Video Games Are Bad at Explaining Themselves
Video games as a genre are extremely poor at explaining themselves. When you buy a new game you’ll often find little or no information regarding the basic systems and mechanics. The industry assumes that their customers are by default familiar with the fundamentals of playing a modern video game. Hence if a game has a tutorial, it is often based around videos rather than detailed verbal instructions. You are are briefly shown a clip of a specific move being successfully undertaken but it is seldom shown in a wider context. The industry also expects the fan community to take on the role of curating and disseminating information about its games. The move away from forums and bespoke websites to Discord highlights this. Discord is a primarily a real time communication tool and not good at maintaining a historical data archive. If you want an answer to a specific gaming question, you’ll more than likely find it on YouTube in a video made by a fellow gamer.
Video games as a genre are extremely poor at explaining themselves. When you buy a new game you’ll often find little or no information regarding the basic systems and mechanics. The industry assumes that their customers are by default familiar with the fundamentals of playing a modern video game. Hence if a game has a tutorial, it is often based around videos rather than detailed verbal instructions. You are are briefly shown a clip of a specific move being successfully undertaken but it is seldom shown in a wider context. The industry also expects the fan community to take on the role of curating and disseminating information about its games. The move away from forums and bespoke websites to Discord highlights this. Discord is a primarily a real time communication tool and not good at maintaining a historical data archive. If you want an answer to a specific gaming question, you’ll more than likely find it on YouTube in a video made by a fellow gamer.
This issue has been highlighted recently as I’ve watched my grandchildren try new games on my computer. They play primarily on their phones or the Nintendo Switch 2. Hence their major frame of reference are interacting with games via a touch screen or a controller. As a result, PC gaming via a keyboard and mouse is quite abstract for them and also physically difficult for their small hands. The problem is further compounded by their often being no viable tutorial directly available in the games they play. My PC having two monitors helps in so far as you can run a video on one screen while playing a game on another but videos are often a lottery. Information is not always up to date and not everyone who creates YouTube content are skilled communicators. Furthermore, although it is useful to have access to online resources, this does explain or justify why a game such as Fall Guys does not have an integral tutorial?
When playing Roblox with my granddaughters, I often ask them how to do a specific task in games such as 99 Nights in the Forest. Sometimes they’ll know and other times they will not. Most of their knowledge comes from “just trying things” which can be a great way to learn but it can leave you with serious gaps in your knowledge. This matter is compounded as I play with them on the PC, which often has different or even additional controls. Online searches have sometime led to all of us finding out something that we previously didn’t know. Discovering information this way can be fun but it can also be very frustrating. I hit a brick wall today trying to figure out exactly how you used the various game passes in Chivalry 2. I eventually found a Reddit post that cogently explained the specific steps required to activate the pass and how you subsequently accessed unlocked gear. Again, isn’t providing such information incumbent on the developers?
I was going through my bric-a-brac cupboard recently and found the installation disks for several games from the middle 2000s. All had comprehensive manuals. In fact the in-depth instructions that came with the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online where so well written, I chose to play the Lore-master class purely on the strength of the written summary. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (the 2009 version) has an excellent tutorial level dovetailed into the start of the game, where you’re character has to visit the firing range to undertake basic weapons proficiency. It’s an excellent example of seamlessly integrating practical instruction into a game and making it part of the story and overall experience. If you remember such things, it is a stark contrast to how things are done these days. The videos game industry’s casual attitude towards having to explain themselves to their paying customers seems a least, ill considered and at worse, frankly disrespectful.
However, let us end on a positive note. As I was writing this post I collated a list of games that I’ve played over the last twelve months. Most of which were completely new to me at the time. After some consideration, I remembered that those games that made the best effort to school new players in their respective gameplay, were often so called AA titles. Sniper Elite: Resistance has a bespoke level at the start of the game that provides examples of the most essential mechanics and systems. Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon integrates a tutorial into the game prologue as you character escapes incarceration. The more I think about it, the biggest offenders for not making any effort to explain themselves are once again, the big triple A game developers. However, the tide of public opinion is beginning to change against this sector of the video game industry. Perhaps this in another potential lesson that can be added to an already lengthy list, that they can learn.
The Elder Scrolls Online and Action Combat
I was recently gifted a copy of Summerset in The Elder Scrolls online by a friend. Naturally this act of generosity lead to me returning to the game. Although I participated in the beta test, I only seriously started playing ESO from January to July last year. I created a High Elf Sorcerer and levelled to the current cap of 50 and then started working on gaining Champion Points, which currently stand at 187. Although I enjoyed the experience, especially from a narrative perspective, I did struggle to a degree with the action combat. It can be a quite a culture shock playing ESO after years of traditional, older MMOs that have a more static combat system. There is a tendency to default to old habits and ways that frequently leads to mistakes. Older MMOs often share common key mappings and system methodologies. ESO often flies in the face of that, so you find yourself having to “unlearn what you have learned” to coin a phrase. It can be done and you can adapt. I managed last year but now, due to the time elapsed, I am now having to do so again.
I was recently gifted a copy of Summerset in The Elder Scrolls online by a friend. Naturally this act of generosity lead to me returning to the game. Although I participated in the beta test, I only seriously started playing ESO from January to July last year. I created a High Elf Sorcerer and levelled to the current cap of 50 and then started working on gaining Champion Points, which currently stand at 187. Although I enjoyed the experience, especially from a narrative perspective, I did struggle to a degree with the action combat. It can be a quite a culture shock playing ESO after years of traditional, older MMOs that have a more static combat system. There is a tendency to default to old habits and ways that frequently leads to mistakes. Older MMOs often share common key mappings and system methodologies. ESO often flies in the face of that, so you find yourself having to “unlearn what you have learned” to coin a phrase. It can be done and you can adapt. I managed last year but now, due to the time elapsed, I am now having to do so again.
With MMOs such as The Lord of the Rings Online or Star Trek Online, combat is based around Tab Targetting. By pressing the tab key you highlight the nearest enemy and if you continue to press, cycle through all potential threats in the immediate vicinity. Once you’ve selected your target of choice you can attack it by using the skills on your hotbar. Due to Hard Locking, unless there’s an algorithm designed to make you occasionally miss, you will never do so. It’s a practical and straight forward form of combat. Hitting your enemy is not exactly difficult, although it can be argued that the expertise lies in the choice of skills used and their specific rotation. Different enemies with different buffs, strengths and weakness need to be approached accordingly.
The FPS genre offers a far more taxing approach to combat. Favouring a No lock system, the player is required to accurately aim a reticule to efficiently land hits upon a target. This is approach requires a level of skill right from the get-go and is very dependent upon the player’s situational awareness and reflexes. It’s one of the reasons I don’t play such games much these days as I have slowed with age. However, MMOs with action combat such as ESO have compromised with both Tab Targetting and No Lock mechanics. Although the tab key will select an enemy, and the reticule has to be aimed, there is a degree of assistance provided. Hence if your aim is slightly off, yet broadly in the right direction, then your attacks will reach the target although there may be a reduction in efficiency, the more your aim is out. This Soft Lock system requires a more mobile approach to combat. Standing your ground and key mashing is far from effective. Soft Lock also means that ranged attacks will ignore obstacles in the way, such as other mobs.
The net result of the fluid combat in ESO is that players have to be aware when to attack and when to defend. Dodging is essential in certain situations. Blocking via the right mouse button is also important in melee combat or close quarter situations. Then there are different types of primary attacks, other than your hotbar skills. The left mouse button governs attack types. Tap it once for light attack and hold it down for heavy. What you have to learn is to how to manage combat for your class. You have to consider your enemy and their skills so you can work out an appropriate strategy. Navigating the PVE content may not be too taxing but much of the group instance content does require a measured approach. Again, old school key mashing tends not to work and will result in death, inconvenience and in extreme cases, rage quitting.
As I’ve already mentioned, it is entirely possible to adapt to this contemporary approach to MMO combat but it require practise. There are lots of common mistakes that are made while trying to embrace this new methodology. Having the reticule on the screen is perhaps the primary difference that old school MMO players may immediately struggle with. I instinctively try to click on skills and instead simply find my character rotating or accidently attacking whatever is nearby. It takes a while to press the “.” key first to bring up the mouse arrow. The simple act of aiming takes a while to become second nature. It can also seem odd swapping between weapons type in mid-combat. However there are certain advantages to be had over old style MMO combat. The reduction in hotbar skills and the nature of action combat means that induction animations tend to be relatively quick and players are less likely to get caught out by Animation Lock. ESO also spares players from excessive and superfluous skills bloat on the hotbar by imposing limits.
Because there has been a year long gap in my playing ESO, when I logged in the other night, I was naturally rusty with regards to basic key mapping and navigating the UI. Furthermore, I had completely forgotten whether I had assigned some of my addons to the keyboard or the mouse. However, I found once again that Dolmen Farming was not only profitable, but useful as a training environment. So I immediately travelled to the Alik’r Desert and spent some time bouncing between the three Dolmen’s that regularly appear there. As for action combat, I have mixed feelings about it. This mobile approach is more credible and suits the idiom of the Elder Scrolls IP. But it does present a slightly higher barrier to entry than older, more static combat systems. Yet it also creates an additional motivation for co-operative play and grouping. If you find that the subtleties of fighting in ESO allude you, there is safety to be found in numbers.
