It’s the same thing as saying a good book can ruin your day when it’s over. Just because someone has an emotional attachment to a really good story, whether game, movie, or book, doesn’t mean they have a boring life.
It’s like saying “if artistic work/expression changes you, you’re a rube.” What changes you, if not expressive works? Who cares if games mostly describe tropes and isms. I’d argue almost the opposite of what you wrote, but this is the internet, and it’s a boring discussion. Bless up your house. Your experience of reality is constantly being shaped by the by your participation in sensation and your faculties of knowing.
A massage can change you, just as much as a really good meal, or a particular smell, or an advertisement. What is wrong (for lack of a better word) with being changed by an immersive experience in a video game? I guess my questions are: what allows us to validate certain types of experiences that others have, and invalidate others? It’s the prerogative of other minds, no? Do you or I dictate what is of vivifying value? Maybe not. My knowing of words, pictures, sounds, so on, is not yours. Dumb things exist that shape people’s personhood, from time to time. Peace out - I’m compelled to respond by my rejection of this kind of anti-experiential nihilism. I just drank like four beers. They are changing me, as a person.
Every single thing we do changes our lives, including posting throwaway comments on the internet. Games just tend to do it in ways people actually remember.
For pure entertainment or passive turn-brain-off type games I’m inclined to agree with you. Mario Party isn’t exactly changing lives out here.
Games that tell a story though, they can be extremely impactful just like any form of story. Through stories I myself have changed my world views, taken new perspectives in life. Star Trek The Next Generation’s season 6 episode Tapestry changed my outlook on risk taking especially in my professional life, my username reference to the Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask got me to overcome my extreme fear and anxiety of being rejected by friends. Was I much younger when I experienced those stories, sure, but they still changed the course of my life.
My day job is working on satellites, I’m a hobbyist carpenter, been teaching myself to play piano, frequently go camping/hiking into Colorado’s mountains, work on a project car, and sure this evening I’ve been playing Factorio but I’ve been doing so while sipping wine that I made myself.
You could call me many things, but I don’t think boring fits.
I understand that it sounds kind of hyperbolic, but I’ve played a few games that changed my life, and I consider myself to have normal emotional depth. I’ve played some games that simply affected me on a core level in ways I hadn’t felt since childhood.
I’m surprised you’re downvoted like this, but I had a similar thought. I understand the meme, that it is about the feeling when you finished a game with a story that made you involved. But calling it a “lifechanger” feels like exaggeration.
I have played a game that touched me deeply, leaving me emotionally out of my socket for about a week. But I wouldn’t say it “changed my life”. I can feel the echo of that experience when I remember, but that’s all.
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It’s the same thing as saying a good book can ruin your day when it’s over. Just because someone has an emotional attachment to a really good story, whether game, movie, or book, doesn’t mean they have a boring life.
Well yeah it’s one thing to have your day ruined, but changing who you are as a person? Come on.
It’s like saying “if artistic work/expression changes you, you’re a rube.” What changes you, if not expressive works? Who cares if games mostly describe tropes and isms. I’d argue almost the opposite of what you wrote, but this is the internet, and it’s a boring discussion. Bless up your house. Your experience of reality is constantly being shaped by the by your participation in sensation and your faculties of knowing.
A massage can change you, just as much as a really good meal, or a particular smell, or an advertisement. What is wrong (for lack of a better word) with being changed by an immersive experience in a video game? I guess my questions are: what allows us to validate certain types of experiences that others have, and invalidate others? It’s the prerogative of other minds, no? Do you or I dictate what is of vivifying value? Maybe not. My knowing of words, pictures, sounds, so on, is not yours. Dumb things exist that shape people’s personhood, from time to time. Peace out - I’m compelled to respond by my rejection of this kind of anti-experiential nihilism. I just drank like four beers. They are changing me, as a person.
Every single thing we do changes our lives, including posting throwaway comments on the internet. Games just tend to do it in ways people actually remember.
You’re saying a piece of art (song, book, movie, game, poem, painting, …) never left a lasting impression on you?
Booo. Terrible take.
For pure entertainment or passive turn-brain-off type games I’m inclined to agree with you. Mario Party isn’t exactly changing lives out here.
Games that tell a story though, they can be extremely impactful just like any form of story. Through stories I myself have changed my world views, taken new perspectives in life. Star Trek The Next Generation’s season 6 episode Tapestry changed my outlook on risk taking especially in my professional life, my username reference to the Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask got me to overcome my extreme fear and anxiety of being rejected by friends. Was I much younger when I experienced those stories, sure, but they still changed the course of my life.
My day job is working on satellites, I’m a hobbyist carpenter, been teaching myself to play piano, frequently go camping/hiking into Colorado’s mountains, work on a project car, and sure this evening I’ve been playing Factorio but I’ve been doing so while sipping wine that I made myself.
You could call me many things, but I don’t think boring fits.
I understand that it sounds kind of hyperbolic, but I’ve played a few games that changed my life, and I consider myself to have normal emotional depth. I’ve played some games that simply affected me on a core level in ways I hadn’t felt since childhood.
I’m surprised you’re downvoted like this, but I had a similar thought. I understand the meme, that it is about the feeling when you finished a game with a story that made you involved. But calling it a “lifechanger” feels like exaggeration.
I have played a game that touched me deeply, leaving me emotionally out of my socket for about a week. But I wouldn’t say it “changed my life”. I can feel the echo of that experience when I remember, but that’s all.
And what’s wrong with exaggeration? People say mind-blowing all the time when they learn something new. Do you get confused each time?
No. But for some reason I got confused this time.