StaceyPowers

I often wish I could play games “for the first time” repeatedly. It is hard to recapture the magic on a repeat playthrough. So far, aside from taking long breaks between playthroughs, I have not really found any good techniques. Has anyone else?

What ingredients go into good puzzle design?

What video game adversary or threat would you be most horrified to have to face IRL?

Do you ever experience moments in games where everything—music, ambient noise, visuals, maybe events—are just perfect, generating an ideal moment, even though it is a coincidence? I.e. in open world games, this happens to me sometimes.

What is a time in a video game you achieved an amazing kill, but it was a complete accident?

In another thread, @m76 mentioned some of his criteria for heroic characters. It made me curious about what everyone here looks for in heroes in video games. I think for me, a heroic character is one who does what they feel is right, but is also willing to face devastating truths.

What is the worst experience you’ve had because of an autosave? For example, a game with no manual saves autosaving in a glitchy location or after you blew all your supplies.

If you are playing a game with limited supplies and you run through a lot of them winning a fight, do you typically go back and retry to save the supplies, even if the fight is pretty hard? I usually do, if I’m not assured of more supplies coming up soon.

A lot of us spend hundreds of hours playing games. Do you feel like the time you invest in gaming takes you away from RL, or connects you to it in different ways?

Have gaming experiences impacted how you relate to other people? For example, playing MUDs helped me figure out what I value in friendships.

What games have you played past or present that you feel offer rewarding social experiences?

Has anyone played this? Reading about it, I have a hard time even grasping what exactly it is, but I am intrigued.

What are some game characters that you feel exemplify good ways to live or interact? Like for example, I admire Thane in Mass Effect 2/3, because of the grace and kindness he brings even to battlefields.

Some games are open regarding factions. I.e. in Skyrim, you could be a Stormcloak, an Imperial, or neither, so nobody is your enemy by default--but there is a conflict with different sides.

What is your favorite menu? Mine is BioShock Infinite. It instantly immerses you in the atmosphere of the game, and the song becomes especially haunting once you understand why they picked it.

Are there any game characters you find well and poorly written? For example, I think for the most part, Morrigan in DA is well written (and beautifully acted), but she frequently disagrees with entirely pragmatic decisions because the writers didn’t understand why they those options were pragmatic.

What is the shortest game you ever played? How many hours was it?

Is there a side scroller you think would make a good 3D game, or vice versa?

What are some games where you feel genuinely torn by sympathy for opposing sides?

Do you own any video game art books?

I was heartbroken to lose a beloved team mate in a game yesterday, but when I read what I’d have had to do to keep him alive, I wouldn’t have changed it—the consequences for the game world would have been too heavy. How far will you go to save a character? What consequence is too much?

Does anyone here play on Switch? What do you like about it?

One cannot win an MMO in a traditional sense, but is there anything that’d make you feel like you did? I.e. taking over the world in a smaller game where it might be possible.

What is the most memorable moment you experienced in an MMO?

@Shagger mentioned in another thread that gamers sometimes blame devs if, while playing a game, they discover something they don’t like about themselves or their choices. I try to blame myself for those moments even when a quest seemed to “lead” me to finish it—after all, it was my choice to keep going. But I do see people who blow up at devs for trying to “steer” them toward a bad decision. When this happens to you, do you feel an impulse to blame the dev? Under what situations?