Column #126; By Kent Wang

July 29, 2000, 13:27

Kent Wang divulges in his receipe on the elements needed for a truly addictive gaming experience in his latest contribution to The Column entitled "The Psychology Of Addiction".

Your comments/questions welcomed here.

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Dan; Apolyton CS

Father Beast · July 29, 2000, 14:10

hmmmnnn... Kent, one of the things you said was that addictiveness creates the illusion of fun. Maybe if your definition of fun is quite narrow. To me, if I'm not bored, or want to be doing something else, I'm having fun. maybe that's too broad a definition.
I agree with most of the points of your article, and the discussion of management vs. micromanagement was excellent. Sometimes I am intense about controlling every aspect of my civ, and sometimes I'm more concerned with a war that's going on than continuing development of my 35th city. at times like these, I'm glad to have the auto-build function (though I would prefer the build queue as in AC). automation options are great for customizing what kind of game I'm playing.

July 29, 2000, 20:05

Nice article kwang.

I think you made a good point about Sim City. One of the reasons Sim City lacks the replayability of Civ is that there seems to be no conflict. And that's where Civ is the greatest. There are more obstacles to overcome in Civ, and that's alot of the fun.

Mao · July 30, 2000, 13:02

Hey, Kwang's alive! WooHoo!

Well, in SimCity, you do have to overcome obstacles, yourself mainly.

July 30, 2000, 18:07

Great column, smart thinking there!

I think Firaxis guys should have a look at it (maybe someone could put a link to this column on Civ3 general forum), and I do think addictiveness is a computer game's main goal.

Some of you will think I am crazy but, wasn't Civ1 a more addictive game than Civ2?

Kwang · July 30, 2000, 23:26

Father Beast: I had a few reservations about the last paragraph about the seperation of addiction and fun. It is indeed totally dependant on the broadness of one's definition of fun. However, I think the two emotions/goals should be kept seperate. I love CX debate (it's a high school level competitive "sport), but I'm not really sure it's very fun. I have to do a lot of work, but for some reason I stick with it. I believe addiction, not fun, is the reason why I remain in the program.

Mao: Sorry had to duck out of off-topic for the time being. Debate camp is keeping me as occupied as France before Normandy (bad joke!).
[This message has been edited by Kwang (edited July 31, 2000).]

Mao · July 31, 2000, 02:27

...debate camp?

Geez...I am out of touch...