The first issue I have is that he's stating the obvious. Sony is out to make money. Well,.. duh? I don't think they made and maintain the game for fun. Why does the writer think he's so much more enlightened than all of us, assuming that we cannot also see that the game loses fun, becomes monotonous, and gets boring? We cannot also realize that?
An obvious thing he points out is timesinks. But there's a problem there - what is to be done about timesinks? Should all quests take 5 minutes? Is that not also a timesink, but just one of shorter duration? Should all bosses be available immediately and slayable within seconds? Without even going into how silly and unrealistic that would be, why would it keep people playing, if they could accomplish a goal in seconds? Did you not have to play all the way through Deus Ex to find out how it ends? Was all that before it a "timesink", or was it the journey? I take exception with the comment, "Unlike the other parts of the game, these timesinks are required for advancement, and there is no getting around them unless you wish to stop playing." That is simply not true. That is the way HE CHOOSES to play. No one and nothing in game dictates that you must follow his path. I have a mid-forties level bard, am in a fun guild with several friends I enjoy playing with, and I don't worry about power playing or advancement. I just run around (really quickly!:)) and have fun.
I'm not arguing that he doesn't speak some truth - but to make it sound like the game is a crazed monster under the control of an evil wizard that attacks and consumes people in their sleep, robbing them of their lives... well if someone's that dumb to let that happen to them, then that's their own fault. Isn't it?
Frankly, at the end of this article, I'm left saying, "so what?" What purpose does this article serve? Will it stop people playing? Will it stop all forms of addiction in the world? Will it change online gaming forever? Is it something fresh that's never been stated before? Are all we readers suddenly enlightened? No? So......... so what?
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The first issue I have is that he's stating the obvious. Sony is out to make money. Well,.. duh? I don't think they made and maintain the game for fun. Why does the writer think he's so much more enlightened than all of us, assuming that we cannot also see that the game loses fun, becomes monotonous, and gets boring? We cannot also realize that?
:)) and have fun.
An obvious thing he points out is timesinks. But there's a problem there - what is to be done about timesinks? Should all quests take 5 minutes? Is that not also a timesink, but just one of shorter duration? Should all bosses be available immediately and slayable within seconds? Without even going into how silly and unrealistic that would be, why would it keep people playing, if they could accomplish a goal in seconds? Did you not have to play all the way through Deus Ex to find out how it ends? Was all that before it a "timesink", or was it the journey? I take exception with the comment, "Unlike the other parts of the game, these timesinks are required for advancement, and there is no getting around them unless you wish to stop playing." That is simply not true. That is the way HE CHOOSES to play. No one and nothing in game dictates that you must follow his path. I have a mid-forties level bard, am in a fun guild with several friends I enjoy playing with, and I don't worry about power playing or advancement. I just run around (really quickly!
I'm not arguing that he doesn't speak some truth - but to make it sound like the game is a crazed monster under the control of an evil wizard that attacks and consumes people in their sleep, robbing them of their lives... well if someone's that dumb to let that happen to them, then that's their own fault. Isn't it?
Frankly, at the end of this article, I'm left saying, "so what?" What purpose does this article serve? Will it stop people playing? Will it stop all forms of addiction in the world? Will it change online gaming forever? Is it something fresh that's never been stated before? Are all we readers suddenly enlightened? No? So......... so what?