The older i get, the simpler i want games

flguy147

I have found myself lately wanting simpler games not necessarily easier games.  So let me explain, I feel like there have been games where i have to "study" the game outside of actually playing the game.  I am just at a point i guess that i dont want to spend hours and hours outside the game reading and studying games to understand them and be efficient at them.  Now this doesnt mean i want the game to be a faceroll or easy because i love a challenge or fun combat.  But when i am constantly having to read online about mechanics, how combat/abilities work/synergize, what to do and not to do so you dont mess up your character, etc instead of actually logging in the game playing it then i found it more annoying.  It maybe that i have limited time so when i get 2 hours free to play, i dont want to spend an hour online reading about the game.  Just curious if anybody else feels this way?  

SEANMCAD

the older I get the more I want games without combat...

peroid

Mardukk

I agree and disagree.  It depends on the game with me.  I love looking up things about EQ and really most MMO's that I enjoy.  

However, I tried Elite Dangerous and was pissed that docking and figuring out the ship controls would take hours of watching videos.  Killing a single enemy ship in the tutorial took 20 minutes and a resulting headache.

SEANMCAD

Mardukk said:

I agree and disagree.  It depends on the game with me.  I love looking up things about EQ and really most MMO's that I enjoy.  

However, I tried Elite Dangerous and was pissed that docking and figuring out the ship controls would take hours of watching videos.  Killing a single enemy ship in the tutorial took 20 minutes and a resulting headache.

and that is one of the leading attractions of No Mans Sky from my understand

'this game is going to be awesome becuase...its easy'

laserit

OP

Usually for me the best fun comes in the learning experience. When I figure something out and master it, is usually when my interest starts to wane.

But sometimes I just want to have some brainless fun where I don't have to think about anything.

XxPriestxX

flguy147 said:

I have found myself lately wanting simpler games not necessarily easier games.  So let me explain, I feel like there have been games where i have to "study" the game outside of actually playing the game.  I am just at a point i guess that i dont want to spend hours and hours outside the game reading and studying games to understand them and be efficient at them.  Now this doesnt mean i want the game to be a faceroll or easy because i love a challenge or fun combat.  But when i am constantly having to read online about mechanics, how combat/abilities work/synergize, what to do and not to do so you dont mess up your character, etc instead of actually logging in the game playing it then i found it more annoying.  It maybe that i have limited time so when i get 2 hours free to play, i dont want to spend an hour online reading about the game.  Just curious if anybody else feels this way?  

Don't waste time reading about them. It's not the fault of the game or the developer, it's yours. Try playing the game without the constant need for min/maxing. Jumping out of game to waste all that time reading what some 12 year old wrote about the FOTM class you play is on you. You're never to old to just 'L2P nub'

SpottyGekko

Males tend to become less aggressively competitive as they get older, testosterone levels decrease, blah, blah...

It's a just Mother Nature's way of telling you to chill before you get your ass kicked by some kid !

FrodoFragins

I used to think that way, until I played Total War: Warhammer.  That game has me looking at videos and streams to get better.  I guess it depends on how immersive and enjoyable the game is.  If it grabs my attention I don't mind researching to get better.  EVE is just inherently boring to me and they lost me right away.  Watching streams of EVE just validates my decision to bail so early.

There's a fine line between immersive and tedious.

Mickyknox

I am with ya on this one. I really don't think i could go throu a SWG,EQ1 or even Ultima online again i was in my early 20s when i was able to play 24hrs a day not no more even trying to get more time to sink into GW2 or ESO is tuff 

rojoArcueid

I dont like simple games because i dont feel like im playing a game. With that said...

- If its a single player game i expect it to have easy, normal, hard modes.
- If its an online game i expect it to be challenging, but not the often used "cheap difficulty" that would make anyone scream for a simple game instead.

- Also, simple (not complex) and easy (not difficult) are two different things. Im OK with an easy game that has complex mechanics. Im not necessarily OK with a simple game (most of our current mmos) with braindead bosses that hit too hard, which is the cheap difficulty i mentioned above.

Age is not affecting that part of my gaming interest but as i get older my interest in single player/coop games is growing while my interest in online only games is decreasing.

Nanfoodle

Ya I think we have come to a point a game should teach us while we play. When I say that I dont mean being attacked by pop ups we have to keep reading. Getting creative in showing us what the games mechanics do. Like maybe a quest where a Dr by mistake gives you a shot that gives you too much of your primary stat for your class and for the next 30 min of game time your a god while questing. Teaching the game can be made fun.

dave6660

No, I haven't changed much in that regard.  I don't mind reading about the details of the game mechanics.

As I've gotten older my tolerance for derivative games has gone down a lot.  I need to see some originality aside from the graphics or I lose interest quickly.

SEANMCAD

dave6660 said:

No, I haven't changed much in that regard.  I don't mind reading about the details of the game mechanics.

As I've gotten older my tolerance for derivative games has gone down a lot.  I need to see some originality aside from the graphics or I lose interest quickly.

and combat.

I am not against combat I just think its WAY over done in gaming

Loke666

I can't say the same, but I do want a bit more variation in the same game nowadays. That is probably more to how games are made now compared to when I was a kid and had a C-64.

As for some wanting easier games now then back in the 80s and 90s I think that mainly is that people have gotten used to the easier games now, if the trend turns (which actually is rather likely when most of the ultra casual players move to the mobile platforms) people will get used to harder games again rather fast.

And I do understand that OPs simpler ain't the same thing as easy. My view on simpler is that I want a simple UI but advanced mechanics behind it, good games are easy to learn but hard to master.

And yes, the games are a bit too focused on combat, fighting actually loses some of the fun when you use it as a solution to everything. MMOs often focus a bit too much on quantity instead of quality, particularly with combat. I rather fight a tough boss then 100 trash mobs after all.

lahnmir

OP,

I was just thinking about this myself the other day. I want to enjoy the experience, not the mechanics. I too, have little time left for gaming with a 50 hour job and a wife and kid and 'getting into it' again is just not doing it for me anymore. There are exceptions but they are very rare. Do take note, I am not talking about easy games or dumbed down games, just ones you can pick up and play without tons of tutorials.

/Cheers,
Lahnmir

Flyte27

There aren't too many games that require you to study these days.  I play mostly single player games, but there are usually tutorials.  Even if I turn the tutorials off it's usually pretty easy to figure out how to play through trial and error.  I figured out how to do most things in EQ from either trial and error or listening to people in game.  I only went on line to figure out how to do quests or find out where an item dropped.  I don't really like tutorials too much.  The Witcher 3 is a good example.  It has lots of textual tutorials popping up by default.  I think it takes me less time to press buttons and see what they do then it does to read the tips.  It is also more fun IMO.

Cymdai

I'm a little different; I want games to be more complex, but less restrictive at the beginning. I really want games to understand the concept of difficulty curves.

To me, Civ 5 is one of those games that really nails this. It's totally winnable and playable, even if you have no idea what you're doing. However, as you play it again and again and again, you learn newer methods of victory, smaller sets of sub-strategies, etc, that allow for drastic variance in play styles. Even with it's inherent flaws, it provides so much depth and variety!

One things I absolutely wanted removed, from now and forever, is the "Forced Tutorial". 

I have had a free copy of Far Cry Primal on my computer for 2 months, and haven't even picked it up since the first day because the tutorial is so god damned mind-numbing and boring. After it crashed before the end, I said "Nope, not sitting through that garbage again."

So, in a sense, I want my games "Simpler" in the sense that I want to figure things out on my own more, and more complex in the sense that I want there to be more self-discovery of the ultra-complexities within the game.

Gobstopper3D

I hear you OP.  I have basically given up on all online games.  I do play Wizard 101 with my daughter.  Nice and relaxing.  I also resubbed FFXIV recently.  After a nice long break from online games, it's refreshing.  Aside from those two games, which are not difficult in any stretch, I'm mostly playing single player/co-op games with an easy learning curve.  If I have to spend more than 30 minutes trying to figure out the mechanics of a game, then I don't play it. 

Savinea

Me too. I used to love complex games, but then I grew up and didnt have the time to learn something complex.

Axehilt

Simple-yet-deep has always been the ideal.  

A desire for purposely complex systems is the hallmark of a bad designer or gamer, since the same depth can be achieved with less perceived complexity.

ceratop001

flguy147 said:

I have found myself lately wanting simpler games not necessarily easier games.  So let me explain, I feel like there have been games where i have to "study" the game outside of actually playing the game.  I am just at a point i guess that i dont want to spend hours and hours outside the game reading and studying games to understand them and be efficient at them.  Now this doesnt mean i want the game to be a faceroll or easy because i love a challenge or fun combat.  But when i am constantly having to read online about mechanics, how combat/abilities work/synergize, what to do and not to do so you dont mess up your character, etc instead of actually logging in the game playing it then i found it more annoying.  It maybe that i have limited time so when i get 2 hours free to play, i dont want to spend an hour online reading about the game.  Just curious if anybody else feels this way?  

I'm with you on this. I was just thinking the same thing yesterday.

sunandshadow

I'm really the opposite - I prefer games that are complicated but not hard and preferably not too fast-paced.  I don't mind a game where I die a lot, as long as there's no death penalty besides my time and the need to do it over again.  I don't like being pushed to play as fast as I can or keep track of other people doing fast-paced things around me.  My preferences haven't changed much with age though.  And wow, I just realized this is my 30th year of being a gamer. o.O

Jill52

I still want a complicated, challenging, complete game. I just don't want the sense of difficulty and accomplishment to come primarily from the amount of time I need to spend playing. I don't have the same kind of free time I had when I started playing MMOs years ago. Overly simplified games still bore me. What I'm looking for is something I don't have to spend countless hours grinding to be considered a good player yet doesn't just hand everything to me without making me truly earn it. Unfortunately nothing like that exists in the current MMORPG world (at least not that I'm aware of or that is the kind of game I'd be interested in playing)

blackgoat

this has nothing to do with age..... but personality and life style...

Thornrage

Back during Vanilla WoW and even into Burning Crusade, I would do everything necessary to be main tank or off tank depending on the fight. I learned all sorts of tactics and had the best gear I could get. Outside of raiding, I would farm or craft or whatever I needed to do to make sure I was ready for the next scheduled raid.

I did this for Age of Conan as well.

Now, I play ESO or any other MMO I feel compelled to play at the moment, and all I want to do is just explore, kill and socialize wth guild mates.

I just dont have the time or energy to spend every gaming minute preparing for the next boss fight.

Alders

Some days i just want to explore and get lost for a while. Other days i want to destroy everyone on meters. My mood dictates what i normally want on a daily basis. I don't think there's ever a time where i want simpler or quicker.