Gaming's Anhedonia — GGDB
Anhedonia: A State of Mind in which the subject finds no pleasure in anything.
Introduction:
I find myself writing this article because I feel like this is a subject that many of us may be struggling with, a sense of apathy towards gaming, so much that you stop caring about playing video games so much so that you neglect many things that once gave us some modicum of joy in your days, especially for someone like me and my friends struggle with a certain government that oppresses everyone and starves its people along with the fact that you risk 20+ years of jail time for 'Hate Speech'
As such, this article won't be a long one by any means, I hope to make it a quick example as well as pointing out the issues that lead to this moment. Without further ado, however, let's get this one started.
Act I The Bare Minimum
The main factor to all of this probably has to do with the plethora of issues that have been plaguing the gaming industry in the last few months or even last few years if I am being completely honest, it is something that has really been heartbreaking to experience which is the fact that they all seem to be too focused on other factors to really release something that is worthy of our money and even our time.
Beyond that, within that plethora of issues, finds itself situated a couple of issues such as a seeming lack of a soul in many of these games, games as a service taking away from the overall experience because they can seemingly sell these games in parts instead of releasing things that have been part of the gaming industry for a while now, and it has proven profitable because - in my opinion - it all has to do with a new generation of gamers and players that either came from the popularity certain games had in the mainstream or even because they had never experienced older games such as Knights of the Old Republic, Jedi Academy, etc.
Games that are anomalies nowadays instead of proper games as they once were, nevertheless, these issues plague the gaming industry and I believe they are the cause of some of our apathy - or anhedonia - towards today's gaming industry.
Money Exchanged Passion:
Simple, with the coming of passion and the realisation that the gaming industry was profitable came the steadfast replacement of passion for playing it safe amongst developers, people that once were known for the boundary-breaking ideas such as Bungie or even Infinity Ward and Treyarch or Valve have become a mere reflection of what they once were.
With their jobs as innovators being retaken by the indie devs out there that don't have to worry about the boundary and instead have to worry about how to make the best game possible - with the obvious money mongering exceptions here and there - the triple A titles have become a joke to the industry, scripted, downgrades, playing it safe. Seeing games and developers such as Santa Monica, R6 Team or 343 and more (Yes, the dreaded 343 Industries to many) be so passionate about their products and transparent with their communities as best as humanly possible is an anomaly in the current state of the gaming industry and that is the crux of the issue.
Everyone is so concerned with playing it safe and making the games they know will sell, instead of making the games they really want to make and succeeding because they made the best game they could possibly make while taking chances and bringing meaning back to innovation. But just like movies and Hollywood, once an immense budget and profit are at stake, the boundaries shrink, and it is not in the best interest to innovate but to continue to make things that will sell.
And so, money replaces passion.
Lack of Original Ideas:
A lack of generally original ideas copycats, copycats, and more copycats.
What exactly do I mean by this? Obviously, I mean that we have hit a state of creative bankruptcy, and not entirely by choice and more so as an extension of my former point we have hit a deep and unrelenting hole where we are in a constant fight to see who can make the better game with the same idea over and over again, not because it is a good idea, but because it is safe, catering to a majority that will buy into that specific idea no matter how many times it is redone.
We saw it with DayZ, we saw it with Battle Royale, and we even saw it with Doom. But the difference between now and back when FPS' were generally considered 'Doom Clones' by definition to a point where even Star Wars jumped on the genre with its own title Star Wars Dark Forces, the difference, however, is that right now, we have hit a point of no innovation. A point where stagnation is more profitable than innovation.
Which leads me to my subsequent point
Microtransactions:
This section is entirely self-describable. The new cool kid in the block, the kid that earns money no matter how bad they are or how good they are because they are in the fine line between convenience and P2W which many people that cannot usually play a game full time have been relishing in, because while you cannot naturally progress you have the option to spend just a little bit more towards a goal.
In such cases, you have weapons in Multiplayer, Single Player progression, and more. Which does not push away this sense of apathy and as such it has aided a lack of proper care and has further separated our games from their humble beginnings, where fun and innovation mattered more than just profit.
It has helped to tarnish the soul in our games.
Missing a Soul:
With the previously discussed points, you can probably make up a mental image of what exactly this last section means. And of course, when you couple all of those together you start seeing the issue, you start to become aware of just how coaxed and asphyxiated the entire deal is.
Games are being robbed of their soul. As they become more of a senseless product where fun or even artistic expression is devoid of all common existence you start to asphyxiate your choices and you begin to kill passion, creativity and fun out of it.
Gaming Anhedonia starts to rise, and you get exactly where we are.
Act II Politics and Gamers
This is a struggle and battle of wits that has been going on since times unknown, a push for a political ecosystem in a community that was never concerned with it, and many sought out gaming as an escape from real life, from social politics to threats of violence, the Gaming Community has had many threats lobbed at it and many have failed while others actively seek out to take a deep grip from the conversation and steer it their own way to their own leisure. These are socio-political issues that come with the many environments that have plagued the community.
And I am not talking about women because women have and always took part in the gaming community even when it was a bad stereotype, from a time where gamers were seen as failures to society.
These are issues that are started by people that come from outside, and they are things that threaten to destroy things as we know it. Melodramatic, I know, but these are issues such as the forced inclusion of certain kinds of people instead of natural inclusion, as I have spoken before in my Storyteller's Crates, they have taken a deep hold of the writing community and it does desire to take a hold of the gaming community. Which in my opinion, these things do contribute to a status of Gaming Anhedonia.
Violence:
Of course, this debate has been alive almost as long as I have known this Earth. Can violent video games make you violent?
The answer is no, but that won't stop any amount of politicians from Hillary Clinton, to Chavez to Trump and beyond from saying that they actually do make you violent, because short-term memory is a bitch and well, gotta subscribe to your own agenda.
I've been living in a country where just about everything makes you violent, which is the entire purpose of this piece, to showcase a deep flaw in the industry that I have been seeing, without holding anything back.
But, nonetheless, I resort to violent games to relax throughout the worst of days. Yet still, I have never desired to kill anybody. Which is not something I can say for the poor kids in my country that have to resort to criminality because they don't have enough in their lives.
Nevertheless, we carry on, in this ever continuous fight against video games.
Sexism:
A never-ending battle of the supposedly righteous vs evil, a movement to change gaming as we know it in a manner that makes it correct for one group that feels like it stands above all others, the notion that you can receive sexism through the lens of a video game is more often than not idiotic to say the least. In a manner where an animation can actually constitute real rape to some and even the allegations that bullying only happens to those of a certain sex.
It is nothing but, while yes, there's a rampant part of everybody (Including women) that are compelled to insult people over video games in the most wretched and heavy hitting insults they can find is true, it is not aimed at just one sex. Women have always been a part of gaming in the eras I have been a part of it, while, obviously men were more prevalent in the gaming scene but there have always been women alongside them.
Beyond that, everyone has been harassed through video games, including yours truly. Not only that, but I am also sure that we have all also been the harassers at least once.
Act III Games To Play
With such a deep seeded status of Gaming Anhedonia, I have set out to idealise a short list of games that have kept me going even in the face of the worst gaming titles of the year, many are, indeed, old games. But as such, I wanted to provide you all with some help as well, because while I know that I am going through this as well I know for a fact that I am, indeed, not alone.
Some of these games may surprise you, others may not, but in the end this is my own list, if you want after you're done reading this article you can build your own list and send it to me, perhaps we can brush off ideas and create a discussion as well as appreciation for games that we have never either played or have and never really cared for.
Quake III Arena
Quake Live
Unreal Tournament
Battlefield 2
Battlefield 2142
Battlefield Bad Company
Battlefield Bad Company 2
God Of War (2018 one)
Rainbow Six Siege
Detroit Become Human
Marathon
Marathon Durandal
Marathon Infinity
Insurgency
Day of Defeat: Source
Far Cry 2
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
Star Wars: Dark Forces
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Star Wars: Republic Commando
Stellaris
Supreme Commando
Command & Conquer
Halo 2 Project Cartographer
Halo Custom Edition
Ruiner
Hotline Miami
Doom
If you haven't tried at least one of these games, I highly encourage you to try them out, you could be surprised with a good time even today.
Act IV Conclusions
In conclusion, gaming has hit a depression, some kind of great depression in the midst of its golden age, from here on out we have some amazing ideas being made but many are nothing if they don't have a soul, with games like Destiny and its sequel, Battlefront II, Call of Duty WWII, all of them following the same layout of a bare minimum amount of passion that certainly shows, with money and socio politics taking over the landscape you mix up a ticking bomb that is only a matter of time before it actually explodes.
We must heal our games. We must retake our passion. But that won't be done overnight and as such one must continue to stand up for what is right. Continue to call out the shady businesses. Don't become complacent with the current status of the industry, we can be better, but it is being robbed of its passion.
Not to be melodramatic and sound like I am calling for some kind of revolution, but something must be done, or there is a point where there's just no coming back. We must find a balance between profitable and passion, and as it stands right now? We're incredibly far from it.
Author's Notes
That brings this certainly personal article to an end, I apologize for the lack of content and more or less one per month basis that I have been working with all of a sudden, but I hope to be able to get back in full force as I have been regaining my passion little by little.
This sense of lack of direction has really kicked me and so I have been aimless even in my work, but I have been focusing more on my art work with my best friend Josh more than anything these past two months.
I thank you all for your continued support, I'm still here and working hard <3
As per with the changes made to my Patreon reward tiers, as I have created a new selection of recognition rewards coming with the Lucky Bois ($7), Dem Buckos ($10) Holy Bois ($20), Rat Knights ($50). I'm sorry for the guys that used to be recognised for the $5 tier but I decided to put it up a bit more, while I still figure out my schedule and what else to provide you guys with!
LuckyBois:
Robert ThanMuffin Nels Jones ULTRAMANZX
As always, stay safe, be on the lookout, and keep hunting boys and girls.
- HaruspexOfHell
