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Speaking as a long-term gamer...
Feb. 20th, 2012 04:11 pm... in reference to this, I can only say that I'm much more on her side.
The fact is that RPG combat is fun SOMETIMES, but not always, and the same is true of puzzles, stunts you have to pull off, etc. in order to move along in the plot. I like playing games. I like exploring RPG and action-adventure worlds. I am NOT thrilled with thousands of random encounters just to pump my character up, or as just time-fillers in between getting to plot points. Sure, I have some fun with them, but I would *love* a "go past" button that was **PART OF THE GAME** (rather than my having to search the Intarwebz for cheat codes, etc.). I can't, for instance, play through the Lara Croft Tomb Raider games for the simple reason that I'm just not GOOD enough to get all those moves right all the time. In any complex sequence I'm almost guaranteed to screw something up. So why shouldn't I be able to just push a button and say "get me past this obstacle", or "Okay, no more encounter fights until I get to my destination" or even "make me invincible until I get past here"?
Why not?
After all, it's not like I'm cheating against another person. It's not like I'll get some strange advantage over other players. (though I would really, REALLY like a "SUPERNOOB" button for playing in MMORPGs, so that if I were to play one I wouldn't have to worry about some loser schmuck with no life who likes killing other people's PCs for fun.). But for at-home RPG/adventure games? Why shouldn't I be able to just skip to the plot points if that's what I bought the game for (and it is). I don't BUY games for game mechanics. Those are by FAR the least interesting parts of a game -- in fact, they can be the negative parts of the game, if it's a pain in the ass for me to learn new mechanics. (It's nice that, for instance, Fallout, Oblivion, Skyrim etc. have very similar mechanics, so I don't have to change everything I do whenever I shift games).
The assholes (and I use the term advisedly) railing against this are just plain stupid. No one's going to make THEM use the "Easy Button".
The fact is that RPG combat is fun SOMETIMES, but not always, and the same is true of puzzles, stunts you have to pull off, etc. in order to move along in the plot. I like playing games. I like exploring RPG and action-adventure worlds. I am NOT thrilled with thousands of random encounters just to pump my character up, or as just time-fillers in between getting to plot points. Sure, I have some fun with them, but I would *love* a "go past" button that was **PART OF THE GAME** (rather than my having to search the Intarwebz for cheat codes, etc.). I can't, for instance, play through the Lara Croft Tomb Raider games for the simple reason that I'm just not GOOD enough to get all those moves right all the time. In any complex sequence I'm almost guaranteed to screw something up. So why shouldn't I be able to just push a button and say "get me past this obstacle", or "Okay, no more encounter fights until I get to my destination" or even "make me invincible until I get past here"?
Why not?
After all, it's not like I'm cheating against another person. It's not like I'll get some strange advantage over other players. (though I would really, REALLY like a "SUPERNOOB" button for playing in MMORPGs, so that if I were to play one I wouldn't have to worry about some loser schmuck with no life who likes killing other people's PCs for fun.). But for at-home RPG/adventure games? Why shouldn't I be able to just skip to the plot points if that's what I bought the game for (and it is). I don't BUY games for game mechanics. Those are by FAR the least interesting parts of a game -- in fact, they can be the negative parts of the game, if it's a pain in the ass for me to learn new mechanics. (It's nice that, for instance, Fallout, Oblivion, Skyrim etc. have very similar mechanics, so I don't have to change everything I do whenever I shift games).
The assholes (and I use the term advisedly) railing against this are just plain stupid. No one's going to make THEM use the "Easy Button".
