Video games can be tough. Video games can make you so frustrated that you may have found yourself punching a wall, or breaking a controller at one time or another. But still, the challenge is precisely why we keep coming back to it. That is the fun. And yet, there are people out there who decry fundamental and essential gameplay at the slightest difficulty or inconvenience they may pose. Particularly in multilayer games, difference in notion of what is fair can quickly turn a joyous activity amongst friends into bitter warfare.
First off, no, I don’t think everything in video games is fair. I’m sure you can think of many examples of a game-breaking glitch or exploit in your own history of playing. Not all instance of players going outside the system is unfair, but it often is. I am not talking about those situations. Heck, sometimes the game itself is poorly balanced and the game is just filled with crippling mechanics and broken characters. Anyone who has played Jump Ultimate Stars know how even the developers’ intent can translate into the gameplay being unfair.
I am talking about instances of gameplay where the game revolves around it. Take throwing in Street Fighter for example. Naturally, in a fighting game you can attack your opponent, and your opponent can block your attacks. But throws being throws, you cannot block them. And I suppose this is considered “cheap” for some people. Let me remind those who aren’t familiar with the game that even though you can’t block a throw, you can counter the throw by initiating the throw quickly right after your opponent attempts to throw you, resetting both players to a neutral position. Besides that though, without the ability to throw in the game you can just block you opponent’s attack for the entire match. What’s the logic in removing the fundamental gameplay element that balances everything? I would like to hear a better and more sound argument than “I can’t block throws”. There was a time where people would, honest to goodness, got knifed at the arcades for throwing other people in Street Fighter.
Or how about ring-out deaths in Worms? Some people are filled with indignation when their worms get ringed out, feeling that only death by knockout is honorable or fair. The whole point of the game is to use your myriad weapons and tools to eliminate your enemies and navigate the terrain. The landscape is an important part of the design. And while it is completely up to chance that one of your worms end up near the ledge and don’t even get a chance to move before it is knocked off the stage, luck is part of this warfare as is skill. The scramble to maintain order in the chaotic, unpredictable, and explosive battlefield is important to the design of Worms, and is what it’s all about.
No snaking, you cheap bastard!
I am not telling people to do this and that, and that there is only one way to have fun. House rules are great if you can find like-minded individuals and agree on the conditions ahead of time. I, myself, like to play Super Smash Bros. with items off, stock battle, and Final Destination stage only. But that is the important part–you need to agree ahead of time. Otherwise, the gameplay will default to anything and everything the game allows. Noobs need to step up their game more and whine less. Also, anime is for kids.
What things do people do in video games that you hate or find cheap?
Well I do agree that some people play games for the challenge, but a lot of people don’t. They just play it for the fun, and what fun means to them can be a number of things, like it’s addicting, it’s creative, it’s well designed, etc.
As for the throwing thing, I think it’s more about getting annoyed than being unfair. If people spam the same move over and over again then that would probably be annoying. Like if you do an uppercut for almost the entire match or if you just throw fireball all the time. It can get annoying if they just do a few moves for the entire game. That’s why people are annoyed with Sagat players because they just stand back and shoot fireballs. It’s the same with throwing, people will get mad if you constantly throw.
Now granted, you can say that it’s the player being thrown that’s at fault because as you have said he can counter it, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be pissed off. Just like it can’t be help that someone would get mad if they lose. It’s part of the game someone has to win and someone has to lose, you can’t expect the loser to be happy about it.
House-rules are great, however one would assume that if you are at someone’s house then you are already friends with that person. That would mean that knife fights would not occur even if people are cheating. That totally doesn’t apply to public places or online and people are probably going to take it more seriously.
So yes video games are unfair, just like in real life, and just like the real world people will continue to bitch about it.
Well, the main thing is that some kind of challenge needs to exist. The right level of challenge is subjective, or course. Think of Tetris where you’re free to to manipulate your blocks without the challenge of it descending or a range of different blocks; an MMO with its vast landscape and imaginative magical spells but with only scarecrows to attack, and no obstacles, like monsters or quests; or Minecraft without the arduous tasks of mining for materials. I am positing some kind of challenge or obstacle is inherent in a design of a game.
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Throwing fireballs or uppercutting the entire match shouldn’t net you a victory. That is poor tactic that should not work. If someone throws fireballs at you you jump over it. If someone uppercuts a lot you bait it out and punish him as he lands. But that wasn’t your point, your point wasn’t that it is effective but that it’s annoying and expected of people to complain, and we should put up with it. I object to that line of thought.
Just because a behavior may be rational it doesn’t necessarily mean we should encourage it. It’s rational to get back at your boyfriend by keying his car and burning all his belongings when you find out he cheated on you, but I don’t think most of us would condone such behavior. Similarly in Street Fighter, just because someone wants to ban sweeping because another person sweeps a lot and they find that annoying, it doesn’t mean we should encourage his behavior although his anger is reasonable. We should encourage a sense of improvement and tolerance. Find out why you keep falling for sweeps and rectify your blunders. If you want to ban something completely from the game then it needs to be on grounds that is more than pure emotion.