When Do A Game's 'Mundane' Activites Suck You In?

[Zanten]

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.