How do you play video games?

[Dean]

Something I notice myself doing with video games these days is rushing through them. I wont skip dialogue or cut-scenes but for the most part I don't seem to do anything other than the bare minimum required to make the credits roll. I think the last game that I played "properly" was Skyrim and that was probably about a year ago.

I've recently played through The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and though it was a pretty good game but I was in too much of a rush to bother with exploration and the likes. If I couldn't figure out what to do or where to go, I'd open up a walkthrough and find out that way. I still experienced the game but I feel like I missed the point of it. Exploration is a big part of games like that and I overlooked it. I've done the same things with other games too.

I think the reasoning behind it is that I don't have as much free time to spend playing video games as I used to and I also have a lot more games that I want to play through. By the time I get mid-way through one game I feel compelled to start playing another, so I'll rush the game so that I can start on the other one and the process will repeat. It's a habit that I really want to break because I find it harder to be immersed in a game when I play like that. It makes the games feel like a chore rather than a form of entertainment which is obviously a bad thing. I just miss being able to feel so involved with a game.

So I'm curious, how do you guys play video games? Do you rush through them or take your time? Do you complete optional content or do you just do what you're told to do? Share your experiences.

[HighWay]

I play them to have fun, mostly because I'm not very good at most of the games I play

[Sectus]

It is normally a rare occurrence when I am able to actually sit back and play a game. When I am going to play a game, I always make sure to plan accordingly so that my schedule is clear and there won't be interruptions or bothers during my play time. This way, I can sit back and relax, and enjoy the game entirely. I never play a game when I am waiting to do something else, because then I will feel rushed to complete it.

I like games to be a relaxing experience (unless the game is intended otherwise) and always a pleasurable one, too.

[Sword-of-Kings]

I almost always play a game a lot, and then stop playing it for a long time.

[sweet21]

If there is exploration and secrets I hunt for them.

I also play laying on my stomach covered in blankets and if the fates permit it, my cat is reasonable petting position.

[OakaXXIII]

I'll usually end up exploring if it's possible in most games as I feel it more rewarding in most cases. The most recent game I've been guilty of rushing was probably Assassin's Creed 3.

[Auz]

In the past I bought like one game per year or so and I always tried to get as much out of them as I could. I gave all of them a rerun or two, tried my hardest to beat them 100% and kept playing them until I felt that there was really nothing left to discover anymore.

Nowadays it depends a little bit on the game for me. With games like The Elder Scrolls (III, IV, V) and other big RPG's it just feels like a huge waste to rush through them in 30 hours or less when there is so much extra content available.

In less open and more straight forward games I can't be bothered as much with sidequests anymore though, and I also seldom give them reruns anymore. For example, while I loved Half Life 2, I can't really be bothered much to collect all the lambda packages and stuff. I doubt all that time will be worth it and I'd rather move on to something new.

[Pienkaito]

Me in front of the TV, on a coach with a gamepad and tons of water.

I tend to ignore everything what's around me in order to get into the game.

[Cyberdevil]

At 2/3/13 01:25 PM, Dean wrote: So I'm curious, how do you guys play video games? Do you rush through them or take your time? Do you complete optional content or do you just do what you're told to do? Share your experiences.

I play them fast, and if they're good I play them again, and again, and again. Games like Doom, Oni & GTA SA are ones that I probably won't stop playing in a long time. For Doom I play new WADs all the time, since there are hundreds of thousands of those. For GTA SA I just keep going with a complete savefile, driving around, trying out new stunts, killing people. Still haven't reached the highest criminal ranking. In Oni it's easy to just open a level and run through it; every fight is different. I played through RE4 four times in a row too, but after that it kind of lost it's replay value.

I haven't actually played any of the new games from the previous year since I tend to get stuck with games that I like and just keep playing them over and over, and then exploring older games in the series if I haven't played them yet, or sticking to the series when new games come out. GTA & RE are series I'm stuck with. Probably because I don't have as much time as I used to to try out new games. Better savor a game than just play it just to play it.

[Absurd-Ditties]

I generally just don't play when I don't have the time to sink hours into them. Usually only play over holidays.

Any gaming I do at other times is stuff I can enjoy just an hour or so of. TF2 or Binding of Isaac, mostly.

[argile]

Most of the times I just rush through certain scenes that I don't really care or been through just incase I had to start over in that one area of a rpg after the whole party dies ,explore the whole until i'm sure i'm sure I've picked all the items up unless I've missed some then I'd use walkthrough from gamefaqs.
If possible if there's no modular difficulties to select with particular games besides the default There can be a changeable set of rules set by to meet a degree of challenge and mindless fun.

[Quinny]

For the trophies mostly, I enjoy getting into the story if it's interesting. I like trying to find everything and finding different ways of completing levels as well.

[darkjam]

I plan everything. It's mainly due to the fact of idiots on every game I play so I go lone wolf, work by myself and if my team mates fail, it's their fault. If it's not online or an R.P.G. I will just go along, but I prefer to plan everything. FOr example. I was playing capture the flag on Halo 4 and my team just went in guns blazing unaware of the fact the the blue team has a mantis, a giant robot. They all died and in the time it took for them to re-spawn, blue team swooped in and took the flag. They also left me to fend off, two mantis', a ghost and a a dude with a machine gun. Ever since then, I would work by myself, unless playing with friends. I realized, working with people you don't know sucks, they never listen and think they know what to do. If I lose, I don't care, I just care about the point because at the end of the day, all every Halo 4 online player wants to do is level up to S.R. 130.

[SmartyPants]

I usually play through the game doing only the important stuff first, then when I start it a second time I do all the stuff I didn't do the first time through. Examples: secret dungeons, special items, hidden bosses, sidequests, etc.

[The-Great-One]

@Dean

I first read the instruction booklet (if there is one). If I buy a used game and there isn't an instruction booklet then I look one up.

After that I jump in the game. I explore everywhere I can and find anything I can in the game. Every nook and cranny, every character dialogue I can find. Kind of the opposite of you then.

[Cyberdevil]

At 2/3/13 04:47 PM, JoseFonz wrote: I play each and every single game as thoroughly as possible. I try my absolute best to see every single minute detail that the game has to offer. I don't know why but my mind obligates me to do so otherwise I feel incompetent.

Sounds like you play the way developers would like you to.
Do you search for all the secrets and easter eggs while you're at it?

[TheEnkian]

I find that in games like New Vegas (what I'm currently playing) I tend to explore as much as I can because I find the world so interesting. Other games that are more focused on a rail road story, not necessarily a bad thing, are the ones I rush through a bit more when it comes to dungeons and levels.

[Lucian-MK-IV]

At 2/3/13 01:25 PM, Dean wrote: By the time I get mid-way through one game I feel compelled to start playing another...

I understand exactly what you feel. When i was younger i didn't get this feeling but now i get it very often. It's never really exactly in the middle of the game but there's always a certain point in a game that i reach after which the game just doesn't feel that much fun and i feel a strong urge to start another one. I have however found a solution to that problem and that is never to play just one game at a time. I started to play Fallout 3 again a while ago and since i knew that the "i want to start a new game" problem will occur i started to play Oblivion as well. That way i play Fallout 3 for a couple of days, then Oblivion, then some Fallout again etc. etc. etc., i'm kind of shuffling the games. Works well for me, i don't get bored with the games and i can play the way i want to, and that is 100% exploration. I've always been a "go everywhere, do everything" type of player, i love to explore ALL the things in a game.

[SatanBrain]

I explore everything. In fallout / elder scrolls I read every book. I listen to all dialogues. Pay attention to every detail. I usually set my priorities geographically, wherever I am led to, and financially, where the money is. Sometimes I will simply laungh an onslaught for entertainment. I also decorate my room with trophies. I download mods after the first gameplay.

[Dean]

At 2/4/13 02:26 AM, satanbrain wrote: In fallout / elder scrolls I read every book.

Now that's impressive. In Fallout 3 / Elder Scrolls I tend to collect the books but I never actually read them. By collect what I mean is that I dedicate a shelf in my house to hold all the books and I gather 1 copy of as many books as I can get my hands on. Thing is though, I never actually read most of them. There's one or two that I'll read, in the hope that it might reveal clues to a hidden item or something, but that's about it.

Bethesda's games are good examples of games that I actually play properly though. They make exploring fun because you're never quite sure what you're going to find. Now I want to go back and re-visit Fallout 3 but I have so many other games I'm wanting to play right now too.

[robotking98]

It depends on the type of game really. If it's something short that I can hunt for achievements for without wasting time, that's what I usually do. But if it's something like Skyrim where it's literally possible to sink hundreds of hours into it, I tend to just roam freely and do whatever suits me at the moment.

[simon]

I'll always take my time through a game. I've still not finished Pokemon Black.

[SatanBrain]

At 2/4/13 08:52 AM, Dean wrote:

At 2/4/13 02:26 AM, satanbrain wrote: In fallout / elder scrolls I read every book.

Now that's impressive. In Fallout 3 / Elder Scrolls I tend to collect the books but I never actually read them. By collect what I mean is that I dedicate a shelf in my house to hold all the books and I gather 1 copy of as many books as I can get my hands on.

So did I! I hope you did not read them due to a lack of time and not sloth. There were books I hated so I burned them (put a torch).

Thing is though, I never actually read most of them. There's one or two that I'll read, in the hope that it might reveal clues to a hidden item or something, but that's about it.

Aren't clues about the world you play in matter as well?

Bethesda's games are good examples of games that I actually play properly though. They make exploring fun because you're never quite sure what you're going to find.

Id est, how will you die.

Now I want to go back and re-visit Fallout 3 but I have so many other games I'm wanting to play right now too.

Replay fallout 3 now, lest you forget.

[orangebomb]

I usually take my time when playing most games, mostly due to the side-quests, achievement hunting, and sometimes collectible finding as well. I'm also getting used to not skipping the cut scenes {first time only} for the fear that I might miss something important to the story or character. In a shorter length game, I make it a rule to find everything that I can find and use it in one way or another in the game, where as in a long game, {such as an RPG} I'm more for sticking to the main path unless I need something badly in a side-quest that I can't get in the main quest.

[Ragnarokia]

At 2/3/13 01:25 PM, Dean wrote: So I'm curious, how do you guys play video games? Do you rush through them or take your time? Do you complete optional content or do you just do what you're told to do? Share your experiences.

I usually always go for getting involved as much as possible and drawn into the world. For example on games like Morrowind I will likely play completely differently each time I play the game just due to the choices I make and where I chose to explore and adventure, what guilds I end up joining and whatever quests and loot I find. I forsake the actual main story quests mostly and instead focus on making my character out to be whoever he/she is in the world.

When it comes to far less open games I will just try and complete as much as possible taking sidequests where able, exploring for every bit of loot I can find on RPGs and the like.

WHen it comes to completely linear games, then I just try and enjoy them as much as possible.

[TracyJacksonTAW]

In shooter games, I mainly do support and sniper functions. I guard the base and pick off anyone that attack the base/spawn/capture-point.

[SmartyPants]

At 2/4/13 05:31 PM, Ragnarokia wrote:

Morrowind I will likely play completely differently each time I play the game just due to the choices I make and where I chose to explore and adventure, what guilds I end up joining and whatever quests and loot I find. I forsake the actual main story quests mostly and instead focus on making my character out to be whoever he/she is in the world.

That is why I love the Elder Scrolls games. It is fun to experiment with different skills to make an awesome character and to choose different paths depending on how you want your character to be. Also, the area is huge enough to explore, find secrets, and many hidden treasures.

[scoutthesoldier]

I skip cutscenes, a lot of them are too long for me and I am just anxious to play the game. What was good about Half-Life 2 was that the story was told during the game, no cutscenes or anything (Unless you count the parts where you meet G-Man, but you can't skip those.)

[Klobb17]

At 2/3/13 03:58 PM, RightWingGamer wrote: For Instance, when I played Batman: Arkham City, I would always make sure I had completed all available sidequests before returning to the main story. That's more-or-less what I prefer to do with every game I play these days.

Funny, I do the exact same thing if the game presents the opportunity. I go after every single optional objective and side-quest possible before moving on with the main story. In Assassin's Creed 3 for example, I will reload to a checkpoint multiple times just to achieve an optional objective before resuming on the main one, not to mention the side missions you can do in that game as well.

Other than that, I find myself focusing on the story with complete intent on my first playthrough of a game, never skipping a cutscene or conversation if I can help it. Once I finish it the first time through, I'm then much, much more likely to skip a cutscene to get straight to the gameplay, since I already know the story anyway. I also used to rely on walkthroughs and GameFAQs and such in order to get through a game, be it to get 100% completion, find secrets, or just to advance with a little help, but now I seldom do such, not having any need to use them (I guess I got a bit smarter since then).

[KyleBryle]

Like I used to :)