Why do you play what you play?

[Psittac]

Sounds like an odd question but the recent LTT video about the x-box being backwards compatible almost sold me, for a split second on xbox game pass and going console.  That moment didn't last long but it got me wondering, why do you play the games you do?  I choose games based on being able to play with friends.  I work all day and relax on discord with common games among my friends.  Everyone I know is ~40-50 with stable jobs and reasonable discretionary funds so it's not the money that keeps us from playing a game as Linus mentioned with game pass.

 

Further thoughts:

I typically have one go to game which is free to play, though I've spent over $1.5k on it in 8 years (most of it the past couple years).  Why? Because I enjoy the game and feel that it is worth my time and money.  Also for the past 8 years there has been at least one friend that played it also, so I could play with them.  Discord changed my social life from a few years ago playing mostly solo to playing entirely on comms.  I typically have a small library of other games to switch between to suit my different friend groups.  Usually older games that continue to provide new, if even in a small way, content that we can continue to return to (*diablo 3).  Or maybe it's a blockbuster that everyone get's into then usually dies out as one person min-maxes and leaves everyone in the dust and we all lose interest (everyone has varying play time available).  Then there are the cheap or free to play games that one person takes a liking to then a few of us join in.  I typically rotate between two games, one main and one secondary.

 

Follow up example:

My main game is world of tanks and I've played it off and on for 8 years and dumped a small fortune in it.  Why?  1. It scratches my itch of accumulating rewards in the game, IE different tanks, each of which provide a slightly different play style. 2. There is constantly new content that keeps the game fresh and allows me to feel like I'm always achieving something. 3.  It's not twitch based as I'm getting older and while I would love to be able to play medal of honor allied assault like I did when I was ~20 with the 180 head shot's...... I can't do that any more.  But it still allows for a level of action that is slowed down a bit but still always intense. 4.  It offers a level of play that a seasoned vet like myself (13k+ games) can hop into a lower tier vehicle and play next to my friend that just got into PCMR and is looking for a game to play.  I can own balls and guide them through the early stages while they progress and learn.  5. like #4 it's free to play which makes it easy for friends to pick up and join easily or drop with no guilt leaving the seasoned players to continue.  I started this game a year after launch and one of my friends threw what was at the time copious amounts of money at the game and left me behind, by the time I caught up in tiers quit the game and I have played ever since (that's more of a commentary on our own interactions as he wouldn't play low tier and throws money at every game he plays and plays it to high heaven then moves on).

 

*edit: last though, I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate cp2077 into my daily life because MY GOD that story.  I have few glitches and love everything about the game.  One key reason I pulled the trigger on a single player, which I never do, was that it will have a multi player coming up that if nothing else my friends will get in on.  Also CDPR is in my book a helluva company because of it's practices like charging only one price and promising free dlc to keep the game fresh.  And them taking concern with streamers getting accidental DMCA strikes speaks HUGE to me of their character.  They're the kind of company and business model I WANT to put my money behind.

[WhitetailAni]

Why I play:
Minecraft

Mario games

Zelda games

Wii Sports (Resort)

A few other games that I forgot

These are the games I know I enjoy. I've been playing Minecraft ever since the day before the 1.8 release, the Mario games (and Wii Sports/Resort because it was the first game I ever played) because they are fun, Zelda, well, don't know.

I'm not really interested in the games that everyone else wants to because I don't see anything that I like.

[PlayStation 2]

Repetition does an autistic guy's person good. It's how I've sunk over 4300 hours into a hat simulator and quite a lot of hours into only a couple of racing games.

[Wishiwasdead]

I use to play MMOs like WOW, ESO and Arc Age... i was in a big really cool and active guild... I had hours a day, everyday to play and level up and gear up...

 

I only play a couple of times a month now... I have to play quick one time sessions now... MOBAs really fit into that... every game everyone starters at the same level and gear and over the course of 30 - 60 minutes you level up, gear up and then its over. Smite is my favorite MOBA I find it much more enjoyable than LOL or DOTA.

 

I also play Total War: Warhammer II... its a game I can play at my own pace... if I have to get up and do something I'm not leaving a team short while I go AFK...

 

Also Oxygen not Included and PUB G for the same reasons...

[CommanderAlex]

I love to play first person shooters and military games such as World of Tanks and World of Warships. When I was little, I loved learning about history and the military as well as World War 2. I thought it was interesting and World of Tanks was probably my first game I every really played on PC. I still love playing that game to this day and is my daily game as I just love the combat, the grind, and the events that keep me coming back. 

5 minutes ago, handymanshandle said:

Repetition does an autistic guy's person good. It's how I've sunk over 4300 hours into a hat simulator and quite a lot of hours into only a couple of racing games.

I've put over 1,200 hours into Battlefield 4. 

[AndreiArgeanu]

idk, I never really have one game that I'm fixated on, it's always whatever I feel like playing, one day I'm trying to finish up Outlast, the other I'm playing New Super Mario Bros Wii, it's never clear cut. But if anything I usually play single player games, mostly because I've had my online experiences often ruined, especially when playing on my on. Currently I have a pretty long list that I want to play/replay or finish though that I also have installed like Bioshock 1 and 2, Firewatch, Outlast 1+DLC, 2, Portal 2, Sleeping Dogs, Mass Effect: Andromeda and Just Cause 3.

 

 

[Letgomyleghoe.]

Right now I play whatever I find semi fun and my pc can run. Thankfully that won't last for long as I expect a 6800xt to run pretty much anything other than cyberpunk.

[TempestCatto]

I love to play truck simulator because I can pop on a podcast and just kinda relax and enjoy the view/drive. Not so enjoyable when people slam on their breaks or go slower than the speed limit, but I guess that's what happens in a realistic game.

 

I haven't played much else recently, but sometimes games that you have to progress through and level up are fun because it gives you something to do. Something to look forward to, ya know, goals. I have plenty of goals in my life right now, all which are actually realistic. But all of which will take a long time to achieve. So those kinda games help me to realize goals are obtainable, ya just gotta wait.

[somer4ndo]

4 minutes ago, handymanshandle said:

Repetition does an autistic guy's person good. It's how I've sunk over 4300 hours into a hat simulator and quite a lot of hours into only a couple of racing games.

I'm guessing you mean TF2?

 

I personally play for fun, no more thought given than that, anything that would seem like fun, I'll try, though I mostly stay in my comfort zone of Nintendo games, story driven games(Cyberpunk, Bioshock, Dishonored, Byonetta, Batman Arkham, I'd lump all TLOZelda in this category etc), racing games, platformers, with my two main passions being FPSs(mostly CSGO) and metroidvanias.

I think I have focused that much on CSGO in the last year due to how good it feels to work as a team in a "stressful" situation while strategizing what to do to help your team win the round, I don't think any other game gives you the feeling that you contributed to a victory better than counter strike does. To have a flash you threw blind an AWPer for long enough to peek and get a headshot kill on them before they could have a chance to fire, to get an ace while defending a site, to destroy the enemy team with a group of randos you just met and joke around while staying competitive. Nothing beats it

[Psittac]

1 hour ago, CircleTech said:

I play with computer parts, break them, buy new parts, then break those. 

Back in 03/04 I was in the start of a mental breakdown due to heavy drug usage.  I hid in my parent's basement with my first diy PC and nothing else.  I built clocked broke and fixed that very PC day and night, staying awake for 72 hours and unconscious for 12.  Granted I experienced everything the PC world had to offer in those days, but I have since moved on, slowly and painfully one day at a time, always hoping for life to be better in a month but that turned into years.  At any rate I'm still a PCMR fanatic but my life has improved greatly.  Today I still don't like being around people but I can go work every day and come home and chat on comm's with friends that I've known for at least a decade (a couple have come into comms that I have never met).  I don't know what my point is but I'm drunk and your comment reminded me of days past.

 

*edit: I had the highest benchmarks I could find for any socket A and tried many motherboards due to a leaky cpu block

[Psittac]

1 hour ago, Letgomyleghoe. said:

Right now I play whatever I find semi fun and my pc can run. Thankfully that won't last for long as I expect a 6800xt to run pretty much anything other than cyberpunk.

6800xt WILL run cyberpunk guaranteed.  You can scale that game back really far, not that you have to but I've pushed it pretty far on my 2080s which your card will smash good and proper.  Honestly I think the limiting factor will be your cpu given proper graphics settings but who knows.  It's an EXCELLENT game even if you set it to minimum specs and put it on easy just for the story line.  I went to the interlude doing nothing but story line, had to beat a couple bosses melee only but it was easy, like an interactive movie.  But I already have my $60 worth of entertainment and I've just tonight left the starting city.  If nothing else wait for CDPR to catch up on patches and your card to arrive THEN get it and my god is it a good game.  So invested in the story, it's almost like the entire sandbox game is a sidequest that is a great game in it's self.

[Psittac]

1 hour ago, TempestCatto said:

I love to play truck simulator because I can pop on a podcast and just kinda relax and enjoy the view/drive. Not so enjoyable when people slam on their breaks or go slower than the speed limit, but I guess that's what happens in a realistic game.

 

I haven't played much else recently, but sometimes games that you have to progress through and level up are fun because it gives you something to do. Something to look forward to, ya know, goals. I have plenty of goals in my life right now, all which are actually realistic. But all of which will take a long time to achieve. So those kinda games help me to realize goals are obtainable, ya just gotta wait.

Nice life lessons, it's great that you and the rest of us can fit games into our lives and they're always tailored to what we want.  They're a part of our lives and having them along for the ride is always a great time.  Sometimes I just put on ASMR on one of my many PCMR screens and just dink around in wot sometimes on comms.  Sometimes I play wot in the morning just to wake up but usually quit fast because I don't want something that intense before I've woken up.

[Psittac]

1 hour ago, somer4ndo said:

I'm guessing you mean TF2?

 

I personally play for fun, no more thought given than that, anything that would seem like fun, I'll try, though I mostly stay in my comfort zone of Nintendo games, story driven games(Cyberpunk, Bioshock, Dishonored, Byonetta, Batman Arkham, I'd lump all TLOZelda in this category etc), racing games, platformers, with my two main passions being FPSs(mostly CSGO) and metroidvanias.

I think I have focused that much on CSGO in the last year due to how good it feels to work as a team in a "stressful" situation while strategizing what to do to help your team win the round, I don't think any other game gives you the feeling that you contributed to a victory better than counter strike does. To have a flash you threw blind an AWPer for long enough to peek and get a headshot kill on them before they could have a chance to fire, to get an ace while defending a site, to destroy the enemy team with a group of randos you just met and joke around while staying competitive. Nothing beats it

Have you used comms? I don't know if any of those games have comms but it changed my life a couple years ago when I got into discord and found several of my IRL friends on it.  Can always find new people to talk to also.  Just changes the entire game atmosphere entirely.

[WhitetailAni]

1 hour ago, CircleTech said:

I play with computer parts, break them, buy new parts, then break those. 

I play with computer parts, break one, use the rest, realize I need more parts, put them all together, be proud of myself, then accidentally break the whole thing.

Repeat.

[somer4ndo]

4 minutes ago, Psittac said:

Have you used comms? I don't know if any of those games have comms but it changed my life a couple years ago when I got into discord and found several of my IRL friends on it.  Can always find new people to talk to also.  Just changes the entire game atmosphere entirely.

Yea, in counter strike you're sort of the odd one if you aren't using comms, and you won't get far in the competitive mode, it has voice chat integrated into the game, and it's so fast paced and team oriented, that if you aren't telling your team what you've seen the enemy team do, and where they seem to be going, you stand no chance of winning. At some point, I used to only communicate through text chat, it was sort of doable, but it's so much better to talk, as it doesn't take you away from playing, and in the last couple weeks they even added a pinging feature so even if you don't have a mic you can easily comm to your teammates and help them react better. In the mid to high ranked games, it's almost impossible to find people who don't comm.

[Mark Kaine]

It's MT frameworks, my favorite engine, that's why. 

 

And I'm also sure I can kill some monsters even faster if I just try enough... 

 

 

I also really like benchmarking the game with different settings and stuff. 

 

 

Turns out if you enable draw distance to full / high you probably need quad 3090s in nvlink configuration to be able to run that... gpu and VRAM usage sky rocket like crazy with that set to high... 

[kelvinhall05]

TF2 because...well, because TF2. If you've played, you know what I mean.

 

BeamNG because it is hands-down the best game that is at all related to cars. Best physics engine by far, some of the best graphics, some of the best devs, awesome community, mods, runs well even on meh hardware (and runs perfectly under Proton), awesome sound design, the list goes on and on. This game is a fucking masterpiece and if you haven't played it you need to drop what you're doing right now and go buy it. Seriously.

 

GTA Online because the toxicity and modders make it ridiculously fun to just fuck around in a lobby with 30 people for hours. Also the giant open-world map is cool.

[Letgomyleghoe.]

10 hours ago, Psittac said:

6800xt WILL run cyberpunk guaranteed.  You can scale that game back really far, not that you have to but I've pushed it pretty far on my 2080s which your card will smash good and proper.  Honestly I think the limiting factor will be your cpu given proper graphics settings but who knows.  It's an EXCELLENT game even if you set it to minimum specs and put it on easy just for the story line.  I went to the interlude doing nothing but story line, had to beat a couple bosses melee only but it was easy, like an interactive movie.  But I already have my $60 worth of entertainment and I've just tonight left the starting city.  If nothing else wait for CDPR to catch up on patches and your card to arrive THEN get it and my god is it a good game.  So invested in the story, it's almost like the entire sandbox game is a sidequest that is a great game in it's self.

I'll probably play cyberpunk in 4-5 years when its $20 dollars on steam with all the dlcs. For now i'm not really intrigued by it and I have other games I wan't to play with my new build.  

[sub68]

well I play both pc and ps4

pc

R6 vegas

R6 vegas 2

(yes both vegas I like the old style)

osu (I like it for aim also its just fun)

PS4

overwatch (freinds with ps4's)

fortnite (only crossplatform game I can play with my brother and my bros gf) I hate it but am good at sniping so

 

[mariushm]

I'm currently playing witcher 1 because it actually plays on this laptop I have at the moment with integrated intel graphics and because i plan to eventually play whitcher 3.  i don't have access to my regular desktop computer so you do what you gotta do.

 

In general i play rpgs or games with some story

[SpikeSpiegel]

PS2 (I got tons of PS2 games that I need to play + my 40 GB FFXI online hard drive has tons of save games + memory cards)

PS3 (FPS/RPGs/Fighting Games/Uncharted Games + Last of Us)

PS4 (Same as my PS3)

PSP (Dissidia and FF games)

Vita (I need to get more games)

PC:  SCUMMVM - Sierra Online Games, Granado Espada Online, Black Desert, Blade & Soul, Tomb Raider 2013, and few other games

 

 

[The1Dickens]

I enjoy single-player games because of reasons. Not about to go on a rant about it, but I get far more enjoyment and replayability out of single player games than I do anything else. And I don't mind going back to classics (NES, SNES, Genesis, etc.) every so often, because learning new stuff about the game allows me to enjoy it in a whole new light another time around. And I can focus on minor details because I'm not worried about the story or if I'm doing everything to get the best possible ending, etc. Pretty much every single-player game, actually. I'll play it once or twice for story, then just go through and admire everything about it.

[NineEyeRon]

I play for personal enjoyment and to spend time with my kid.

 

I play Wii games and old point and click adventures plus Terraria, Skyrim and Kerbal Space Program.

[PlayStation 2]

15 hours ago, somer4ndo said:

I'm guessing you mean TF2?

Indeed! Filthy Pyro main in the game.