Sunday, August 29, 2010

Have fun PROPERLY damn it!

Well, my missus' last post was about all the things I don't understand about her, but her first part of the post, the part about her liking to play GTA has opened a can of worms.

When Sunny plays GTA, she doesn't actually play the game, she just likes to walk around and explore the city.

I can completely understand her having no interest in the missions because, at least to me, the missions are only a small part of the enjoyment of the game. With any GTA game, 90% of the fun is just running around and seeing what you can do (Leaping from a helicopter without a parachute, doing a massive jump on a motorcycle, firing a rocket launcher at a busy intersection, etc.)

The thing is, when I say Sunny walks around Liberty city, I mean she walks. In a game called 'Grand Theft Auto', she avoids driving cars. This is mostly because she has difficulty driving them (I don't think she ever got her head around how the right trigger is analogue and works like a gas pedal, so in effect, she's either completely off the gas or has her foot down all the way).

When I tried to teach her this and get her to drive some cars, Sunny took that as me trying to get her to do what she's supposed to do rather than what she likes to do. I can understand her reasoning. To her, running around the city is fun, driving isn't, so why would she want to drive? I'm stopping her having fun to try to get her to do something she doesn't like.

But that's not it at all. I'm not trying to get her to play the game 'as intended'…I just know from experience that if she perseveres with the controls a little bit and gets the hang of driving, which would take ten or fifteen minutes tops, it opens up a ton more options and makes the game even more fun.

So, when I'm watching Sunny play a game, I try to show her something and her response is usually along the lines of: "Look, I don't want to do that, I'm having fun like this. Why can't you just leave me to it?"

The honest answer? I can't just leave her to it, because it's so frustrating. I know she's having fun, but she's not having anywhere near the fun she could be having.

I know that makes me sound pedantic, I know it makes me sound like an idiot jumping up and down because she's not having fun properly…but what it boils down to is Sunny wants me to leave her alone when she's playing a game because she's having fun and she sees me as trying to get her to do something that is less fun. I, on the other hand, know that if she'd put up with the 'less fun' bit for ten minutes, it'd open up a whole new experience that would blow the experience she's having right out of the water.

In my defense, you really have to understand Sunny's personality. Most of her favorite TV shows now are ones I introduced her to, and she downright hated every single one of them the first time I tried to get her to watch them. Through fair means and foul I gradually introduced them into our TV schedule, until today, some of the shows she absolutely despised (Such as Doctor Who, Little Britain and Leverage) are her absolute favorites.

So, yeah, this isn't me getting frustrated because Sunny isn't playing games 'properly', or that she should enjoy things in the same way I do…it's that, like with the TV shows, I know she'll absolutely love something if she perseveres with it for a little while. There's this whole awesome experience I want to share with her.

It's like taking someone to a restaurant that has awesome food from all over the world that serves hundreds of dishes that they've never tried before, but you know they'll absolutely love. You're excited about getting to introduce them to this stuff and you can't wait to watch them try all these delicious dishes for the first time. It's going to be amazing, you've got all these things you can't wait to share…

…Then they order a burger and fries…and you're like "No, try the Chicken Jalfrezi! You'll love it, I promise! It's got all the spices you like and comes with…" and they cut you off and say "Look, I like burgers. I know I like burgers. Why can't you just leave me alone and let me enjoy my burger?"

"But they've got this thing that you'll…"

"Burger."

"But it comes with this awesome…

"Burger."

"But if you just tried…"

"Burger."

That's what it feels like.


 


 

2 comments:

Evan 08 said...

burger.

Sunny said...

LOL- I KNOW how you feels, sweetie..... BUT- I DO try the driving part- no- I don't spend hours trying it, but every time I've ever picked up the controller with GTA- and I am absolute SHITE at the driving. I spend a pure 95% of the time crashing or getting wedged into or up against some thing or another and to me that's just FRUSTRATING as HELL. When I PLAY a GAME- I want to do just that- PLAY- and to me, getting frustrated over and over and OVER isn't playing a game-which should be RELAXING- it's just building up more of the annoyances I was trying to get rid of in he first place. THAT's why I walk around and beat up the hobos in GTA. Taking out my frustrations and relaxing a bit.

I played ZELDA the same way- I actually PLAYED the game just the way it was designed to be played JUST long ENOUGH to get to the mini fishing game in it. That fishing game was more relaxing to me than the rest of the game- so when I picked it up- I went straight there and left it. I tried going further in the game- but again- frustration of doing the same part over and over and over and not being able to advance any further is NOT FUN to me!! I have enough frustration in my life without having my fun going down that same path..... and as for frustrating things- this damn keyboard that drops every SINGLE "T" unless you bang it with a hammer is about to "feel" my frustration .....Not to mention my WRATH!!!!!!
I need a ciggie and a DRINK...or THREE!!!!!

*Today's verification word is "VersusU" It couldn't be more appropriate.*