What motivates you to play games?
February 5th, 2014 at 11:02 pm (Games, Library School, Psychology)
All games are not created equal, and neither are all gamers. Ito and Bittanti, in chapter 5 of “Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media,” identify five different “genres of game playing” that describe different motivations and modes of play. They are:
- Killing time: playing a game while you wait or because you’re bored or want to be distracted (e.g., crossword puzzles, solitaire, Minesweeper)
- Hanging out: playing a game to connect with other people socially (e.g., party games, board games, Rock Band, bridge)
- Recreational gaming: playing a game for the sake of the game (e.g., first-person shooters or really anything you get immersed in)
- Organizing and mobilizing: playing a game that’s grown into a formal structure (e.g., being the dungeonmaster for a D&D game or a guild leader in MMORPGs)
- Augmented game play: playing a game and creating additional “paratexts” around the game, such as fan sites, hacks, walk-throughs, cheat codes, or a focus on the creative element of the game (player customization, campaign design, etc.).
Player investment in (and passion for) the game increases along the list, from killing time up to augmented game play.
While some games seem to associate directly with a particular game playing genre, there isn’t a strict mapping. For example, players can enjoy World of Warcraft in any of these modes, depending on their interest in the game, their technical prowess, and their current mood. Bridge can be played socially, with ample table talk, or in a cutthroat competitive mode in which silence reigns outside of the bids. A player’s current genre might even change during the course of a game playing session.
Reflecting on my own game playing, I am not sure I have a particular preferred genre. The time I spend playing games today is limited, due to other demands on my time, and therefore limited to the “hanging out” genre (occasional board games or video games with friends). But during my first year in college, I discovered online communal role-playing games (the text-based predecessors of today’s MMORPGs), and that experience ranged over most of the five genres.
I was quickly captivated by the Pern-based games in which you could create a character who had the chance to be chosen as a dragonrider — every Anne McCaffrey fan’s dream. I spent hours developing my character and role-playing with other people on the game. I was bowled over by the idea of a bunch of people getting together to effectively write a collaborative novel in realtime (!).
Rather than progressing from a social to technical to creative motivation (as suggested if you view the genre list as a progression), it was the creative element that drew me in first (augmented game play). My interest in programming inspired me to learn how to create custom interactive in-game objects. As I developed friendships with other players, the social aspect (hanging out) became more present; sometimes the role-playing would taper off while the players engaged in “out of character” discussions on communication channels that weren’t part of the in-game play but were still social. As my investment and expertise grew, I became more involved in the organization part of the game: helping run large-scale events (such as dragon egg Hatchings) and creating names and descriptions for the next batch of dragons. Eventually, real life constraints placed limits on how much time I could invest in the game, and I moved on to other things.
I would not be surprised if most people find their engagement with any particular game to move between genres as I’ve described here. Over time, what interests you most about a game (and keeps you coming back) may change, due to your own changes in expertise, or a simple desire for variety.
How would you categorize the way you play your favorite game?
Holly said,
February 6, 2014 at 1:19 am
I really enjoyed hearing about how you choose what games to play. I don’t really have a connection with playing games currently, so your story as well as the ones in the book are really making me feel like I should start! In high school my brother gave me an on old Gameboy and I played that constantly for awhile, but I only had one game and never got anymore. These days I do play one game–Words with Friends on my phone. I think would fall under the category of “killing time,” not so much because I only play when I’m bored, but because the optimal time for me to play is when I have gaps in my schedule (i.e. I play when I’m falling asleep or waiting for someone or something).
The book mentions that those who play to kill time are often younger or beginning players Some time-killing players, however, do develop strategies and become invested in the game(s) of their choice because they play, albeit in short bursts, over the course of a long period of time.
Holly said,
February 6, 2014 at 1:20 am
(oops–meant to say I learned something new :) )
Susan said,
February 6, 2014 at 6:09 am
Huh! I’ve never seen it described like that, but it certainly resonates!
I keep a couple of time-wasters on my phone because it’s such a big help when you’re in a waiting room somewhere, though often these days I just send and read email or chat.
Usually, my hook for games is hanging out. I’ve found that it’s just a wonderful companionable thing to do, plus it’s a great social lubricant with people I don’t know well. Terran has a story he tells about his social life when he first moved to Boston alone. He tried to branch out from his old social rut and joined hiking clubs, got involved in sailing, and a bunch of other groups based on sharing his interests with other people. But no strong friendships grew, and he couldn’t figure out why. Finally, he gave up and started looking for an RPG group on BostonGamers, and within a couple of months, he’d met the man who is now Autumn’s godfather :). I don’t know why roleplaying and board gaming is different than other hobbies for us, but it is.
Though there’s also a blend of hanging out and recreational gaming — we’re big fans of Arkham Horror, a board game that is so complex as to be almost its own lifestyle. So we cultivate friends who like that game. There are also some video games that we could play solo but prefer to play with friends, so we have to find friends who enjoy those games.
Over the last few months, a couple of friends drew me into Lord of the Rings Online. I played off and on for a while primarily because I liked their company, but recently I’ve learned and advanced enough to start getting into it for its own sake. I’ve created a second character to play alone so that I can experiment with play styles that don’t match theirs.
For organizing and mobilizing, I used to run a collaborative fiction roleplaying club that had some similarity to your Pern group, though it was less structured and not real time.
And, of course, my augmented play experience is my Sims habit. I got into the game for escapism, but I quickly realized that I was telling a story. So I started recording the story on a blog, mostly for myself. Through that I found a community that taught me about the myriad of different player-designed challenges that made gameplay much more engaging. Then I made a group of online friends who also kept blogs about their game. Then I discovered modding. Then I discovered that I had a useful role in providing ad-hoc tech support. Now my life investment is so great that I may never be able to stop playing.
Mel said,
February 6, 2014 at 5:42 pm
It was my first year in college as well where MUD (multi-user domains) came into focus for me as well. My preferred MUD was T2T an expansive reproduction of Middle Earth. http://t2tmud.org/.
In the evenings, groups of us in the CS Club would gather in the Computer Lab to build our own MUD environment using LPC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LPC_(programming_language). This is when I experienced OOP for the first time. We created a post apocalyptic world that never saw much external use.
I never did advance inside T2T far enough to become invited into the testing and game development… life caught up with me, and priorities changed.
Brittany said,
February 7, 2014 at 11:13 am
I play games mostly to kill time or socially. I play games on my phone (right now, a lot of Scramble with Friends) and I recently got hooked on Cards Against Humanity. I typically don’t like complicated video games – I prefer scrolling arcade-like games or video games I enjoyed as a kid. The worlds of augmented game play and MMORPG are new to me. I’ve never been drawn to them. I seem to get hooked on repetition or patterns (like Diner Dash or Flappy Birds).
My brother and his friends play a lot of HALO on XBOX, and it used to creep me out hearing little kids going crazy/cussing when they messed up (especially knowing that my friends were early 30s). I like how you (and kids mentioned in the book) talk about being drawn to the creative side of a game, making worlds and characters. That sounds appealing to me, especially when I think about what I enjoyed as a child. I’m playing Minecraft right now for class, and I don’t like making things out of pixels – haha! But the world you describe in the Pern-based games sounds more interesting! I remember playing the Sims as a kid and just getting bored after a while. I much preferred Oregon Trail – maybe the history angle? It’s interesting to hear about how people differ on their game playing and choices.
Kiri said,
February 9, 2014 at 11:19 pm
Susan, I enjoyed hearing more about how you see your Sims experience. I see you post about it sometimes on Facebook, but since I’ve never played it, I’m not able to really appreciate what you’re talking about. This summary got me suddenly more interested. :) I really like hearing about what creative efforts people are inspired to, from their favorite game (or movie or book, etc.).
Mike said,
February 17, 2014 at 9:26 pm
For me, it depends on the game. Yes, I’m taking the easy way out, but most games I play are inherently different. I can’t compare the hours spent exploring and reading in the first Mass Effect to playing Race for the Galaxy with some of my close friends, despite the very similar feel, atmosphere, and sense of scale. I enjoy multiplayer games when I’m in the mood, in the same way that I enjoy single-player games when I’m in that mood too.
I will add one more to the list… Well, maybe a 0.5 point to the list (either 1.5 or 3.5, depending on exactly how you parse it): gaming as an escape. Yes, I know that this is kind of the thing that most people care to admit or people that don’t regularly game say is a bad thing, but hear me out.
When I was younger, the first video game I purchased with my own money was Pokémon Red, and I played that for so long. I still play it (although I’m not involved with the current Twitch.tv game except as an observer), but it is a major point of my childhood. Ask me what I did in middle school, and it was play Pokémon.
That time for me was a time of innocence, before I grew up and realized that the world wasn’t always going to be fine and bad things can and do happen despite people’s best efforts. My dad’s family is from the east coast, and he worked in NYC for years before he and my mom moved out to Michigan, and he still keeps in touch with a ton of his friends from his time there.
Well, I have to mention that he keeps in touch with markedly less friends than he had in the past. That day was the first time that I saw my dad be not the amazing superhero that I saw him as, but someone who could be hurt, and hurt deeply. All of my ideas of what adulthood and parenthood and the world were shattered, just from seeing my dad so hurt and distraught. The next few months, in some ways, were even worse, with my dad gone almost every weekend for funeral after funeral. From then on, I wasn’t a kid anymore.
So last year, when those feelings welled up again, I played Pokémon Red, on my original GameBoy and with the original cartridge I had as a kid, and I was back in the summer of 1997 sitting under a tree training my Bulbasaur. It was an escape, and it calmed me down from the bought of tears I was fighting through, and it got me through it.
So I guess you could say that I was playing it for the sake of the game, or because I wanted to be distracted, but it was much more than that. It was a way for me to be a kid again, to feel better, and to get past that hurdle and move on with my life. In many ways, that little game has kept me sane, and I am thankful for that.