By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming Discussion - When Do A Game's 'Mundane' Activites Suck You In?

Games are a way to do things and experience sights that you will probably never (and hell, for your own safety, should never) actually attempt, whether it's having superpowers, fighting monsters in a fantasy environment, or simply being a total badass with a gun. You live a life of danger, intrigue, and all manner of derring-do...

...which sometimes involves getting drunk in a pub, playing darts terribly, and taking a taxi home with your date; this, of course, happening AFTER you just took down an entire crime family single-handedly, but BEFORE you destroyed a police chopper with an RPG while running around in full body armor.

Sometimes games that feature sensational fantasy lives throw in features or side activities that are just really... well, NORMAL. Even though they might not be that different to what you can accomplish in real life, and by extention should be dull beyond all measure, they end up kind of sucking you in, at least for a little while between missions or quests, offering a way for you to just kind of turn your brain off and relax within the game world. So rather than ask for your most epic memories in gaming, I was curious about the times where you ended up, somehow, getting drawn into doing something that, as far as the retelling around the watercooler goes, is really, reeeeally dull.

1) The most straightforward question I pose to you is, obviously, is are there any titles that come to mind where you spent God Knows how long playing a game FILLED with exciting, explosive moments... only you were spending a lot of that time watering the plants, feeding your e-cat, and occasionally reorganizing your collection of decorative skulls?

2) Looking at games that don't generally have such elements, can you think of titles, series or even genres that you sort of WANT to include a bit more of the mundane? Just think! 'Halo: Cataloguing The Armory Edition.' 'God Of War: Imma Be A Goat Herder DLC' 'Crackdown: Traffic Cop.' 'Mario: Time To FINALLY Start Doing Some Plumbing.'

For the first... don't even know where to start. I inevitably wander off the shiny, explosion-filled path and spend time poking around in-game bars, walking amidst the e-peasants without blowing them all to smithereens (well, for five minutes or so before I decide 'EVERYTHING BURNS') and having the most kick-ass armory/house I can afford, full of shiny swords, and/or guns, and/or knick-knacks. Because I needs knick-knacks. Skyrim and Oblivion were obviously horrible time sinks for me that way, but of course Minecraft involved me constantly reorganizing the placement of all my storage chests, thinking about aesthetics as well as functionality, and basically wanting everything to be really pretty. Also, not going to lie, most of my time playing GTA Online was spent, a) grinding money to buy the most expensive property, and then b) getting in-game stoned and watching in-game television. Because screw crime, I had mah crib. For a slightly more unusual example, (and this isn't so much 'mundane' as 'severaly limiting my potential abilities') I spent way longer in Prototype than I should have pretending I was a regular soldier and following around a random squad of soldiers deep in Infected territory, using nothing but my gun and basic fisticuffs (no powers, not even advanced agility or speed) to... well, mostly see how long my squaddies could go without being ganked. o.o ("BILLY! NOOOOOtakingyourgunthanks.") ...and occasionally spawning a hunter on the roof to speed their demise along a little! =D

As for the second part, oddly enough I've kind of been craving a superhero game that featured a heavy and enjoyable 'civilian identity side,' with a particular bonus to an open-world game that lets you wander around out of costume and just do normal, non-hero-y activities. Like all of Grand Theft Auto's non-criminal fluff, only with superpowers and spandex. It's odd and silly, of course, but even the prospect of keeping a secret identity, well, secret, not with a simple 'game over' screen but by making a failure to do so- be it accidental or a deliberate 'I Am Iron Man' moment- actually impact the dynamic of play. This would probably be best suited to an MMO style of game, like City of Heroes or Champions Online, where you could create a more flexible character rather than playing off a pre-established fella... heck, can you imagine a Make-Your-Own Hero game featuring an optional civilian identity side and the Nemesis system from Shadows of Mordor to randomly generate your roster of archvillains? =O SQUEE.

...going off on a tangent there. But yeah, in a game that involves having some form of 'normal civilian identity,' to contrast the super-powered, super-skilled, super-cool character we normally play, having a greater opportunity to play through that double life is something that interests me.



Zanten, Doer Of The Things

Unless He Forgets In Which Case Zanten, Forgetter Of The Things

Or He Procrascinates, In Which Case Zanten, Doer Of The Things Later

Or It Involves Moving Furniture, in Which Case Zanten, F*** You.

Around the Network
Zanten said:

1) The most straightforward question I pose to you is, obviously, is are there any titles that come to mind where you spent God Knows how long playing a game FILLED with exciting, explosive moments... only you were spending a lot of that time watering the plants, feeding your e-cat, and occasionally reorganizing your collection of decorative skulls?

Nice question.

I tend to explore the area completely even in action packed moments. I tend to make things anti-climatic. For example, in Gears of War I tend to look for secrets, dog tags and shit, even when there is an ambush ot something, so enemies would be like waiting for me to go forward. Sometimes the friend AI will kill some enemies before I arrive.

I waited long ours for chickens to put eggs in Resident Evil 4.

In Fallout 3/New Vegas, I would pick EVERY SINGLE item you can pick up in every area, put it in a particular place (locker, desk, trash can) and then take it all and walk (because when you carry too much weight you can't run) all the way to my hideout.



Nintendo is selling their IPs to Microsoft and this is true because:

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=221391&page=1

Effective stories are bipolar by nature. The player won't be that invested in the exciting over the top moments if the game didn't have some form of premeditation. And I believe even the player will just screw around in a game like that with side missions and activities if given the option.

The latest example is in the uncharted demo. After the manic action of the gameplay segment, the tired Drake went to a motel with his friends to reflect on what just happened. They were calm and collected while they gave an exposition on where the story was heading.

Perhaps a better example is in MGS3, where before and after each boss fight or an action scene the player can hunt and screw around in a sandboxish area without the interruption of other enemies. Even the third act started with an extremly hyper action orionted scene before the climax was reached where the game ended on a depressing note. 



.- -... -.-. -..

I like to fish and play poker in video games. There's usually some kind of reward for it other than some trophies. I often get absorbed into doing all sort of mundane things in a game but in some games for some reason I can't stand it. 



Aeolus451 said:

I like to fish...





Nintendo is selling their IPs to Microsoft and this is true because:

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=221391&page=1

Around the Network

The fallout thing of looking in filing cabinets for me. One day I'll find a gun. :)



Hmm, pie.

I used to hang out more in the Underground mining for treasure than the overworld in pokemon Diamond/Pearl.
I think I had more evolutionary stones than pokemon by the end of it. Needless to say minecraft enticed me greatly.



When I feel like I'm moving through the main story too fast.



I am the black sheep     "of course I'm crazy, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong."-Robert Anton Wilson

im not allowed to play in half of new vegas casinos..



In wow I used to go fishing every now and again and sometimes I would go to one end of a zone and just slowly walk through it. Both are pointless but I used to do it because it's relaxing doing something slow and pointless while listening to wows epic music