17:28
A teacher
I have previously blogged with some thoughts about playing a game for 15 minutes. There is something particularly about that time: it might still worthwhile. Often, I find playing a game for a length of time (45 minutes plus) is enough to put myself in the mindset of enjoying it. Of challenging myself, and taking something from it. Games like Deus Ex and Dragon Age are ideal for playing in the chunks of time available in the evening, or between work, eating, socialising and sleeping.
However, I have become increasingly lethargic in my gaming recently. I wonder if it is perhaps due to my desire to not die more than three times in the same place. For example, I have been playing through Dawn of War II and, like all good RTS games, it is a frantic game. I don't quite know what I'm doing at times. However, unlike when I played as the space marines (where each unit has its definable role) I am finding myself simply ctrl + a and right clicking on enemies. And this is happening fairly frequently.
Perhaps I should play on a higher difficulty. But there are some considerations with that:
1) Dying constantly because I don't know what I'm doing is a quick way to stop playing the game entirely.
2) I play the game for a positive experience.
3) Perhaps a positive experience is dying, but improving my perception of the game's tactics.
As so often is the case with strategy games, the strategy is to beat the mechanics of the game, rather than the puzzles inherently suggested. That is an unclear expression, let me give an example: Championship Manager (when Football Manager was called Championship Manager) used to reward tactics that placed your players in certain formations that didn't quite correspond to what would be effective in real life. I think that if you were slanted slightly left to right, the game would treat this as an outstanding tactic, and you would win more games. Or at least I read on a respected forum (The Dug Out.tv)
To understand these kind of tactics, you either have to play the game enough to sense them, or resort to search engine experience. Neither is how I want to spend my 15 minutes of gaming time.
However, I should like to waste some time judiciously. That is, to game and die, but feel that my death was not arbitrary. That I might be improving. Or at least to enjoy my experience of imagination - and to realise that needing to win in a game all the time need not be the point of every game, not least when it feels somewhat lethargic.
However, I have become increasingly lethargic in my gaming recently. I wonder if it is perhaps due to my desire to not die more than three times in the same place. For example, I have been playing through Dawn of War II and, like all good RTS games, it is a frantic game. I don't quite know what I'm doing at times. However, unlike when I played as the space marines (where each unit has its definable role) I am finding myself simply ctrl + a and right clicking on enemies. And this is happening fairly frequently.
Perhaps I should play on a higher difficulty. But there are some considerations with that:
1) Dying constantly because I don't know what I'm doing is a quick way to stop playing the game entirely.
2) I play the game for a positive experience.
3) Perhaps a positive experience is dying, but improving my perception of the game's tactics.
As so often is the case with strategy games, the strategy is to beat the mechanics of the game, rather than the puzzles inherently suggested. That is an unclear expression, let me give an example: Championship Manager (when Football Manager was called Championship Manager) used to reward tactics that placed your players in certain formations that didn't quite correspond to what would be effective in real life. I think that if you were slanted slightly left to right, the game would treat this as an outstanding tactic, and you would win more games. Or at least I read on a respected forum (The Dug Out.tv)
To understand these kind of tactics, you either have to play the game enough to sense them, or resort to search engine experience. Neither is how I want to spend my 15 minutes of gaming time.
However, I should like to waste some time judiciously. That is, to game and die, but feel that my death was not arbitrary. That I might be improving. Or at least to enjoy my experience of imagination - and to realise that needing to win in a game all the time need not be the point of every game, not least when it feels somewhat lethargic.
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