to give it a shot. I made it about ten minutes into the game before I hit what I'm beginning to refer to as a "breaking point."
It's pretty much what it sounds like. Some aspect of a game that just breaks it for me. It breaks the dynamic. The universe that has been created. I often find such things egregious to the point that I no longer want to play. Sometimes, I even find it personally insulting. There's just a... I don't know the right word. A laziness or a lack of faith in the player. Just... this idea that because it's a game, certain things don't matter. That I, as a player, should be willing to make certain concessions because it's a game. Or that I might not even notice. And maybe most people don't. But I do.
I find it a bit hard to explain as a concept. I had a very similar experience with Dead Island. I made it about ten or fifteen minutes in before I wanted to throw my controller at something. The things that were happening were just so... ridiculous. I'm going to dive into that more on the next blog. DCUO and Dead Island have such terrible breaking points they'll each get their own separate blog.
There are a couple of things I can go ahead and quickly spout out to try and help make the point. Those two games are hardly the only ones that have presented a problem for me. So let's go for a couple of easy ones to hopefully illustrate this problem I have. (I'm willing to admit that it is a problem for me alone. Though there are others that may agree, I'd dare say the vast majority of people either don't notice or don't care.)
About a month or so ago I borrowed Alice: Madness Returns from my roommate. Seemed like an interesting take on the Alice myth. The game was certainly fun. I actually liked it. There is, of course, a little bit of setup stuff to walk through before actually getting to Wonderland. But once you do, some of the enemies and breakable items yield teeth. Yes. Like actual teeth. The game's kind of fucked up that way. But whatever. I started collecting the teeth because it was obvious that's what I was supposed to do. I'm trained to do that sort of thing. Trained by twenty years of collecting coins that pop out of brick blocks.
After I had collected about fifty of these things, I stopped. Like just stopped playing for a moment. I stared at the screen and I asked myself why I was collecting teeth. It was obvious from the way the game was designed that I was supposed to. As a gamer, I understand that. And at first, I didn't even question it. But then I did.
There was no context for the teeth within the game. There was no obvious reason why creatures that probably didn't have teeth would be leaving them behind when they died. Or why teeth were being stored in breakable containers. There was no reason for it at all, (even within the context of a game that takes place in Wonderland and has questionable reason to begin with). There was no explanation from the game as to what the teeth were used for. I just knew, as a player, that I was supposed to collect them. As Alice, however, I have no idea.
And that is the problem. That is the "breaking point." This was a minor issue, and one I was able to get over. But it was a bit annoying. It was a moment that took me out of the game. Or, perhaps, brought me more into it. This was a moment that made it very clear to me that I was playing a video game. It broke the reality created by the game to point out that it was, in fact, a game. Not an interactive narrative that I could push forward and enjoy. Not a complete universe within itself, created without interruption.
See, my problem is that the inherent logic I expect to exist does not. Within the frame of the universe that was created, there was no reason for collecting teeth. Especially off of the recently slain bodies of my foes. Might as well have been slicing ears off Viet Cong.
Now, after I had collected the correct number of teeth, there was finally an explanation. Of sorts. The teeth were used to upgrade my weapons (what else would I use them for?). This, of course, sparks another set of frustrations. This consistent idea that some sort of payment must be made in order to earn upgrades, etc. It makes sense in some games. It doesn't in others. But whether it works within the framework or not, it is almost always present.
This is, ultimately, the problem I have. I look at games and I feel like we should have progressed farther than what we have. I love video games. At this point, I've more or less set myself up for a "career" in the industry. Which is why I take this so seriously. Or personally. Or whatever. Because I truly believe we should have evolved beyond this. Because I want something I love to be the absolute best (I think) it can be.
The trailer for Battlefield 3 boasts that the graphics are so realistic, one might not be able to tell the difference. I have not played this game (generally speaking, I'm not much into war shooters), but all I've heard about it seems to support this claim. Visually, it is stunning. An amazing example of what we have been able to accomplish graphically. This is how far we've come from the days of Pong or Super Mario.
The visuals may have changed dramatically... but it doesn't seem much else has. Mentally, our concept of gaming is the same. The way we design and think about our games is still the same. I'm still doing the equivalent of collecting coins from a brick block. Isn't it about time we evolved?
It's pretty much what it sounds like. Some aspect of a game that just breaks it for me. It breaks the dynamic. The universe that has been created. I often find such things egregious to the point that I no longer want to play. Sometimes, I even find it personally insulting. There's just a... I don't know the right word. A laziness or a lack of faith in the player. Just... this idea that because it's a game, certain things don't matter. That I, as a player, should be willing to make certain concessions because it's a game. Or that I might not even notice. And maybe most people don't. But I do.
I find it a bit hard to explain as a concept. I had a very similar experience with Dead Island. I made it about ten or fifteen minutes in before I wanted to throw my controller at something. The things that were happening were just so... ridiculous. I'm going to dive into that more on the next blog. DCUO and Dead Island have such terrible breaking points they'll each get their own separate blog.
There are a couple of things I can go ahead and quickly spout out to try and help make the point. Those two games are hardly the only ones that have presented a problem for me. So let's go for a couple of easy ones to hopefully illustrate this problem I have. (I'm willing to admit that it is a problem for me alone. Though there are others that may agree, I'd dare say the vast majority of people either don't notice or don't care.)
About a month or so ago I borrowed Alice: Madness Returns from my roommate. Seemed like an interesting take on the Alice myth. The game was certainly fun. I actually liked it. There is, of course, a little bit of setup stuff to walk through before actually getting to Wonderland. But once you do, some of the enemies and breakable items yield teeth. Yes. Like actual teeth. The game's kind of fucked up that way. But whatever. I started collecting the teeth because it was obvious that's what I was supposed to do. I'm trained to do that sort of thing. Trained by twenty years of collecting coins that pop out of brick blocks.
After I had collected about fifty of these things, I stopped. Like just stopped playing for a moment. I stared at the screen and I asked myself why I was collecting teeth. It was obvious from the way the game was designed that I was supposed to. As a gamer, I understand that. And at first, I didn't even question it. But then I did.
There was no context for the teeth within the game. There was no obvious reason why creatures that probably didn't have teeth would be leaving them behind when they died. Or why teeth were being stored in breakable containers. There was no reason for it at all, (even within the context of a game that takes place in Wonderland and has questionable reason to begin with). There was no explanation from the game as to what the teeth were used for. I just knew, as a player, that I was supposed to collect them. As Alice, however, I have no idea.
And that is the problem. That is the "breaking point." This was a minor issue, and one I was able to get over. But it was a bit annoying. It was a moment that took me out of the game. Or, perhaps, brought me more into it. This was a moment that made it very clear to me that I was playing a video game. It broke the reality created by the game to point out that it was, in fact, a game. Not an interactive narrative that I could push forward and enjoy. Not a complete universe within itself, created without interruption.
See, my problem is that the inherent logic I expect to exist does not. Within the frame of the universe that was created, there was no reason for collecting teeth. Especially off of the recently slain bodies of my foes. Might as well have been slicing ears off Viet Cong.
Now, after I had collected the correct number of teeth, there was finally an explanation. Of sorts. The teeth were used to upgrade my weapons (what else would I use them for?). This, of course, sparks another set of frustrations. This consistent idea that some sort of payment must be made in order to earn upgrades, etc. It makes sense in some games. It doesn't in others. But whether it works within the framework or not, it is almost always present.
This is, ultimately, the problem I have. I look at games and I feel like we should have progressed farther than what we have. I love video games. At this point, I've more or less set myself up for a "career" in the industry. Which is why I take this so seriously. Or personally. Or whatever. Because I truly believe we should have evolved beyond this. Because I want something I love to be the absolute best (I think) it can be.
The trailer for Battlefield 3 boasts that the graphics are so realistic, one might not be able to tell the difference. I have not played this game (generally speaking, I'm not much into war shooters), but all I've heard about it seems to support this claim. Visually, it is stunning. An amazing example of what we have been able to accomplish graphically. This is how far we've come from the days of Pong or Super Mario.
The visuals may have changed dramatically... but it doesn't seem much else has. Mentally, our concept of gaming is the same. The way we design and think about our games is still the same. I'm still doing the equivalent of collecting coins from a brick block. Isn't it about time we evolved?
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