New Poll: Freedom to Fail

This new poll ties in with today's Games post. Most of the people who come here are gamer hobbyists, so I don't expect to find many advocates for Freedom to Fail. It'll certainly be interesting to see how many - if any - choose this option.

Comments

[Neil]

Well saying (admitting) you want to fail is hard :-) I was much happier with the third option.

[Joe Tortuga]

I consider myself a "hardcore" gamer, although that may not be true. I have games I want to "get everything" but appreciate the ones where I can advance without having to do it all.

What I don't want is to hit some task, some room or sequence of enemies that is too hard to get past. That I have to try again and again to get past and continually fail. Often the only choice is to quit and walk away.

It's that kind of thing that keeps me from buying as many games as I used to (and with GameFly for console games and GameTap for some (older) PC games it's possible); why would I want a game where I get halfway in and then can't play anymore -- it stops being fun at that point

[Bezman]

I see the poll as having two parts - 'Do you want the freedom to fail? If not, choose between choices 1-4 (having started from the end).'

Neil - I don't want to fail but I'd rather have that option than find a stumbling block (difficulty spike or otherwise) half-way through a game that renders me unable to continue.

Sorry for shifting from the topic slightly, but there's another side of the same coin - freedom to retry/improve. In 'literal', narrative-based games, any option to replay small sections over and over may be jarring, yet in the more abstract offerings there seems no reason to not allow players to retry a level they just completed - whether in order to get a better score, winning 'in their own eyes' or simply because that level was particularly enjoyable for them. I've been surprised at the absence of this option a few times in certain 'casual games'.

[Chris]

Neil: I did wonder about this - but apparently it hasn't discouraged everyone. ;)

Joe: "What I don't want is to hit some task, some room or sequence of enemies that is too hard to get past. That I have to try again and again to get past and continually fail. Often the only choice is to quit and walk away."

It is awesome to hear you say this! If game literate people such as yourself feel this way, it's a virtual certainty the wider audience feels similarly.

Bezman: I agree that there are other "player rights" that might be afforded, including the capacity to replay favourite sections of gameplay.

I wouldn't want to *enforce* a gaming bill of rights on anyone, but it might be an interesting exercise to draw up an "advisory declaration".

I shall mull... ;)

Thanks for the comments!

[Anon]

I don't want to have to give up when a challenge is too hard for me. I've bought the game to be entertained, dammit! Give me my entertainment, and that includes all the content.

But then I regard myself as a casual gamer, despite the hours that World of Warcrack eats.

[Rik]

If I believe the game's good enough, then "Never Give Up!" is still my credo. I tend to apply this 'life lesson' more widely as well, despite the fact I learnt it from Altered Beast. ;) (& because of this fact, it has huge humour value to me, which probably only enhances my 'belief' in it! :P)

[Chris]

Anon: I'm quite sure many people share your ire in this regard... it's interesting to get a glimpse of just how many people feel this way!

Rik: I too tend to throw myself resolutely at a game - but I may end up hating the game because of it. Case in point: I finished 'Metroid Prime', but in doing so I lost any desire to play another Metroid Prime game.

Best wishes!