Fun or Skill?
I have written in the past about the video games we cannot play. The ones that require a keen understanding of a game’s mechanics, along with a strong degree of manual dexterity and situational awareness. Being 58 years old, I tend to have neither the co-ordination necessary to succeed or the patience to master such complex skill requirements. With this in mind, I recently watched a YouTube video for Chivalry 2 and thought, that looks like fun. The fact that it showed someone picking up a chicken and throwing it at an opponent is neither here nor there. However, after watching a few more videos I realised that combat in the game was complex and that, as usual, the reality of playing such a game would be different from my expectations. Hence, I came very close to not buying Chivalry 2. However, I eventually decided that I would, so I bought it for just under £10 from an online vendor.
I have written in the past about the video games we cannot play. The ones that require a keen understanding of a game’s mechanics, along with a strong degree of manual dexterity and situational awareness. Being 58 years old, I tend to have neither the co-ordination necessary to succeed or the patience to master such complex skill requirements. With this in mind, I recently watched a YouTube video for Chivalry 2 and thought, that looks like fun. The fact that it showed someone picking up a chicken and throwing it at an opponent is neither here nor there. However, after watching a few more videos I realised that combat in the game was complex and that, as usual, the reality of playing such a game would be different from my expectations. Hence, I came very close to not buying Chivalry 2. However, I eventually decided that I would, so I bought it for just under £10 from an online vendor.
So why did I change my mind? Because I fundamentally do not like the idea of there being a “skills gate”. It probably didn’t help that I watched a video by someone who had obviously spent a lot of time playing Chivalry 2 and they were rather contemptuous of newer players. They didn’t care for gamers that are happy to just potter about in the game and aren’t that fussed about mastering combat. But then again, I’ve no time for the fallacy of the “you’re playing the game wrong” mindset. Nor do I like self appointed gatekeepers. Excelling at a game is fine in itself but is it not an adjunct to playing and having fun? We don’t say to children “here is a sport or a musical instrument that you can learn but don’t bother even trying if you’re not going to strive for total excellence in it”. Society seems to be losing sight of the fact that enjoyment and fun are an integral part of many hobbies and pastimes. Everything doesn’t have to be competitive.
I regularly encourage my grandchildren to draw and paint. We sit down together and talk while doing something creative. The idea is to simply take pleasure in what you’re doing. No one judges anyone else’s work and you can always find positive comments to make. “That’s interesting, tell me about it” being a good line of enquiry. Children are happy to express themselves creatively and they only stop when someone says something critical or imposes rules on what they’re doing which leaches the fun out of the activity. Its the same with sport. As well as being enjoyable to play sports can teach other valuable social and moral lessons. However, it only takes a coach who takes things too seriously and a leisure activity becomes a chore. As a child I used to enjoy being in the school choir. We were fortunate to have a good musical director who favoured enthusiasm over perfection. Sadly, they retired and their replacement was a perfectionist who drove out at least half of the choir members.
Being skilful in a video game or trying to improve your gameplay is not a bad thing in itself. I have regularly played Battlefield 6 since its release last October and have overtime become nominally better at it. Familiarity with the maps, learning how weapons handle and using simple tactics have all contributed to improving my gameplay and the quality of my overall experience in game. However, all of this has been approached in a casual fashion. I certainly haven’t trained or formally practised and the object of each game played remains to be entertained. Today, I played my first 64 player game in Chivalry 2. I died a lot but it doesn’t matter. I was laughing out loud most of the time due to my incompetence and the absolute mayhem that was happening around me. Occasionally even I could get a kill on a veteran, due to being in the right place at the right time and my random play style. I’m sure it infuriated some players. The thought of which delighted me even more.
I will always play video games primarily for fun. Any improvement in my gameplay is simply due to increasing familiarity, rather than a concerted effort. If you’re the sort of player that wants to be the best of the best, then that is your prerogative. Just don’t make the mistake of thinking that your gaming philosophy is correct by default. It is just a subjective opinion and as such is simply one of many. There is certainly a debate to be had about how you efficiently match players with comparable skills or whether it is better to just throw everyone together. The problem with this area of discussion is that a definitive answer has still not been reached. However, playing against bots is an interesting halfway house and certainly something I favour when I don’t want the hassle of dealing with people. As for the issue of skill versus fun, they don’t have to be mutually exclusive but I believe that there relationship is asymmetrical and that fun is always the starting point and not vice versa.
