SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - View Single Post

Arclight · 10-21-12, 07:29 AM

How Game Tutorials Can Strangle Player Creativity

Something that has often bothered me is people saying that they played through game X in, say, 8 hours; a lot of games allow for a bit of exploration. Not the run-down-this-corridor-and-shoot-people ones obviously, but something like Skyrim or Dishonored.

Point being that handholding extends beyond introducing mechanics to players. Having a big objective marker on screen at all times doesn't exactly encourage people to roam and discover on their own, instead just heading for that marker.

I feel like "corridor" games and handholding have conditioned a large amount of gamers to just taking the shortest route through a game, thereby missing a large portion of what it has on offer.

10-21-12, 07:29 AM	#12
Arclight Navy Seal Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Land of windmills, tulips, wooden shoes and cheese. Lots of cheese. Posts: 8,467 Downloads: 53 Uploads: 10	How Game Tutorials Can Strangle Player Creativity Something that has often bothered me is people saying that they played through game X in, say, 8 hours; a lot of games allow for a bit of exploration. Not the run-down-this-corridor-and-shoot-people ones obviously, but something like Skyrim or Dishonored. Point being that handholding extends beyond introducing mechanics to players. Having a big objective marker on screen at all times doesn't exactly encourage people to roam and discover on their own, instead just heading for that marker. I feel like "corridor" games and handholding have conditioned a large amount of gamers to just taking the shortest route through a game, thereby missing a large portion of what it has on offer. __________________ Contritium praecedit superbia.