What Draws Me to a Video Game? — Final Thoughts

(See my intro here for the first part of this series!)

Final Thoughts

So here we are at the final thoughts section of this multi-part blog adventure.

I examined a bunch of different aspects of video gaming and thought hard about what I wanted to experience within the game.

But what do all these different answers to all these varied, different questions really mean? What’s the big picture?

Thinking about all my answers and really boiling them all down to their essential components… I find that what I want most is for the video games that I play to be more like pen and paper tabletop roleplaying games.

There has always been something about tabletop roleplaying games that keeps me hooked. Maybe it’s being able to create any character that I want. Maybe it is the limitless imagination, or the world building, or the sense of being a party (and not the single savior of the world). Teamwork, fun, puzzles, mysteries, adventure, exploration, triumphs and defeats… tabletop RPGs have always been where the bar was set for me. Video games always fall short because they’re just not the same experience. Maybe with new technology (VR?) and new innovations (dynamic worlds, emergent AI, etc) video games can get closer… but there will never be the same rush of gaining a level on your wizard, or defeating the evil lich with your friends.

Don’t get me wrong, I love video games! I will continue to play and love video games for the rest of my life! But I will also supplement my virtual gaming with games that live solely in my imagination. There’s just no greater sense of fun, adventure, and accomplishment than sitting around with my friends, dice in one hand sodas in the other, and delving into a trap-laden, monster-heavy, dark and evil dungeon!

Thanks for coming with me on this introspective adventure! I hope that you’ve enjoyed it, and maybe you’ve even started thinking about what aspects of video gaming you love, too!

 

Click the links below to navigate to the different sections of this series:

Introduction

User-Interface (UI)

World

Story

Character

Community

Gameplay

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