tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post4268067919939323852..comments2024-02-05T10:41:31.777-05:00Comments on I Saw Lightning Fall: Turchi on Narrative FlowLoren Eatonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12488412683340389286noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-91058973576013296582015-03-10T21:38:19.931-04:002015-03-10T21:38:19.931-04:00Sounds like Sid Meier is exactly right, and your t...Sounds like Sid Meier is exactly right, and your thoughts are similarly stimulating. I know the current trend in gaming is to really emphasize difficulty, but if I'm going to work, I want it to be on something with lasting impact. I noped out of <i>Dark Souls</i> after about an hour. (It didn't help that it ran like a slug slinking through molasses.) But something like <i><a href="http://isawlightningfall.blogspot.com/2014/05/dont-forget-to-be-awesome-dishonored.html" rel="nofollow">Dishonored</a></i> that threads the needle of challenge I could totally go for; it doesn't hurt that there's more than a little grace in the "good" ending. Also, <i>Team Fortress 2</i> oscillates perfectly between that band of too-easy and too-hard -- a little bit too much so! Loren Eatonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12488412683340389286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-61955675035340938302015-03-09T12:02:06.767-04:002015-03-09T12:02:06.767-04:00Late comment here, but I really like this comparis...Late comment here, but I really like this comparison between games and literature both trying to hit that sweet spot between heavy engagement and passive engagement, so to speak. That resonates with my experience of both. <br /><br />A somewhat-on-topic contribution: I have read in several places Sid Meier talking about his philosophy of game design, and it largely revolves around hitting that spot where you're just engaged enough to be challenged and having fun, but not so challenged that the game begins to feel like work rather than play. I believe that the play component of video games derives a lot of its pleasure from how it simulates work as God created it to be, with less effect of the fall upon the necessity of doing work not to starve, the difficulty of work in a corrupted world, etc., which Meier's comment lines up with nicely. It's early on a Monday and this might be a tangent, but, there's some food for thought.Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145896799775564422noreply@blogger.com