Multitasking - What we do when we are in the game lobby. AKA what we do when we are between clan wars.
What up with video game bars? They need to change public domain law to let old games be emulated. It’s crazy.
Instead of Flight Simulator, how about “real life” simulators? Change a flat tire simulator? (Coach tire changer) Unclog a vacuum cleaner simulator? Find a wall stud simulator.
Games inside of games - games as an ecosystem
- What about DLCs? Why can I only buy (Microsoft dollars in 1000 increments and everything costs 1200?)
- Discussion - Microtransactions and loot boxes are predatory practices in games that can prey on those more susceptible to gambling addiction, or with poor impulse control.
Excerpts from the book Playing to Win: Becoming the Champion by David Sirlin
Introducing The Scrub
“The derogatory term "scrub" means several different things. One definition is someone (especially a game player) who is not good at something (especially a game). By this definition, we all start out as scrubs, and there is certainly no shame in that. Sirlin means the term differently, though. A scrub is a player who is handicapped by self imposed rules that the game knows nothing about. A scrub does not play to win.” (in skateboarding we used to call this type of person a poser.)
Example: “In Street Fighter, the scrub labels a wide variety of tactics and situations "cheap." This "cheapness" is truly the mantra of the scrub. Performing a throw on someone is often called cheap.”
“The scrub is only willing to play to win within his own made-up mental set of rules”
“Becoming a good video game player is the realization that playing to win means doing whatever most increases your chances of winning”
“Let's consider two groups of players: a group of good players and a group of scrubs. The scrubs will play "for fun" and not explore the extremities of the game. They won't find the most effective tactics and abuse them mercilessly. The good players will. The good players will find incredibly overpowering tactics and patterns.”