2 Kills, 20 Deaths

[Oryx]

How does death affect you in video games?

This thread was inspired by the difference between my boyfriend and I in this regard. For him, if he dies a lot in a game and he knows it's because of lack of skill or something he gets determined to get better, and works his ass off to get that skill so he can be good at it. A sharp learning curve on a hard game is more of a challenge to him, an obstacle to overcome. But for me it's always been the opposite. If I start a game and am really, really bad at it from the start, then I don't feel an urge to keep playing at all. No matter what reason it was that I lost I just lose all motivation and want to quit the game. I just can't stand games in general where you have to lose tons of times before you get the skill to begin winning.

It made me wonder about people in general, if gamers are more like my boyfriend or more like me in that regard. Do you think of constant death as a challenge to overcome, or a sign that the game is just too hard for you in general? Somewhere in between?

 

[Charicific]

Nah I don' think so, I stick with what your boyfriend said yet it depends on which game. Have you tried Battlefield 3? I am pretty sure the first week playing this game is the hardest to overcome. I remember back then when I was just lost, and usually get like 0 or 1 kills for each 10 death and so on...But look at me now, Best Player of the Round. So yeah, your BF is right, it's a challenge, overcome it and you're all good. Usually, you would take the challenge if it is a game that you wanna play. For an instance, when it's someone's recommendation and I find myself slow at the start, then I might just quit from the beginning becoz I would be forcing myself to play and master a game I didn't like anyway.

 

[Oryx]

Nah I don' think so, I stick with what your boyfriend said yet it depends on which game. Have you tried Battlefield 3? I am pretty sure the first week playing this game is the hardest to overcome. I remember back then when I was just lost, and usually get like 0 or 1 kills for each 10 death and so on...But look at me now, Best Player of the Round. So yeah, your BF is right, it's a challenge, overcome it and you're all good. Usually, you would take the challenge if it is a game that you wanna play. For an instance, when it's someone's recommendation and I find myself slow at the start, then I might just quit from the beginning becoz I would be forcing myself to play and master a game I didn't like anyway.

Well I don't think it's a matter of 'right' and 'wrong', just different opinions haha. I kind of guessed my opinion is less prevalent among the gaming community in general though.

And nah, I'm not that into FPSs, playing against other people in them makes me nervous and twitchy and isn't enjoyable haha. The question that inspired this was actually about League of Legends, but there were some other examples of games he loved that I didn't for the same reason like Advance Wars and Warhammer 40k. The title is actually what happened last time I played and part of the reason I haven't played in nearly a week xD

 

[Captain Fabio]

I feel just because there is a difficulty curve and I keep dying, isn't a reason for me to give up. I love a challenge and beating the game. If I keep dying, I will keep reloading and playing.

I feel like I have just given up on the game and wimped out because I kept dying.​

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[Akeraz]

I'm one of those people who is incredibly determined to get good at a game if they're originally bad about it. When I first started playing TF2 I was completely terrible, Now I've gotten incredibly good at sniper. I don't know what it is, but I've always had that sort of mentality with games.

My current objective I guess is to not suck at starcraft II, which I'm absolutely abysmal at right now.

 

[Ephemeral Euphoria]

If I keep dying in a specific area in a game I'm playing then I tend to try out new strategies and see what can work on what I'm up against and if I find it to be next to impossible then I either get stoned to put me in my zen zone I call magic mode or look up a strategy guide for tips.

 

[mondays suck]

I have a rather low frustration tolerance when it comes to games, so getting into games I suck at from the start is difficult for me - usually after at most 30 minutes of being completely horrible I will be like "screw this" and not touch the new game for a couple weeks anymore. There aren't many games where I managed to overcome this, usually through extremely easy mode (playing with multiply allied Saladins against one Rat in Stronghold Crusader, or finding and playing something that's widely condidered OP) if available or massive AAR/LP studying (example: EU3, there is no better way to get an overview over all the mechanics, and these AARs are always an interesting read).
Putting effort into getting better at a game I am hopeless at is just not my style - I already suck more than enough in reality, so when playing video games I want a distraction from sucking, not another thing I suck at. Combine that with the fact that I usually don't have the nerve to do tutorials...

 

[Cello]

If you fall off the horse, get back on and try again!
I've died quite a few times in games with steep learning curves like Monster Hunter where they pit you against gigantic creatures without the aid of lock-on (I've mentioned this game in like 10 other threads in the video games section. I need to play something else.) but eventually I managed to keep practicing so I could learn the Monster's attack patterns to the point of where I've mastered dodging and can fight while barely taking any damage.

I cannot stand games with fake difficulty though, like Demon Souls, where they FORCE you to die in order to learn how to accomplish a level. In my opinion that doesn't make for a challenging game that requires skill and mastery, rather it's just "Whoops! You fell into our invisible trap. Now you know to take the other path the next time you play." How the mess was I supposed to know there was an invisible trap there, other than the online play hint system where OTHER players who died from that trap have to leave hints behind so I can be sure not to make the mistake of exploring like they did.
Unfortunately a lot of people like that silly series, so i'm sorry if I offended anybody who's a fan, but that's how I feel about it. D:

 

[Legobricks]

There's something Yahtzee wrote regarding death in games that may be of interest.

I am myself indifferent to death/failure in games as I am to losing at things in the real world. If failure is so constant as to halt (actual or a sense of) progress, only then does it become aggrivating; and if a game ceases to be fun, where 'being fun' is its main purpose by its very nature, I will naturally abate and do something else. I prefer games where I'm given the choice, essentially, of dying much or not, and to have either 'path' be enjoyable; space sims make a good example of this. I don't consider any game too hard to learn (the aforementioned space sims certainly have learning curves), but may find them too hard to care to learn — a game has to provide a sense of flow regardless of player-character death, the now-standard innovation of auto-saving went a long way toward that. Regarding online games, especially shooters, I have widely-varied scores each match; having a low KDR or otherwise losing often only bothers me if, again, one's sense of progress is halted.

 

[Razer302]

I enjoy challenging games and things that make me work for it. I mean when I start playing a game I go straight to the hardest difficulty I have gotten pretty good at most things. FPS games for me on veteran (cod) and hard (battefield) I can normally complete within the first day of buying them.

I guess I love a challenge and trying to improve. My current quest is trying to get to Masters as protoss on starcraft 2. love me a 4 gate :P

@Cello, mention Monster Hunter more. Its way to under rated. Best game on PSP personally.

 

[Wings Don't Cry]

I'm more on the side where I just quit the game if it's hard, or if the game just randomly throws in a "screw you" situation without you being prepared for it. It is for that reason that I took two years to finish FFXII. I don't mind if a game is just difficult because of a puzzle or it's a challenge but if a random number generator or a lack of you not grinding enough can get you a game over then I'm not interested.

 

[Archenoth]

I am very competitive... But in a good way I think.

I take each challenge as just that, a challenge. If a really difficult boss continues to decimate me, I think to myself "Well done my foe... I'll get you next time!"... And when I finally do, it is one of the most satisfying things in the world!

The same applies for online PvP. If there is someone I play against and lose, I will consider that person a rival and rematch them, and work so that I can eventually overcome them.

Losing doesn't make a game any less fun, it just adds to it, it shows me that there is room for improvement if I want to be accomplished.

 

[Algo Fonix]

I like when a game will knock me down and remind me to stop playing like an idiot. I had to fight the final boss on Ys around 30 times before I could beat him. That was probably the most refreshing experience I've had with a game in a long time. It wasn't being unfair, I just wasn't playing well.

I like being rewarded for doing things correctly instead of being handed a victory.

Same thing with Tribes: Ascend... I didn't used to go fast, now I do. It makes all the difference.

 

[Kotowari]

It depends on the game really. I'm a RPG player, and if the story is good enough to keep me hooked from the very start, I will keep playing no matter how bad I am.
In Fire Emblem, for example, where a death of any character besides the main lord does not trigger a game over, I will start all the chapter all over again if one of my units dies. I can't stand the thought of having one of my favourite characters die. : <
In games that don't have any good story line or aren't quite interesting/entertaining I give up.

 

[Archenoth]

Ah Fire Emblem, the game where you could play a mission for almost two hours and lose a character at the last minute... I restart those missions way to often. <_<

I think Sacred Stones was worse than Fire Emblem 7 for that... Also, fog levels, brutal.

 

[A Pixy]

After playing 'I Wanna Be the Guy', death no longer means anything to me. The game single-handedly shattered my soul.

 

[Archenoth]

After playing 'I Wanna Be the Guy', death no longer means anything to me. The game single-handedly shattered my soul.

That game was awesome... Frequent save spots, references from so many different games, and so many challenges..!

It's challenges are something that a lot of people find quite frustrating. It's interesting to watch the reactions people have in that game because dying is about as imminent as breathing. It's a way to see if people react violently towards losing, or if they embrace it as a challenge.

 

[Captain Fabio]

Now now, let's not get off topic here now.

*Nudges topic back to original topical discussion*​

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[Arcanine]

I'll split this up to online and offline games because I have a different outlook on both.
But I will say this... you'll only get good at something if you keep at it, and if you use common sense.

~ Offline
If I do bad at some sort of offline game, and I lose or die a lot then it's normally my fault. If I can't do good at Rock Band, or keep losing at Forza who do I blame but myself? Now I will try to get better at the game, but if I keep losing then screw it... I've got better things to do then to keep losing over and over.
Fighting games for example. Back in the Playstation-PS2 days I used to be really good at fighting games. Had combos down pat, and all of that. Now days... I can't do anything with them so I don't play them. I've tried to get better, but I'm not going to waste my time on that when these days I'm more of a shooter person (or as of late an MMO person).

~ Online
2 kills and 20 deaths reminds me of one thing... a shooter. And if I went 2 and 20 game after game I'd do what I tell others to do... break the disc. Online shooters are more or less all the same. The controls might be a little different, and you have to get used to the weapons. But all of that shouldn't take more then a few hours. But once you get all of that out of the way you shouldn't have a prob with the game.
I will never understand people who have days and days of playtime on a game and still do so bad, common sense goes a long ways in online games.


Short answer... offline games I try to get better until the point where I give up. Online games... I don't do bad. XD