What Do You Get Out Of Gaming?
Recently, I wrote a little ditty involving a brief diatribe on completionism in gaming. Now as I said previously, I personally am not a "completionist" gamer. The fun in gaming for me is not getting every possible thing I can in the game, the fun in gaming is just that, the fun. However, I will admit to a certain level of satisfaction whenever I hear that little pop/hum/whistle and a reminder jumps on-screen telling me just what a good little gamer I am. That being said, achievements and the like are not the end all be all for me, nor do I suspect are they the end all be all for most completionist gamers.
However, it would appear that a few people are starting to ask the question, "What does my gamerscore buy me?". I, being the snarky gonzo journo that I am, am more than willing to answer that question. A gamerscore buys you nothing, absolutely nothing, other than a healthy sense of self satisfaction and a round of self back-patting that is several rounds of stretching away from auto-fellatio. And yet, even though the answer to "Why is my leetness not being fully appreciated?" seems so glaringly obvious, a few of the gimme-gimme generation (of which I count myself one) have the testicular fortitude to ask such a question.
Does no one remember the days when actually playing a game was it's own reward? I and many like myself have spent countless hours in front of TV screens (causing irreparable vision damage) simply enjoying ourselves, never to ask the question, "Well what is Game Company X doing for me?" The answer to such an arrogant question seems so obvious, Game Company X has already done for you. The fruits of their labor rest in your hot little hands. While the idea of getting free games for having an obscenely high gamerscore seems awfully nice in theory, expecting something along those lines borders on spoiled bratitude and conjures images of bleach blonde teutonic gamers angry at not being paid homage too on schedule.
Keep in mind everyone, this is a symbiotic relationship. We feed the industry and the industry feeds us. Free stuff is all well and good but greed looks bad on everyone, especially someone in a Cheeto's-dust stained button-up dragon shirt. So Geektomites, what do you get out of gaming? Is it the hope of something free, do you simply enjoy games for the joy of gaming, or do you follow Furniss' lead and give in to your base nature of obsessive-compulsive completionism?
via (although really more in response to) Why Do You Achieve?
