Idle Weekend December 3, 2016: The One Hundred Percenters

[Chris]

Idle Weekend December 3, 2016:

The One Hundred Percenters
This weekend, we're talking about the pleasure and queasy terror of games that make us want to find every last drop of #content. Based on our Dishonored 2 and Mafia 3 experiences, and the horrible FOMO feelings that we carry, we need a little help. 

Discussed: Dishonored 2, Mafia 3, Batman: Arkham Origins, Alien: Isolation,  This War of Mine, Firewatch,  Dark Souls 3, Sunless Sea, Waitress, The Arrival, Search Party (and a story spoiler warning for Oxenfree!)

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[aoanla]

I'm a bit sad that there's no comments on the thread for this show yet - the whole discussion of performance-anxiety caused by "detailed score reports" from modern games really struck home for me. It's definitely something which affects me - along with the side-effects of morality systems misjudging incompetence for mal-intent - and makes me much less likely to stick with a game. (Not because the game isn't good, but because it's making me feel bad by pointing how how bad I am at it.)

 

For a recent example, and one which is kinda relevant, I didn't finish Dishonored (the first one), because the later missions were too hard for me. But, the issue wasn't really that they were "too hard" - I am pretty sure I could have done the "Daud/Assassins/Whale district" mission, if I wasn't playing stealthily, and took lethal options - but that they were too hard whilst sticking to the options I felt limited to due to the game's morality system* and stat tracking judging me. It sucked a bit a lot of fun out of the game for me, and I'm strongly inhibited from buying Dishonored 2 because of the same effect. 

 

*the other "issue" with Dishonored is that the morality is also enforced for me by the goriness of lethal options. Even if it wasn't judging me on a screen / by Chaos level, it's still judging me by making lethal options visually unpleasant, and almost sadistic.