Top 4 Common Prejudices About Games We Play Online

01 Gamers and the rest of humanity are divided by some ephemeral characteristic that makes us and them, not us. It is unavoidably there, though I can never quite put my finger on it. We look at a portion of what makes us tick to get closer to that fundamental attribute of giving today.

We specifically look at what motivates various types of gamers to engage in the pastime. Although every gamer has a motivation for playing, some commonalities bind the experience together.

02 The difficulty of a game might inspire many players. Any of a wide range of skills may determine success in a game. Twitch reflexes, a steady hand, and the capacity to maintain composure under duress are necessary for a first-person shooter.

A word puzzle game may call on a wide vocabulary and the capacity to consider new applications for dated words, but it makes no mention of speed. A sports simulation might demand in-depth subject knowledge in addition to arcade prowess, but it’s unlikely to pay much attention to linguistic proficiency.

03 All the games test a player’s abilities in some way, which is their commonality. This difficulty may serve as a strong motivator. A game that challenges them and, ideally, pushes them to their limits would appeal to the challenge-motivated player.

The natural improvement that results from doing at one’s best may also serve as motivation for the player. Then, they are motivated to both succeed and advance. Gamers that are challenge motivated thrive when a game challenges their preferred skill set, but they may lose interest in titles that stray too far from the mark.

Challenge has a close relative to the competition. Many players are motivated by the desire to establish themselves as the greatest, compete with their friends, and win. Gamers with a competitive streak might range from those seeking a challenge in a fair battle to the kind of win-at-all-costs-speechless toddlers who give us all a terrible reputation.

It’s simple to take competition too far. Nothing inherently wrong with competition-driven motivation. Competition is, in some ways, just a challenge brought to its logical conclusion. Only when it results in treating your fellow player badly does it start to lose its motivational power and turn into an ugly personality flaw.

Competition Motivated players excel in games when they are opposed to one another and the result is determined by gameplay prowess. In contexts that either needs teamwork, like many MMORPGs, or in games where talent plays a far lower part, like a simpler card or dice games, they will frequently dwindle.

GAMING VII (49)