Video Game Comic and Blog
Video Game Comic and Blog


"A video game comic and blog that would have been awesome and relevant 10 years ago. Maybe." -Famous Website

Warp Zone:
Current Comic

BEAR

Jump To Conclusions

january 1, 2017

Ever since I was a kid, I remember taking quite a lot of pride in being someone that didn't cheat in the games I played. I always felt it more honorable to be able to beat a game under my own ability or, if not, to accept that I couldn't and left it at that. I also found those times when I was challenged as frustrating, of course, but also exhilarating when I could actually overcome; I never felt that the game somehow owed me the opportunity to win. I remember instances where people would brag about accomplishments in games that they achieved through cheating and think it completely absurd that they would think to boast when they didn't really achieve anything at all.

Though level jumping potions certainly aren't cheating, I recognize that a large amount of my distaste for them is rooted in this pride I have in being able to accomplish goals under one's own merit. I think this ended up being particularly true in games because it would so easily be able to justify the cheating for many players that it felt particularly sacred to me to play au naturel. I would tinker with cheat codes and hacks but exclusively as a way to experiment. The times that I would cheat to gain access because of inability to progress, it was always a very deflating process. All the fun had been sapped from the experience and it felt almost academic at that point...as if autopsying a corpse.

Naturally we all have different ways that we enjoy our games and all have different time schedules that we can or want to devote to any given game. So of course, the level jump provides a great avenue for those who care predominately about getting to some of the more challenging content or joining their friends. But I think it's because I care so much about the long term involvement in the game that I worry about missing out on the strictly curated experience where people develop the attachment necessary to want to make this their online home. That natural attachment that happens with a superlative MMO, where people are compelled to come back to it time and again despite what is going on in real life. Letting people have an easy way in just seems to bypass all that might endear the game to others and gives them an easy out.

Plus, FFXIV is so different than any other MMO in that it is so story driven. So much of the hype and excitement is precisely because of the story! The game can stand on it's own from a gameplay perspective of course, but the story is WHY people get excited. Even if they jump straight to Stormblood, they will have missed ALL the important details that lead up to those events and all the references. :x

Jump To Conclusions

january 1, 2017