Gaming Addiction

[SharpeXB]

Are unlocks addicting?

 

"For me, addiction boils down to constant reinforcement, or put more simply, being constantly rewarded while playing the game."

 

"Most of these rewards are -- at least to some extent -- unpredictable. Not knowing when the next reward will come keeps some players in the game. In short, they carry on gaming even though they may not have received an immediate reward. They simply hope that another reward is "just around the corner" and keep on playing."

 

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/21/opinion/gaming-addiction-risks/index.html

[Guest deleted@30725]

I was actually about to post a similar topic. I was playing battlefield 4 today and had a similar thing happen. I'd not played in ages decided to unlock one of the last shotguns I did not have. It turned out to be rubbish so I decided to unlock one of the long range weapons. It turned out to be rubbish too. I also noticed the more I ground for the unlocks the worse I became as I was playing for 'no reason', but yet I could not stop.

 

I wasted a lot of time and didn't achieve anything. I didn't learn anything either. I'm kind of in the mood that I don't think I will play it again and I will steer clear of any game in the future that has unlocks because of my addictive personality. I feel like my time unlocking stuff in bos was a waste of time too and even though I posted that nice review of how fun bos is to fly. I am in one mind to whether I should just stick to one flying game and get good at that.

 

A game without unlocks is different. I go in wanting to practice something specific. Perhaps I want to do some dogfighting and I can do it for a short time because there is no 'pressure' or no one is going to tell me I 'need' 'that' unlock or you log in with a friend and want to run the same setup. Oh I've not got that. Sad face.

 

A game like battlefield I can pretty much play that with my friends. It's call paintballing or airsoft and it's just as much fun (airsoft looks loads of fun). I will never be able to fly a ww2 plane so a game like this is as close as I can get to that experience.

 

An fps game I find super addictive because I always want to be the best and I'm always rubbish. A flying game my only aim is to master the plane, not be the best and I'm in no hurry.

[Jaws2002]

Don't compare BF4 or other games with unlocks, where you play the game online, and have fun and at the end of the mission you sometimes get some perks, with BOS unlocks.

 In BOS, if you want to unlock things, you have to go to the offline, groundhog day, [Edited] of a campaign and grind there, by yourself, like a troll in a cave.

It's not even close.

That's why this game is pretty much dead now. Just look at the online. I checked a few times the last fiver hours, just out of curiosity. There were more servers than players for the whole half day.

 

They'll never have to worry about this game being an addiction.

Edited January 29, 2015 by Bearcat
Language

[BraveSirRobin]

Stop trying to sell the unlocks as a good idea.  It was a terrible idea.  It didn't just force people to do something they had absolutely no interest in doing, it also screwed up things like custom skins, which no one can use on a winter map because they'll show up as summer skins for people who don't have that skin.  It's not the disaster that some people are claiming, but it's still a terrible idea.  So, just stop.  

[Guest deleted@30725]

Don't compare BF4 or other games with unlocks, where you play the game online, and have fun and at the end of the mission you sometimes get some perks, with BOS unlocks.

 In BOS, if you want to unlock things, you have to go to the offline, groundhog day, [Edited] of a campaign and grind there, by yourself, like a troll in a cave.

It's not even close.

That's why this game is pretty much dead now. Just look at the online. I checked a few times the last fiver hours, just out of curiosity. There were more servers than players for the whole half day.

 

They'll never have to worry about this game being an addiction.

 

Before they fixed the AI I completed my unlock grind with BOS in the background and let autopilot and 2x speed do the mission for me while I did work.

 

True about bf4 vs bos. I think boredome kicks in before addiction. Bf4 is a lot of fun and to a degree it's rewarding no matter how terrible you are and that's what makes it addictive. In bos you can be taken out by a few stray bullets and loose all your mission xp and that's just annoying.

 

I don't even want to play the bombers because I can't be bothered to put myself through the torture of actually having to play to unlock the stuff.

[Bearcat]

I post articles discussing gaming in general or game development and they get deleted/hidden-whatever.

 

Strange.

 

I have not deleted any posts of yours nor have I seen any hidden.

[SCG_Space_Ghost]

Stop trying to sell the unlocks as a good idea.  It was a terrible idea.  It didn't just force people to do something they had absolutely no interest in doing, it also screwed up things like custom skins, which no one can use on a winter map because they'll show up as summer skins for people who don't have that skin.  It's not the disaster that some people are claiming, but it's still a terrible idea.  So, just stop.  

 

+1

[unreasonable]

Are unlocks addicting?

 

"For me, addiction boils down to constant reinforcement, or put more simply, being constantly rewarded while playing the game."

 

The only thing that the unlocks in BoS are addicting me to is my other games, none of which have unlocks.

 

Some of them have quest reward items, but that is a completely different mechanism because they require quests, ie purposeful behavior set around some identifiable narrative, not random accessories dumped at arbitrary intervals. 

 

Some, but not all, have monster leveling. If they do this is because the players current game character levels in attributes and skills while acquiring superior kit. It is a mechanism used to balance the difficulty against the level of the character of your current run through, not a once in a purchase irreversible obstacle course for the game owner. 

 

Sometimes I wonder if the designers of BoS have ever even played any other games, what they have done is so mind boggling.

 

And SharpeXB constantly trying to defend the indefensible will only provoke more responses like this, just give it up!

[J2_Trupobaw]

BoS unlocks or unlocks in general? Unlocks in general are meant to compel to play more and can be made addictive. In BoS? I got all useful unlocks by diverting 80% of my SP RoF time to BoS for *about one month*. If it was addiction, it was very short-lived.

Edited January 29, 2015 by Trupobaw

[-NW-ChiefRedCloud]

Loft said that there will be a option to have all unlocks available without playing the campaign.

And that a pretty big announcement is coming up early next week.

 

Depending on how this information firms up, it looks like the "UNLOCKS" argument may be off the table.

 

Chief

Edited January 29, 2015 by -NW-ChiefRedCloud

[-NW-ChiefRedCloud]

Thanks One, I was able to correct it in time .....

 

Chief

[voncrapenhauser]

Depending on how this information firms up, it looks like the "UNLOCKS" argument may be off the table.

 

Chief

+1

Thank God for that, the unlocks discussion is getting really old now, by the time its sorted one way or the other I will probably have them all LOL

[SharpeXB]

And SharpeXB constantly trying to defend the indefensible will only provoke more responses like this, just give it up!

Not trying to defend anything I just thought that article was interesting.

[Sokol1]

"Most of these rewards are -- at least to some extent -- unpredictable. Not knowing when the next reward will come keeps some players in the game. In short, they carry on gaming even though they may not have received an immediate reward. They simply hope that another reward is "just around the corner" and keep on playing."

 

Not in this game. I play knowing what I go unlock and how many missions I need do for the next "reward". Obvious I will not chase Scouts medals or Mediterranean/Hungary skins.

 

http://s4.postimg.org/3xxs9xzq5/Bo_S_core.jpg

 

I look at the thing as "QM" to do some training (and training for AI autopilot too  ), and canceled the worst missions (e.g. level bomb a supply dump at night from 6000 meters...).

 

BTW - This CNN article dont point that be obsessed with unlocks is health hazard? 

 

Edited January 29, 2015 by Sokol1

[SharpeXB]

Yes I think game rewards are more addicting if they're not predictable.

They talk about days long gaming binges as if they're abnormal. Cmon we've all been there. At least I stop to eat and sleep...

[unreasonable]

Not trying to defend anything I just thought that article was interesting.

Fair enough, it is interesting.

 

Designing games to maximize periodic psychological rewards is a bit like what the food corporations do, exploiting the precise sugar/fat/salt contents to maximize the brain's pleasure responses, while saving money by omitting expensive but necessary elements of the diet. This has lead to an epidemic of obesity, diabetes and heart problems world-wide.

 

Stripping out intellectual and human interest content from a game in order reduce costs while emphasizing the addictive stimulus response elements leads to a game with less depth and less connection to the real-world elements on which it is based, (if there are even any left). Makers of games like these are no better than the burger chains: they both really little different from crack cocaine dealers in their business models.

 

For me, the best games are those which make me want to go and read about those real-life elements, whether it is the history, technology, social organization or individuals on which the game is based. Of course they still offer stimulus/response rewards, but in a setting that paces these while giving strong incentives to learn something about the real world.

 

This is healthy gaming, which is ultimately more rewarding that "fast food" gaming. Seeing BoS start to slide down the slope towards "fast food" gaming is something that I find deeply disturbing.

[Bearcat]

That whole rewards thing works fine in other genres.

 

In this genre the reward is built in...

 

Did you take off successfully?

Did you get to the target intact and on time?

Did you hit the target/down the bandit/get the package home safe?

Did you land successfully?

 

All of those are rewards.... How many attempts did it take for most of us to get off the ground in BoS?

 

For most simmers these are the rewards and creating as realistic, immersive, scalable and complex an environment as possible will be all the incentive that most virtual pilots need.. Get the FMs right.. get the DMs right.. get the graphics right... get the AI right.. get the sounds right... make it so that each time you succeed at one scalable level of immersion you have somewhere else to go... and provide the necessary tools so that once you get to that level.. because let's face it.. just like in the real world.. every sim will have it's limits as far as the actual flight characteristics and flying part... After a virtual pilot reaches a level where he can do all those things proficiently from that point on it is all a matter of having the proper tools to create engaging scenarios and adding content..

 

The reason why gamers who like flying games step it up and gravitate to becoming simmers.. who are in reality just gamers with a higher degree of patience and a more goal oriented mindset, is because the gamey introduction to "flying games" has worn thin and become boring and they want more.

 

That is my two cents.

[sallee]

That whole rewards thing works fine in other genres.

 

In this genre the reward is built in...

 

Did you take off successfully?

Did you get to the target intact and on time?

Did you hit the target/down the bandit/get the package home safe?

Did you land successfully?

 

All of those are rewards.... How many attempts did it take for most of us to get off the ground in BoS?

 

For most simmers these are the rewards and creating as realistic, immersive, scalable and complex an environment as possible will be all the incentive that most virtual pilots need.. Get the FMs right.. get the DMs right.. get the graphics right... get the AI right.. get the sounds right... make it so that each time you succeed at one scalable level of immersion you have somewhere else to go... and provide the necessary tools so that once you get to that level.. because let's face it.. just like in the real world.. every sim will have it's limits as far as the actual flight characteristics and flying part... After a virtual pilot reaches a level where he can do all those things proficiently from that point on it is all a matter of having the proper tools to create engaging scenarios and adding content..

 

The reason why gamers who like flying games step it up and gravitate to becoming simmers.. who are in reality just gamers with a higher degree of patience and a more goal oriented mindset, is because the gamey introduction to "flying games" has worn thin and become boring and they want more.

 

That is my two cents.

That's worth at least four cents! I agree entirely.

[SharpeXB]

Unlock rewards or not I think gaming is "addictive" in the same way a sport is. You get a high from making a great shot or play. It's compelling that way. And like all things in life it just needs balance. Playing a physical sport has the built in limitation of exhaustion. But a game you can keep on going until you starve or your wife dumps you or you lose your job. Just gotta keep it in perspective ;-)

[johncage]

companies exploiting addictive personalities all the time. why some people actually enjoy micro transactions and grind fests.

 

gaming itself is no more an addiction than reading a book or watching a movie. it's a form of leisurely entertainment.

 

the addiction comes with personality+exploitation by companies

Edited January 31, 2015 by johncage

[unreasonable]

That's worth at least four cents! I agree entirely.

 

I will see your four cents and raise you another four - I agree, Bearcat has absolutely nailed it.  Can he be promoted from moderator to lead designer?