I’ve always found myself bouncing off hard on “make your own fun” type games like Minecraft or the newer Zeldas. This extends to any type of game that has no clear goals or motivators.

Turns out I’m just an extrinsically motivated gamer. For me, it’s about the destination, not the journey. I enjoy games that keep me going with rewards promised at each step of the way. When given the choice to be creative with the tools I’m given, I’ll just find the most efficient way of getting it done.

I’d like to hear what type of gamers y’all are. What type of games bring you joy?

  • Rentlar@beehaw.orgEnglish
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    2 years ago

    “Extrinsically motivated” games I like: I’ll play it once, beat it, play a bit of post game, drop it.

    “Intrinsically motivated” games I like: make my own stupid-ass goal, spend dozens and dozens of hours on it, finally do the stupid thing, progressed 1% further through the game, get bored, drop it, but then I pick it up again thinking about doing another stupid-ass thing.

  • Bloodwoodsrisen@lemmy.tfEnglish
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    2 years ago

    Honestly depends, for minecraft I need goals, I need a motive (ie modded quest books). Satisfactory is one game where I can just wander around and collect things to get to the next big thing.

  • reverendsteveii@beehaw.orgEnglish
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    2 years ago

    Time played: 400 hours. Completion percentage: 15%

    extremely intrinsically motivated. give me a world with stuff in it, not goals

  • ChaRRdude33@lemm.eeEnglish
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    2 years ago

    I’ve never really thought about it this way, but reading this I realized I’m just like that also. I find really hard to keep playing a game that does reward progress by give you things to keep it fresh and interesting. I guess that’s why I get bored with most games…

  • Fizz@lemmy.nzEnglish
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    2 years ago

    I most like sandbox games that allow me to do the journey my way. I very rarely do anything the optimal way.

    Often if I am playing a linear game people will get frustrated with my because I’ll pass on a better weapon because I like the one I currently have. They say take that sword it’s better but I’m not playing the game to reach the end. I don’t care if a better weapon makes it easier I want a cool sword that fits my playstyle and that I have fun using.

  • ghostwolf@lemmy.fakeplastictrees.eeEnglish
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    2 years ago

    I love good stories. For me, the atmosphere and plot are vital. It feels like after work I just don’t have enough time and mental capacity to put a lot of effort in a video game, therefore I avoid things like Minecraft or the whole survival genre, even though I used to enjoy that kind of stuff when I was a teenager.

    • bijuice@beehaw.orgOPEnglish
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      2 years ago

      I feel you on the after-work blues. For me, it pushes me towards arcadey games cause I don’t have the energy to invest in a good story.

  • sub_o@beehaw.orgEnglish
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    2 years ago

    I’m not a “make my own fun” gamer, and now when I think about it, because all of my “make my own fun” is done outside of gaming, e.g. playing music, coding, 3d printing, drawing, etc.

  • Dominic@beehaw.orgEnglish
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    2 years ago

    I’m extrinsically motivated, but my definition of “extrinsic” is pretty loose. I’ll do things that aren’t necessary to beat the game (I don’t even need the game to be “beatable”). As long as I’m finishing something and getting a reward for it, I’m content.

    I’m having a great time doing side content in Tears of the Kingdom: completing as many shrines and side quests as I can, hoarding materials for armor upgrades, etc. Those are optional objectives that you can truly complete. However, I don’t spend much time experimenting with Ultrahand.

    Similarly in Minecraft, I liked accumulating resources in survival mode, but I bounced off of creative mode.

    EDIT: apparently my Lemmy app went haywire and posted this about 8 times. Very sorry.

  • any1th3r3 [he/him]@beehaw.orgEnglish
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    2 years ago

    For most games, I’m like you - It’s been a gradual shift for me, as I used to play very sandboxy type games before (although I could never get into Minecraft), but have been heavily focused on story-heavy / experience-based games for the last 3+ years.
    I will say that I really liked BotW though, and am looking forward to playing TotK eventually (in the next 2/3 years or so) and Starfield has got me really intrigued, so we’ll see.

    Then there’s the “intrinsic me”, I guess, I don’t mind playing some games for the sake of it, with no goals in mind - Forza Horizon just going from one end of the map to the other, or the same loop of various arcade games whenever I don’t feel like doing anything else - sure there’s some sort of objective, but ultimately when you’ve seen and done it that many times, it’s not far off from it not being there at all imo, and I still enjoy it just as much.

  • lustyargonian@lemm.eeEnglish
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    2 years ago

    When I was young I would spend hours taking photographs or randomly roaming around in GTA San Andreas, it was a nice break from reality to just be free. As I grow old, I find myself actually enjoying good narrative without painfully complex mechanics like Minecraft, and I presume TotK. Back then I would skip the missions and just fool around, now i would follow the missions and in the process fool around only after i get comfortable with the game world and setting.