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Braid Creator on 'Evil' Social Games
PCGamer recently spoke with Jonathan Blow, creator of the popular indie platformer Braid, about his views on the rise of social games over last few years. He thinks many games in that category aren't actually very social, and when asked if he thought such games are evil, he replied, "Yes. Absolutely." Quoting:
"[With certain social games] it’s about the game exploiting your friends list that you already made, so it’s not really about meeting people. And it’s not really about doing things with them because you’re never playing at the same time. It’s about using your friends as resources to progress in the game, which is the opposite of actual sociality or friendship. Maybe not exactly, but it’s not the same thing, right? They’re really just called social games because they run on social networks."
GO OUTSIDE
These "Social Games" aren't really Social Games, they're "Social Media games", ie, games you play that exploit the social media platform you're on. Exploit being the operative word.
It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for being subtle.
The real problem with so-called "social games" such as mafia wars is not that they are exploitive, though they are, and not that they are not very social (ie, no real player interaction). These things are possibly problematic, or not, depending on your views. No, the real problem with these social games is that they are pure time sinks.
A real game ought to be *winnable*. This is a basic principle and exceptions prove the rule. Maybe you can't "win" at dungeons and dragons, but you can complete definable goals and make advancements. You most certainly can *lose*. In facebook time-sink games you cannot win AND you cannot lose. Because they are ever-expanding you cannot even "complete" the game by exploring 100% of its features. These are not games, these are activities for the sheeple masses; a form of circus to keep the percentage of the populace that has too much time and not enough imagination content.
I am always offended by these so-called "games" and feel disgusted when I see people playing them. I say this as a long time gamer and a fan of both hard core and casual games. There's nothing wrong with wasting your life playing video games (or other games) but please, PLEASE do not waste your life "playing" these time sinks. There is no purer form of wasted time anywhere. You are throwing away the precious hours of your existence for absolutely no reward, no effect and no return. If that's what you want to do suicide is similar and far more efficient.
I want my Cowboyneal